ArticleNature communications2026
Resolving mesoscale brainstem-prefrontal-striatal pathways underlying decisions upon salient events using submillimeter-resolution fMRI.
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 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Resolving mesoscale brainstem-prefrontal-striatal pathways underlying decisions upon salient events using submillimeter-resolution fMRI.Nature communications · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Value-based decision-making engages brain-wide motivational, cognitive, and motor processes. Yet, information integration and gating that culminate in immediate decisions upon salient events likely occur within small neural nuclei and cortical layers at the mesoscale not resolved with conventional human neuroimaging. Using submillimeter-resolution 7 T functional MRI with acquisition-matched anatomical references and a lottery choice task incorporating salient superhigh stakes, we dissociated mesoscale operations spanning a brainstem-prefrontal-striatal pathway during choice and outcome processing. The locus coeruleus, caudate, and prefrontal cortex showed enhanced activity during superhigh-stake choices, while the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens additionally distinguished gains from losses. In contrast, gray-matter bridges between caudate and putamen were associated with faster responses. Laminar analyses revealed deeper prefrontal layers predominating during choice selection and superficial layers during outcome evaluation. Here, we show a mesoscale framework integrating brainstem modulation, striatal gating, and laminar cortical computation in human decision-making upon salient events.
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Registered trials
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.