2026 Basal Ganglia Gordon Research Conference and Gordon ResearchSeminar - Project Summary/Abstract: The basal ganglia are a group of interconnected subcortical brain nuclei that play a crucial role in motor control and decision-making and are affected in various neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disorders, making a basic understanding of the function of this circuitry highly translationally relevant. The 2026 Basal Ganglia GRC meeting will bring together the world's leading basal ganglia researchers to discuss recent advancements and new insights into the function of basal ganglia circuits in health and disease. The five-day conference will concentrate on presenting unpublished data. The program features speakers and discussion leaders from various career stages, institutions, and subfields, with the goal of fostering interdisciplinary discussions that connect knowledge about synapses and circuits to higher-level computations. Afternoon free time and communal meals will provide opportunities for informal networking, welcoming trainees into the field and fostering lasting collaborations and friendships within our scientific community. The meeting will also incorporate an additional 1.5-day GRS organized exclusively by and for trainees. The programs for the 2026 Basal Ganglia GRC & GRS were designed to celebrate investigations of basal ganglia circuits from multiple scientific viewpoints, with contributions from innovative researchers around the world. Given that the meeting has always been held in the United States since its inception in 2014, and since previous reviews of the conference emphasized a desire for more international representation, we have moved the 2026 meeting to Italy. A deliberate effort was also made to include new speakers and topics that were not covered in previous meetings, for example with a specific session on astrocyte functions in the basal ganglia. Other topics include non-motor functions of the basal ganglia, complex neuromodulatory interactions, new technologies for investigating basal ganglia function, and new models for understanding the plasticity and function of basal ganglia circuits. As such, the overall title of “Linking Synapses, Circuits, and Computations in the Basal Ganglia” was chosen. The 2026 Basal Ganglia GRC & GRS have 3 specific aims: (1) Create a forum for the discussion of cutting-edge basic science related to basal ganglia function, inclusive of the innovative new contributions of early-career researchers, (2) Connect across multiple levels of investigation, from synapses to circuits to computations, by bringing together a wide variety of researchers from around the world, and (3) Promote collaboration and mentorship by providing a welcoming, interactive conference environment for early-career researchers. Completing these aims will advance basal ganglia research by encouraging new ideas and collaborations among researchers who might not otherwise come together and inspiring the next generation of scientists. These activities will accelerate the pace of discovery and translation to the clinic, consistent with the mission of NIH.
