Basal Ganglia as a Reinforcement Learning-based Motor Control System: From Songbird Vocalization to Voluntary Movement in Macaque Monkeys

Key Points

• To explore the role of basal ganglia in motor control through reinforcement learning mechanisms.
• Analyzed neural activity patterns related to vocalization in songbirds and voluntary movement in macaque monkeys.
• Utilized gene manipulation techniques to investigate motor control in neural circuits.
• Demonstrated that traditional models of neural activity do not fully explain motor control mechanisms.
• Identified new phenomena in motor control through direct and indirect pathways of basal ganglia functioning.