Examining the difference between striatal neurons of the direct and indirect pathway of the basal ganglia that is responsible for their differential growth direction in rodents

Abstract

The neurons of the striatum are part of the neural network known as the basal ganglia, projecting either directly to the substantia nigra, or indirectly via the globus pallidus. Despite their different roles, direct and indirect neurons lie unsorted throughout the striatum, showing many similarities. We aim to elucidate the differences between direct and indirect striatal projection neurons by giving an overview of current knowledge of their development, axon guidance, target recognition, and synaptic plasticity. Additionally, for future research we point to genes that might also be important to striatal neurons in these various aspects.