Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33248024›Full record

ArticleCell2020

A Unified Framework for Dopamine Signals across Timescales.

HyungGoo R Kim, Athar N Malik, John G Mikhael, Pol Bech, Iku Tsutsui-Kimura, Fangmiao Sun, Yajun Zhang, Yulong Li, Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida, Samuel J Gershman and 1 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 169 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
169citing papers in PubMed
19.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

169 citing papers in PubMed, 329 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Sequence termination cues drive automated habit-like strategy via dopamine-mediated processes.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Spatiotemporally Distinct Dopamine Domains in the Hippocampus.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Consensus Paper: Models of Cerebellar Functions.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026
    Review

109 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

11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

HyungGoo R KimCenter for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: hyunggoo.r.kim@gmail.com.
Athar N MalikCenter for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
John G MikhaelProgram in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; MD-PhD Program, Harvard Medical School, 260 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Pol BechCenter for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Iku Tsutsui-KimuraCenter for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Fangmiao SunState Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 100871, China.
Yajun ZhangState Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 100871, China.
Yulong LiState Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 100871, China.
Mitsuko Watabe-UchidaCenter for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Samuel J GershmanDepartment of Psychology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Naoshige UchidaCenter for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: uchida@mcb.harvard.edu.
Harvard University · USPeking University · CN

Funding

Medical Scientist Training ProgramT32GM007753 · NIGMS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (MEDICAL SCHOOL) · PI WALENSKY, LOREN DAVID · 1985 to 2021
$50.0M
Towards a Unified Framework for Dopamine Signaling in the StriatumU19NS113201 · NINDS · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI ASSAD, JOHN, DATTA, SANDEEP R · 2019 to 2023
$18.7M
PHD TRAINING IN NEUROSCIENCET32MH020017 · NIMH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (MEDICAL SCHOOL) · PI JOHN ASSAD · 1997 to 2026
$15.8M
The diversity of dopamine neurons: from connectivity and activity to functions.R01NS108740 · NINDS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI UCHIDA, NAOSHIGE · 2018 to 2022
$2.7M
Novel fluorescent sensors based on GPCRs for imaging neuromodulationU01NS103558 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI HIRES, SAMUEL ANDREW, LI, YULONG · 2017 to 2019
$2.2M
Neural circuits that regulate dopamine neuron activityR01MH095953 · NIMH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI UCHIDA, NAOSHIGE · 2012 to 2016
$2.1M
Experimental examinations of the mechanisms that generate the responses of midbraR01MH101207 · NIMH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI UCHIDA, NAOSHIGE · 2013 to 2017
$2.1M
NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM007753NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH095953NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH101207NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH020017NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS108740NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS103558NINDS NIH HHS U19 NS113201
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rapid phasic activity of midbrain dopamine neurons is thought to signal reward prediction errors (RPEs), resembling temporal difference errors used in machine learning. However, recent studies describing slowly increasing dopamine signals have instead proposed that they represent state values and arise independent from somatic spiking activity. Here we developed experimental paradigms using virtual reality that disambiguate RPEs from values. We examined dopamine circuit activity at various stages, including somatic spiking, calcium signals at somata and axons, and striatal dopamine concentrations. Our results demonstrate that ramping dopamine signals are consistent with RPEs rather than value, and this ramping is observed at all stages examined. Ramping dopamine signals can be driven by a dynamic stimulus that indicates a gradual approach to a reward. We provide a unified computational understanding of rapid phasic and slowly ramping dopamine signals: dopamine neurons perform a derivative-like computation over values on a moment-by-moment basis.

Indexed as

Signal TransductionAction PotentialsAnimalsAxonsCalciumCalcium SignalingCell BodyCuesDopamineDopaminergic NeuronsFluorometryMaleMice, Inbred C57BLModels, NeurologicalPhotic StimulationRewardCalciumDopamine

Identifiers

PMID33248024
PMCPMC7736562
OpenAlexW3108147153

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.