aaron bornstein
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
Pinned
Come see the lab's work at #SfN2025! (🧵)
Featuring:
@khoudary.bsky.social @biancaleonard.bsky.social @malejandra.bsky.social @jungsuy.bsky.social
@dalezhou.bsky.social @lovecrabmeat.bsky.social @sharonmnoh.bsky.social
Featuring:
@khoudary.bsky.social @biancaleonard.bsky.social @malejandra.bsky.social @jungsuy.bsky.social
@dalezhou.bsky.social @lovecrabmeat.bsky.social @sharonmnoh.bsky.social
Reposted by aaron bornstein
starting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
November 25, 2025 at 9:36 PM
starting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
Reposted by aaron bornstein
My first, first-author paper on model-based planning in structured foraging environments is out now in Cognition!
How do people decide whether to stay with a good thing or leave in search of something better? In her new paper, @theazalabak.bsky.social explores how model-based planning guides foraging decisions in structured environments.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Model-based planning in structured foraging environments
In order to maximize reward, humans need to balance engaging with currently available sources of reward and searching for better ones. Optimal foragin…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
My first, first-author paper on model-based planning in structured foraging environments is out now in Cognition!
Reposted by aaron bornstein
"Another attention-grabbing aspect was the promotion of lobotomy as a solution for crime." In a new essay from the Legacies of Eugenics series, Oliver Rollins explores how the new biology of crime opens a backdoor to eugenics. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/murderous-genes-and-criminal-brains/
July 6, 2025 at 3:22 PM
"Another attention-grabbing aspect was the promotion of lobotomy as a solution for crime." In a new essay from the Legacies of Eugenics series, Oliver Rollins explores how the new biology of crime opens a backdoor to eugenics. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/murderous-genes-and-criminal-brains/
Reposted by aaron bornstein
So, if an institute or center decided not to fund any grant from University X or on Topic Y, then there would be no documentation in the official grant files about these applications.
2/2
2/2
a brown puppy is being held by a person with the words " really " on the bottom
ALT: a brown puppy is being held by a person with the words " really " on the bottom
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:29 AM
So, if an institute or center decided not to fund any grant from University X or on Topic Y, then there would be no documentation in the official grant files about these applications.
2/2
2/2
Reposted by aaron bornstein
🗣️ With the support of the @danafoundation.bsky.social, we are very excited to announce the Philosophy & Neuroscience Collaborative Mentorship Program! 🧠
For more details & submission requirements, visit: philandneuro.com/mentorship
(This is 1/2 announcements we will make over the next 1-2 weeks.)
For more details & submission requirements, visit: philandneuro.com/mentorship
(This is 1/2 announcements we will make over the next 1-2 weeks.)
November 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
🗣️ With the support of the @danafoundation.bsky.social, we are very excited to announce the Philosophy & Neuroscience Collaborative Mentorship Program! 🧠
For more details & submission requirements, visit: philandneuro.com/mentorship
(This is 1/2 announcements we will make over the next 1-2 weeks.)
For more details & submission requirements, visit: philandneuro.com/mentorship
(This is 1/2 announcements we will make over the next 1-2 weeks.)
Reposted by aaron bornstein
“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 1:38 PM
“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.”
Reposted by aaron bornstein
November 22, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Reposted by aaron bornstein
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!
Thank you to the reviewers and editors for encouraging, insightful and helpful comments. We will be revising the paper, stay tuned!
Overcoming distortion in multidimensional predictive representation
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:21 PM
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!
Thank you to the reviewers and editors for encouraging, insightful and helpful comments. We will be revising the paper, stay tuned!
