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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 3, 2007, 27(40):10659-10673; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3134-07.2007

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Supplementary Motor Area and Presupplementary Motor Area: Targets of Basal Ganglia and Cerebellar Output

Dalila Akkal,² Richard P. Dum,² and Peter L. Strick^1,2,3

¹Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Medical Center, ²Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition and Department of Neurobiology, and ³Department of Psychiatry and Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Peter L. Strick, Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 4074 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261. Email: strickp{at}pitt.edu

We used retrograde transneuronal transport of neurotropic viruses in Cebus monkeys to examine the organization of basal ganglia and cerebellar projections to two cortical areas on the medial wall of the hemisphere, the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the pre-SMA. We found that both of these cortical areas are the targets of disynaptic projections from the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum and from the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi). On average, the number of pallidal neurons that project to the SMA and pre-SMA is approximately three to four times greater than the number of dentate neurons that project to these cortical areas. GPi neurons that project to the pre-SMA are located in a rostral, "associative" territory of the nucleus, whereas GPi neurons that project to the SMA are located in a more caudal and ventral "sensorimotor" territory. Similarly, dentate neurons that project to the pre-SMA are located in a ventral, "nonmotor" domain of the nucleus, whereas dentate neurons that project to the SMA are located in a more dorsal, "motor" domain. The differential origin of subcortical projections to the SMA and pre-SMA suggests that these cortical areas are nodes in distinct neural systems. Although both systems are the target of outputs from the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, these two cortical areas seem to be dominated by basal ganglia input.

Key words: virus tracing; cortical motor areas; motor control; Parkinson's disease; dentate; globus pallidus

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Received Dec. 20, 2006; revised Aug. 9, 2007; accepted Aug. 13, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Peter L. Strick, Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 4074 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261. Email: strickp{at}pitt.edu

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