Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40233749›Full record

ArticleNeuron2025

Primate thalamic nuclei select abstract rules and shape prefrontal dynamics.

Jessica M Phillips, Mohsen Afrasiabi, Niranjan A Kambi, Michelle J Redinbaugh, Summer Steely, Emily R Johnson, Xi Cheng, Maath Fayyad, Sounak Mohanta, Asia Carís and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuron, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing 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

18 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Thalamocortical orchestration of human theory of mind.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Categorization is 'baked' into the brain.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. A. J. Major et al. reply.Nature neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Circuit-Based Approaches to Understanding the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC).The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Review
  14. Comprehensive mapping of the thalamic commissures in the rodent brain.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2025
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Jessica M PhillipsDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, USA. Electronic address: jphillips@primate.wisc.edu.
Mohsen AfrasiabiDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Niranjan A KambiDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Michelle J RedinbaughDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Summer SteelyDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Emily R JohnsonDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Xi ChengDepartment of Neurosurgery, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
Maath FayyadDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Sounak MohantaDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Asia CarísDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Charles B MikellDepartment of Neurosurgery, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
Sima MofakhamDepartment of Neurosurgery, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
Yuri B SaalmannDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, USA. Electronic address: saalmann@wisc.edu.

Funding

WNPRC Supplemental Request for Nonhuman Primate Enclosures to Equip HIV/AIDS-Related Research FacilitiesP51OD011106 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska · 2012 to 2026
$150.7M
Receptors, microcircuits and hierarchical connectivity in predictive coding and sensory awarenessR01NS117901 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI SAALMANN, YURI B · 2020 to 2024
$2.1M
Prefrontal cortico-thalamic dynamics in cognitive controlR01MH110311 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI SAALMANN, YURI B · 2016 to 2020
$1.8M
NIH HHS P51 OD011106NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH110311NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS117901
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Flexible behavior depends on abstract rules to generalize beyond specific instances and outcome monitoring to adjust actions. Cortical circuits are posited to read out rules from high-dimensional representations of task-relevant variables in prefrontal cortex (PFC). We instead hypothesized that converging inputs from PFC, directly or via basal ganglia (BGs), enable the thalamus to select rules. We measured activity across PFC and connected thalamic nuclei of monkeys applying rules. Abstract rule information first appeared in ventroanterior thalamus (VA)-the main thalamic hub between BG and PFC. Mediodorsal thalamus (MD) also represented rule information before PFC, persisting to help maintain activation of relevant PFC cell ensembles. MD, a major recipient of midbrain dopamine input, was the first to represent information about behavioral outcomes. A PFC-BG-thalamus model reproduced key findings, and thalamic-lesion modeling disrupted PFC rule representations. This suggests that the thalamus selects high-level cognitive information from PFC and monitors behavioral outcomes of these selections.

Indexed as

Basal GangliaPrefrontal CortexThalamic NucleiAnimalsMacaca mulattaMaleModels, NeurologicalNeural PathwaysNeuronsbasal gangliacognitive controlcorticothalamicexecutive functionsmodeloutcome monitoringprefrontal cortexthalamocorticalthalamus

Identifiers

PMID40233749
PMCPMC12181055

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.