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Action selection is the task of resolving conflicts between multiple sensorimotor systems seeking access to the final common motor path. Recently,¹,² we proposed that the basal ganglia may act to provide a biological solution to the problem of selection. To test this notion we have implemented a high level computational model of intrinsic basal ganglia circuitry and its interactions with simulated thalamocortical connections.³,⁴ The computational model was then exposed to the rigors of `real world’ action selection by embedding it within the control architecture of a small mobile robot.⁵ In a mock foraging task, the robot was required to select appropriate actions under changing sensory and motivational conditions, thereby generating sequences of integrated behavior. Our results demonstrate: (i) the computational model of basal ganglia switches effectively between competing channels depending on the …