Recent studies have shown that multiple brain areas contribute to different stages and aspects
of procedural learning. On the basis of a series of studies using a sequence-learning task …

Midbrain dopamine neurons are well known for their strong responses to rewards and their
critical role in positive motivation. It has become increasingly clear, however, that dopamine …

Choosing valuable objects is critical for survival, but their values may change flexibly or
remain stable. Therefore, animals should be able to update the object values flexibly by recent …

1. To characterize procedural learning and memory, we devised a behavioral paradigm that
allows us to examine the process of learning of new procedures, repeatedly and without …

… Any attempt to base decision-making solely on cognition fails fully to determine action
selection because any information, such as “action A leads to outcome O,” can be used both to …

In addition to their well-known role in skeletal movements, the basal ganglia control saccadic
eye movements (saccades) by means of their connection to the superior colliculus (SC). …

… & Hikosaka, O. A possible role of midbrain dopamine neurons in short- and long-term adaptation
… OH supported all of these processes. MM and OH discussed the results and wrote the …

… MM and OH discussed the results and wrote the manuscript. OH organized this project. …
task for reward, Masayuki Matsumoto and Okihide Hikosaka show that a small brain area called …

Recent studies have shown that frontoparietal cortices and interconnecting regions in the
basal ganglia and the cerebellum are related to motor skill learning. We propose that motor …

Surviving in a world with hidden rewards and dangers requires choosing the appropriate
behaviours. Recent discoveries indicate that the habenula plays a prominent part in such …