Integrated information theory reveals the potential role of the posterior parietal cortex in sustaining conditioning responses in classical conditioning tasks.

Classical conditioning is a fundamental associative learning process in which repeated pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS) with an unconditioned stimulus (US) lead to the CS eliciting a conditioned response (CR). Previous research has identified key neural regions involved in processing reward-predicting cues and mediating licking behavior. However, the mechanisms that sustain high conditioned response rates across repeated sessions remain elusive, particularly regarding how the reward expectation is represented on a session-by-session basis.