Esmaeili, VahidTamura, KeitaFoustoukos, GeorgiosOryshchuk, AnastasiiaCrochet, SylvainPetersen, Carl2020-10-232020-10-232020-10-232020-10-1310.1016/j.conb.2020.08.003https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/172708Animals can learn to use sensory stimuli to generate motor actions in order to obtain rewards. However, the precise neuronal circuits driving learning and execution of a specific goal-directed sensory-to-motor transformation remain to be elucidated. Here, we review progress in understanding the contribution of cortical neuronal circuits to a task in which head-restrained water-restricted mice learn to lick a reward spout in response to whisker deflection. We first examine ‘innate’ pathways for whisker sensory processing and licking motor control, and then discuss how these might become linked through reward-based learning, perhaps enabled by cholinergic-gated and dopaminergic-gated plasticity. The aim is to uncover the synaptically connected neuronal pathways that mediate reward-based learning and execution of a well-defined sensory-to-motor transformation.text::journal::journal article::research article