{"doi":"10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.038","title":"A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex","abstract":"The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucial for economic decision-making. However, how PFC value representations facilitate flexible decisions remains unknown. We reframe economic decision-making as a navigation process through a cognitive map of choice values. We found rhesus macaques represented choices as navigation trajectories in a value space using a grid-like code. This occurred in ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) local field potential theta frequency across two datasets. vmPFC neurons deployed the same grid-like code and encoded chosen value. However, both signals depended on theta phase: occurring on theta troughs but on separate theta cycles. Finally, we found sharp-wave ripples-a key signature of planning and flexible behavior-in vmPFC. Thus, vmPFC utilizes cognitive map-based computations to organize and compare values, suggesting an alternative architecture for economic choice in PFC.","journal":"Cell","year":2025,"id":512472,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":12,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9467,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1371964,"name":"Timothy Müller","orcid":"0000-0002-5817-4949","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1371965,"name":"Elena M. Gutierrez-Farewik","orcid":"0000-0001-5417-5939","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64974,"name":"Timothy E.J. Behrens","orcid":"0000-0003-0048-1177","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1371966,"name":"Laurence T. Hunt","orcid":"0000-0002-8393-8533","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1372626,"name":"James L. Butler","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1371967,"name":"Steven W. Kennerley","orcid":"0000-0002-5696-7507","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1371963,"name":"Sebastijan Veselič","orcid":"0000-0002-3839-8590","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":77,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:48:06.263458Z","pmid":"40262608","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}