Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40780211›Full record

ArticleNeuron2025

Competitive integration of time and reward explains value-sensitive foraging decisions and frontal cortex ramping dynamics.

Michael Bukwich, Malcolm G Campbell, David Zoltowski, Lyle Kingsbury, Momchil S Tomov, Joshua Stern, HyungGoo R Kim, Jan Drugowitsch, Scott W Linderman, Naoshige Uchida

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
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 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. No Central Executive? Decision Formation Through Multi-Area Population Dynamics.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Michael BukwichDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, London W1T 4JG, UK. Electronic address: m.bukwich@ucl.ac.uk.
Malcolm G CampbellDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: mgcampb@fas.harvard.edu.
David ZoltowskiDepartment of Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Lyle KingsburyDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Momchil S TomovDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Joshua SternDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
HyungGoo R KimDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea.
Jan DrugowitschDepartment of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Scott W LindermanDepartment of Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Naoshige UchidaDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: uchida@mcb.harvard.edu.

Funding

Towards a Unified Framework for Dopamine Signaling in the StriatumU19NS113201 · NINDS · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI 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
Dissecting the algorithmic and neural circuit basis of dopamine-driven learning in the striatumK99DA060290 · NIDA · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI CAMPBELL, MALCOLM GUY · 2024 to 2025
$240k
Neural mechanisms of foraging decisionsF32MH126505 · NIMH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI CAMPBELL, MALCOLM GUY · 2021 to 2023
$205k
NIDA NIH HHS K99 DA060290NIMH NIH HHS F32 MH126505NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH020017NINDS NIH HHS U19 NS113201
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Patch foraging is a ubiquitous decision-making process in which animals decide when to abandon a resource patch of diminishing value to pursue an alternative. We developed a virtual foraging task in which mouse behavior varied systematically with patch value. Behavior could be explained by models integrating time and rewards antagonistically, scaled by a slowly varying latent patience state. Describing a mechanism rather than a normative prescription, these models quantitatively captured deviations from optimal foraging theory. Neuropixels recordings throughout frontal areas revealed distributed ramping signals, concentrated in the frontal cortex, from which multiple integrator models' decision variables could be decoded equally well. These signals reflected key aspects of decision models: they ramped gradually, responded oppositely to time and rewards, were sensitive to patch richness, and retained memory of reward history. Together, these results identify integration via frontal cortex ramping dynamics as a candidate mechanism for solving patch-foraging problems.

Indexed as

Decision MakingFrontal LobeRewardAnimalsMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLModels, NeurologicalTime Factorsdecision makingforagingfrontal cortexlatent stateMarginal Value Theoremneural integrationNeuropixelspatch foragingramping activityvirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID40780211
PMCPMC12784418

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.