title: Working memory and response selection: a computational account of interactions among cortico-basalganglio-thalamic loops.
abstract: Cortico-basalganglio-thalamic loops are involved in both cognitive processes and motor control. We present a biologically meaningful computational model of how these loops contribute to the organization of working memory and the development of response behavior. Via reinforcement learning in basal ganglia, the model develops flexible control of working memory within prefrontal loops and achieves selection of appropriate responses based on working memory content and visual stimulation within a motor loop. We show that both working memory control and response selection can evolve within parallel and interacting cortico-basalganglio-thalamic loops by Hebbian and three-factor learning rules. Furthermore, the model gives a coherent explanation for how complex strategies of working memory control and response selection can derive from basic cognitive operations that can be learned via trial and error.
authors.affiliation: Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité University Medicine, Philippstrasse 13, Haus 6, 10115 Berlin, Germany. henning.schroll@bccn-berlin.de
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schroll
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vitay
authors.forename: Fred H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Hamker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology*