📣 Save the date! RLDM 2027, the Multi-disciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making, is coming to Paris, July 6-9, 2027 🎉 Stay tuned for submission deadlines and more updates on our website rldm.org 👀
Arif A. Hamid, Ph.D.
@arifahamid.bsky.social
Professor of Neuroscience @UMN Medical School | Neurobiology of Reinforcement Learning #BlackinSTEM #NeuroscienceinAfrica HamidLab.org
Our newest paper, "The three biggest obstacles to solving motivated behavior, and how to overcome them," is now in press at Advances in Motivation Science 🎉 osf.io/preprints/ps... To learn more about the obstacles & solutions the paper poses, see the 🧵 below: bsky.app/profile/did:...
OSF
osf.io
Amitai Shenhav@ashenhav.bsky.social · 2d ago2 yrs ago, I briefly laid out a new theory of how motivation works (AGH). Here, I expand on the problems AGH was trying to solve, why they are hard to solve, what my solution looks like, and how this should change our understanding of thoughts & actions. osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵A few highlights:
Task-Relevant Cognitive Load Modulates Fast and Slow Processes Underlying Motor Adaptation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.17.752503v1
Very excited to announce our most recent paper! TL;DR we made our prior work on comparing dynamics (DSA) much faster and generalizable to diverse data domains and problem settings (1/)
A metric for comparing complex systems by their dynamics
Comparisons are fundamental to science: experiment against model, one organism against another, a system against itself across time. Because many systems, from brains to climate, are characterized by ...
biorxiv.org
We are thrilled to announce that molecular biologist and neuroscientist Catherine Dulac of @harvardmcb.bsky.social is the 2026 winner of Rockefeller's Pearl Meister Greengard Prize! Register now for the award ceremony on Oct 20. #WomenInScience 🔗: https://bit.ly/3V2pZMA
The impact of alpha synuclein overexpression on nigrostriatal transmission https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751842v1
Happy to share the version of record of our locus coeruleus paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Prior thread on some of our discoveries in this study: bsky.app/profile/jere...
Topographic structure and function of locus coeruleus noradrenaline neurons - Nature
Dorsal and ventral noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus form topographic subpopulations whose projection patterns and activity encode choice switching, reward-prediction errors and disregard o...
nature.com
Jeremiah Cohen@jeremiahycohen.bsky.social · 6mo agoDelighted to share our discoveries about one of the brain's neurotransmitter systems: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Together with colleagues at the @alleninstitute.org, we have learned a lot about a tiny cluster of neurons in the brainstem locus coeruleus (LC) that releases norepinephrine (NE). 1
New preprint! 🥳 How do we discover what to do when a movement goes wrong? Answer: hypothesis testing (HT) - testing and evaluating candidate motor solutions based on sensory evidence. HT explains how we explore, and when exploration gives way to an “aha!” moment.
Understanding Strategic Motor Learning as a Process of Hypothesis Testing
Multiple learning processes contribute to successful goal-directed actions under changing physiological states, biomechanical constraints, and environmental contexts. Among these, explicit strategies ...
biorxiv.org
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
mathandai.org
We present PlayTrain, a new Reinforcement Learning (RL) framework that reimagines how we build video-game environments for RL by harnessing LLMs’ ability to write JavaScript games. PlayTrain turns single-file JS browser games into RL environments ready for efficient training.
I’m on the faculty job market this fall! 🐦🧠 I’m an NIH K99/R00 awardee studying how the brain learns complex skills, using birdsong to connect molecules, synapses, circuits, behavior & computation. Know of a search where I might fit? Please send it my way & share!
Drew Schreiner, Ph.D. | Neuroscience of Learning
I use birdsong to understand how the brain learns complex skills across molecules, synapses, circuits, behavior, and computation. On the 2026–27 faculty job market.
drewschreiner.github.io
So... an academic and an Anthropic employee used LLMs (including OpenAI models) to make decisive progress on the Navier Stokes resolution. Then OpenAI claimed to have done it and will not clearly disclose if it used access to the two researchers' LLM sessions to do so cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...
Depression disrupts a specific brain region's ability to evaluate control over effort, revealing distinct neural pathways for different types of motivation.
How value and control shape motivation: Dissociable mesocorticolimbic circuits and vmPFC dysfunction in depression
Motivation arises from the integration of anticipated reward value and perceived control over effort allocation, yet the neural mechanisms through which these computations shape motivated behavior,…
biologicalpsychiatrycnni.org
Happy to share our new J Neurosci paper showing how cortical and thalamic inputs engage cholinergic interneurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core: www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
Last call for #Imbizo TA applications; deadline is tomorrow!
Simons Computational Neuroscience Imbizo@imbizo.bsky.social · last mo.Want to help train the next generation of computational neuroscientists and spend 3 weeks in the amazing Cape Town? Applications to join #Imbizo as a Teaching Assistant close tomorrow! Submit your application before the clock runs out: imbizo.africa/ta-applicati...
