Buddhika Bellana
@buddhikabellana.bsky.social
Curious about memory, spontaneous thought, brains, and stories ⦿ Prof at York University, Glendon Campus ⦿ PI of the Memory & Meaning Lab (www.bellanalab.com)
Pinned
How might stories shed light on brain function? Check out this opinion piece by @alexbarnett.bsky.social and I about the DMN and "situation models" -- our understanding of the current "state of affairs" in a story (or even experience).
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Big new blogpost!
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
December 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Big new blogpost!
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Energy efficiency drives evolution, and humans may have evolved pleasure-based signals to optimize actions. Does this extend to aesthetic pleasure?
Yes!
Strong evidence in silico and humans, out in PNAS Nexus:
tinyurl.com/3kbu8xw4
With Yikai Tang and Wil Cunningham.
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
Yes!
Strong evidence in silico and humans, out in PNAS Nexus:
tinyurl.com/3kbu8xw4
With Yikai Tang and Wil Cunningham.
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
December 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Energy efficiency drives evolution, and humans may have evolved pleasure-based signals to optimize actions. Does this extend to aesthetic pleasure?
Yes!
Strong evidence in silico and humans, out in PNAS Nexus:
tinyurl.com/3kbu8xw4
With Yikai Tang and Wil Cunningham.
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
Yes!
Strong evidence in silico and humans, out in PNAS Nexus:
tinyurl.com/3kbu8xw4
With Yikai Tang and Wil Cunningham.
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Our new paper, now published in @natcomms.nature.com , asks a simple question: when two tasks share a common structure, does the brain learn them more efficiently? Surprisingly, this was not the case. Thread below (1/7)
rdcu.be/eSwvU
rdcu.be/eSwvU
The effects of task similarity during representation learning in brains and neural networks
Nature Communications - Here, the authors show learning tasks with similar structures can initially cause interference and slow down learning, but both the brain and artificial networks gradually...
rdcu.be
December 2, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Our new paper, now published in @natcomms.nature.com , asks a simple question: when two tasks share a common structure, does the brain learn them more efficiently? Surprisingly, this was not the case. Thread below (1/7)
rdcu.be/eSwvU
rdcu.be/eSwvU
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
🧠👀
'These findings reveal high-dimensional aspects of cortical representation undetectable with conventional methods, such as RSA, & contradict previous theories suggesting that high-level visual cortex representations are low-dimensional.' #neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
'These findings reveal high-dimensional aspects of cortical representation undetectable with conventional methods, such as RSA, & contradict previous theories suggesting that high-level visual cortex representations are low-dimensional.' #neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Universal scale-free representations in human visual cortex
Author summary The human cerebral cortex is thought to encode sensory information in population activity patterns, but the statistical structure of these population codes has yet to be characterized. ...
journals.plos.org
November 27, 2025 at 10:35 PM
🧠👀
'These findings reveal high-dimensional aspects of cortical representation undetectable with conventional methods, such as RSA, & contradict previous theories suggesting that high-level visual cortex representations are low-dimensional.' #neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
'These findings reveal high-dimensional aspects of cortical representation undetectable with conventional methods, such as RSA, & contradict previous theories suggesting that high-level visual cortex representations are low-dimensional.' #neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
New paper out in @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social !
We (@kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social , Bob Fennis and I) found that encouraging counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories (i.e., clicks on, and reading times for, conspiracy articles).
A 🧵
1/n
We (@kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social , Bob Fennis and I) found that encouraging counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories (i.e., clicks on, and reading times for, conspiracy articles).
A 🧵
1/n
November 27, 2025 at 9:40 AM
New paper out in @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social !
We (@kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social , Bob Fennis and I) found that encouraging counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories (i.e., clicks on, and reading times for, conspiracy articles).
A 🧵
1/n
We (@kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social , Bob Fennis and I) found that encouraging counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories (i.e., clicks on, and reading times for, conspiracy articles).
A 🧵
1/n
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
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...
Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 24, 2025 at 4:09 PM
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...
Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Check out the interview I did on the Many Minds Podcast - we chat about all things memory: manyminds.libsyn.com/what-is-memo...
Many Minds: What is memory for?
Everyone loves a good evolutionary puzzle. Why do we have appendices? Why do we dream? Why do we blush? At first glance, memory would not seem to be in this category. It's clearly useful to remember s...
manyminds.libsyn.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Check out the interview I did on the Many Minds Podcast - we chat about all things memory: manyminds.libsyn.com/what-is-memo...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
New pontification piece with @awestbrook.bsky.social and Jean Daunizeau, just out in TICS:
Why is cognitive effort experienced as costly?
(or why does it hurt to think)
never written a review paper before in my life, that was a new and unusual experience
Why is cognitive effort experienced as costly?
(or why does it hurt to think)
never written a review paper before in my life, that was a new and unusual experience
Why is cognitive effort experienced as costly?
