In the seminar organised by the Department of Neuroscience of City University of Hong Kong, Dr C. Savio Chan, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University, delivered a seminar entitled, “Neuronal Diversity in the Basal Ganglia and Motor Control” on 22 February 2023.

Dr Chan reviewed how the nervous system regulates movement and the role of basal ganglia in motor control. His research mainly focused on the external globus pallidus (GPe), which is in a central position within the basal ganglia circuit. His group found that the GPe neurons are heterogeneous, which includes two main distinct neuronal populations, Parvalbumin-positive (PV+) and Npas1+ pallidal neurons. They have distinct electrophysiological properties and different connectivity. By in vivo optogenetic interrogation, they found that PV and Npas1 neurons are embedded in distinct circuits. While PV neuronal activation promotes locomotion through projections to the subthalamic nucleus (STN), Npas1 neuronal stimulation suppresses locomotion through projections to the dorsal striatum.

His findings reinforce the idea that a reciprocally connected GPe-STN network plays a key role in disease symptomatology and thus provides the basis for future circuit-based therapies for Parkinson’s disease.