Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39241065›Full record

ArticleScience advances2024

Learning depends on the information conveyed by temporal relationships between events and is reflected in the dopamine response to cues.

Peter D Balsam, Eleanor H Simpson, Kathleen Taylor, Abigail Kalmbach, Charles R Gallistel

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Altered amygdala and striatal responsivity and prediction error encoding of temporal reward dynamics in post-trauma psychopathology.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Reconceptualized Associative Learning.Perspectives on behavior science · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. 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

5 authors.

Peter D BalsamDepartment of Psychology, Barnard College, New York City, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7581-5499
Eleanor H SimpsonColumbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9092-2230
Kathleen TaylorDepartment of Psychology, Barnard College, New York City, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5235-5952
Abigail KalmbachColumbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6429-869X
Charles R GallistelDepartment of Psychology and the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

Funding

Timing & Associative LearningR01MH068073 · NIMH · BARNARD COLLEGE · PI BALSAM, PETER D. · 2003 to 2024
$8.0M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH068073
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Contemporary theories guiding the search for neural mechanisms of learning and memory assume that associative learning results from the temporal pairing of cues and reinforcers resulting in coincident activation of associated neurons, strengthening their synaptic connection. While enduring, this framework has limitations: Temporal pairing-based models of learning do not fit with many experimental observations and cannot be used to make quantitative predictions about behavior. Here, we present behavioral data that support an alternative, information-theoretic conception: The amount of information that cues provide about the timing of reward delivery predicts behavior. Furthermore, this approach accounts for the rate and depth of both inhibitory and excitatory learning across paradigms and species. We also show that dopamine release in the ventral striatum reflects cue-predicted changes in reinforcement rates consistent with subjects understanding temporal relationships between task events. Our results reshape the conceptual and biological framework for understanding associative learning.

Indexed as

CuesDopamineLearningAnimalsAssociation LearningHumansMaleRatsReinforcement, PsychologyRewardDopamine

Identifiers

PMID39241065
PMCPMC11378905

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.