Nigrostriatal pathway

Nigrostriatal pathway
Nigrostriatal pathway (Left and Right in red).
The nigrostriatal pathway is shown here in solid blue, connecting the substantia nigra with the dorsal striatum.
Anatomical terminology

The nigrostriatal pathway is a bilateral dopaminergic pathway in the brain that connects the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in the midbrain with the dorsal striatum (i.e., the caudate nucleus and putamen) in the forebrain. It is one of the four major dopamine pathways in the brain, and is critical in the production of movement as part of a system called the basal ganglia motor loop. Dopaminergic neurons of this pathway release dopamine from axon terminals that synapse onto GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSNs), also known as spiny projection neurons (SPNs),[1][2] located in the striatum.

Degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the SNc is one of the main pathological features of Parkinson's disease,[3] leading to a marked reduction in dopamine function and the symptomatic motor deficits of Parkinson's disease including hypokinesia, tremors, rigidity, and postural imbalance.

  1. ^ David Smith, A.; Paul Bolam, J. (1990-07-01). "The neural network of the basal ganglia as revealed by the study of synaptic connections of identified neurones". Trends in Neurosciences. 13 (7): 259–265. doi:10.1016/0166-2236(90)90106-K. ISSN 0166-2236. PMID 1695400. S2CID 4018397.
  2. ^ Tritsch, NX; Ding, JB; Sabatini, BL (Oct 2012). "Dopaminergic neurons inhibit striatal output through non-canonical release of GABA". Nature. 490 (7419): 262–6. Bibcode:2012Natur.490..262T. doi:10.1038/nature11466. PMC 3944587. PMID 23034651.
  3. ^ Diaz, Jaime. How Drugs Influence Behavior. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1996.