The role of the striatum in motor learning: dissociations between isometric motor control processes in Parkinson's...

Studies of Parkinson's disease (PD) have been used to support the hypothesis that the striatum serves procedural learning but interpretation of the results is confounded by extra-striate pathology and coincidental non-procedural cognitive deficits. The motor deficit of PD involves particularly internally cued movement, without visual feedback, because of disruption to frontostriatal circuits. Thus, we used a non-visual isometric task as a sensitive measure of motor learning in early non-demented patients with PD and examined the effects of dopamine replacement. The PD group showed disproportionate under-shooting of the target but normal motor learning. Learning correlated with some cognitive measures but not clinical motor disability or depression. Treatment had no effect on performance, despite clinical improvement. The results indicate dissociations between motor control processes resulting from striatal pathology. Putaminal circuits are involved in force generation and prediction but not critically in motor learning.