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Frontal–Subcortical Real Estate: Location, Location, Location

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Subcortical Structures and Cognition

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Abstract

The previous chapter described the functional neuroanatomy of the basal ganglia. This chapter describes the functions of the separate prototypical circuits that connect the basal ganglia with the cortex. It also describes the current role of neuropsychological testing in evaluating this circuitry. The original conceptualization of these cortical–subcortical loops consisted of five parallel, segregated circuits between the frontal cortex and the basal ganglia (Alexander, DeLong, & Strick, 1986). These circuits were the skeletomotor, oculomotor, dorsolateral prefrontal, orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate circuits. However, it is now evident that the basal ganglia receive afferents from nearly all cortical regions while sending efferents back to the diverse thalamic nuclei that project to those same cortical areas (Middleton & Strick, 2002).

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

Albert Einstein

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  1. Park Ridge, IL, USA

    Leonard F. Koziol

  2. Manhattan Beach, CA, USA

    Deborah Ely Budding

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Koziol, L.F., Budding, D.E. (2009). Frontal–Subcortical Real Estate: Location, Location, Location. In: Subcortical Structures and Cognition. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-84868-6_3

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