# Corticostriatal contributions to motor exploration and reinforcement

> **NIH NIH RF1** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $3,670,999

## Abstract

Project Summary
Complex motor sequences are fundamental to many highly skilled behaviors, ranging from athletics to musical
and vocal expression. Learning such complex movements requires both motor variability, to facilitate exploration
important to reinforcement learning, and motor flexibility, to enable the adaptive modification of behavior in
response to reinforcement signals. Studies of relatively simple skill learning, such as lever pressing or licking,
emphasize that interactions between the motor cortex and the striatum are central to both exploration and
reinforcement. However, how corticostriatal circuits facilitate motor exploration and reinforcement of complex
behaviors such as speech remains unknown. The goal of this proposal is to monitor and manipulate the
activity of corticostriatal circuits dedicated to learning complex vocal behaviors. Integrating these
circuit studies with predictive computational models and novel methods of vocal analysis will allow us
to test the hypothesis that corticostriatal circuits provide a source of directed variability that enables the
systematic exploration of high-dimensional vocal “space.” The Specific Aims are to: 1) Use high-
resolution imaging methods to determine how variability in the vocalization-related activity of cortical and striatal
neurons relates to vocal variability; 2) Use cell-type specific optogenetic perturbations targeted to small neural
ensembles to determine how cortical and striatal neuron activity contributes to vocal variability; and 3) Use
closed-loop methods to determine how reinforcement signals modulate corticostriatal ensemble activity and how
these changes in activity affect vocal performance. Collectively, the proposed experiments will help achieve our
long term goal of causally testing how corticostriatal circuits contribute to motor exploration and reinforcement
needed to learn complex skills.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10053204
- **Project number:** 1RF1NS118424-01
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Timothy James Gardner
- **Activity code:** RF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $3,670,999
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10053204

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10053204, Corticostriatal contributions to motor exploration and reinforcement (1RF1NS118424-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10053204. Licensed CC0.

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