A widespread observation is that people avoid mentally effortful courses of action,
and much recent work examining cognitive effort has explained subjective effort evaluation
– and, consequently, pref...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:48 PM
New pontification piece with @awestbrook.bsky.social and Jean Daunizeau, just out in TICS:
Why is cognitive effort experienced as costly?
(or why does it hurt to think)
never written a review paper before in my life, that was a new and unusual experience
Why is cognitive effort experienced as costly?
(or why does it hurt to think)
never written a review paper before in my life, that was a new and unusual experience
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience
From the amazing @lauragrima.bsky.social and colleagues - definitely looking forward to reading this!
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
From the amazing @lauragrima.bsky.social and colleagues - definitely looking forward to reading this!
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience
The study of foraging is central to a renewed interest in naturalistic behavior in neuroscience. Applying a foraging framework grounded in behavioral …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience
From the amazing @lauragrima.bsky.social and colleagues - definitely looking forward to reading this!
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
From the amazing @lauragrima.bsky.social and colleagues - definitely looking forward to reading this!
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
(1/4)
🧠 Did you know that kids remember time differently than adults? Our new preprint review w/ @drjeni-mdlab.bsky.social discusses the real implications for juvenile justice & why we need to ask about timing in ways that match kids' developing brains ⚖️
Paper: osf.io/preprints/ps...
🧠 Did you know that kids remember time differently than adults? Our new preprint review w/ @drjeni-mdlab.bsky.social discusses the real implications for juvenile justice & why we need to ask about timing in ways that match kids' developing brains ⚖️
Paper: osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 12, 2025 at 5:26 PM
(1/4)
🧠 Did you know that kids remember time differently than adults? Our new preprint review w/ @drjeni-mdlab.bsky.social discusses the real implications for juvenile justice & why we need to ask about timing in ways that match kids' developing brains ⚖️
Paper: osf.io/preprints/ps...
🧠 Did you know that kids remember time differently than adults? Our new preprint review w/ @drjeni-mdlab.bsky.social discusses the real implications for juvenile justice & why we need to ask about timing in ways that match kids' developing brains ⚖️
Paper: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Time, space, memory and brain–body rhythms — a Perspective by György Buzsáki
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Time, space, memory and brain–body rhythms - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Understanding how the brain represents experienced time and how representations of space and time are integrated to form episodic memories has been a goal of much neuroscientific research. In this Per...
www.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Time, space, memory and brain–body rhythms — a Perspective by György Buzsáki
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
New paper from our lab by Ricardo Morales-Torres (@rmt93.bsky.social) on the visual and semantic properties that shape the vividness of mental representations for events past.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
The short answer to the title, "What Makes Memories Vivid?" is ... meaning!
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
The short answer to the title, "What Makes Memories Vivid?" is ... meaning!
November 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
New paper from our lab by Ricardo Morales-Torres (@rmt93.bsky.social) on the visual and semantic properties that shape the vividness of mental representations for events past.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
The short answer to the title, "What Makes Memories Vivid?" is ... meaning!
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
The short answer to the title, "What Makes Memories Vivid?" is ... meaning!
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Now that we have Hidden Markov Models do we still need correlation matrices?? 😀
For example, this looks cool.
(I'm aware that HMMs are not new, I played with them in grad school...)
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
#neuroskyence
For example, this looks cool.
(I'm aware that HMMs are not new, I played with them in grad school...)
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
#neuroskyence
November 8, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Now that we have Hidden Markov Models do we still need correlation matrices?? 😀
For example, this looks cool.
(I'm aware that HMMs are not new, I played with them in grad school...)
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
#neuroskyence
For example, this looks cool.
(I'm aware that HMMs are not new, I played with them in grad school...)
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
What is the representation underlying cognition? Formal models rely on multidimensional scaling of similarity judgments to derive the representation. In this preprint with @mdlbayes.bsky.social, we take an alternative approach; we build Bayesian generative models for three cognitive tasks. /1
Similarity judgments and visual working memory do not share the same cognitive representation: https://osf.io/fm9vz
November 3, 2025 at 7:34 AM
What is the representation underlying cognition? Formal models rely on multidimensional scaling of similarity judgments to derive the representation. In this preprint with @mdlbayes.bsky.social, we take an alternative approach; we build Bayesian generative models for three cognitive tasks. /1
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
I wrote a thing on episodic memory and systems consolidation. I hope you all enjoy it and/or find it interesting.
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
A neural state space for episodic memories
Episodic memories are highly dynamic and change in nonlinear ways over time. This dynamism is not captured by existing systems consolidation theories …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:56 PM
I wrote a thing on episodic memory and systems consolidation. I hope you all enjoy it and/or find it interesting.
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Sometimes it can be a pain choosing the route, and toughest when two paths seem equivalent.
Nice new article from Liz Crastil's lab explores what factors drive choices of route:
Graph Properties Drive Navigational Selection between Equidistant Routes
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Nice new article from Liz Crastil's lab explores what factors drive choices of route:
Graph Properties Drive Navigational Selection between Equidistant Routes
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Graph Properties Drive Navigational Selection between Equidistant Routes
Cognitive maps, traditionally considered metrically accurate mental representations of space, have been central to navigation research. However, recen…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Sometimes it can be a pain choosing the route, and toughest when two paths seem equivalent.
