Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40016003›Full record

ReviewTrends in cognitive sciences2025

The devilish details affecting TDRL models in dopamine research.

Zhewei Zhang, Kauê M Costa, Angela J Langdon, Geoffrey Schoenbaum

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Trends in cognitive sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Memory erasure by dopamine-gated retrospective learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. A brief history of dopamine prediction errors.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  4. 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

4 authors.

Zhewei ZhangNational Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. Electronic address: zhewei.zhang@nih.gov.
Kauê M CostaDepartment of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.
Angela J LangdonNational Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Geoffrey SchoenbaumNational Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. Electronic address: geoffrey.schoenbaum@nih.gov.

Funding

Lasting Effects of Cocaine Use on Corticolimbic FuncitonR01DA015718 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI CHEER, JOSEPH F · 2003 to 2013
$3.4M
Unit on Neural Computations in LearningZIAMH002983 · NIMH · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH · PI LANGDON, ANGELA · 2023 to 2025
$2.5M
Information encoding by spatiotemporal patterns of dopamine releaseR00DA055641 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI Kauê Machado Costa · 2024 to 2026
$747k
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA MH002983NIDA NIH HHS R00 DA055641NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA015718
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Over recent decades, temporal difference reinforcement learning (TDRL) models have successfully explained much dopamine (DA) activity. This success has invited heightened scrutiny of late, with many studies challenging the validity of TDRL models of DA function. Yet, when evaluating the validity of these models, the devil is truly in the details. TDRL is a broad class of algorithms sharing core ideas but differing greatly in implementation and predictions. Thus, it is important to identify the defining aspects of the TDRL framework being tested and to use state spaces and model architectures that capture the known complexity of the behavioral representations and neural systems involved. Here, we discuss several examples that illustrate the importance of these considerations.

Indexed as

DopamineModels, NeurologicalReinforcement, PsychologyAnimalsHumansDopaminedopaminereward prediction errorstate spacetemporal difference reinforcement learning

Identifiers

PMID40016003
PMCPMC12058390

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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 Socratic graph.