SynthesisHuman brain mapping2018
Separate neural representations of prediction error valence and surprise: Evidence from an fMRI meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Human brain mapping, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A meta-analysis of the neural substrates of monetary reward anticipation and outcome in alcohol use disorder.Human brain mapping · 2023Pooled it
- Learning under social versus nonsocial uncertainty: A meta-analytic approach.Human brain mapping · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of human prediction error for incentives, perception, cognition, and action.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Abnormal prediction error processing in schizophrenia and depression.Human brain mapping · 2021Pooled it
- Meta-analytic clustering dissociates brain activity and behavior profiles across reward processing paradigms.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- Concurrent amygdalar and ventromedial prefrontal cortical responses during emotion processing: a meta-analysis of the effects of valence of emotion and passive exposure versus active regulation.Brain structure & function · 2020Pooled it
- A domain-general brain network underlying emotional and cognitive interference processing: evidence from coordinate-based and functional connectivity meta-analyses.Brain structure & function · 2018Pooled it
- Separate neural representations of prediction error valence and surprise: Evidence from an fMRI meta-analysis.Human brain mapping · 2018Pooled it
- Prediction and Prediction Error in Autism: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Results.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- A ventral striatal learning signal reflecting individual differences in the success of fear extinction.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Striatal Prediction Error Tracking Moderates the Influence of Social Exposure on Adolescent Substance Use Curiosity.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Punishments Enhance Reward Learning by Modulating Striatal Prediction Errors.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Brain network reconfiguration during reward prediction error processing.Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Non-invasive ultrasonic neuromodulation of the human nucleus accumbens impacts reward sensitivity.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Spontaneous fluctuations in global connectivity reflect transitions between states of high and low prediction error.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Non-invasive Ultrasonic Neuromodulation of the Human Nucleus Accumbens Impacts Reward Sensitivity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Higher-order and distributed synergistic functional interactions encode information gain in goal-directed learning.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Neural Mechanisms of Feedback Processing and Regulation Recalibration During Neurofeedback Training.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- The Anterior Insula Processes a Time-Resolved Subjective Risk Prediction Error.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Human reinforcement learning processes and biases: computational characterization and possible applications to behavioral public policy.Mind & society · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Learning occurs when an outcome differs from expectations, generating a reward prediction error signal (RPE). The RPE signal has been hypothesized to simultaneously embody the valence of an outcome (better or worse than expected) and its surprise (how far from expectations). Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that separate representations of the two RPE components exist in the human brain. Meta-analyses provide an opportunity to test this hypothesis and directly probe the extent to which the valence and surprise of the error signal are encoded in separate or overlapping networks. We carried out several meta-analyses on a large set of fMRI studies investigating the neural basis of RPE, locked at decision outcome. We identified two valence learning systems by pooling studies searching for differential neural activity in response to categorical positive-versus-negative outcomes. The first valence network (negative > positive) involved areas regulating alertness and switching behaviours such as the midcingulate cortex, the thalamus and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex whereas the second valence network (positive > negative) encompassed regions of the human reward circuitry such as the ventral striatum and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. We also found evidence of a largely distinct surprise-encoding network including the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula and dorsal striatum. Together with recent animal and electrophysiological evidence this meta-analysis points to a sequential and distributed encoding of different components of the RPE signal, with potentially distinct functional roles.
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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.