Sam McDougle

Sam McDougle

@actlab.bsky.social

psychology prof @yale http://actcompthink.org

3.3K followers1.2K following313 posts

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Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

Proud to have this paper out today at Nature Human Behaviour @nathumbehav.nature.com ! Heroic, creative work by Zekun Sun (w/ Zhiran Xie and me).

Nature Human Behaviour@nathumbehav.nature.com

Motor abstraction training generalizes to the refinement of specific movement patterns

dlvr.itMotor abstraction training generalizes to the refinement of specific movement patternsNature Human Behaviour, Published online: 19 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02597-zPracticing unfamiliar characters in rotated orientations improved upright writing as much as direct practice, showing that the motor system learns by abstracting a movement’s structure, not just its details.

Sam McDougle reposted

Takaki Komiyama
@takakikomiyama.bsky.social

Our paper is out in Nature, congrats to Qiyu, An et al! By stimulating ~20 motor cortex neurons carefully selected based on their activity, we could induce learned population activity and, sometimes, the movement itself, depending on the brain's state. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comTargeted stimulation of motor cortex ensembles drives learned movements - NatureOptogenetic stimulation of motor-cortex neuron ensembles shows that precisely timed activity in the primary motor cortex can generate learned neural patterns and movements, demonstrating an active rol...

Sam McDougle reposted

Juan Gallego
@juangallego.bsky.social

The one-day satellite meeting for #NCMSev27 has just been announced and the program includes a lot of cool science that I'm sure will motivate many you to submit your research and propose interesting team sessions! More below 👇

Society for the Neural Control of Movement@ncmsociety.bsky.social

Save the Date for #NCMSev27! Join us in Sevilla, Spain April 26 - 30 at the Melia Sevilla. Stay tuned to the website for keydates, call for submissions, and more. ncm-society.org

Sam McDougle reposted

Nicole Rust
@nicolecrust.bsky.social

Just like that: poof & gone. RIP *all* of NSF social, behavioral and economic research (including psyc & cogneuro). I’m speechless.

Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social

In response to our questions, an NSF spokesperson said that SBE has not been shut down. But with zero SBE-specific funding opportunities, no review panels, and dwindling numbers of staff, it's hard to see the directorate continuing for much longer.

Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

TOMORROW -->

Sam McDougle@actlab.bsky.social

Deadline EXTENDED The abstract submission deadline for MLMC 2026 IS EXTENDED to Friday, October 2nd. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Sam McDougle reposted

RLDM
@rldmparis2027.bsky.social

📣 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 👀

Sam McDougle reposted

Anna Corriveau
@annacorriveau.bsky.social

New preprint! Are attentional lapses the result of disengagement or simply response failure? Using EEG, we tested how attention fluctuations impact visual representations in the brain. (1/5) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgDegraded neural representations foreshadow failures of sustained attentionAttention prioritizes relevant information from the environment, but does not do so consistently over time. Instead, we sometimes experience poor attentional states which are characterized by a higher...
Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

Preprint updated with a new set of modeling analyses. Naser finds that an RL-style 'policy gradient' model explains these novel effects quite well, where the motor system tunes its error sensitivity according to a movement-specific value gradient --> www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Sam McDougle@actlab.bsky.social

New preprint, led by Naser Al-Fawakhiri w/ Vik Chib, showing that the value of different movement goals affects motor adaptation. We think the results reflect a novel "instrumental-motor transfer" effect (à la Pavlovian-Instrumental transfer). Feedback welcome! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgInstrumental-Motor Transfer: The Relative Value of Competing Movement Goals Modulates Implicit Motor LearningMultiple learning signals can shape motor output, including reward and punishment (via value-based reinforcement learning) and sensorimotor error (via motor adaptation). However, it is unclear if acti...
Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

Deadline EXTENDED The abstract submission deadline for MLMC 2026 IS EXTENDED to Friday, October 2nd. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Sam McDougle@actlab.bsky.social

On behalf of the Motor Learning & Motor Control Conference (MLMC): 🔔 Official announcement! 🔔 We are pleased to announce MLMC 2026 -> Friday November 13th (Satellite Meeting to SfN) Abstracts due September 25th. See you in DC! motor-conference.org/openconf.php

motor-conference.orgOCC - OpenConf Peer Review & Conference Management System
Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

Quite cool!

Mark Wagner@mark-j-wagner.bsky.social

Granule cells predict future dopamine reward. Delayed climbing-fiber signals can reinforce the action that precedes it. Our paper, led by Benjamin Filio, is out today in Nature Neuroscience. www.nature.com/articles/s41... Public PDF: rdcu.be/RscCNeXvkXAa

Sam McDougle reposted

David Ho
@davidho.bsky.social

Replying to @davidho.bsky.social

NSF has reduced the research budget for all atmospheric, ocean, and earth sciences by ~80%. 80%! A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.

