Armin Lak

Our work, out at Cell, shows that the brain’s dopamine signals teach each individual a unique learning trajectory. Collaborative experiment-theory effort, led by Sam Liebana in the lab. The first experiment my lab started just shy of 6y ago & v excited to see it out: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Our new work on how belief states could be implemented by attractor-like dynamics in the brain -- an effort started in Starkweather et al. (2017) in collaboration with Sam Gershman, and Jay Hennig, now joined by Scott Linderman! Thank you to all collaborators!

One of my science dreams came true today in the lab 🤩

📖 New review out today in @natrevneuro.nature.com: Towards an integrative neuroscience of metacognition 🧠🧪 Full-text link to the paper is here: rdcu.be/9YK3mF7dYhFa

What a beautiful set of discoveries here

This is a joint junior faculty search across several life sciences Departments at Harvard, including my Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Please apply!

On the cover of Science Signaling today, the final version of our initial investigation of functional differences between VTA glutamate-dopamine, nonglutamate-dopamine, and glutamate-only neurons www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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...

How does sleep consolidate muscle memories? New research from @mstephensonjones.bsky.social lab & @gatsbyucl.bsky.social in @natneuro.nature.com reveals that motor-skill memories are replayed in the striatum during sleep, independently of the hippocampus. www.sainsburywellcome.org/blog/muscle-...

on the 2nd day pm time at #fens2026 you think of skipping the posters & enjoying Barcelona. BUT the temptation of seeing our posters will keep you in the poster hall 😆 All new & all on frontal cortex in learning by Sandra Tan, Marko Tvrdic, Yuliia Shevchuk & @huriyeatg.bsky.social et al, No94,95,96

Awesome results from @fluketc.bsky.social @dudman.bsky.social and team, both for dopamine field and for all that train animals in tasks www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

big fomo for @dopaminesociety.bsky.social next week but excited that @jessicamoretti.bsky.social and @matthiasfritsche.bsky.social from the lab attending to present what we have been up to

Excited to share our new paper published in Nature Communications! rdcu.be/fh6ty We show that deep layers of the superior colliculus identify the salience of conditioned visual stimuli and drive dopamine responses during classical conditioning.

Very interesting stuff here

We have new a new doctor in the lab 🍾🍾🎉Congratulations @neurorussell.bsky.social for successful viva today at Oxford @oxforddpag.bsky.social

Amazing study and the coolest results (from my point of view!) is that LC norepinephrine neurons projecting to the frontal cortex encode reward prediction error

I am livid that after less than a day, Vance et al are back empty-handed. "Marathon" talks?? They didn't even sleep on it and try again! Many thousands of lives, the world economy and world hunger, and more, hang in the balance, and they stopped trying after less than a day?? What a rotten failure.

We’re recruiting! Exciting opportunities in our lab supported by a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award. • Postdoctoral researchers • Research assistant/PhD students Join us to study how neural circuits drive decision-making. Deadline 26/04 Learn more and Apply here: rezavallab.org

100+ year old Pasteur Institute in Tehran was a premier infectious disease research institute and vaccine manufacturer It is a reason Iranian kids like me born in 60s had access to measles vaccines soon after they were developed in the west

bombs falling to plant democracy! , but instead fertilising despair and taking lives… writing right after hearing that a few days ago bombs landed some 50 m from my father’s office ….

Actually the view from my office just got more interesting, as the official celebrations of the 200th anniversary now include a pirate projection saying "Free Palestine". Regardless of opinions, may UCL enjoy 200 more years of freedom of speech.

RA job alert. We are looking for a fearless experimentalist to join our experiments on cortical neuromodulators during visually guided learning, lead by @michael-lynn.bsky.social . Opportunity to learn 2p imaging, design and conduct experiments. RT plz. Apply here: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

There is a new Postdoctoral Research Associate position available in my group, to work on computational analysis of human neuroimaging workflows to develop robust, interpretable and scalable biomarkers of cognitive brain health. Closing date 10th Feb 2026. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

Out today in Neurophotonics, we show that cross-talk between the imaging laser and opsin in all-optical experiments can affect response dynamics beyond what has been accounted for. Imaging conditions subthreshold for evoking spikes can accelerate opsin desensitization: doi.org/10.1117/1.NP...

