Dr Poppy Watson
@popwatson.bsky.social
University of Technology Sydney, Lecturer in Psychology. Attention, reward, control, associative learning, habits, goal directed, PIT, addiction
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
"In 2019 we notified journals about serious integrity concerns in 172 clinical trials. Over five years later, only 22 have been retracted. The 135 unretracted trials have 1989 citations in systematic reviews, clinical guidelines, and consensus statements"
[paraphrased]
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
[paraphrased]
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
November 28, 2025 at 10:11 AM
"In 2019 we notified journals about serious integrity concerns in 172 clinical trials. Over five years later, only 22 have been retracted. The 135 unretracted trials have 1989 citations in systematic reviews, clinical guidelines, and consensus statements"
[paraphrased]
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
[paraphrased]
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
New study out today in Nature Comms: www.nature.com/articles/s41..., in which we set out to test whether ultrasound could influence the reward-related learning computations of the nucleus accumbens, building on decades of work on dopaminergic prediction error and reinforcement learning. And it did.
Non-invasive ultrasonic neuromodulation of the human nucleus accumbens impacts reward sensitivity - Nature Communications
This study shows that non-invasive ultrasound to the human nucleus accumbens can modulate deep brain activity and enhance reward-guided learning, offering a potential alternative to invasive neuromodu...
www.nature.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:26 PM
New study out today in Nature Comms: www.nature.com/articles/s41..., in which we set out to test whether ultrasound could influence the reward-related learning computations of the nucleus accumbens, building on decades of work on dopaminergic prediction error and reinforcement learning. And it did.
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Are there any firmly established widely accepted causal arrows pointing from the gut microbiome to literally anything other than gut issues?
November 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Are there any firmly established widely accepted causal arrows pointing from the gut microbiome to literally anything other than gut issues?
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
📢Generative Models in Neuroimaging Survey
We’re running a short survey on how neuroimaging (aka #OHBM) community defines, uses & evaluates generative models, from biophysical simulations to ML-based approaches
👉 t.co/lRQj4qmknO
@ohbmofficial.bsky.social @ohbmtrainees.bsky.social
We’re running a short survey on how neuroimaging (aka #OHBM) community defines, uses & evaluates generative models, from biophysical simulations to ML-based approaches
👉 t.co/lRQj4qmknO
@ohbmofficial.bsky.social @ohbmtrainees.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 9:12 AM
📢Generative Models in Neuroimaging Survey
We’re running a short survey on how neuroimaging (aka #OHBM) community defines, uses & evaluates generative models, from biophysical simulations to ML-based approaches
👉 t.co/lRQj4qmknO
@ohbmofficial.bsky.social @ohbmtrainees.bsky.social
We’re running a short survey on how neuroimaging (aka #OHBM) community defines, uses & evaluates generative models, from biophysical simulations to ML-based approaches
👉 t.co/lRQj4qmknO
@ohbmofficial.bsky.social @ohbmtrainees.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
Congrats to those who were successful and commiserations to those who were not. You're excellent and the system is flawed - we need more funding for Australian science.
DECRA success rate is the lowest in 14 years, since 2012 (1st year the scheme ran).
What a pathetic system we have for supporting new ideas, new people…
DE26: 13.1%
25: 17.9
24: 19.6
23: 15.0
22: 19.7
21: 17.1
20: 16.0
19: 17.2
18: 16.3
17: 16.7
16: 16.4
15: 14.3
14: 13.6
13: 15.6
12: 12.8
What a pathetic system we have for supporting new ideas, new people…
DE26: 13.1%
25: 17.9
24: 19.6
23: 15.0
22: 19.7
21: 17.1
20: 16.0
19: 17.2
18: 16.3
17: 16.7
16: 16.4
15: 14.3
14: 13.6
13: 15.6
12: 12.8
🚨 #DECRA #DE26 announcement:
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/a3f6be6e-33f7-4fb5-98a6-7526aaa184cf/285
/bot
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/a3f6be6e-33f7-4fb5-98a6-7526aaa184cf/285
/bot
November 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Congrats to those who were successful and commiserations to those who were not. You're excellent and the system is flawed - we need more funding for Australian science.
