''Emphasis on new issues and emerging concepts insures that the information presented is still timely...A compelling source of information on recent research in the field.'' ---Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, May 1997

The Basal Ganglia comprise a group of forebrain nuclei that are interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and brainstem. Basal ganglia circuits are involved in various functions, including motor control and learning, sensorimotor integration, reward and cognition. The importance of these nuclei for normal brain function and behavior is emphasized by the numerous and diverse disorders associated with basal ganglia dysfunction, including Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, Huntington’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dystonia, and psychostimulant addiction. The Handbook of Basal Ganglia provides a comprehensive overview of the structural and functional organization of the basal ganglia, with special emphasis on the progress achieved over the last 10-15 years. Organized in six parts, the volume describes the general anatomical organization and provides a review of the evolution of the basal ganglia, followed by detailed accounts of recent advances in anatomy, cellular/molecular, and cellular/physiological mechanisms, and our understanding of the behavioral and clinical aspects of basal ganglia function and dysfunction. Synthesizes widely dispersed information on the behavioral neurobiology of the basal ganglia, including advances in the understanding of anatomy, cell-molecular and cell-physiological mechanisms, and behavioral/clinical aspects of function and dysfunction Features a truly international cast of the preeminent researchers in the field Fully explores the clinically relevant impact of the basal ganglia on various psychiatric and neurological diseases

This volume arose out of the symposium: "The Basal Ganglia: Structure and Function," held at the beginning of September 1983 as a satellite of the 29th International Congress of Physiological Sciences. The symposium took place at Lorne, a village on the ocean 150km south-west of Melbourne in a former holiday guest-house situated beside the beach. The sounds of surf and winter rain on the iron roof provided a background to the proceedings. The symposium was a happy and productive event, among a small group of participants from twelve countries, undistracted by any competing activities in the out-of-season period. Over three days, there were formal papers with lively discussion, as well as posters displayed continuously and available for comment during coffee and lunch breaks. The more philosophical views on the basal ganglia were aired at informal evening discussions after dinner. At the symposium banquet on the final night, the participants voted to form the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS); Malcolm Carpenter was elected Foundation President, with Richard Faull as Organizing Secretary. The book comprises papers prepared by participants after returning home, so that they had opportunities for incorporating fruits of symposium discussions. Some anticipated contributors were finally unable to participate, and a few who presented data preferred not to submit papers for the book.

This volume was generated from papers presented at the Second Triennial Symposium of the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS) held at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, July 21-23, 1986. The meeting was held as a satellite symposium following the XXX Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences at Vancouver. IBAGS was founded at a similar satellite symposium held in Lorne, Australia, organized by John S. McKenzie and sponsored by the University of Melbourne. The symposium held in Australia was attended by 50 scientists from 12 different countries. The results of the first symposium, edited by John S. McKenzie, Robert E. Kemm and Lynette N. Wilcock, were published by Plenum Press in 1984 under the title, The Basal Ganglia - Structure and Function. It was decided that the Society should meet on a triennial basis. The time and place for Second IBAGS Symposium were set by A.G. Phillips who served as Chairman of the Program Committee along with I. Divac, S.A. Greenfield and E.T. Rolls and J.S. McKenzie. Michael E. Corcoran of the Department of Psychology, University of Victoria served as the on-site coordinator and arranger for the Symposium. He was ably assisted by Ms. Morag McNeil who handled the details which made the meeting run smoothly.

This volume, the sixth in the IBAGS series, summarizes major contributions in clinical and basic research on the basal ganglia. The sixth meeting of the Society was held on Cape Cod, in the state of Massachusetts, USA, in October, 1998. Altogether 16 countries were represented by 227 participants. This volume contains papers contributed by participants. The focus of the sixth triennial IBAGS meeting, and of this volume, was to bring to gether leaders in basic and clinical science to address two sets of still-persisting questions in the field. The first set focuses on the functions of the basal ganglia in health and disease: What are the core functions of the basal ganglia and cortico-basal ganglia loops? How are these core functions disrupted in disorders affecting the basal ganglia? How do we account for the broad range of behaviors affected by basal ganglia disorders and for the increasing evidence that the basal ganglia influence cognitive as well as motor functions? These issues are addressed in the first five sections of the current volume, which summarize advances in the study of basal ganglia disorders based on studies in humans (Section 1), new results obtained with experimental animal models of basal ganglia disorders (Section 2), results of experiments on information coding in the basal ganglia (Section 3) and new information about functions of the basal ganglia related to learning and adaptive motor control (Section 4).