Ata Karagoz

Hybrid neural–cognitive models reveal how memory shapes human reward learning - Nature Human Behaviour Using artificial neural networks applied to human data, Eckstein et al. show that good models of reinforcement learning require memory components that track representations of the past.

Hybrid neural–cognitive models reveal how memory shapes human reward learning
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Creative problem-solving after experimentally provoking dreams of unsolved puzzles during REM sleep Abstract. Dreams have arguably been a source of creative insight for millennia. The specific assertion that dreams during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep pr

New publication out today from the amazing PhD dissertation of Karen Konkoly @karenkonkoly.bsky.social in Neuroscience of Consciousness @nconsc.bsky.social : Creative problem-solving after experimentally provoking dreams of unsolved puzzles during REM sleep academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...

My lab is looking to recruit 1-2 paid summer interns to do wet lab work on learning in a unicellular organism (Stentor coeruleus). You can apply here:
forms.gle/b47WpSobjFjo...

We are hiring a research specialist, to start this summer! This position would be a great fit for individuals looking to get more experience in computational and cognitive neuroscience research before applying to graduate school. #neurojobs Apply here: research-princeton.icims.com/jobs/21503/r...

Episodic memory facilitates flexible decision-making via access to detailed events - Nature Human Behaviour Nicholas and Mattar found that people use episodic memory to make decisions when it is unclear what will be needed in the future. These findings reveal how the rich representational capacity of episodic memory enables flexible decision-making.

In this Article, @jonathannicholas.bsky.social & @marcelomattar.bsky.social show that people use episodic memory to make decisions when it is unclear what will be needed in the future.

Go join a great lab with great people in a great environment with great resources!

A normative account of human temporal structure learning People rapidly recalibrate their expectations about the world in the face of surprising observations. This recalibration should depend on the temporal structure of the environment, however how people ...

A few months ago, Niloufar Razmi visited PNI and blew everyone's minds with her structure learning model. Really excited to see it out.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A unifying account of replay as context-driven memory reactivation A context-driven memory model simulates a wide range of characteristics of waking and sleeping hippocampal replay, providing a new account of how and why replay occurs.

Really thrilled that this paper led by @neurozz.bsky.social is now published in its final version in @elife.bsky.social!!

This is a memory-focused (as opposed to RL-focused) account of the detailed characteristics of forward and backward awake and sleep replay!

elifesciences.org/articles/99931

The Neural Control and Computation Lab is seeking a skilled part-time software engineer in Toronto to lead the development of ATHENA (Automatically Tracking Hands Expertly with No Annotations), our open-source, Python-based toolbox for 3D markerless tracking!

www.yorku.ca/health/resea...

Can reward improve memory for what came before it? 🌟

In a registered report with @duncanlabuoft.bsky.social & @megschlichting.bsky.social, we reconcile mixed findings from past studies: reward retroactively boosts associative—but not item—memory, and only in reward-sensitive individuals!

🧠 Hiring a Research Assistant/Lab Manager! Share widely! 📍 St. Louis | ⏰ Full-time

We're launching the How We Learn Lab @WashU, studying attention, learning & memory interactions. Perfect for anyone interested in dev cog neuro who wants hands-on experience before grad school.

deckerlab.com

Wanna compare dynamics across neural data, RNNs, or dynamical systems? We got a fast and furious method🏎️
The 1st preprint of my PhD 🥳 fast dynamical similarity analysis (fastDSA):
📜: arxiv.org/abs/2511.22828
💻: github.com/CMC-lab/fast...
I’ll be @cosynemeeting.bsky.social - happy to chat 😉

The original dynamic similarity analysis (DSA) developed by @neurostrow.bsky.social and Ila Fiete is a powerful method to compare trajectories of (nonlinear) neural dynamics between different datasets and models: arxiv.org/abs/2306.10168

Fresh off the press from all-star post-doc Blake Elliott: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We show that the HPC supports coincidence detection across VTA and lPFC in service of novelty-evoked invigoration. Stay-tuned for how these circuits are altered in psychosis risk.

I recently bought a dumb-phone to try and make this transition but it seems to inconvenience too many of my friends.

Also the ever-present anxiety that I've missed an important slack message or email!

Agency alters memory organization during free recall - PubMed This study examined how agentic decisions in the absence of explicit rewards influence memory organization. Participants studied lists of items to assign as gifts to two characters-either choosing freely (Choice group) or following instructions (Fixed group). During free recall, participants in the …

Agency reorganizes memory around relevant decisions. This was collaboration the deeply missed Sarah DuBrow and steer-headed by our grad students @lindsayrait.bsky.social and Elizabeth Horwath.

p.s. the task design involves curating gift baskets.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41436249/

postdoc opportunity! would be a good fit for an intergroup person with NLP chops interested in the role of historical narratives

bonus, Edinburgh is a phenomenal city to live in with wonderful, walkable quality of life

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

(1/5)
🧵Our new preprint shows how the brain develops to transform how kids, teens & adults represent & navigate their world: shifting from local, moment-to-moment memories in childhood to integrated, global cognitive maps in adulthood 🧠

Paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Princeton's AI Lab is advertising positions for AI Postdoctoral Fellows in two areas: studying natural and artificial minds, and designing, understanding or engineering large AI models. We are also searching for a Lead Research Software Engineer! ai.princeton.edu/ai-lab/emplo...

oh what fun it is to have this paper out :)

Lindsay Lab - Postdoc Position Artificial neural networks applied to psychology, neuroscience, and climate change

Spread the word: I'm looking to hire a postdoc to explore the concept of attention (as studied in psych/neuro, not the transformer mechanism) in large Vision-Language Models. More details here: lindsay-lab.github.io/2025/12/08/p...
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro

The SFI summer school I did was one of the highlights of my PhD experience. You should definitely apply!!

Asking informally: does anyone know someone who might be interested in a postdoc focused on understanding changes in memory representations driven by attention using EEG? ⚡️Thanks!

Cognitive maps are flexible, dynamic, (re)constructed representations: https://osf.io/enxb2

Adaptive Cognitive Control in Prospective Memory: https://osf.io/pem3t

Aligning eye tracking and free recall time series, we found that increased saccades predict episodic (vs. non-episodic) by 0.5 s.

Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Check out @theazalabak.bsky.social's cool new paper on model-based planning during foraging. She's applying for grad school this season, so keep your eyes out!

Thrilled to see this reviewed preprint by grad student extraordinaire (but bsky-less) Euan Prentis posted on @elife.bsky.social! doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Thank you to the reviewers and editors for encouraging, insightful and helpful comments. We will be revising the paper, stay tuned!