Abstract:Skill learning requires motor output to be evaluated against internal performance benchmarks. In songbirds, ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons (DA) signal performance errors important for learning, but it remains unclear which brain regions project VTA and how these inputs may implement the sensorimotor comparisons necessary for error computation. Here we find that the songbird subthalamic nucleus (STN) projects to VTA and that STN microstimulation can excite VTA neurons. We also discover that STN r… Show more
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