<p>The sensory-motor learning and control loop which processes sensory inputs to determine which motor action to perform next is perhaps one of the most basic functions of any nervous system including ours, and from Wikipedia source of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_control" rel="nofollow noreferrer">motor control</a> we know in addition to cerebellum and motor cortex, it at least also involves basal ganglia and other cortex areas.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mammalian model systems like mice and monkeys offer the most straightforward comparative models for human health and disease. They are widely used to study the role of higher brain regions common to vertebrates, including the cerebral cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia and deep brain medullary and reticular circuits for motor control.[17]... The organization of arthropod nervous systems into ganglia that control each leg as allowed researchers to record from neurons dedicated to moving a specific leg during behavior.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And from the same WP source of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_ganglia" rel="nofollow noreferrer">basal ganglia (BG)</a> we know BG acts the critical <em>action selection</em> role in motor control via its striatum stripes within which differentially indexed units representing either direct &quot;Go&quot; or indirect &quot;NoGo&quot; action selection pathways.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Popular theories implicate the basal ganglia primarily in action selection – in helping to decide which of several possible behaviors to execute at any given time. In more specific terms, the basal ganglia's primary function is likely to control and regulate activities of the motor and premotor cortical areas so that voluntary movements can be performed smoothly.[2][5] Experimental studies show that the basal ganglia exert an inhibitory influence on a number of motor systems, and that a release of this inhibition permits a motor system to become active. The &quot;behavior switching&quot; that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The basal ganglia have a limbic sector whose components are assigned distinct names: the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, and ventral tegmental area (VTA). There is considerable evidence that this limbic part plays a central role in reward learning as well as cognition and frontal lobe functioning, via the mesolimbic pathway from the VTA to the nucleus accumbens that uses the neurotransmitter dopamine, and the mesocortical pathway... The direct pathway, originating in the dorsal striatum inhibits the GPi and SNr, resulting in a net disinhibition or excitation of the thalamus. This pathway consists of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that express dopamine receptor D1, muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M4, and adenosine receptor A1.[27] The direct pathway has been proposed to facilitate motor actions, timing of motor actions, gating of working memory, and motor responses to specific stimuli.[26] The (long) indirect pathway originates in the dorsal striatum and inhibits the GPe, resulting in disinhibition of the GPi which is then free to inhibit the thalamus. This pathway consists of MSNs that express dopamine receptor D2, muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1, and adenosine receptor A2a.[27] This pathway has been proposed to result in global motor inhibition(inhibition of all motor activity), and termination of responses. Another shorter indirect pathway has been proposed, which involves cortical excitation of the subthalamic nucleus resulting in direct excitation of the GPe, and inhibition of the thalamus. This pathway is proposed to result in inhibition of specific motor programs based on associative learning.[26]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thus essentially with input from motor cortex and other possible cortical areas (parietal, prefrontal, temporal) basal ganglia acts as a gating motor and other cognitive <em>action selection</em> system with <em>feedback</em> from the dopaminergic reward system if reward prediction error is large.</p>
<p>Finally with BG's action decision making, the cerebellum further uses supervised learning to shape the performance of the selected action so that it is accurate and well-coordinated. From its WP source:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Animals and humans with cerebellar dysfunction show, above all, problems with motor control, on the same side of the body as the damaged part of the cerebellum. They continue to be able to generate motor activity but lose precision, producing erratic, uncoordinated, or incorrectly timed movements. A standard test of cerebellar function is to reach with the tip of the finger for a target at arm's length: A healthy person will move the fingertip in a rapid straight trajectory, whereas a person with cerebellar damage will reach slowly and erratically, with many mid-course corrections.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-14T08:41:31.557Z
Although your answer is basically valid and appreciated, please note that Wiki pages are volatile, that they are littered with circle references and sometimes even contain plain rubbish. It's much better practice to base your answer on scientific papers (naturally, with a link and citation), or other valid resources (university websites etc.)  and keep wikipedia as a source to explain terminology (basically, as a hyperlink behind scientific terms).
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-13T06:23:00.913Z
2022-11-13T06:23:00.913Z
cinch
<p>I am learning instruments and am sometimes amazed at how hard a seemingly simple thing like raising two different sets of fingers after one another can be.</p>
<p>I wonder how the brain learns this? Is it the cerebellum and the motor cortex where the &quot;cortical homonculus&quot; is or is it a cooperation between even more brain regions?</p>

<learning>
What part of brain learns/controls finger motion?
Emil
# What part of brain learns/controls finger motion?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-05-31)

I am learning instruments and am sometimes amazed at how hard a seemingly simple thing like raising two different sets of fingers after one another can be.

