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In Vivo Wireless Optogenetic Control of Skilled Motor Behavior
Published on: November 22, 2021
Putamen neurons process both sensory and motor information during a complex task.
Ana F Vicente1, Maria A Bermudez, Maria Del Carmen Romero
1CIMUS (Department of Physiology), University of Santiago de Compostela, Av. Barcelona s/n, E-15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Brain Research
|May 30, 2012
Summary
Researchers explored the putamen
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Primate research
Background:
- The putamen, a basal ganglia structure, is traditionally viewed as a motor control center.
- Its precise role in integrating motor and sensory information remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To better categorize the functional roles of putamen neurons.
- To investigate putamen neuron activity during complex multisensory tasks.
Main Methods:
- Two rhesus monkeys were trained on operant tasks involving visual, auditory, or combined stimuli.
- Stimuli were associated with motor responses and rewards, or lacked response requirements and rewards.
Main Results:
- Putamen neurons exhibited distinct visual, action-related, and reward-related activities.
- Action-related activity involved separate populations for movement preparation, execution, and withholding.
- Neurons responded to visual events and primary rewards within the complex task context.
Conclusions:
- Putamen neurons play diverse roles beyond motor control, including sensory processing and reward association.
- These findings suggest putamen involvement in reinforcement learning via stimulus-reward associations.
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