Identification of a direct GABAergic pallidocortical pathway in rodents

The basal ganglia, interacting with the cortex, play a critical role in a range of behaviors. Output from the basal ganglia to the cortex is thought to relay through the thalamus, yet an intriguing alternative is that the basal ganglia may directly project to, and communicate with, the cortex. We explored an efferent projection from the globus pallidus externa (GPe), a key hub in the basal ganglia system, to the cortex of rats and mice. Anterograde and retrograde tracing revealed projections to the frontal premotor cortex, especially the deep projecting layers, originating from GPe neurons that receive axonal inputs from the dorsal striatum. Cre-dependent anterograde tracing in GPe Vgat-ires-cre mice confirmed that the pallidocortical projection is GABAergic, and in vitro optogenetic stimulation in the cortex of these projections produced a fast inhibitory postsynaptic current in targeted cells that was abolished by bicucculine. The pallidocortical projections targeted GABAergic interneurons and, to a lesser extent, pyramidal neurons. This GABAergic pallidocortical pathway directly links the basal ganglia and cortex and may play a key role in behavior and cognition in normal and disease states.