Brain Mechanisms Underlying Motor Skill Learning in the Rat

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Abstract
Young rats subjected to bilateral brain lesions were subsequently tested for acquisition of eight puzzle-box problems. Lesions to 12 of the 37 brain sites investigated (anterior pretectal area, subthalamus, posterolateral hypothalamus, frontocingulate cortex, anterior thalamus, mediodorsal thalamus, ventromedial thalamus, parafascicular nucleus, mamillary bodies, cerebellum, olfactory bulb, and ventromedial hypothalamus) retarded puzzle-box learning. This study, combined with earlier investigation of 11 additional brain sites, show that 21 of the 48 total brain structures are involved in motor skill learning. These findings suggest that motor skill learning requires the integrity of a nonspecific mechanism and several specific mechanisms, such as vestibular-proprioceptive-kinesthetic discrimination mechanism and probably also response flexibility, visuospatial attentional, visual discrimination and place learning mechanisms.

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