Maria M. Robinson

Transitions in dynamical regime and neural mode during perceptual decisions - Nature Simultaneous recordings were made of hundreds of neurons in the rat frontal cortex and striatum, showing that decision commitment involves a rapid, coordinated transition in dynamical regime and neura...

How does the brain decide? 🧠

Our new @nature.com paper shows that neural activity switches from an 'evidence gathering' to a 'commitment' state at a precise moment we call nTc.

After nTc, new evidence is ignored, revealing a neural marker for the instant when the mind is made up.

rdcu.be/eGUrv

Inference in (neuro)cognitive systems | 9 | Neurocognitive Foundations Cognitive scientists ascribe inferential processes to (neuro)cognitive systems to explain many of their capacities. Since these ascriptions have different

Inferential theories are on the rise in cognitive science. But what does it mean to infer? Check out our take on inference across a variety of (neuro)cognitive systems.

Distorted learning from local metacognition supports transdiagnostic underconfidence - Nature Communications Individuals with symptoms of anxiety and depression exhibit persistent underconfidence. Here, the authors show that distortions in learning from local metacognition can explain how underconfidence is ...

Excited to see this now out in the world!

We identify a computational basis for how persistent underconfidence is maintained in the face of intact performance, finding that it is grounded in impaired updating of global self-beliefs from local metacognition

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1/N

Beyond divisive normalization: Scalable feed-forward networks for multisensory integration across reference frames The integration of multiple sensory inputs is essential for human perception and action in uncertain environments. This process includes reference frame transformations as different sensory signals ar...

Our multi-sensory integration Neuro-AI paper is now published in J Neurosci

www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

Super excited to share that Ven Popov & me published a new release of the #bmm R package: venpopov.github.io/bmm/

We have added the Memory Measurement Model for categorical #workingmemory tasks to the package!

Apart from that there are some minor fixes to already implemented models and functions.

Multiple brain activation patterns for the same perceptual decision-making task - Nature Communications Here, the authors show the brain uses multiple activation patterns to perform the same task. Even the default mode network, which is often inactive during focus, plays a role.

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸/𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀?
Some papers suggesting that it can.
#neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Are you a graduate student in #Ukraine interested in machine learning and neuroscience? My research lab at #UofT is now accepting applications for remote thesis supervision.

(1/3) #neuroAI #compneuro @vectorinstitute.ai @uoft.bsky.social @uoftcompsci.bsky.social @uhn.ca

Math and biology meet in the cerebellum There can be surprising differences between what neurons do and what neurons cause

"It is thus as if nature smiled and gave the cerebellum-studying neuroscientist the ideal tool for testing null space hypotheses..."

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New work by Sudeep Bhatia @sdpbht.bsky.social, Simon van Baal @svanbaal.bsky.social, Feiyi Wang, and @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social Lukasz Walasek -- now out in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Hey #AcademicSky #PsySky. All is ready for the start of the PG Research Day @warwickpsych.bsky.social @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social we’ll be covering the event live from 10am UK time

🚀🚀 Very excited about this new preprint with @yunxiao-li.bsky.social and @asanborn.bsky.social!

Months ago we released the samplr package on CRAN (helps you use sampling algorithms + cogn. models for human data). Here we explain the theoretical background and show how to use the pkg

osf.io/ax8hm

And a poster with collaborators from South University of Science and Technology and University of Birmingham Chen Wei, Jiachen Zou and Quanying Liu where we apply their new AI model (CoCoG arxiv.org/pdf/2404.16482) to generate novel real-world stimuli for visual memory reproduction tasks.

A poster with @timbrady.bsky.social on a model that provides a unifying framework for generalizing from temporal to strength (repetition) manipulation effects on visual memory.

Excited to share some work presented at @vssmtg.bsky.social this year #VSS2025. A great talk by Anxin Miao on a model codeveloped with @timbrady.bsky.social that bridges Bayesian and representational theories of memory, and makes parameter free predictions of visual memory biases.

The Brady Lab @timbrady.bsky.social will be at #VSS2025 @vssmtg.bsky.social this year! Here's a thread with some of the cool work we're coming to share:

On Sat., 05/17 at 2:30PM in Visual Memory: General, former undergrad Anxin Miao will tell us how to predict gist biases in memory APRIORI through independent measurements of memory biases at the level of items and ensembles. CC: @mmrobinson93.bsky.social

Extreme-Value Signal Detection Theory for RecognitionMemory: The Parametric Road Not Taken Signal Detection Theory has long served as a cornerstone of psychological research, particularly in recognition memory. Yet its conventional application hinges almost exclusively on the Gaussian…

Honey, we fixed Signal Detection Theory (SDT)! In this preprint, Constantin Meyer-Grant, David Kellen, Sam Harding, and I critically evaluate the (unequal-variance) Gaussian SDT model in recognition memory and pursue the Gumbel-min model as a principled alternative: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
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If you’re into absurd movies check out my brothers deeply uncomfortable but awesome (I think) short

Every Progress Report

Genoa

Genoa https://www.wikiart.org/en/aleksandra-ekster/genoa-1914

CSPI is joining the @aclu.org, the American Public Health Association, and others in filing a lawsuit challenging the abrupt cancellation of research grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (1/2)

Report: 83% Of Americans Just Want To Put On Sunglasses And Say ‘Let’s Do This’

Report: 83% Of Americans Just Want To Put On Sunglasses And Say ‘Let’s Do This’
theonion.com/report-...

Cory Booker crosses 23-hour mark in marathon Senate floor speech protesting Trump agenda | CNN Politics Sen. Cory Booker is holding the Senate floor into Tuesday afternoon, as the New Jersey Democrat continues his marathon speech protesting actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/...

What initiatives in your department bring people together and encourage collaboration? Looking for fresh ideas to connect people! #AcademicChatter

Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) or Teaching Fellow (110378-0325) - (Two Posts) at University of Warwick Discover an exciting academic career path as a Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) or Teaching Fellow (110378-0325) - (Two Posts) at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply toda...

We are recruiting for two 1-year teaching-focussed positions. We welcome applicants in a wide range of areas, with a particular focus on social psychology for one of the posts.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DML866/a...

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

This doesn't look good, folks
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A dynamic spatiotemporal normalization model for continuous vision Perception and neural activity are profoundly shaped by the spatial and temporal context of sensory input, which has been modeled by divisive normalization over space or time. However, theoretical wor...

recently posted a new preprint (the first of my postdoc 🎉) where we implemented normalization across space *and* time, allowing us to capture several neural and behavioral findings! I'll be presenting this work at VSS in a couple of months too for those attending
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Defragmenting psychology Nature Human Behaviour - Psychology is fragmented into the study of a myriad of constructs and measures, most of which are used very rarely. This hinders cumulative knowledge generation. We call on...

New comment by @faridanvari.bsky.social and friends arguing that psychology is fragmented into the study of too many constructs and measures with too few links.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Chinese porcelain

Chinese porcelain https://www.wikiart.org/en/paul-klee/windows-and-palm-trees-1914