principally from the intralaminar nuclei of thalamus. Its functions remain unclear, but a subset
of these projections provides a pathway through which the cerebellum communicates with
the basal ganglia. Both the cerebellum and basal ganglia play crucial roles in motor control.
Although songbirds have yielded key insights into the neural basis of vocal learning, it is
unknown whether a thalamostriatal system exists in the songbird brain. Thalamic nucleus …