How the zebrafish brain weaves recent experiences into future decisions

RESEARCH BRIEFINGS

17 June 2026

Animals often use recent experience to guide future choices. Whole-brain imaging in larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) reveals a dedicated neural circuit that governs history-biased decisions: the thalamus maintains the most recent event as a stable pattern of neuronal activity, and the brainstem integrates recent experiences into a continuous signal that biases future action.

This is a summary of: Zhao, S. et al. A thalamus–brainstem attractor network drives history-biased decisions. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10623-3 (2026).

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01756-6

‘Expert opinion’ is published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

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