Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30900536›Full record

ReviewProceedings. Biological sciences2019

The decision to move: response times, neuronal circuits and sensory memory in a simple vertebrate.

Alan Roberts, Roman Borisyuk, Edgar Buhl, Andrea Ferrario, Stella Koutsikou, Wen-Chang Li, Stephen R Soffe

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 24% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Functional mapping of the molluscan brain guided by synchrotron X-ray tomography.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  3. Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2022
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. The early development and physiology ofJournal of neurophysiology · 2021
    Article
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Alan Roberts1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK.
Roman Borisyuk2 School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics, University of Plymouth , Plymouth PL4 8AA , UK.
Edgar Buhl1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK.
Andrea Ferrario2 School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics, University of Plymouth , Plymouth PL4 8AA , UK.
Stella Koutsikou1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK.
Wen-Chang Li5 School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews , St Andrews KY16 9JP , UK.
Stephen R Soffe1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK.
University of Bristol · GBUniversity of Plymouth · GBMedway School of Pharmacy · GBUniversity of St Andrews · GB

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

All animals use sensory systems to monitor external events and have to decide whether to move. Response times are long and variable compared to reflexes, and fast escape movements. The complexity of adult vertebrate brains makes it difficult to trace the neuronal circuits underlying basic decisions to move. To simplify the problem, we investigate the nervous system and responses of hatchling frog tadpoles which swim when their skin is stimulated. Studying the neuron-by-neuron pathway from sensory to hindbrain neurons, where the decision to swim is made, has revealed two simple pathways generating excitation which sums to threshold in these neurons to initiate swimming. The direct pathway leads to short, and reliable delays like an escape response. The other includes a population of sensory processing neurons which extend firing to introduce noise and delay into responses. These neurons provide a brief, sensory memory of the stimulus, that allows tadpoles to integrate stimuli occurring within a second or so of each other. We relate these findings to other studies and conclude that sensory memory makes a fundamental contribution to simple decisions and is present in the brainstem of a basic vertebrate at a surprisingly early stage in development.

Indexed as

Reaction TimeAnimalsLarvaMemoryMovementNeuronsXenopus laevisdecisionslocomotionresponse timessensory memory

Identifiers

PMID30900536
PMCPMC6452071
OpenAlexW2923204748

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.