Tim van Timmeren

Cutting international bachelor programs threatens psychological science » Eiko Fried Two days ago, four Dutch universities announced discontinuing their English-speaking psychology bachelor programs (1, 2). I will briefly explain (1) how this decision came to be, (2) why this is such ...

Four large Dutch universities, including Leiden University where I work, have decided to throw international psychology bachelor programs under the bus in an effort to appease the rightwing government.

Here's my blog why this is a terrible idea.

eiko-fried.com/cutting-inte...

New preprint: Does the habit theory of addictions extend to disordered gambling?🤔 osf.io/preprints/os...

In this review paper with @lukeclark.bsky.social, we dive into the theory, examine the current evidence, and provide suggestions for future research! 📖✨

/7 This challenges the notion of a neural habit system that puts limits on the capacity for flexible, goal-directed action. We suggest that it's variations in GD rather than habitual control that determine behavioral flexibility on these tasks in humans.

/6 However: small sample size (n=23). Our conceptual replication study in n=205 found indiv differences in task performance correlated positively (GD control) with striatum – dlPFC WM strength. However, no sign negative (habitual control) associations with WM strength.

Corticostriatal Connectivity Underlies Individual Differences in the Balance between Habitual and Goal-Directed Action Control Why are some individuals more susceptible to the formation of inflexible habits than others? In the present study, we used diffusion tensor imaging to demonstrate that brain connectivity predicts indi...

/5 One early study www.jneurosci.org/content/32/3... used outcome-devaluation to measure goal-directed & habitual control combined with DTI in humans to find dissociable white-matter neural pathways supported goal-directed (caudate – vmPFC) and habitual (putamen – premotor cortex) control

/4 The strongest evidence for two systems comes from lesioning studies in rodents, showing dissociable cortico-striatal pathways for goal-directed and habitual action (e.g. Balleine, 2019). But research in humans is limited.

/3 Many of our actions are repeated every day in the same context, making them highly prone to become habitual. Dual-process models suggest that actions depend on two systems: a flexible goal-directed system and a quick & efficient habit system.

/2 Do habitual and goal-directed control depend on distinct cortico-striatal brain pathways? In a new study, we failed to provide converging evidence for the existence of a neural habit system that puts limits on the capacity for flexible, goal-directed action.

Cortico‐striatal white‐matter connectivity underlies the ability to exert goal‐directed control Research suggests that behavioural flexibility depends on the balance between goal-directed and habitual control. A previous study in humans found that distinct cortico-striatal white-matter pathways....

Very excited to share new research, out now in @EJNeuroscience:

“Cortico-striatal white-matter connectivity underlies the ability to exert goal-directed control” – new research with Irene van de Vijver and Sanne de Wit.

Available here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....