Sam McDougle reposted

Jonathan Tsay
@tsay.bsky.social

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.

biorxiv.orgUnderstanding Strategic Motor Learning as a Process of Hypothesis TestingMultiple learning processes contribute to successful goal-directed actions under changing physiological states, biomechanical constraints, and environmental contexts. Among these, explicit strategies ...
Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

New preprint! In this study, the fantastic Apoorva Sharma demonstrates that the amount of time that passes during motor preparation can "tag" for retrieval otherwise competing motor memories. Modeling work links these fx to putative temporal basis sets in the cerebellar cortex. Feedback welcome!

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social

Temporal Indexing of Motor Memory https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750443v1

Sam McDougle reposted

Cognitive Neuroscience Society
@cogneuronews.bsky.social

Save the Date! #CNS2027 March 20-23 We're excited to return to Boston! Bookmark this page, submit abstracts for symposia and posters, and get psyched for what will be an awesome conference! www.cogneurosociety.org/annual-meeti...

cogneurosociety.orgAnnual Meeting - Cognitive Neuroscience SocietySubmit a PosterSubmit a Symposium(opens in new tab) CNS 2027 Annual Meeting – March 20 – 23, 2027 We invite you to join us at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) 2027 Annual Meeting, March 20 – 2...
Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social

whoa

Jieyu Zheng@jieyusz.bsky.social

How fast can mice learn complex mazes? With @mameister4.bsky.social we reveal memory, generalization, latent learning, and remote credit assignment of mice in the Manhattan Maze. Do mice born without a cortex or hippocampus have them too? Check it out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgRapid spatial cognition in mice, with and without neocortex and hippocampusRapid learning, memory, and generalization are often attributed to circuits of the neocortex and hippocampus, but their specific role remains unclear. To examine these cognitive abilities together in ...

Sam McDougle reposted

annecollins.bsky.social
@annecollins.bsky.social

Check out our new Trends In Cognitive Science paper on mechanisms of cognitive flexibility - a broad collaborative piece with Florian Bähner, Ali Hummos, Sarah Oh, Kai Sandbrink, and Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.comNeurocomputational mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility: a translational perspectiveCognitive flexibility allows us to adjust behavior when environmental rules change and to recombine prior knowledge in novel situations. However, the …

Sam McDougle reposted

Rui Ponte Costa
@somnirons.bsky.social

How does the brain continually adapt? Fresh in @natureportfolio.nature.com our super exciting collaboration with @mark-j-wagner.bsky.social showing that the cerebellum contextualises cortical dynamics enable multi-task learning: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comGranule cells reorient cortical trajectories to separate contexts - NatureSimultaneous imaging of premotor cortex and cerebellar granule cells in mice learning two skills in parallel shows that trajectories generalize in cortex but coherently reorient apart in granule cells...

Sam McDougle reposted

Aaron L Wong
@aaronlwong.bsky.social

Excited that this work is finally out! It raises some interesting questions about the basal ganglia and the impact of Parkinson's disease.

Jonathan M Wood@jonathanwood603.bsky.social

Update! This paper was just published at npj parkinson's disease. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comImpaired effort perception, not reward sensitivity, impacts the effort-reward trade-off in Parkinson’s disease - npj Parkinson's Diseasenpj Parkinson's Disease - Impaired effort perception, not reward sensitivity, impacts the effort-reward trade-off in Parkinson’s disease

Sam McDougle reposted

Jonathan Tsay
@tsay.bsky.social

New preprint! 🎉 How can we measure how the nervous system knows, moment to moment, where the body is as it moves? We introduce a continuous tracking paradigm to measure the hidden dynamics of proprioception—revealing it is faster and more precise than vision during movement. tinyurl.com/yf297k53

tinyurl.comTracking the hidden dynamics of proprioceptionEvery movement unfolds with a simple question: Where is my body? The nervous system answers through proprioception - the sense of limb position (static position sense) and movement (dynamic propriocep...

