Task-bracketing by the dorsolateral striatum underlies habit strength and context independence.

“So it turns out that there's an area of our basal ganglia called the dorsolateral striatum, we can use the acronym DLS. Again, dorsolateral striatum. Dorso means up. Lateral means to the side. So dorsolateral. And striatum is a subdivision of the basal ganglia. And it's very important for the establishment of behaviors that are associated with a habit, but not necessarily the habit itself. And beautiful studies in both animals and humans that record the activity in the dorsolateral striatum find that the dorsolateral striatum is associated, meaning it becomes active at the beginning of a particular habit, and at the very end and after a particular habit. Hence the phrase task-bracketing. It brackets the habit.”