Reposted by aaron bornstein
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
November 19, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
Wednesday Afternoon:
D21 - The impact of learning sequences in encouraging distinct memory representations to support associative inference in older-adults
by @lovecrabmeat.bsky.social, Rohin Palsule, & @sharonmnoh.bsky.social
with @prestonlab.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
D21 - The impact of learning sequences in encouraging distinct memory representations to support associative inference in older-adults
by @lovecrabmeat.bsky.social, Rohin Palsule, & @sharonmnoh.bsky.social
with @prestonlab.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Wednesday Afternoon:
D15 - Naturalistic task framing improves older adults' ability to infer and navigate complex associative networks
by Rohin Palsule, @lovecrabmeat.bsky.social, & @sharonmnoh.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
D15 - Naturalistic task framing improves older adults' ability to infer and navigate complex associative networks
by Rohin Palsule, @lovecrabmeat.bsky.social, & @sharonmnoh.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by aaron bornstein
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
![On official UC letterhead:
UNIVERSITY
OF
CALIFORNIA
James B. Milliken President
Office of the President
1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607
universityofcalifornia.edu
CAMPUSES Berkeley
Davis
Irvine
UCLA
Merced
Riverside San Diego San Francisco
Santa Barbara Santa Cruz
MEDICAL CENTERS
Davis
Irvine
UCLA
San Diego
San Francisco
NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos
DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
November 18, 2025
Dear Chancellors:
I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive.
As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California.
Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines.
Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership.
[continued on next image]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rzn6yramffebefeitqifiqqz/bafkreigiwq5ongzwpj4wqmgjam3yfvhyjnv5e3dbq6cnrrbwblqvs624gq@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
Reposted by aaron bornstein
gooood morning #SfN2025! i’m presenting this poster at board CC11 *today* from 8am-noon
stop by to chat learning, memory, (perceptual) decision making, and normative modeling that bridges cross-species and cross-task findings 🧠🐒
w/ @meganakpeters.bsky.social and @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
stop by to chat learning, memory, (perceptual) decision making, and normative modeling that bridges cross-species and cross-task findings 🧠🐒
w/ @meganakpeters.bsky.social and @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 3:41 PM
gooood morning #SfN2025! i’m presenting this poster at board CC11 *today* from 8am-noon
stop by to chat learning, memory, (perceptual) decision making, and normative modeling that bridges cross-species and cross-task findings 🧠🐒
w/ @meganakpeters.bsky.social and @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
stop by to chat learning, memory, (perceptual) decision making, and normative modeling that bridges cross-species and cross-task findings 🧠🐒
w/ @meganakpeters.bsky.social and @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
Reposted by aaron bornstein
#SfN2025 Poster 3 of 6
TODAY! Tuesday 11/18 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
PSTR291.11 / CC11 Precision-weighted integration explains dynamic effects of expectations on perceptual decisions, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
TODAY! Tuesday 11/18 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
PSTR291.11 / CC11 Precision-weighted integration explains dynamic effects of expectations on perceptual decisions, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
November 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
#SfN2025 Poster 3 of 6
TODAY! Tuesday 11/18 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
PSTR291.11 / CC11 Precision-weighted integration explains dynamic effects of expectations on perceptual decisions, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
TODAY! Tuesday 11/18 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
PSTR291.11 / CC11 Precision-weighted integration explains dynamic effects of expectations on perceptual decisions, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
Reposted by aaron bornstein
“This narrative that faculty are indoctrinating students is a manufactured crisis,” she said. “You can trace it back to a network of right-wing think tanks, but it seems the university is treating it as if it is real”—our chapter president Karma Chavez
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/17/u...
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/17/u...
University of Texas silent on Trump compact as deadline looms
Most other invited universities have rejected the administration’s offer tying priority federal funding to campus policy changes.
www.texastribune.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:25 PM
“This narrative that faculty are indoctrinating students is a manufactured crisis,” she said. “You can trace it back to a network of right-wing think tanks, but it seems the university is treating it as if it is real”—our chapter president Karma Chavez
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/17/u...
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/17/u...
Reposted by aaron bornstein
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
Monday Afternoon:
TT2 - Humans adaptively discount successor representations when navigating graph-structured spaces
by Alexa Booras and Theodoros Kapogianis, with @chrastil.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
TT2 - Humans adaptively discount successor representations when navigating graph-structured spaces
by Alexa Booras and Theodoros Kapogianis, with @chrastil.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by aaron bornstein
Heard an established successful neuroscientist dismissing junior scientists as "people at the bottom" 🤦♀️
You folks with lots of research funds & power: young scientists more than ever need our respect and support even if you don't agree with their ideas and approaches
#sfn2025
You folks with lots of research funds & power: young scientists more than ever need our respect and support even if you don't agree with their ideas and approaches
#sfn2025
November 17, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Heard an established successful neuroscientist dismissing junior scientists as "people at the bottom" 🤦♀️
You folks with lots of research funds & power: young scientists more than ever need our respect and support even if you don't agree with their ideas and approaches
#sfn2025
You folks with lots of research funds & power: young scientists more than ever need our respect and support even if you don't agree with their ideas and approaches
#sfn2025
Reposted by aaron bornstein
Good morning from San Diego. Come see my poster (UU7) on splitting and merging latent states in non-Markovian environments, at #Sfn2025 right now !
