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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNature

A thalamus–brainstem attractor network drives history-biased decisions

  • Shan Zhao1,2
  • Heying Shan1,2
  • Xiao Liu3
  • Yu Qian1
  • Jingyao Huang1,2
  • Yiran Liu1,2
  • Zhenfei Jiao4
  • Lichen Ye1
  • Lin Cong1
  • Xiaoou Wang1,2
  • Zhi-Yuan Wang1,2
  • Danyang Li1,2
6 more authors
  • Ming-Chuan Chen1
  • Kai Wang1,2
  • Ling Fu5
  • Xu-Fei Du1,2
  • Si Wu6
  • Yu Mu7,8
8 affiliations
  1. 1Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
  2. 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  3. 3School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Center of Quantative Biology, PKU-Tsingua Center of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
  4. 4Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
  5. 5School of Biomedical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Hainan Province, Hainan University, Haikou, China
  6. 6School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Center of Quantative Biology, PKU-Tsingua Center of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. [email protected]
  7. 7Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. [email protected]
  8. 8University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. [email protected]
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Abstract

Natural environments often change gradually, making it adaptive to bias decisions on the basis of the recent past — a phenomenon known as serial dependence1–3. Large-scale recordings during behaviour have identified that serial dependence is a common motif for decision-making, with neural representations of past experiences found throughout the brain4–11. However, it remains unclear whether this bias arises from dedicated neural circuits with history-specific computations. Using whole-brain, cellular-resolution imaging in zebrafish performing memory-guided evasive manoeuvres12–14, we identified a hierarchical circuit that maintains past information and biases future choices. Discrete attractors in the dorsal thalamus encoded the position of the most recent obstacle, maintaining a categorical memory via persistent activity lasting 10–20 s. Optogenetic manipulation of the dorsal thalamus abolished or imposed serial bias. A downstream hindbrain integrator received input from the thalamus and combined it with current sensory cues to produce graded responses reflecting multi-trial history. Leveraging a comprehensive brain atlas in zebrafish15, we constructed a whole-brain computational model that recapitulated behaviour and also predicted a key role for heterogeneous inhibitory subtypes in enabling flexible state transitions. This attractor–integrator architecture reveals a hierarchical and modular computation that unifies robust memory retention with flexible sensory integration, providing a general principle for history-biased decisions. Whole-brain, cellular-resolution imaging reveals a hierarchical thalamus–brainstem attractor network that encodes recent history and shapes behavioural bias in zebrafish.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{zhao2026thalamusbrainstem,
  title = {{A thalamus–brainstem attractor network drives history-biased decisions}},
  author = {Shan Zhao and Heying Shan and Xiao Liu and Yu Qian and Jingyao Huang and Yiran Liu and Zhenfei Jiao and Lichen Ye and Lin Cong and Xiaoou Wang and Zhi-Yuan Wang and Danyang Li and Ming-Chuan Chen and Kai Wang and Ling Fu and Xu-Fei Du and Si Wu and Yu Mu},
  journal = {Nature},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-10623-3},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10623-3},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A thalamus–brainstem attractor network drives history-biased decisions
AU  - Shan Zhao
AU  - Heying Shan
AU  - Xiao Liu
AU  - Yu Qian
AU  - Jingyao Huang
AU  - Yiran Liu
AU  - Zhenfei Jiao
AU  - Lichen Ye
AU  - Lin Cong
AU  - Xiaoou Wang
AU  - Zhi-Yuan Wang
AU  - Danyang Li
AU  - Ming-Chuan Chen
AU  - Kai Wang
AU  - Ling Fu
AU  - Xu-Fei Du
AU  - Si Wu
AU  - Yu Mu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/10
JO  - Nature
DO  - 10.1038/s41586-026-10623-3
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10623-3
AB  - Natural environments often change gradually, making it adaptive to bias decisions on the basis of the recent past — a phenomenon known as serial dependence1–3. Large-scale recordings during behaviour have identified that serial dependence is a common motif for decision-making, with neural representations of past experiences found throughout the brain4–11. However, it remains unclear whether this bias arises from dedicated neural circuits with history-specific computations. Using whole-brain, cellular-resolution imaging in zebrafish performing memory-guided evasive manoeuvres12–14, we identified a hierarchical circuit that maintains past information and biases future choices. Discrete attractors in the dorsal thalamus encoded the position of the most recent obstacle, maintaining a categorical memory via persistent activity lasting 10–20 s. Optogenetic manipulation of the dorsal thalamus abolished or imposed serial bias. A downstream hindbrain integrator received input from the thalamus and combined it with current sensory cues to produce graded responses reflecting multi-trial history. Leveraging a comprehensive brain atlas in zebrafish15, we constructed a whole-brain computational model that recapitulated behaviour and also predicted a key role for heterogeneous inhibitory subtypes in enabling flexible state transitions. This attractor–integrator architecture reveals a hierarchical and modular computation that unifies robust memory retention with flexible sensory integration, providing a general principle for history-biased decisions. Whole-brain, cellular-resolution imaging reveals a hierarchical thalamus–brainstem attractor network that encodes recent history and shapes behavioural bias in zebrafish.
SN  - 0028-0836
SN  - 1476-4687
ER  -