The striatum and probabilistic implicit sequence learning.

Full Abstract

The distinction between implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious) learning is controversial. Some argue that explicit learning is dependent on the medial temporal lobes, whereas implicit learning is mediated by the basal ganglia and others propose that all learning is explicit. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the involvement of the basal ganglia in implicit learning by examining learning of a probabilistic sequence of targets, in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and controls. Following learning, we assessed participants' awareness of the sequence structure by asking them to generate or withhold sequence consistent responses (process dissociation procedure) and to perform a recognition test in which measures of priming and recognition were obtained concurrently. Although the PD group demonstrated evidence of probabilistic sequence learning in this study, learning was significantly attenuated compared to controls. Residual learning in the PD group was genuinely implicit in nature because (a) PD patients were not able to control the expression of their acquired knowledge, and (b) their knowledge supported subsequent priming of sequence-consistent responses but recognition ratings were at chance. In contrast, following learning controls were capable of above chance recognition indicating that their sequential knowledge was acquired in a more explicit way. The results support the view that (i) the basal ganglia contribute to probabilistic implicit sequence learning (ii) that such learning can occur implicitly without explicit knowledge in PD patients.

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Author information

Author/s: Wilkinson, Leonora (L); Jahanshahi, Marjan (M);

Affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurology, 8-11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK. l.wilkinson(-atsign-)ion.ucl.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Brain research (Brain Res), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 1137 (issue 1) : pp 117-30

Dates: Created 2007/02/19; Completed 2007/05/01;

PMID: 17229409, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Analysis of Variance
Awareness
Case-Control Studies
Corpus Striatum - physiopathology
Female
Humans
Male

Male
Middle Aged
Models, Statistical
Neuropsychological Tests
Parkinson Disease - pathology; physiopathology
Reaction Time
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology
Serial Learning - physiology

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