November 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Good morning from San Diego. Come see my poster (UU7) on splitting and merging latent states in non-Markovian environments, at #Sfn2025 right now !
Monday Morning
UU7 - Contingency-dependent state augmentation as a normative learning rule for non-Markovian tasks
by @jungsuy.bsky.social, Aidan Goeschel, and @dalezhou.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
UU7 - Contingency-dependent state augmentation as a normative learning rule for non-Markovian tasks
by @jungsuy.bsky.social, Aidan Goeschel, and @dalezhou.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Monday Morning
FF1 - Motivational conflict resolution is shaped by early life unpredictability
by @biancaleonard.bsky.social and @malejandra.bsky.social with @catehartley.bsky.social and @mikeyassa.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
FF1 - Motivational conflict resolution is shaped by early life unpredictability
by @biancaleonard.bsky.social and @malejandra.bsky.social with @catehartley.bsky.social and @mikeyassa.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by aaron bornstein
For those coming to SfN, I’ll be giving a talk showing evidence of hippocampal neuronal replay 🎞️🔁 in HUMANS as part of the “Representation of Time in the Brain” minisymposium (Wednesday morning)
Our stellar group of speakers also wrote a preview of the session in @sfnjournals.bsky.social #sfn2025
🧠
Our stellar group of speakers also wrote a preview of the session in @sfnjournals.bsky.social #sfn2025
🧠
Neural Representation of Episodic Time
Inspired by recent discoveries of neural populations that track time for specific moments (time cells) and elapsed durations (temporal context and periodic time cells), this review, based on a minisym...
www.jneurosci.org
November 15, 2025 at 7:15 PM
For those coming to SfN, I’ll be giving a talk showing evidence of hippocampal neuronal replay 🎞️🔁 in HUMANS as part of the “Representation of Time in the Brain” minisymposium (Wednesday morning)
Our stellar group of speakers also wrote a preview of the session in @sfnjournals.bsky.social #sfn2025
🧠
Our stellar group of speakers also wrote a preview of the session in @sfnjournals.bsky.social #sfn2025
🧠
Reposted by aaron bornstein
#SfN2025 Poster 2 of 6
Today! Sunday 11/16 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
TKP05.05SU / WW13 Philosophical tools for evaluating computational models of cognition, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
Today! Sunday 11/16 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
TKP05.05SU / WW13 Philosophical tools for evaluating computational models of cognition, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
November 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
#SfN2025 Poster 2 of 6
Today! Sunday 11/16 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
TKP05.05SU / WW13 Philosophical tools for evaluating computational models of cognition, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
Today! Sunday 11/16 8a-12p
@khoudary.bsky.social
TKP05.05SU / WW13 Philosophical tools for evaluating computational models of cognition, with
@aaronbornstein.bsky.social
www.abstractsonline....
Reposted by aaron bornstein
me & my Theme K poster are finally at #SfN25! stop by board WW13 anytime between now & tomorrow evening to learn more about how philosophy can help navigate meta-scientific questions about models in neuroscience 🧠 w/
@meganakpeters.bsky.social @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
@meganakpeters.bsky.social @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
November 15, 2025 at 8:51 PM
me & my Theme K poster are finally at #SfN25! stop by board WW13 anytime between now & tomorrow evening to learn more about how philosophy can help navigate meta-scientific questions about models in neuroscience 🧠 w/
@meganakpeters.bsky.social @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
@meganakpeters.bsky.social @aaronbornstein.bsky.social
Reposted by aaron bornstein
Can I quietly ask we stop talking about what "AI" *could* do in education and identify instead what's actually happening with AI in education? I'll start...
November 15, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Can I quietly ask we stop talking about what "AI" *could* do in education and identify instead what's actually happening with AI in education? I'll start...