Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41832186›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Noradrenaline causes a spread of association in the hippocampal cognitive map.

Renée S Koolschijn, Prakriti Parthasarathy, Michael Browning, Xenia Przygodda, Liliana P Capitão, William T Clarke, Tim P Vogels, Jill X O'Reilly, Helen C Barron

Abstract read
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. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Modulation of the noradrenergic system using transcranial ultrasonic stimulation targeted to the brainstem locus coeruleus in awake mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    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

9 authors.

Renée S KoolschijnOxford University Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. rskoolschijn@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9553-4213
Prakriti ParthasarathyDepartment of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-1163-8816
Michael BrowningDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9108-3144
Xenia PrzygoddaOxford University Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-3201
Liliana P CapitãoPsychological Neuroscience Lab, Psychology Researcher Centre (CIPsi), School of Psychology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3117-5156
William T ClarkeOxford University Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7159-7025
Tim P VogelsInstitute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3295-6181
Jill X O'Reilly *Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Helen C Barron *Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mammalian brain organises knowledge about entities in the world and relationships between them using cognitive maps. When forming a cognitive map, there is a necessary trade-off between extending the map to make novel inferences, and storing a veridical copy of past experience. However, the neural mechanisms that control this trade-off remain unknown. Using a cross-scale approach that combines a pharmacological intervention in humans with neural network modelling, we show that the neuromodulator noradrenaline elicits a significant 'spread of association' across hippocampal cognitive maps. This neural spread of association can be explained by changes in synaptic plasticity that predict overgeneralisation in behaviour. Thus, elevated noradrenaline during learning increases the 'smoothing kernel' for plasticity across the cognitive map, allowing disparate memories to become linked and distorted.

Indexed as

CognitionHippocampusNorepinephrineBrain MappingHumansLearningMemoryNeuronal PlasticityNorepinephrine

Identifiers

PMID41832186
PMCPMC7618954

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.