{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:19:20Z","timestamp":1792790360579,"version":"4.5.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"group-title":"Neuroscience","reference-count":40,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke","award":["U19NS113201"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U19NS113201"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01s5ya894","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke","award":["R01NS116753"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01NS116753"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01s5ya894","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research","award":["FA9550-20-1-0413"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FA9550-20-1-0413"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/011e9bt93","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders","award":["T32 DC000038"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["T32 DC000038"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04mhx6838","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Wellcome Trust and Gatsby Charitable Foundation","award":["090843\/F\/09\/Z"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["090843\/F\/09\/Z"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0290hax27","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Simons Foundation","award":["543055"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["543055"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cmst727","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Summary<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>To act adaptively, animals must infer hidden states of the world from incomplete sensory information and update beliefs as new observations accrue. While dopamine signals are well explained by reinforcement learning models that incorporate belief states, how the brain implements belief-state inference remains unknown. Prior modeling work showed that recurrent neural networks trained to predict value (Value-RNN) develop task-specific, attractor-like dynamics that mirror evolution of beliefs. Here we performed high-density electrophysiological recordings from orbitofrontal (OFC) and other brain areas of mice performing two variants of a Pavlovian task that differ in reward probability, which produce different within-trial belief dynamics. We find that OFC population activity exhibits task-specific attractor-like dynamics that mirror the within-trial dynamics in the Value-RNN. These dynamics are absent in motor and olfactory regions, are not explained by behavioral differences, and emerge progressively with learning. Our findings indicate that the brain approximates belief-state inference through learned, task-specific attractor-like dynamics.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Highlights<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:list list-type=\"bullet\">\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>High-density neuronal recording on two tasks differing in reward reliability<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>OFC activity shows task-specific attractor-like dynamics mirroring belief dynamics<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>These dynamics are absent in motor and olfactory areas<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Belief-like attractor dynamics in OFC emerge progressively with learning<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                  <\/jats:list>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.17.752495","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T02:45:14Z","timestamp":1790217914000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dynamic belief representation and updating through learned attractor-like dynamics in the frontal cortex"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0194-1198","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandra Romero","family":"Pinto","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA"},{"name":"Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 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USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daigo","family":"Okada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA"},{"name":"Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-4759-0043","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C\u00e9lia","family":"Benquet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA"},{"name":"Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Regester","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, 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