title: A basal ganglia inspired model of action selection evaluated in a robotic survival task.
abstract: The basal ganglia system has been proposed as a possible neural substrate for action selection in the vertebrate brain. We describe a robotic implementation of a model of the basal ganglia and demonstrate the capacity of this system to generate adaptive switching between several acts when embedded in a robot that has to "survive" in a laboratory environment. A comparison between this brain-inspired selection mechanism and classical "winner-takes-all" selection highlights some adaptive properties specific to the model, such as avoidance of dithering and energy-saving. These properties derive, in part, from the capacity of simulated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loops to generate appropriate "behavioral persistence".
authors.affiliation: AnimatLab/LIP6, 8 rue du capitaine Scott, 75015 Paris, France. benoit.girard@lip6.fr
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Girard
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cuzin
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guillot
authors.forename: Kevin N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Gurney
authors.forename: Tony J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Prescott
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology*; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004559:Electric Wiring; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D012371:Robotics; D013534:Survival