Fluorescence Friday, live from the situation room! Dopamine dynamics (dLight3.8) Top: Fluorescence intensity Bottom: Fluorescence lifetime Methylphenidate does indeed increase the baseline (formerly known as tonic dopamine)
First Noel Lab Pre-print! If you are into "peri-personal space" and feel like we need more single cell recordings, this one is for you! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
An egocentric map prioritizing peri-personal space in the mouse rostro-lateral visual area
All physical interactions between an organism and its environment occur within the space immediately adjacent to and surrounding its body, its peripersonal space (PPS). This space has been extensively...
biorxiv.org
A behaviourally normed database of 1,377 natural sounds for auditory cognition and neuroscience https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.25.746933v1
Brown University CoPsy is hiring an Assistant Professor! Research areas: AI & cognition, collective behavior, or brain health. Starting July 2027. Apply by Sept 15: apply.interfolio.com/190677
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Methylphenidate enhances or impairs the cognitive control of Pavlovian bias depending on working memory capacity
Methylphenidate enhances or impairs the cognitive control of Pavlovian bias depending on working memory capacity
Catecholaminergic modulation by methylphenidate affects appetitive and aversive Pavlovian biases of approach and avoidance in humans depending on individual differences in working memory capacity.
buff.ly
Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus 👀👀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus - Nature Neuroscience
Thompson, Rollik and colleagues show that, during sleep, the brain replays procedural memories in the striatum independently of the hippocampus. Replay content was shaped by prior reward and error out...
nature.com
Cue-evoked dopamine signals of termination cues drive automated habit-like behavior
Sequence termination cues drive automated habit-like strategy via dopamine-mediated processes
Neuropsychopharmacology - Sequence termination cues drive automated habit-like strategy via dopamine-mediated processes
nature.com
Dopamine and sodium appetite! Sodium appetite causes a 'sign change' in the taste of hypertonic NaCl solutions. We've previously shown that generation of the appetite recruits phasic dopamine to the taste of NaCl; here we show the 'derecruitment' process during satiation.
bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 2mo agoRapidly decreasing phasic dopamine responses precede a hedonic switch during satiation of sodium appetite https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.16.738888v1
Nice Claude skill to create basic neuroanatomical visualisations with BrainGlobe & blender: github.com/SamedVossber... The single prompt "Use the allen mouse brain atlas to create an animation to show primary visual cortex and primary motor cortex" gives:
Thinking about applying to become a #FreemanHrabowski Scholar, #HannaGray Fellow, or #GilliamFellow? Our Science Programs team went live to cover key program details, elements of a strong application, & to take your questions. Watch the replay! bit.ly/4gS5DOM 🧪
Becoming an HHMI Scientist (for Potential Program Applicants)
HHMI's June 2026 live virtual event was a chance for early career scientists to learn more and ask questions about HHMI's upcoming competitions — the Freeman Hrabowski Scholars and Hanna H. Gray Fellows Programs (applications open Nov. 3, 2026), and the Gilliam Fellows Program (applications open Sept. 1, 2026) — which provide generous support to scientists from graduate training through the early faculty years. Featuring Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Leslie Vosshall; Scientific Program Officers Josh Hall, Angela DePace, and Jose Faraldo-Gomez; and Senior Science Program Coordinator Adrielle Munger, the event covered everything from the details of each program to what HHMI looks for in candidates, and key elements of a strong application. Visit hhmi.org/programs to learn more, and stay connected via email (https://www.hhmi.org/newsletters) and social (below) for regular updates. _____ Follow HHMI https://www.instagram.com/hhmi_science/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/howard-hughes-medical-institute https://www.facebook.com/HowardHughesMed https://x.com/hhmi_science Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hhmi-science.bsky.social
bit.ly
Cholinergic interneuron control of GABAergic circuits targeting spiny projection neurons is disrupted in parkinsonian models https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.17.732978v1
New preprint from the team - what's the role of frontal cortex - LPFC & MCC - in learning about progress towards goals? Data from the checking project collected by Fred Stoll. New analyses by Xiaoqi Xu. With Matteo di Volo, Manu Procyk, & skytorial from @nilskolling.bsky.social below
Nils Kolling@nilskolling.bsky.social · 3mo agoNew preprint alert! doi.org/10.64898/202... Throughout life, we are often told to persist in the pursuit of our long term goals. However, the most important factor to consider in the real world for whether to continue pursuit or abandon one's goal is knowing how much progress you are making.
Check our new work! Studies led brilliantly by @louisakuper.bsky.social. We investigate the parafascicular thalamus as an interface of sensory, attention, and movement signals that guide exploration and cue-related learning.
bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 3mo agoThe parafascicular thalamus steers attention to facilitate learning https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.18.733204v1
A genetic tool targeting brain GPR75 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.29.728898v1
A Small-Molecule Mitochondrial Complex I Modulator Improves Behavioral and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Schizophrenia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.19.726440v1