Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42056096›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

The superior colliculus gates dopamine responses to conditioned stimuli in visual classical conditioning.

Yan-Feng Zhang, Jean-Philippe Dufour, Peter Zatka-Haas, Peter Redgrave, Melony J Black, Armin Lak, Ed Mann, Stephanie J Cragg, Wickliffe C Abraham, John Nj Reynolds

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

10 authors.

Yan-Feng ZhangDepartment of Anatomy and the Brain Health Research Centre, Brain Research New Zealand, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. y.f.zhang@exeter.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7815-6492
Jean-Philippe DufourDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9301-2278
Peter Zatka-HaasDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Peter RedgraveDepartment of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Melony J BlackDepartment of Anatomy and the Brain Health Research Centre, Brain Research New Zealand, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Armin LakDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1926-5458
Ed MannDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2468-7148
Stephanie J CraggDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9677-2256
Wickliffe C AbrahamDepartment of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9919-0622
John Nj ReynoldsDepartment of Anatomy and the Brain Health Research Centre, Brain Research New Zealand, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. john.reynolds@otago.ac.nz.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5924-4865

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In classical Pavlovian conditioning, it is well-established that midbrain dopamine neurons respond to conditioned stimuli (CS) that predict a reward. However, how the dopamine neurons associate a neutral CS to a reward remains unknown. Here, we show that in male rats and in both male and female mice, the superior colliculus (SC) develops neuronal responses to a visual CS during conditioning, which in turn drive the responses of dopamine neurons. Visual responses in the SC were only potentiated when a behaviorally meaningful time interval separated the visual stimulus and reward. Potentiation also required the convergence of visual, dopamine and serotonin inputs to the SC. Importantly, blocking potentiation of the visual response was sufficient to suppress the dopamine responses following a CS. These results reveal a mechanism for how the brain forms associations between unconditioned stimuli and behaviorally meaningful visual information during classical conditioning.

Indexed as

Conditioning, ClassicalDopamineDopaminergic NeuronsSuperior ColliculiAnimalsFemaleMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLPhotic StimulationRatsRewardSerotoninDopamineSerotonin

Identifiers

PMID42056096
PMCPMC13338361

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.