ArticleNature communications2026
Revealing abrupt transitions from goal-directed to habitual behavior.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impaired midfrontal‑motor theta phase synchronization characterizes maladaptive motivational behavior in people with obsessive‑compulsive disorder.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Uncovering internal states with a robust shared-state multi-neuron GLM-HMM framework.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Premotor cortex hemodynamic responses primarily reflect perceptual rather than specific motor aspects of decision making.PLoS biology · 2026Article
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8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The speed of goal-directed to habit transitions has been debated since Clark Hull asked in 1943: is habit formation slow or sudden? To address this, male mice were given home-cage access to citric-acid water that reduced-without eliminating-reward-seeking for plain water in an auditory go/no-go task. Animals learned to discriminate quickly but exhibited ongoing state-like fluctuations in engagement. Strikingly, these fluctuations abruptly ceased (transition) long after discrimination stabilized, with HMM-GLM modeling pinpointing a ~3-trial transition. We confirmed this as a goal-directed to habit transition using sensory-specific outcome devaluation, DLS lesions, motor stereotypy, and pupillary responses. Dual-site fiber photometry showed equally abrupt DLS dynamics at the transition: outcome-related activity dropped and stimulus-response activity sharpened, suggesting a switch-like mechanism that recruits a readily available habit circuit rather than gradual changes across a threshold. Thus, habits can emerge suddenly, mediated by an abrupt dorsostriatal shift from outcome- to stimulus-driven processing.
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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.