Basal Ganglia: FTS

On a more positive note (since anyone reading this probably has little interest in my emo-style mooning about), I feel like I'm beginning to get a grasp on the function of the basal ganglia. This article, which I'm presently reading, provides a reasonable foothold. Apparently, the notion that the basal ganglia inhibits competing (motor) programs is fairly well-established in the literature. Interestingly, I think you can reach the same conclusion from purely computational considerations, given that the basal ganglia is structured as a feed-forward loop. It also seems like it will integrate nicely with an understanding of the cortex in terms of undirected graphical models. Everything would be sunshine and lollipops if the people who write about the basal ganglia weren't so damn dry. I don't understand how these people don't fall asleep while writing their own articles.