Dopaminergic control of the striatum for high-level cognition

Dopamine has long been implicated in a wide variety of high-level cognitive processes, ranging from working memory to rule learning and attention switching. Notable progress has been made in the past decades, but the mechanisms underlying effects of dopamine on high-level cognition remain unclear. This article reviews evidence for an important role of the striatum and its interaction with the prefrontal cortex and suggests a variety of ways by which changes in dopamine transmission can bias high-level cognition.

► Effects of dopamine go beyond modulation of model-free, habit learning.
► Dopamine also modulates high-level cognitive function.
► Multiple fronto-striatal mechanisms are proposed to mediate high-level cognitive effects of dopamine.