Description:

The Department of Physiology welcomes Dr. David Robbe with Inserm PACA.

Abstract:
A prominent theory in system neuroscience is that different forms of memories are stored in different brain regions/networks. Inside this framework, the basal ganglia, and more specifically the dorsal striatum, are supposed to play a critical role in the storage and recall of motor memories. During my talk, I will present a critical review of this claim from the perspective of philosophy (does it make sense to say that the brain stores memories?) and of experimental neuroscience (are the evidence supporting a selective role of the striatum in storage of motor memories solid?). Then I will present results from our latest work suggesting that, in regard of motor learning and control, the dorsal striatum may contribute to a much lower-level function than "memory storage/expression": the determination of motor costs. I will conclude that a function of the basal ganglia related to temporal and movement costs may provide a parsimonious framework to explain the implication of this set of subcortical nuclei in a wide range of behavioral contexts (i.e., beyond motor learning/control) and diseases.