Category Learning in the Brain

Overview

Journal Annu Rev Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2010 Jun 25

PMID 20572771

Citations 155

Authors

Carol A Seger

Earl K Miller

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The ability to group items and events into functional categories is a fundamental characteristic of sophisticated thought. It is subserved by plasticity in many neural systems, including neocortical regions (sensory, prefrontal, parietal, and motor cortex), the medial temporal lobe, the basal ganglia, and midbrain dopaminergic systems. These systems interact during category learning. Corticostriatal loops may mediate recursive, bootstrapping interactions between fast reward-gated plasticity in the basal ganglia and slow reward-shaded plasticity in the cortex. This can provide a balance between acquisition of details of experiences and generalization across them. Interactions between the corticostriatal loops can integrate perceptual, response, and feedback-related aspects of the task and mediate the shift from novice to skilled performance. The basal ganglia and medial temporal lobe interact competitively or cooperatively, depending on the demands of the learning task.

Citing Articles

Linking Subclinical Autistic Traits and Perceptual Category Learning.

Warren C, Baumert R, Diermann K, Schottle D, Bayer J Eur J Neurosci. 2025; 61(4):e70000.

PMID: 39957480 PMC: 11831246. DOI: 10.1111/ejn.70000.

Coordinating multiple mental faculties during learning.

Luo X, Mok R, Roads B, Love B Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):5319.

PMID: 39939457 PMC: 11822098. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-89732-4.

Emergence of Categorical Representations in Parietal and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex across Extended Training.

Liu Z, Zhang Y, Wen C, Yuan J, Zhang J, Seger C J Neurosci. 2025; 45(9).

PMID: 39746819 PMC: 11867003. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1315-24.2024.

Resting-State Network Plasticity Following Category Learning Depends on Sensory Modality.

Tabrik S, Dinse H, Tegenthoff M, Behroozi M Hum Brain Mapp. 2024; 45(18):e70111.

PMID: 39720915 PMC: 11669188. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.70111.

Exploring the effectiveness of reward-based learning strategies for second-language speech sounds.

Thorburn C, Lau E, Feldman N Psychon Bull Rev. 2024; 32(1):139-155.

PMID: 39112905 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02541-0.

References

Pasupathy A, Miller E . Different time courses of learning-related activity in the prefrontal cortex and striatum. Nature. 2005; 433(7028):873-6. DOI: 10.1038/nature03287. View

Hampson R, Pons T, Stanford T, Deadwyler S . Categorization in the monkey hippocampus: a possible mechanism for encoding information into memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004; 101(9):3184-9. PMC: 365764. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0400162101. View

Poldrack R, Rodriguez P . How do memory systems interact? Evidence from human classification learning. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2004; 82(3):324-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2004.05.003. View

Nomura E, Maddox W, Filoteo J, Ing A, Gitelman D, Parrish T . Neural correlates of rule-based and information-integration visual category learning. Cereb Cortex. 2006; 17(1):37-43. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhj122. View

Middleton F, Strick P . Basal-ganglia 'projections' to the prefrontal cortex of the primate. Cereb Cortex. 2002; 12(9):926-35. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/12.9.926. View

HOOVER J, Strick P . Multiple output channels in the basal ganglia. Science. 1993; 259(5096):819-21. DOI: 10.1126/science.7679223. View

Martin A . The representation of object concepts in the brain. Annu Rev Psychol. 2006; 58:25-45. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190143. View

Law J, Flanery M, Wirth S, Yanike M, Smith A, Frank L . Functional magnetic resonance imaging activity during the gradual acquisition and expression of paired-associate memory. J Neurosci. 2005; 25(24):5720-9. PMC: 6724878. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4935-04.2005. View

Wyttenbach R, May M, Hoy R . Categorical perception of sound frequency by crickets. Science. 1996; 273(5281):1542-4. DOI: 10.1126/science.273.5281.1542. View

10.

Cincotta C, Seger C . Dissociation between striatal regions while learning to categorize via feedback and via observation. J Cogn Neurosci. 2007; 19(2):249-65. DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.2.249. View

11.

Vallabha G, McClelland J, Pons F, Werker J, Amano S . Unsupervised learning of vowel categories from infant-directed speech. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007; 104(33):13273-8. PMC: 1934922. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0705369104. View

12.

Humphries M, Stewart R, Gurney K . A physiologically plausible model of action selection and oscillatory activity in the basal ganglia. J Neurosci. 2006; 26(50):12921-42. PMC: 6674973. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3486-06.2006. View

13.

Haruno M, Kawato M . Different neural correlates of reward expectation and reward expectation error in the putamen and caudate nucleus during stimulus-action-reward association learning. J Neurophysiol. 2005; 95(2):948-59. DOI: 10.1152/jn.00382.2005. View

14.

Myers C, Shohamy D, Gluck M, Grossman S, Kluger A, Ferris S . Dissociating hippocampal versus basal ganglia contributions to learning and transfer. J Cogn Neurosci. 2003; 15(2):185-93. DOI: 10.1162/089892903321208123. View

15.

Freedman D, Riesenhuber M, Poggio T, Miller E . A comparison of primate prefrontal and inferior temporal cortices during visual categorization. J Neurosci. 2003; 23(12):5235-46. PMC: 6741148. View

16.

McClelland J, McNaughton B, OReilly R . Why there are complementary learning systems in the hippocampus and neocortex: insights from the successes and failures of connectionist models of learning and memory. Psychol Rev. 1995; 102(3):419-457. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.102.3.419. View

17.

Moody T, Bookheimer S, Vanek Z, Knowlton B . An implicit learning task activates medial temporal lobe in patients with Parkinson's disease. Behav Neurosci. 2004; 118(2):438-42. DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.118.2.438. View

18.

Merchant H, Zainos A, Hernandez A, Salinas E, Romo R . Functional properties of primate putamen neurons during the categorization of tactile stimuli. J Neurophysiol. 1997; 77(3):1132-54. DOI: 10.1152/jn.1997.77.3.1132. View

19.

Seger C . How do the basal ganglia contribute to categorization? Their roles in generalization, response selection, and learning via feedback. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2007; 32(2):265-78. PMC: 2376049. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.07.010. View

20.

Lee A, Duman R, Pittenger C . A double dissociation revealing bidirectional competition between striatum and hippocampus during learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105(44):17163-8. PMC: 2579395. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0807749105. View