Cortico-basal ganglia pathways are essential for the recall of well-established visuomotor associations.

Recent human neuroimaging studies, supported by lesion studies with nonhuman primates, have suggested that learning arbitrary associations between sensory cues and behavioural responses requires interactions between the infero-temporal, prefrontal and premotor cortices. We directly tested the hypothesis suggested from our neuroimaging experiments that functional links between the basal ganglia and premotor cortex are involved in the process via which task performance becomes automatic. We made unilateral excitotoxic lesions, centred on the internal pallidum, in four macaques previously given extensive experience on the associations between nonspatial visual cues and movements of a joystick.

The inferior frontal gyrus and phonological processing: an investigation using rTMS.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) offers a powerful new technique for investigating the distinct contributions of the cortical language areas. We have used this method to examine the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in phonological processing and verbal working memory. Functional neuroimaging studies have implicated the posterior part of the left IFG in both phonological decision making and subvocal rehearsal mechanisms, but imaging is a correlational method and it is therefore necessary to determine whether this region is essential for such processes.

The role of the cerebellum in preparing responses to predictable sensory events.

Despite numerous studies on the effects of lesions of the mammalian cerebellum on coordination, adaptation and learning, the precise nature of this structure's contribution to motor control remains controversial. This paper reviews the results of a series of behavioural studies with monkeys trained to make rapid, accurate sequences of responses to visual targets. The effects of discrete cerebellar lesions on the performance of these animals is discussed in the light of recent theories about how the cerebellum might be concerned with learning to anticipate certain kinds of sensory events.