Sam McDougle reposted

Kurt Fraser
@kurtfraser.bsky.social

The Department of Psychology at University of Minnesota seeks an Assistant Professor working on computational approaches related to cognition and/or perception (broadly). This would be in my area of the department and I’m happy to answer any questions. Posting : hr.myu.umn.edu/psc/hrprd/EM...

google.comCareersTenure-Track Assistant Professor, Computational Approaches to Perception and/or CognitionDepartment of PsychologyUniversity of Minnesota, College of Liberal ArtsThe Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities announces a search for an outstanding scholar to fill a tenure-track assistant professor position focused on computational approaches to perception and/or cognition. This full-time position in the Department’s Cognitive and Brain Sciences (CAB) Training Program will begin in Fall 2027.Applications are invited from researchers who would extend or complement our historic strengths in combining experimental and computational approaches to perception and cognition. Examples of desired research topics include, but are not limited to, computational approaches in human and/or non-human animal models to study perceptual function and sensory loss, learning, motivation, emotion, and/or higher cognition. While we expect the primary appointment to be in our CAB area, there is  potential for cross-affiliation with other departmental areas.The appointment will be 100%-time over the nine-month academic year (late-August to late-May) and will be made at the rank of tenure-track assistant professor, depending on qualifications and experience and consistent with collegiate and University policy. Salary and start-up packages are competitive. The successful applicant should have and is expected to maintain a strong research program, advise graduate students from a variety of different backgrounds, and teach undergraduate and graduate courses, including core courses within the graduate training program. A strong record of teaching and mentorship is desired. The individual will also be expected to contribute to the service needs of the department, college, university, and profession.A successful candidate's application will demonstrate scholarly distinction, a record of publications, teaching commitment and, if applicable to the research program and the candidate’s career stage, evidence of success in securing and/or pursuing extramural funding.Applicants are invited to review the Workload Principles and Guidelines for Regular Faculty in the College of Liberal Arts, as well as the Standards for Promotion and Tenure in the Department of Psychology.

Sam McDougle reposted

Tarkesh Singh
@tarkeshsingh.bsky.social

I am recruiting a PhD student in sensorimotor neuroscience to join my lab, with a start date of January 2027. This position is fully funded. If you are interested, please send your CV and a brief letter of interest by email. Reposts appreciated.

Sam McDougle reposted

Konstantina Kilteni
@kkilteni.bsky.social

Thrilled to see our paper @nathumbehav.nature.com, led by the brilliant (Bsky-less) PhD student Ziliang Xiong from @erc.europa.eu project #TicklishHuman! We asked: -Is human ticklishness shared across cultures? -Can we explain where on the body we are ticklish? 🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comHuman ticklishness is a widespread, culturally shared and bodily organized sensory experience - Nature Human BehaviourTicklishness is a familiar but poorly understood experience. Xiong and Kilteni show that ticklishness is culturally shared and follows a distinct bodily topography. They evaluate different theories on...

Sam McDougle reposted

Reza Shadmehr
@rezashadmehr.bsky.social

If an action results in error, each neuron requires an individualized teaching signal that guides change in its output. This is the credit assignment problem of learning. Are there neurons in the brain that can compute such a sophisticated teaching signal? Yes. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgClimbing fibers encode the gradient of a loss function for the cerebellumNeurons in the brain are often many synapses away from motoneurons, yet if a movement results in error, each distant neuron needs a teacher that considers its specific contribution to production of th...

Sam McDougle reposted

Jeremy Hogeveen
@jeremyhogeveen.bsky.social

Population geometry reveals largely distinct value-coding dimensions for saccades vs. reaches across 8 cortico-basal ganglia nodes—challenging motor-invariant RL models: doi.org/10.64898/202...

doi.orgEmbodied reinforcement learning in the primate cortico-basal ganglia systemLearning the value of environmental stimuli from reward experience allows animals to make advantageous choices. Existing biological accounts of reinforcement learning (RL) often assume that this value is represented as a single, motor-system-invariant neural signal. Here we recorded neuronal activity across eight nodes of the macaque cortico-basal ganglia system — from limbic to neocortical regions — while monkeys learned stimulus-reward associations using either saccades or reaches as the required motor response. The geometry of population activity revealed largely distinct value-coding dimensions for saccades and reaches, including in limbic regions typically associated with motor-system-invariant value coding. Consequently, value information was substantially reduced when read out across motor systems. These results provide circuit-wide evidence that challenges existing neural implementations of RL. They link biological accounts of value learning to embodied frameworks in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, in which behavior is grounded in an agent’s physical structure rather than abstracted from it. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Custom code used to generate the results reported in this study is publicly available at <https://github.com/GiarroccoFranco/Cortico-BasalGanglia>. The data supporting the findings of this study will be made publicly available in a suitable repository upon publication. Prior to publication, the data are available from the corresponding authors upon request. NIH, ZIAMH002928

Sam McDougle reposted

Andrew Pruszynski
@andpru.bsky.social

We're hiring! Postdoc position to study the neural control of reaching using high-density multi-area electrophysiology. 5 years of funding, great collaborative environment. Please share with anyone who may be interested. For details, see: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.comPruszynski Postdoc 2026Postdoctoral Researcher, Control Policies in the Primate Motor Circuit Pruszynski Lab @ Sensorimotor Superlab​ The Pruszynski Laboratory at Western University is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to j...