Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40796544›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Reconciling flexibility and efficiency: medial entorhinal cortex represents a compositional cognitive map.

Payam Piray, Nathaniel D Daw

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. 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
–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

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Planning in the Brain: It's Not What You Think It Is.Annual review of neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. 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

2 authors.

Payam PirayDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. piray@usc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8100-6628
Nathaniel D DawDepartment of Psychology, and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5029-1430

Funding

Quantifying the cognitive processes supporting computations of stochasticity and volatility in humansR21MH134217 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI PIRAY, PAYAM · 2023 to 2024
$454k
National Science Foundation (NSF) IIS-1822571NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH134217U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R21MH134217
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The influential concept of cognitive maps envisions that the brain builds mental representations of objects, barriers, and goals. Computational models show how these representations guide goal-directed behavior, such as planning novel routes to maximize rewards. One key feature of flexible cognitive representations is compositionality, the ability to build complex structures by recombining simpler parts. However, how this applies to neural representations of cognitive maps and map-based planning remains unclear. Compositionality can be difficult to reconcile with efficient planning, as reusing components may limit efficiency. Here, we propose a novel computational model for efficiently creating and planning with compositional predictive maps, which successfully reproduces response fields in the medial entorhinal cortex, particularly object vector cells and grid cells. The model treats each object as an alteration to a baseline map linked to open space, creating predictive maps by combining object-related representations compositionally, providing insights into brain processes supporting efficient, flexible planning.

Indexed as

CognitionEntorhinal CortexAnimalsBrain MappingComputer SimulationGrid CellsMaleModels, NeurologicalNeuronsReward

Identifiers

PMID40796544
PMCPMC12343873

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.