MIT research provides new insights about trial-and-error learning
Learning complex skills like playing an instrument requires a sequence of movements that can take years to master. Last year, MIT neuroscientists reported that by studying the chirps of tiny songbirds, they were able to identify how two distinct brain circuits contribute to this type of trial-and-error learning in different stages of life.
Now, the researchers have gained new insights into a specific mechanism behind this learning. In a paper being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of July 6, the scientists report that as zebra finches fine-tune their songs, the brain initially stores improvements in one brain pathway before transferring this learned information to the motor pathway for long-term storage.
The work could further our understanding of the complicated circuitry of the basal ganglia, brain structures that play a key role in learning and habit formation in humans. The basal ganglia are also linked to disorders like Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder and drug addiction.