Switching from automatic to controlled behavior: cortico-basal ganglia mechanisms

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

• Daily tasks often become automatic routines.
• Environmental changes necessitate altering these routines for adaptive behavior.
• Behavioral switching, either error-based or cue-based, is crucial for adapting to new situations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral switching.
• To identify the roles of specific frontal cortical and basal ganglia regions in adapting behavior.
• To understand how the brain transitions from routine to altered behavior.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent human and monkey imaging and electrophysiological data.
• Analysis of the functional roles of the anterior cingulate cortex, pre-supplementary motor area, lateral prefrontal cortex, subthalamic nucleus, and striatum.
• Discussion of the integrated function of the frontal cortical-basal ganglia network.

Main Results:

• The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in retroactive switching based on error feedback.
• The pre-supplementary motor area (SMA) is involved in proactive switching based on contextual cues.
• The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) reconfigures cognitive processes for the switched behavior.
• The subthalamic nucleus (STN) and striatum mediate cortical signals for behavioral switching.

Conclusions:

• Behavioral switching relies on a coordinated frontal cortical-basal ganglia network.
• Specific regions like the ACC and SMA play distinct roles in error-based and cue-based switching, respectively.
• Adaptive behavior through routine modification requires precise neural network recruitment.