Goal-direction and top-down control |
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| Authors: | Timothy J. Buschman Earl K. Miller |
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| Affiliation: | 1.Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA;2.The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA |
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| 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. |
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| Keywords: | goal direction frontal lobe basal ganglia cognition learning |
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