ArticleNature2017
Cerebellar granule cells encode the expectation of reward.
Article in Nature, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 282 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
282 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 509 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cerebellar tDCS and pain modulation: a critical integrative and systematic review.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Mentalizing About Dynamic Social Action Sequences Is Supported by the Cerebellum, Basal Ganglia, and Neocortex: A Meta-Analysis of Activation and Connectivity.Human brain mapping · 2024Pooled it
- Recent breakthroughs in understanding the cerebellum's role in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: A systematic review.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2024Pooled it
- Cerebellar Stimulation Modulates Reward Processing: A High-definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Study.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Cerebellar rhythms: mechanisms, functions and translational opportunities.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Predictive and instructive cerebellar encoding of dopamine reward drives motivated behavior.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Economic and social modulations of innate decision-making in mice exposed to visual threats.eLife · 2026Article
- Brain-AI convergence: Generative world models and hierarchical attention for human intelligence.Patterns (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Review
- Unsupervised nonmotor learning in the human cerebellum.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Cerebellar Connectome.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Cerebellar neural populations orchestrate dopamine reward signaling with single-trial precision.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The Human Cerebellum Encodes Temporally Sensitive Reinforcement Learning Signals.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Instrumental-Motor Transfer: The Relative Value of Competing Movement Goals Modulates Implicit Motor Learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neural circuits encode prior knowledge of temporal statistics.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Cerebellar microglia-derived IL-17A mitigates autism-related behavioral and synaptic deficits.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- The cerebellum implements structured representation of valence to support adaptive behavior control.Science advances · 2026Article
- Protracted prediction: Neurodevelopment of reward processing in the adolescent cerebellum.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- MeCP2 is Necessary in Cerebellar Purkinje Cells for Precise Network Dynamics During Associative Motor Learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Contribution of the anterior lateral motor cortex to predictive postural control in rats.Scientific reports · 2026Article
222 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The human brain contains approximately 60 billion cerebellar granule cells, which outnumber all other brain neurons combined. Classical theories posit that a large, diverse population of granule cells allows for highly detailed representations of sensorimotor context, enabling downstream Purkinje cells to sense fine contextual changes. Although evidence suggests a role for the cerebellum in cognition, granule cells are known to encode only sensory and motor context. Here, using two-photon calcium imaging in behaving mice, we show that granule cells convey information about the expectation of reward. Mice initiated voluntary forelimb movements for delayed sugar-water reward. Some granule cells responded preferentially to reward or reward omission, whereas others selectively encoded reward anticipation. Reward responses were not restricted to forelimb movement, as a Pavlovian task evoked similar responses. Compared to predictable rewards, unexpected rewards elicited markedly different granule cell activity despite identical stimuli and licking responses. In both tasks, reward signals were widespread throughout multiple cerebellar lobules. Tracking the same granule cells over several days of learning revealed that cells with reward-anticipating responses emerged from those that responded at the start of learning to reward delivery, whereas reward-omission responses grew stronger as learning progressed. The discovery of predictive, non-sensorimotor encoding in granule cells is a major departure from the current understanding of these neurons and markedly enriches the contextual information available to postsynaptic Purkinje cells, with important implications for cognitive processing in the cerebellum.
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Registered trials
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.