Motor Cortex Is Required for Learning but Not for Executing a Motor Skill

• We train rats to execute spatiotemporally precise task-specific motor sequences
• We show that motor cortex is not required for executing the learned skills
• Motor cortex, however, is essential for acquiring the subcortically generated skills
• This suggests that motor cortex “tutors” subcortical motor circuits during skill learning

SummaryMotor cortex is widely believed to underlie the acquisition and execution of motor skills, but its contributions to these processes are not fully understood. One reason is that studies on motor skills often conflate motor cortex’s established role in dexterous control with roles in learning and producing task-specific motor sequences. To dissociate these aspects, we developed a motor task for rats that trains spatiotemporally precise movement patterns without requirements for dexterity. Remarkably, motor cortex lesions had no discernible effect on the acquired skills, which were expressed in their distinct pre-lesion forms on the very first day of post-lesion training. Motor cortex lesions prior to training, however, rendered rats unable to acquire the stereotyped motor sequences required for the task. These results suggest a remarkable capacity of subcortical motor circuits to execute learned skills and a previously unappreciated role for motor cortex in “tutoring” these circuits during learning.