Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25942352›Full record

ArticleeLife2015

Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex.

Matthew T Kaufman, Mark M Churchland, Stephen I Ryu, Krishna V Shenoy

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
73citing papers in PubMed
5.8field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

73 citing papers in PubMed, 133 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Brain-wide coordination of internal signals during decision-making.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
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  18. Recent Visual Experience Reshapes V4 Neuronal Activity and Improves Perceptual Performance.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024
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13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Matthew T KaufmanDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
Mark M ChurchlandDepartment of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, United States.
Stephen I RyuDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
Krishna V ShenoyDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
Stanford University · USCold Spring Harbor Laboratory · USColumbia University Irving Medical Center · US

Funding

CRCNS: Extracting Dynamical Structure Embedded in Motor Preparatory ActivityR01NS054283 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI SHENOY, KRISHNA V · 2005 to 2009
$1.7M
Toward an Animal Model of Freely Moving HumanDP1HD075623 · NICHD · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI SHENOY, KRISHNA V · 2012 to 2013
$1.6M
NCCDPHP CDC HHS 8DP1HD075623NICHD NIH HHS DP1 HD075623NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS054283NINDS NIH HHS R01-NS054283
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

When choosing actions, we can act decisively, vacillate, or suffer momentary indecision. Studying how individual decisions unfold requires moment-by-moment readouts of brain state. Here we provide such a view from dorsal premotor and primary motor cortex. Two monkeys performed a novel decision task while we recorded from many neurons simultaneously. We found that a decoder trained using 'forced choices' (one target viable) was highly reliable when applied to 'free choices'. However, during free choices internal events formed three categories. Typically, neural activity was consistent with rapid, unwavering choices. Sometimes, though, we observed presumed 'changes of mind': the neural state initially reflected one choice before changing to reflect the final choice. Finally, we observed momentary 'indecision': delay forming any clear motor plan. Further, moments of neural indecision accompanied moments of behavioral indecision. Together, these results reveal the rich and diverse set of internal events long suspected to occur during free choice.

Indexed as

UncertaintyAction PotentialsAnimalsChoice BehaviorCognitionElectrodes, ImplantedMacaca mulattaMaleMotor CortexNeuronsReaction Timedecision makingdecoderfree choicemonkeymotorneurosciencevacillation

Identifiers

PMID25942352
PMCPMC4415122
OpenAlexW2123811638

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.