I wonder how the brain learns this? Is it the cerebellum and the motor cortex where the "cortical homonculus" is or is it a cooperation between even more brain regions?

**Tags:** learning


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-11-13. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

The sensory-motor learning and control loop which processes sensory inputs to determine which motor action to perform next is perhaps one of the most basic functions of any nervous system including ours, and from Wikipedia source of [motor control](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_control) we know in addition to cerebellum and motor cortex, it at least also involves basal ganglia and other cortex areas.

> Mammalian model systems like mice and monkeys offer the most straightforward comparative models for human health and disease. They are widely used to study the role of higher brain regions common to vertebrates, including the cerebral cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia and deep brain medullary and reticular circuits for motor control.[17]... The organization of arthropod nervous systems into ganglia that control each leg as allowed researchers to record from neurons dedicated to moving a specific leg during behavior.

And from the same WP source of [basal ganglia (BG)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_ganglia) we know BG acts the critical *action selection* role in motor control via its striatum stripes within which differentially indexed units representing either direct "Go" or indirect "NoGo" action selection pathways.

> Popular theories implicate the basal ganglia primarily in action selection – in helping to decide which of several possible behaviors to execute at any given time. In more specific terms, the basal ganglia's primary function is likely to control and regulate activities of the motor and premotor cortical areas so that voluntary movements can be performed smoothly.[2][5] Experimental studies show that the basal ganglia exert an inhibitory influence on a number of motor systems, and that a release of this inhibition permits a motor system to become active. The "behavior switching" that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.

> The basal ganglia have a limbic sector whose components are assigned distinct names: the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, and ventral tegmental area (VTA). There is considerable evidence that this limbic part plays a central role in reward learning as well as cognition and frontal lobe functioning, via the mesolimbic pathway from the VTA to the nucleus accumbens that uses the neurotransmitter dopamine, and the mesocortical pathway... The direct pathway, originating in the dorsal striatum inhibits the GPi and SNr, resulting in a net disinhibition or excitation of the thalamus. This pathway consists of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that express dopamine receptor D1, muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M4, and adenosine receptor A1.[27] The direct pathway has been proposed to facilitate motor actions, timing of motor actions, gating of working memory, and motor responses to specific stimuli.[26] The (long) indirect pathway originates in the dorsal striatum and inhibits the GPe, resulting in disinhibition of the GPi which is then free to inhibit the thalamus. This pathway consists of MSNs that express dopamine receptor D2, muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1, and adenosine receptor A2a.[27] This pathway has been proposed to result in global motor inhibition(inhibition of all motor activity), and termination of responses. Another shorter indirect pathway has been proposed, which involves cortical excitation of the subthalamic nucleus resulting in direct excitation of the GPe, and inhibition of the thalamus. This pathway is proposed to result in inhibition of specific motor programs based on associative learning.[26]

Thus essentially with input from motor cortex and other possible cortical areas (parietal, prefrontal, temporal) basal ganglia acts as a gating motor and other cognitive *action selection* system with *feedback* from the dopaminergic reward system if reward prediction error is large.

Finally with BG's action decision making, the cerebellum further uses supervised learning to shape the performance of the selected action so that it is accurate and well-coordinated. From its WP source:

> Animals and humans with cerebellar dysfunction show, above all, problems with motor control, on the same side of the body as the damaged part of the cerebellum. They continue to be able to generate motor activity but lose precision, producing erratic, uncoordinated, or incorrectly timed movements. A standard test of cerebellar function is to reach with the tip of the finger for a target at arm's length: A healthy person will move the fingertip in a rapid straight trajectory, whereas a person with cerebellar damage will reach slowly and erratically, with many mid-course corrections.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Although your answer is basically valid and appreciated, please note that Wiki pages are volatile, that they are littered with circle references and sometimes even contain plain rubbish. It's much better practice to base your answer on scientific papers (naturally, with a link and citation), or other valid resources (university websites etc.)  and keep wikipedia as a source to explain terminology (basically, as a hyperlink behind scientific terms).  

---