We're running a 5th edition of the always-exciting UCL Summer School on Consciousness and Metacognition this year, 8th-10th July 2026 in London. Accommodation and travel expenses are covered. For more information and how to apply, check out metacoglab.org/summer-schoo...

This one from @kepecslab.bsky.social and Song Hu lab is awesome: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We tend to think of neurons as either excitatory or inhibitory, but some neurons chemically inhibit their downstream targets while electrically exciting their neighbors. What is gained by having an inhibitory neuron excite its neighbor? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Please repost widely. @vanderhaeghenp2.bsky.social and I are hiring a postdoc with expertise in sensory physiology and in vivo circuit imaging/manipulation. The project centers on human-specific brain development and SYNGAP1-related disorders. Call closing soon—apply ASAP jobs.vib.be/j/119852/pos...

concise and informative review article on corticostriatal pathways in sensory process by @giladsilberberg.bsky.social et al . I find myself looking into it frequently and learn/cross check a new thing every time : www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We look forward to discussing these with you all #SfN25, #SfN2025

Our lab is looking for a postdoc! We have interesting projects and cutting-edge techniques such as Neuropixels Opto, Light Beads Microscopy and more. We would be delighted to receive your application. Deadline is 25 November 2025. More info here: www.ucl.ac.uk/cortexlab/po...

All-optical experiments are great but @neurorussell.bsky.social found that opsin desensitization due to cross-talk between the imaging laser and the opsin causes major issues. These can be ameleorated with long inter-stimulus intervals & short imaging doses. All here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Looking for a PhD next year? Want to come and work on the next generation of OPM-MEG/EEG biomarkers in computational psychiatry? Apply for our MRC iCase studentship with @mkflugge.bsky.social, collabs with @lilweb.bsky.social + industrial placement at P1Vital: www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/gradua...

Beautiful and clear results showing that temporal difference error calculation is hardwired in the dopamine/striatum mircocircuits: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... from @malcolmgcampbell.bsky.social and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social

In our Learning Club @cmc-lab.bsky.social today (Aug 18, Thu, 2pm CET), Samuel Liebana will tell us about his paper (www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... [joint work w/ @saxelab.bsky.social & @laklab.bsky.social]. Want to attend, send an empty email to virtual-talk-link-request@cmclab.org to get the link!

Concise and informative highlight on our recent paper, thanks to Seung Chan Kim, Sehwan Kim & Sang Ryong Kim. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hagai Bergman - whose celebrated work was a critical step in identifying the subthalamic nucleus as a target for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease - & Josh Goldberg, both of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, helping to stop traffic (posted by Josh on X): Stop the war! Bring them home!

We are recruiting a new PI at the FIL @imagingneuroucl.bsky.social, Associate or Full Professor. This is an amazing place to do cognitive neuroscience, in the heart of London. If you or someone you know might be interested, please pass it on. #neuroskyence www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

New preprint + thread 🧵 #Psychedelics induce the formation of new synapses, but where do they connect? Our rabies tracing study reveals that #psilocybin shifts connectivity across specific cortical networks. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/12

Can we use what we’ve learned about cognitive maps to understand social cognition, including theory of mind? If you’re interested in answering this question then this is a fantastic postdoc opportunity with @mkwittmann.bsky.social in collaboration with @summerfieldlab.bsky.social and my lab.

Our paper on foraging is now published in Neuron! Read it here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt... This project was co-led by Michael Bukwich (not on Bluesky) and me, with major contributions from all co-authors. Huge thanks to the whole team!

🚨Pre-print alert🚨 We stimulated serotonin with optogenetics while doing large-scale Neuropixel recordings across the mouse brain. We found strong widespread modulation of neural activity, but no effect on the choices of the mouse 🐭 How is this possible? Strap in! (1/9) 👇🧵 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We're looking for a research assistant to work in our neuroscience lab at @princetonneuro.bsky.social @hhmi.org where we study learning and decision-making circuitry. Apply here: research-princeton.icims.com/jobs/21001/r... Pls share w/ anyone who might be interested!