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
This kind of stuff is why I say that I worry that the tools of neuroscience are not properly vetted
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
Neural dynamics outside task-coding dimensions drive decision trajectories through transient amplification
Most behaviors involve neural dynamics in high-dimensional activity spaces. A common approach is to extract dimensions that capture task-related variability, such as those separating stimuli or choice...
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:02 PM
This kind of stuff is why I say that I worry that the tools of neuroscience are not properly vetted
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Another nail in the coffin for PCA?
- doesn’t linearize, distorting similarity metrics
- is biased by temporal jitter across epochs
- may miss important dimensions for transient amplification
If you think there is a state space, use a state space model!
- doesn’t linearize, distorting similarity metrics
- is biased by temporal jitter across epochs
- may miss important dimensions for transient amplification
If you think there is a state space, use a state space model!
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
Neural dynamics outside task-coding dimensions drive decision trajectories through transient amplification
Most behaviors involve neural dynamics in high-dimensional activity spaces. A common approach is to extract dimensions that capture task-related variability, such as those separating stimuli or choice...
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Another nail in the coffin for PCA?
- doesn’t linearize, distorting similarity metrics
- is biased by temporal jitter across epochs
- may miss important dimensions for transient amplification
If you think there is a state space, use a state space model!
- doesn’t linearize, distorting similarity metrics
- is biased by temporal jitter across epochs
- may miss important dimensions for transient amplification
If you think there is a state space, use a state space model!
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
If government actually cared about child safety online, they’d ban targeted ads, not teenagers. But regulating corporations doesn’t win headlines. Punishing kids does.
#auspol
#auspol
November 23, 2025 at 4:46 AM
If government actually cared about child safety online, they’d ban targeted ads, not teenagers. But regulating corporations doesn’t win headlines. Punishing kids does.
#auspol
#auspol
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
A habit and working memory model as an alternative account of human reward-based learning
Nature Human Behaviour - In this study, Collins proposes an alternative dual-process (working memory and habit) model of reinforcement learning in humans.
rdcu.be
November 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
Social media ban for under 16s hits Australia on Dec 10th
going to be awesome to be 15 years old in victoria, where you won't be allowed to watch youtube but will be allowed to go to prison for a thousand years
November 12, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Social media ban for under 16s hits Australia on Dec 10th
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Still time to register for the 2025 Conference of the Australasian Society for Philosophy and Psychology, in-person in Melbourne Nov 24-25!
Check details and fab keynotes and program on the site👇
#philosophy #neuroskyence
sites.google.com/monash.edu/a...
Check details and fab keynotes and program on the site👇
#philosophy #neuroskyence
sites.google.com/monash.edu/a...
ASPP 2025 Melbourne
Australasian Society for Philosophy and Psychology 2025 Conference
Melbourne, November 24th - 25th, 2025
sites.google.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Still time to register for the 2025 Conference of the Australasian Society for Philosophy and Psychology, in-person in Melbourne Nov 24-25!
Check details and fab keynotes and program on the site👇
#philosophy #neuroskyence
sites.google.com/monash.edu/a...
Check details and fab keynotes and program on the site👇
#philosophy #neuroskyence
sites.google.com/monash.edu/a...
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Keep posting sky pictures, I like being reminded that we're all piles of carbon screaming through space on a rock and we're all just hanging on and hoping for the best.
November 12, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Keep posting sky pictures, I like being reminded that we're all piles of carbon screaming through space on a rock and we're all just hanging on and hoping for the best.
Hell in a handbag is where we're all heading
November 12, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Hell in a handbag is where we're all heading
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
Subsecond dopamine fluctuations do not specify the vigor of ongoing actions
Nature Neuroscience - Liu and colleagues show that the vigor (that is, speed and amplitude) of dexterous movements is not controlled by ongoing fluctuations in extracellular dopamine within the...
rdcu.be
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
This is a fantastic resource - good to see some behavioural measures in there
New preprint from the lab led by @violetchae.bsky.social! We debut an open EEG dataset for research into food cognition and dietary choices.
Featuring data from 117 different brains relating to 120 different food stimuli.
@tgro.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social
Featuring data from 117 different brains relating to 120 different food stimuli.
@tgro.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social
Our new preprint on the FOODEEG open dataset is out! EEG recordings and behavioural responses on food cognition tasks for 117 participants will be made publicly available 🧠 @danfeuerriegel.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 11, 2025 at 8:42 AM
This is a fantastic resource - good to see some behavioural measures in there
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
New preprint from the lab led by @violetchae.bsky.social! We debut an open EEG dataset for research into food cognition and dietary choices.
