title: Goal-direction and top-down control.
abstract: We review the neural mechanisms that support top-down control of behaviour and suggest that goal-directed behaviour uses two systems that work in concert. A basal ganglia-centred system quickly learns simple, fixed goal-directed behaviours while a prefrontal cortex-centred system gradually learns more complex (abstract or long-term) goal-directed behaviours. Interactions between these two systems allow top-down control mechanisms to learn how to direct behaviour towards a goal but also how to guide behaviour when faced with a novel situation.
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1298-2761
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Buschman
authors.affiliation: The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ekmiller@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Earl K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology*; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: basal ganglia; cognition; frontal lobe; goal direction; learning