***New preprint from the lab*** showing “Generative replay across hippocampal-neocortical circuits”. In sleep we show spiking sequences in V1 (sensory neocortex!) that represent information that has not been directly experienced www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @bndu.ox.ac.uk @ndcnoxford.bsky.social

Generative replay across hippocampal-neocortical circuits

To make flexible decisions, the brain needs to make inferences between events that were not directly experienced together. In sharp-wave ripple (SWR) events, during periods of rest and sleep, spiking ...

biorxiv.org

Our paper is out in @natmachintell.nature.com! We trained multiple RNNs to perform free recall. The best-performing ones learned a strategy akin to the memory palace technique. See thread below for more info. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A neural network model of free recall learns multiple memory strategies - Nature Machine Intelligence

Li et al. show that recurrent neural networks optimized for free recall discover diverse, human-like memory strategies beyond classical temporal context models, with top models using an index-based me...

nature.com

Very sad to hear of Susumu’s passing. His scientific creativity and intuition were inspiring. As director of @RIKEN_CBS, he hired a remarkable group of young scientists, including me, and set us free to pursue bold ideas. news.mit.edu/2026/mit-pro...

MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86

Susumu Tonegawa, a renowned MIT professor of biology and neuroscience and a Nobel laureate, has died at the age of 86. His discovery of how the immune system generates many different antibodies earned...

news.mit.edu

Out today on @nature.com! Connecting neural specialization, population geometry, and their functional implications across the cortical hierarchy. So grateful for this beautiful and fun collaboration with @shuqiw.bsky.social, S Muscinelli, L Paninski, and @stefanofusi.bsky.social!

Rarely categorical, highly separable representations along the cortical hierarchy - Nature

Cortical circuits prioritize diversity over categorical structure, supporting a computational regime geared towards high-dimensional, highly separable neural representations.

nature.com

The lab is at @fens.org, with 5 posters — spatial & auditory working memory, prefrontal decision-making, dopamine in statistical learning, and a 2-photon rat-brain atlas for BrainGlobe. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it this year, but come find the rest of the lab on Tue, Thurs, & Fri! #FENS2026

If you are at #FENS2026, we have a symposium on human circuits - from single cells and synapses to intact circuit function! It's not easy to investigate how our own brain works, but we will present recent work showing that it is possible at many scales. Wednesday afternoon at 15:40 - Hall E.

It wouldn’t be FENS if there wasn’t some sort of clash - definitely check out awesome work by @aryabhomick.bsky.social in Friday morning’s poster session tracking learning dynamics of abstract task structure in the PFC as well as evidence for complex hierarchical learning in rodents!

Mohamady El-Gaby@melgaby.bsky.social · last mo.

If you’re still around on Friday morning I’ll be giving a talk about the latest work and ideas from our lab - alongside lots of great theory and experimental talks in the “Latent representations for smart decisions” symposium. 5/5

We’re at FENS 2026! We’re broadly interested in world and goal models in the PFC and temporal lobe. Come chat to @adamloydharris.bsky.social Mingyu Zhu and Noor AlBarazi as they present some new findings on Wednesday afternoon. #FENS2026 …🧵 1/5

Our work on goal-directed theta sweeps is out! We found two different types of theta sweeps in the rat hippocampus. During random foraging, left-right alternating sweeps dominated (Vollan, 25). However, during memory-guided navigation sweeps pointing to hidden goal locations emerged with learning.

#FENS2026 poster alert: "Combining flexible electrode recordings with two-photon imaging to investigate brain-wide network coupling" Come to our poster PS01-07AM-375 on Tuesday morning to chat with Linus Meienberg and me, how we use ultra-flexible electrodes together with optical recordings.

25 years ago, we implicated rare variants of the FOXP2 gene in a severe speech disorder. I’ve spent much time stressing that FOXP2, while interesting, is not the mythical “gene for language”. Weirdly, on occasion I also need to explain why it’s not “proof of aliens”. Full disclosure in this 🧵. 1/n 🧪

Ever wondered how the hippocampal cognitive map is read-out? @changmin-yu.bsky.social @zilong-ji.bsky.social with Jake & John, show that, during navigation, theta sweeps indicate remembered goal-directions (cf. current/next movements or perceptual targets) 1/2 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How does the human brain extract abstract structure from experience? We show that sensory-independent relational representations emerge in mPFC over several days. Work with @mgarvert.bsky.social and @behrenstimb.bsky.social now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.cell.com/current-biol...

SWC & @gatsbyucl.bsky.social are inviting expressions of interest from early career researchers seeking to establish an independent research group in mechanistic theories of neural computation or learning via external fellowship. Please share with your networks and colleagues! Apply by 16 July.

