title: Pallidal activity is involved in visuomotor association learning in monkeys.
abstract: In order to examine whether the basal ganglia are involved in arbitrary visuomotor association, we recorded neuronal activity in the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi) of monkeys during a conditional visuomotor learning task. Two monkeys were presented a cueing visual stimulus, and following a delay period required to push, pull or turn a manipulator according to the cue. GPi neurons showed changes in activity during the delay period when the animals performed the task on the basis of a familiar stimulus-response association. Those changes in delay activity were enhanced as the monkeys were learning a new visuomotor association. The enhancement of the changes was selective to a following response. These results suggest that the basal ganglia are involved in arbitrary visuomotor association, especially during the learning of new associations.
authors.affiliation: Supermolecular Science Division, Electrotechnical Laboratory, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan. inase@med.kindai.ac.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inase
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iijima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D008251:Macaca; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*