Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42337065›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2026

Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex links abstract planning to motor execution.

Ricardo J Alejandro, Iris Ikink, Emmanouela Foinikianaki, Clay B Holroyd

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 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

4 authors.

Ricardo J AlejandroDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. rjalejandrob@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0516-9887
Iris IkinkDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Emmanouela FoinikianakiDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Clay B HolroydDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Funding

EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 787307
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mental planning is essential for producing action sequences. Despite the contribution of planning to many everyday activities, the neurocognitive processes that map a selected plan into a concrete course of action are unclear. We asked whether planning and execution are linked by abstract task relationships that are independent of the specific perceptual and motor details of action implementation. Human participants underwent functional MRI while performing a task that required encoding and maintaining abstract representations in order to plan and later apply those representations to execute action sequences. Our analyses revealed that dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) encoded representations during the planning period that shifted progressively from information based on perceptual input to information associated with the abstract task context. These abstract representations were then used to translate between the action plan and its execution irrespective of the perceptual and motor details, indicating that DMPFC builds and sustains an abstract representational bridge that links planning to action.

Indexed as

Prefrontal CortexPsychomotor PerformanceAdultBrain MappingFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID42337065
PMCPMC13655160

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.