Integrative studies on cortico -basal ganglia link involved in organizing actions

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By means of retrograde transneuronal labeling technique with rabies virus, the structural basis for cerebral networks involved in execution and control of actions was analyzed in macaque monkeys. Particularly, the precise architectures of loop circuits linking the primary motor cortex and the basal ganglia/cerebellum, and parietotemporal-prefrontal-motor cortical networks were elucidated in this project. Moreover, basic approaches to gene therapy for Parkinson's disease were attempted to express functional molecules for protecting nigral dopamine neurons against degeneration/loss by gene transfer thereinto with recombinant viral vectors.Recruitment of the calcium-binding protein, calbindin, into the dopamine neurons successfully prevented the onset of parkinsonian insults in macaque monkeys treated withMPTP.