Phase offset between slow oscillatory cortical inputs influences competition in a model of the basal ganglia

Low-frequency oscillations have been the target of extensive research both in cortical structures and in the basal ganglia, due to numerous reports of associations with brain disorders and the normal functioning of the brain. Whereas a number of computational models of the basal ganglia investigate these phenomena, these models tend to focus on intrinsic oscillatory mechanisms, neglecting evidence that points to the cortex as the origin of this oscillatory behaviour. In this work we constructed a neural model of the basal ganglia circuitry and used it to investigate the relationship between frequency of oscillatory cortical input, dopamine and the effectiveness of the basal ganglia as an action selection device. Our simulations show the impact of the phase offset between different cortical inputs. This was found to be highly dependent on the frequency band and to have a strong influence on basal ganglia effectiveness. In addition, the level of dopamine in the system was found to modulate this effect, also depending on the input's frequency band.