Featuring data from 117 different brains relating to 120 different food stimuli.
@tgro.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social
Featuring data from 117 different brains relating to 120 different food stimuli.
@tgro.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social
Our new preprint on the FOODEEG open dataset is out! EEG recordings and behavioural responses on food cognition tasks for 117 participants will be made publicly available 🧠 @danfeuerriegel.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
FOODEEG: An open dataset of human electroencephalographic and behavioural responses to food images
Investigating the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying food choices has the potential to advance our understanding of eating behaviour and inform health-targeted interventions and policy. Large, publi...
www.biorxiv.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
New preprint from the lab led by @violetchae.bsky.social! We debut an open EEG dataset for research into food cognition and dietary choices.
Featuring data from 117 different brains relating to 120 different food stimuli.
@tgro.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social
Featuring data from 117 different brains relating to 120 different food stimuli.
@tgro.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Can what you eat (or not eat) save the Planet? I talk with Prof Karen Charlton about @thelancet.com #Planetary #Diet + eating habits to boost planetary health.🎧Spotify shorturl.at/q8OrL
📺YouTube youtu.be/IPS2Syzdgas @nmnteatwell.bsky.social @hmriaustralia.bsky.social @dietitiansaus.bsky.social
📺YouTube youtu.be/IPS2Syzdgas @nmnteatwell.bsky.social @hmriaustralia.bsky.social @dietitiansaus.bsky.social
Can what you eat (or choose not to eat) save the Planet? ... with Professor Karen Charlton
YouTube video by Nutrition Science Bites
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Can what you eat (or not eat) save the Planet? I talk with Prof Karen Charlton about @thelancet.com #Planetary #Diet + eating habits to boost planetary health.🎧Spotify shorturl.at/q8OrL
📺YouTube youtu.be/IPS2Syzdgas @nmnteatwell.bsky.social @hmriaustralia.bsky.social @dietitiansaus.bsky.social
📺YouTube youtu.be/IPS2Syzdgas @nmnteatwell.bsky.social @hmriaustralia.bsky.social @dietitiansaus.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
Opportunity for early career researchers to spend 3 years working with us in Oxford. Cool surroundings, interesting people. Eligibility: need some UK academic connection. Get in touch if interested! Details: www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/news/2025/11...
November 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Opportunity for early career researchers to spend 3 years working with us in Oxford. Cool surroundings, interesting people. Eligibility: need some UK academic connection. Get in touch if interested! Details: www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Dr Poppy Watson
🚀 We're hiring !
🕵️ Seeking a postdoc to study the development & individual-level organization of brain circuits supporting (in)flexible behavior in psychiatric populations.
🧠 Precision functional mapping, fMRI, normative modelling
Details 👉 tinyurl.com/3h8tcv2e
🗓️ Apply by Dec 10! Please RT 🙌
🕵️ Seeking a postdoc to study the development & individual-level organization of brain circuits supporting (in)flexible behavior in psychiatric populations.
🧠 Precision functional mapping, fMRI, normative modelling
Details 👉 tinyurl.com/3h8tcv2e
🗓️ Apply by Dec 10! Please RT 🙌
Postdoctoral Researcher (2288) - Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck
cis7.bbk.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 10:56 AM
🚀 We're hiring !
🕵️ Seeking a postdoc to study the development & individual-level organization of brain circuits supporting (in)flexible behavior in psychiatric populations.
🧠 Precision functional mapping, fMRI, normative modelling
Details 👉 tinyurl.com/3h8tcv2e
🗓️ Apply by Dec 10! Please RT 🙌
🕵️ Seeking a postdoc to study the development & individual-level organization of brain circuits supporting (in)flexible behavior in psychiatric populations.
🧠 Precision functional mapping, fMRI, normative modelling
Details 👉 tinyurl.com/3h8tcv2e
🗓️ Apply by Dec 10! Please RT 🙌
This must be what the students are using 😁
I got an invitation to use the "Nature Research Assistant", put up a paper on intuitive physics and asked it for more references to relevant papers; can you guess why I marked those parts in red
October 29, 2025 at 8:42 AM
This must be what the students are using 😁