The cerebral cortex, together with the basal ganglia, have an important role in the regulation of our behavior, by controlling fundamental functions such as the selection and initiation of specific actions, as well as motor learning. Many of the network computations needed to carry out these tasks are thought to be mediated by the corticostriatal system – that is, neurons located in different cortical areas that project convergently to the striatum, the input layer of the basal ganglia. It is therefore not surprising that neurophysiological recordings from both patients and animal models of diseases affecting the cortico-basal ganglia system have revealed abnormal physiological signatures that are strongly associated with specific symptoms within both the motor and non-motor domain. These aberrant brain activity patterns can potentially inform us on disease mechanisms and are already being used as real-time biomarkers of circuit dysfunctions to help guiding the development of new treatments.

In this lecture, data from a few recent studies will be presented illustrating the involvement of corticostriatal circuits in the control of both spontaneous and learned motor behaviors, in the healthy brain. In the second part, the pathophysiological perspective will be in focus, where recent results suggesting shared mechanisms underlying circuit dysfunctions in sensorimotor and cognitive-limbic aspects of the corticostriatal system will be discussed.