The Tubular Striatum
Daniel W. Wesson
Abstract
In the mid-19th century, a misconception was born, which understandably persists in the minds of many neuroscientists today. The eminent scientist Albert von Kölliker named a tubular-shaped piece of tissue found in the brains of all mammals studied to date, the tuberculum olfactorium - or what is commonly known as the olfactory tubercle (OT). In doing this, Kölliker ascribed "olfactory" functions and an "olfactory" purpose to the OT. The OT has since been classified as one of several olfactory cortices. However, further investigations of OT functions, especially over the last decade, have provided evidence for roles of the OT beyond olfaction, including in learning, motivated behaviors, and even seeking of psychoactive drugs. Indeed, research to date suggests caution in assigning the OT with a purely olfactory role. Here, I build on previous research to synthesize a model wherein the OT, which may be more appropriately termed the "tubular striatum" (TuS), is a neural system in which sensory information derived from an organism's experiences is integrated with information about its motivational states to guide affective and behavioral responses.