Task-specific contribution of the human striatum to perceptual-motor skill learning

• Published in: Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 51 - 62
• Main Authors: Cavaco, Sara, Anderson, Steven W., Correia, Manuel, Magalhães, Marina, Pereira, Cláudia, Tuna, Assunção, Taipa, Ricardo, Pinto, Pedro, Pinto, Cláudia, Cruz, Romeu, Lima, António Bastos, Castro-Caldas, Alexandre, da Silva, António Martins, Damásio, Hanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hove Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2011; Psychology Press
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Injuries - pathology; Corpus Striatum - pathology; Corpus Striatum - physiopathology; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Female; Functional Laterality; Humans; Huntington Disease - pathology; Huntington's disease; Learning - physiology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Motor Skills - physiology; Motor Skills Disorders - etiology; Motor Skills Disorders - pathology; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Nondeclarative memory; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson's disease; Perception - physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Skill learning; Statistics, Nonparametric; Striatum; Verbal Learning - physiology; Parkinson's disease; Central nervous system; Parkinson disease; Motor learning; Encephalon; Skill learning; Nondeclarative memory; Striatum; Acquisition process; Degenerative disease; Motricity; Human; Nervous system diseases; Huntington disease; Motor skill; Basal ganglion; Corpus striatum; Non declarative memory; Huntington's disease; Genetic disease; Cerebral disorder; Central nervous system disease; Perception; Perceptive learning; Extrapyramidal syndrome
• ISSN: 1380-3395; 1744-411X
• DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2010.493144

Acquisition of new perceptual-motor skills depends on multiple brain areas, including the striatum. However, the specific contribution of each structure to this type of learning is still poorly understood. Focusing on the striatum, we proposed (a) to replicate the finding of impaired rotary pursuit (RP) and preserved mirror tracing (MT) in Huntington's disease (HD); and (b) to further explore this putative learning dissociation with other human models of striatal dysfunction (i.e., Parkinson's disease and focal vascular damage) and two new paradigms (i.e., Geometric Figures, GF, and Control Stick, CS) of skill learning. Regardless of the etiology, participants with damage to the striatum showed impaired learning of visuomotor tracking skills (i.e., RP and GF), whereas the ability to learn skills that require motor adaptation (i.e., MT and CS) was not affected. These results suggest a task-specific involvement of the striatum in the early stages of skill learning.