The Neurons That Tell You To Quit

The basal ganglia is a series of highly connected brain areas localised deep in the cerebral cortex that recently has attracted interest of neuroscientists when it was linked to learning, and discovered to be affected in a number of disorders of the addictive and obsessive spectrum, but also in Parkinson’s disease (PD). And now researchers think they have understood why as they found that neurons in this area signal the beginning and the end of voluntary actions. In fact, problems in these neurons could explain the “incapacity to stop” seen in obsession or compulsive behaviour, but also the problems in learning and control of movement characteristic of Parkinson’s. read more

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