Learning and memory functions of the basal ganglia

Authors' note: In behavioral sections of the present review the term basal ganglia is often used to refer to the caudate nucleus and putmen (i.e., dorsal striatum). These structures are perhaps primary, but they are certainly not selective components of a group of subcortical. structures that make up the basal ganglia. The broader term is used here simply in the interest of attracting the widest general readership of investigators interested in basal ganglia function.