Brain's traffic lights

摘要

The organization of behaviour as sequences of actions requires proper initiation and termination of each action sequence. The neural circuit that signals instructions to start and stop is now revealed.rnLearning to execute a new action in a sequence - from start to finish - is essential for survival and subserves many routine behaviours and everyday activities, such as shifting the gear in a car or playing a musical instrument. Action sequences are learned, and eventually, with practice, are performed automatically, through an implicit learning process that involves changes in neuronal activity in specific brain structures. On page 457 of this issue, Jin and Costa show that neurons in two brain structures - the nucleus striatum and the substantia nigra, constituting the nigro-striatal circuit - can signal the initiation and termination of self-paced action sequences, and that this 'start/stop' neuronal activity emerges as animals learn how to execute a specific action sequence.