22 May 2002 10:35 AR AR160-19.tex AR160-19.SGM LaTeX2e(2002/01/18) P1: GJC 10.1146/annurev.neuro.25.112701.142937 Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 2002. 25:563–93 doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.25.112701.142937 Copyright c 2002 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved LEARNING AND MEMORY FUNCTIONS OF THE BASAL GANGLIA Mark G. Packard1 and Barbara J. Knowlton2 1Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520; email:
[email protected] 2Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563; email:
[email protected] Key Words striatum, neostriatum, caudate nucleus, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease Authors’ note: In behavioral sections of the present review the term basal ganglia is often used to refer to the caudate nucleus and putmen (i.e., dorsal striatum). These structures are perhaps primary, but they are certainly not se- lective components of a group of subcortical structures that make up the basal ganglia. The broader term is used here simply in the interest of attracting the widest general readership of investigators interested in basal ganglia function. ■ Abstract Although the mammalian basal ganglia have long been implicated in motor behavior, it is generally recognized that the behavioral functions of this subcor- tical group of structures are not exclusively motoric in nature. Extensive evidence now indicates a role for the basal ganglia, in particular the dorsal striatum, in learning and memory. One prominent hypothesis is that this brain region mediates a form of learning in which stimulus-response (S-R) associations or habits are incrementally acquired.