The
basal ganglia play a critical but enigmatic role in many aspects of brain function
including movement, motivation, reward, and addiction. The vast number of neurologic
disorders such as Parkinson disease, Huntington disease, Tourette syndrome, dystonia,
and schizophrenia, that involve the basal ganglia are a testament to the importance
of this role. However, defining precisely the role of the basal ganglia in the
normal control of movement or motivation is surprisingly difficult. The goal of
the experiments described here is to explore the role of basal ganglia in adaptive
learning and motor control in awake-behaving primates and in human subjects undergoing
surgery. Our lab is uniquely positioned to investigate basal ganglia function
in nonhuman primates and in humans undergoing surgery for movement disorders.
![[Divider]](../images/barrule.gif){kind=small}
