Putamen neurons process both sensory and motor information during a complex task

Abstract The putamen has classically been considered to be primarily a motor structure. It is involved in a broad range of roles and its neurons have been postulated to function as pattern classifiers of behaviourally significant events. However, its specific role in motor and sensory processing is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 2012-07, Vol.1466, p.70-81
Main Authors: Vicente, Ana F, Bermudez, Maria A, Romero, Maria del Carmen, Perez, Rogelio, Gonzalez, Francisco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
brain
Conditioning, Operant - physiology
Data processing
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Information processing
Learning
Macaca mulatta
Male
Motor activity
Motor Activity - physiology
Movement - physiology
Neurology
Neurons
Neurons - cytology
Neurons - physiology
Operant conditioning
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Putamen
Putamen - cytology
Putamen - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Reinforcement
Reward
Sensory integration
Sensory neurons
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Visual
Withholding of movement
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Summary:Abstract The putamen has classically been considered to be primarily a motor structure. It is involved in a broad range of roles and its neurons have been postulated to function as pattern classifiers of behaviourally significant events. However, its specific role in motor and sensory processing is still unclear. For the purpose of better categorizing putamen neurons, we trained two rhesus monkeys to perform multisensory operant tasks by using complex stimuli such as short videoclips. Trials involved image or soundtrack or both. Some stimuli required a motor response associated to reward, whereas others did not require response and produced no reward. We found that neurons in the putamen showed pure visual responses, action-related activity, and reward responses. Insofar as action-related activity, preparation of movement, movement execution, and withholding of movement involved three different putamen neuron populations. Moreover, our data suggest an involvement of putamen neurons in processing primary rewards and visual events in a complex task, which may contribute to reinforcement learning through stimulus–reward association.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/j.brainres.2012.05.037