Nice new article from Liz Crastil's lab explores what factors drive choices of route:
Graph Properties Drive Navigational Selection between Equidistant Routes
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Nice new article from Liz Crastil's lab explores what factors drive choices of route:
Graph Properties Drive Navigational Selection between Equidistant Routes
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
How can the "default network" support many forms of introspective thought?
Our new review argues these functions rely on distinct MTL connections:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks to @denizvatansever.bsky.social & Jess Andrews-Hanna for the invitation to this Special Issue!
🧵
Our new review argues these functions rely on distinct MTL connections:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks to @denizvatansever.bsky.social & Jess Andrews-Hanna for the invitation to this Special Issue!
🧵
The canonical default network comprises parallel distributed networks with distinct medial temporal lobe connections
The default network (DN) is associated with a variety of introspective cognitive processes. Recent developments support that the ‘canonical’ DN compri…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:51 PM
How can the "default network" support many forms of introspective thought?
Our new review argues these functions rely on distinct MTL connections:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks to @denizvatansever.bsky.social & Jess Andrews-Hanna for the invitation to this Special Issue!
🧵
Our new review argues these functions rely on distinct MTL connections:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks to @denizvatansever.bsky.social & Jess Andrews-Hanna for the invitation to this Special Issue!
🧵
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Our experience of time is powerfully shaped by boundaries between events (i.e., going from one meeting to the next). But what about time *within an event*? In new work, we find reliable distortions of time based on internal event structure (e.g., beginnings, middles, and ends)! tinyurl.com/n8mn2sn7
Unfolding event structure distorts subjective time
Our experience of time is often distorted in striking ways. Although prior work has shown that boundaries between events can shape temporal perception…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Our experience of time is powerfully shaped by boundaries between events (i.e., going from one meeting to the next). But what about time *within an event*? In new work, we find reliable distortions of time based on internal event structure (e.g., beginnings, middles, and ends)! tinyurl.com/n8mn2sn7
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
🚨 New preprint alert!
We use trained-from-scratch GPT-2 models to characterize & capture the unique writing styles of individual authors. We also develop a new LLM-based relative stylometric measure.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2510.21958
Code/data: github.com/ContextLab/l...
🤗: huggingface.co/contextlab
We use trained-from-scratch GPT-2 models to characterize & capture the unique writing styles of individual authors. We also develop a new LLM-based relative stylometric measure.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2510.21958
Code/data: github.com/ContextLab/l...
🤗: huggingface.co/contextlab
October 28, 2025 at 4:28 AM
🚨 New preprint alert!
We use trained-from-scratch GPT-2 models to characterize & capture the unique writing styles of individual authors. We also develop a new LLM-based relative stylometric measure.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2510.21958
Code/data: github.com/ContextLab/l...
🤗: huggingface.co/contextlab
We use trained-from-scratch GPT-2 models to characterize & capture the unique writing styles of individual authors. We also develop a new LLM-based relative stylometric measure.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2510.21958
Code/data: github.com/ContextLab/l...
🤗: huggingface.co/contextlab
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Interactive Cognition Lab | USC
Interactive Cognition Lab at USC, led by principal investigator, Dr. Nina Rouhani.
rouhanilab.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
A RNN with episodic memory, trained on free recall, learned the memory palace strategy -- the network developed an abstract item index code so that it can “walk along” the same trajectory in the hidden state space to encode/retrieve item sequences!
Feedback appreciated!
Feedback appreciated!
I’m excited to share my recent preprint on a neural network model of free recall that learns multiple memory strategies including the memory palace!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
A RNN with episodic memory, trained on free recall, learned the memory palace strategy -- the network developed an abstract item index code so that it can “walk along” the same trajectory in the hidden state space to encode/retrieve item sequences!
Feedback appreciated!
Feedback appreciated!
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Vivid memories are all over the BBC website front page! It takes just a few minutes to complete our public survey: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
October 21, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Vivid memories are all over the BBC website front page! It takes just a few minutes to complete our public survey: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Reposted by Buddhika Bellana
Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/
AI Surrogates and illusions of generalizability in cognitive science
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have generated enthusiasm for using AI simulations of human research participants to generate new know…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/
Great thread. Science is a specific window into our world. It has affordances. It has weaknesses. The phenomena we care about, especially as psychologists, don’t usually lend themselves to being well-explained by one specific lens.
Kandel declared his firm belief that all mysteries of art and human experience would eventually yield to penetration by science.
I think back to this episode whenever the topic of art and science come up. I'm much more with Sacks than with Kandel.
I think back to this episode whenever the topic of art and science come up. I'm much more with Sacks than with Kandel.
October 15, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Great thread. Science is a specific window into our world. It has affordances. It has weaknesses. The phenomena we care about, especially as psychologists, don’t usually lend themselves to being well-explained by one specific lens.