Fellowship Sponsorship | Sainsbury Wellcome Centre

The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour & Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, are looking to sponsor early career researchers in theoretical or c...

sainsburywellcome.org

Really excited about this work with the awesome Will de Cothi & @shipleysj.bsky.social, out in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. We propose acetylcholine is an analogue of dopamine — tracking not reward prediction errors but state-transition prediction errors. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-026-01058-w

Mona Khalil, Lebanon’s most well-known sea turtle conservationist, died of her wounds today after being injured by an Israeli strike I feel sick

Megaphone News@megaphone.news · 2mo ago

Mona Khalil spent over 20 years protecting sea turtles on Mansouri Beach. After she was injured in an Israeli attack, activists continued her initiative at Rmeileh Beach, where they protected the first loggerhead nest of 73 eggs on Thursday. youtu.be/fbBKzK4JNRc

Why does dopamine ramp up during approach to predictable rewards? In this preprint with Luke Priestley, we explore the idea that dopamine ramps occur when reward predictions inferred using a world-model are used to train striatal cached values.

Dopamine ramps as a normative consequence of dual-process control

Midbrain dopamine neurons are thought to implement a temporal difference (TD) reward prediction error (RPE) that updates cached values stored in striatum. This has been challenged by evidence that dop...

biorxiv.org

This paper is so cool that it’s finally convinced @thomasakam.bsky.social to join Bluesky

@peterdoohan.bsky.social · 2mo ago

How do brains plan actions towards goals? To get at this question we studied mice navigating complex mazes as goals changed on every trial 🧵 Work with @thomasakam.bsky.social @behrenstimb.bsky.social @kristorpjensen.bsky.social now on BioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Closing in two days!

Prof Rick Adams@drrickadams.bsky.social · 3mo ago

📢PhD job alert! A exciting PhD project that involves using MEG and biophysical modelling to try to predict effects of a glutamatergic treatment for psychosis... plus you can develop your own side project. Join our great team! www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

A headline that’s become normalised by this racist state.

Timothy O'Leary@timothyoleary.bsky.social · 2mo ago

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/m...

The slaughter continues. In Gaza, the Israeli military has killed more than 800 people since the truce there was declared in October, striking almost every day. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on ceasefires that aren’t: Israel never stopped killing in Gaza – allies must reject any escalation | Editorial

Editorial: The US is unlikely to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with truce terms. Europe must take action

theguardian.com

Palestine is the moral issue of our time, as was apartheid in the 1970s and 80s. your stance and your silence define you.

This looks absolutely amazing. Rats composing long action sequences out of short ones. mPFC constructing the long sequence on the fly. Reusing the primitive representations but composing them with progression along the composite. One of the most impressive things I have ever seen a rodent do.

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Universal Geometry of Compositional Construction in Prefrontal Cortex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.23.720375v1

This is a great opportunity for all Arabic speakers intersted in computational neuroscience - The Introduction to Computational Neuroscience Online School. The whole thing is in Arabic, fully free and TAs are paid. Deadline in 3 days! More here: arabsinneuro.org/school/

AiN summer school equips you with the essential tools and knowledge to explore the brain through the lens of computers and algorithms. Whether you're a neuroscience enthusiast or a programming wizard, this program empowers you to understand the mind's complex workings through the power of code.

arabsinneuro.org

The world watched as Israel razed Gaza to the ground. Now, the world is watching as Israel razes Lebanon to the ground. War crimes beget war crimes — and the failure to bring Israel to justice for genocide has emboldened it to destroy human life with total impunity.

Academic friends, It's beyond heartbreaking to watch what's unfolding in Iran & the region. A few of us drafted an open letter calling for protection of civilians & of educational, research, medical & cultural institutions. Please read & sign if you agree: sites.google.com/view/protect... #IranWar

Protect Academic Life in Iran

We, the undersigned academics and researchers from around the world, express our profound concern over recent military strikes on Iran, the retaliatory responses, and the reported impact on civilian l...

sites.google.com

If racism was a country: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... “In addition, the return of more than 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated northward will be completely prohibited south of the Litani until the safety and security of northern (Israeli) residents are ensured”

Israel says it will keep control over part of southern Lebanon after war with Hezbollah ends

Defence Minister Israel Katz also says houses in Lebanese villages near the Israeli border will be demolished.

bbc.co.uk

🥁🎉The Psychosis Collective proudly presents our first preprint 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐳𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝘈 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 starring Le He & Harriet Feldman www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We wanted to understand how antipsychotics work. Thread🧵

1/n With Cosyne around the corner, I thought I would: a) make a thread about our “A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the vmPFC” Cell paper (i'm a bit late). shorturl.at/DBA3H

A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Value-based decision-making can be conceptualized as navigation within a cognitive map of choice values. During choice, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) compositionally builds cognitive maps...

shorturl.at