Publication Date:
2012-06-16
Description:
We learn complex skills such as speech and dance through a gradual process of trial and error. Cortical-basal ganglia circuits have an important yet unresolved function in this trial-and-error skill learning; influential 'actor-critic' models propose that basal ganglia circuits generate a variety of behaviours during training and learn to implement the successful behaviours in their repertoire. Here we show that the anterior forebrain pathway (AFP), a cortical-basal ganglia circuit, contributes to skill learning even when it does not contribute to such 'exploratory' variation in behavioural performance during training. Blocking the output of the AFP while training Bengalese finches to modify their songs prevented the gradual improvement that normally occurs in this complex skill during training. However, unblocking the output of the AFP after training caused an immediate transition from naive performance to excellent performance, indicating that the AFP covertly gained the ability to implement learned skill performance without contributing to skill practice. In contrast, inactivating the output nucleus of the AFP during training completely prevented learning, indicating that learning requires activity within the AFP during training. Our results suggest a revised model of skill learning: basal ganglia circuits can monitor the consequences of behavioural variation produced by other brain regions and then direct those brain regions to implement more successful behaviours. The ability of the AFP to identify successful performances generated by other brain regions indicates that basal ganglia circuits receive a detailed efference copy of premotor activity in those regions. The capacity of the AFP to implement successful performances that were initially produced by other brain regions indicates precise functional connections between basal ganglia circuits and the motor regions that directly control performance.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377745/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉 〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377745/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Charlesworth, Jonathan D -- Warren, Timothy L -- Brainard, Michael S -- P50 MH077970/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- P50 MH077970-05/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC006636/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC006636-09/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2012 May 20;486(7402):251-5. doi: 10.1038/nature11078.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉W. M. Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. jcharles@phy.ucsf.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22699618" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate/pharmacology
;
Animals
;
Basal Ganglia/drug effects/*physiology
;
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology
;
Finches/anatomy & histology/*physiology
;
Learning/drug effects/*physiology
;
Male
;
Prosencephalon/physiology
;
Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate/antagonists & inhibitors
;
Vocalization, Animal/drug effects/*physiology
Print ISSN:
0028-0836
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4687
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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