The action selection hypothesis suggest that frontalcortex generates possible actions and the striatum selects one of these actions by inhibiting the execution of other actions while allowing the selected action execution. Two of the common theories are action selection and reinforcement learning.

The role of frontostriatal circuits is not well understood. Also, there are open connections to these circuits integrating information from other areas of the brain. There are also feedback loops from thalamus back to prefrontal cortex completing the closed loop circuits. These circuits originate in prefrontal cortex and project to the striatum followed by globus pallidus and substantia nigra and finally to the thalamus. These five circuits share same anatomical structures. There are five defined frontostriatal circuits: motor and oculomotor circuits originating in the frontal eye fields are involved in motor functions while dorsolateral prefrontal, orbital frontal, and anterior cingulate circuits are involved in executive functions, social behavior and motivational states. Simplified diagram of frontal cortex to striatum to thalamus pathways.

Iclone perception neuron