# Neural circuits underlying the acquisition and control of motor skills

> **NIH NIH R01** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $369,688

## Abstract

Neural circuits underlying the acquisition and control of motor skills
Much of our behavioral repertoire consists of learned motor skills, yet little is known about the neural
mechanisms that underlie their acquisition and execution. We have recently discovered that motor cortex is
required for learning but not for executing certain motor skills, suggesting an autonomous subcortical motor
network capable of generating task-specific learned motor sequences. Importantly, motor cortex seems to be
involved in ‘tutoring’ this subcortical network during learning.
 Here we will first explore the role of the basal ganglia, a collection of motor-related midbrain nuclei of
great clinical significance, in the storage and execution of complex task-specific motor sequences. Specifically,
we will test whether the part of the basal ganglia that receives input from motor cortex, the dorsolateral
striatum (DLS), is essentially involved in producing the skills we train. We will do this by way of lesioning DLS
and other parts of the basal ganglia in animals that have learned to master the task we train (Aim 1). We will
further analyze how the striatum encodes the learned motor sequences, specifically testing the hypothesis that
it encodes the detailed structure and kinematics of learned motor sequences (Aim 2). Lastly, we will test the
idea that motor cortex is ‘tutoring’ the subcortical motor circuits during learning through its projections to the
basal ganglia (Aim 3). We will explore these questions using a fully automated rodent training system we
developed, in combination with a set-up for recording neural activity and behavior continuously over weeks
and months in freely behaving rodents.
 Addressing the aims of our proposal will clarify the logic of how the mammalian motor system acquires
and controls task-specific motor sequences, and delineate the roles of the BG and the corticostriatal pathway in
these important processes, thus addressing fundamental questions in neuroscience with far-reaching
implications for clinical practice and neurorehabilitation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9961695
- **Project number:** 5R01NS099323-05
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Bence P Olveczky
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $369,688
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9961695

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9961695, Neural circuits underlying the acquisition and control of motor skills (5R01NS099323-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9961695. Licensed CC0.

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