Ali Mahmoodi
@alimahmoodi.bsky.social
Neuroscientist in Oxford, interested in learning and decision making.
Former engineer, reader, patzer.
Former engineer, reader, patzer.
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
Come find out all about cognitive maps in the PFC!!
Come join us at #SfN25 for the minisymposium "Cognitive Maps in the Prefrontal Cortex"!
Saturday, Nov 15, 2:00-4:30pm, Room SDCC 6CF
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
We will explore how the PFC represents structured relationships across species and how this supports flexible behavior.
Saturday, Nov 15, 2:00-4:30pm, Room SDCC 6CF
www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
We will explore how the PFC represents structured relationships across species and how this supports flexible behavior.
November 14, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Come find out all about cognitive maps in the PFC!!
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
How do we decide to reach out and make friends?
My PhD work on this question is out today in @pnas.org 🎉
Study done in collaboration with the incredible
@mirunarascu.bsky.social, @sorcha-hamilton.bsky.social, Ingrid Yu, and my two amazing supervisors, Matthew Rushworth and @mkflugge.bsky.social👇
My PhD work on this question is out today in @pnas.org 🎉
Study done in collaboration with the incredible
@mirunarascu.bsky.social, @sorcha-hamilton.bsky.social, Ingrid Yu, and my two amazing supervisors, Matthew Rushworth and @mkflugge.bsky.social👇
October 14, 2025 at 6:50 PM
How do we decide to reach out and make friends?
My PhD work on this question is out today in @pnas.org 🎉
Study done in collaboration with the incredible
@mirunarascu.bsky.social, @sorcha-hamilton.bsky.social, Ingrid Yu, and my two amazing supervisors, Matthew Rushworth and @mkflugge.bsky.social👇
My PhD work on this question is out today in @pnas.org 🎉
Study done in collaboration with the incredible
@mirunarascu.bsky.social, @sorcha-hamilton.bsky.social, Ingrid Yu, and my two amazing supervisors, Matthew Rushworth and @mkflugge.bsky.social👇
Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making - Nature
Brain-wide recordings in mice reveal that prior expectations are distributed through recurrent loops across all levels of cortical and subcortical processing.
www.nature.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
New paper our in @pnas.org, lead by @isabellehoxha.bsky.social with Léo Sperber. We use evolutionary simulation to assess and compare the adaptive value of positivity bias and gradual perseveration in reinforcement learning. Follow the thread below (and Isabelle!) for more details!
Ever wondered why you keep going to that restaurant with stale fries? Is it because you went often in the past (perseveration) or because you remember past good experiences better (positivity bias)? Our study out in PNAS investigates the normative basis for these biases www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Evolving choice hysteresis in reinforcement learning: Comparing the adaptive value of positivity bias and gradual perseveration | PNAS
The tendency to repeat past choices more often than expected from the history of outcomes
has been repeatedly empirically observed in reinforcement...
www.pnas.org
September 3, 2025 at 9:17 AM
New paper our in @pnas.org, lead by @isabellehoxha.bsky.social with Léo Sperber. We use evolutionary simulation to assess and compare the adaptive value of positivity bias and gradual perseveration in reinforcement learning. Follow the thread below (and Isabelle!) for more details!
I’m glad to have played a small part in this project, where the brilliant Deng Pan combined modelling, fMRI and ultrasound stimulation to demonstrate the causal role of the hippocampus in learning based on inference. See Deng's thread below
🚨We believe this is a major step forward in how we study hippocampus function in healthy humans.
Using novel behavioral tasks, fMRI, RL & RNN modeling, and transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS), we demonstrate the causal role of hippocampus in relational structure learning.
Using novel behavioral tasks, fMRI, RL & RNN modeling, and transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS), we demonstrate the causal role of hippocampus in relational structure learning.
August 28, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I’m glad to have played a small part in this project, where the brilliant Deng Pan combined modelling, fMRI and ultrasound stimulation to demonstrate the causal role of the hippocampus in learning based on inference. See Deng's thread below
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
We are super excited about the first human transcranial ultrasound study from our lab which is now on BiorXiv, showing the amygdala‘s role in processing ambiguous emotions and showing TUS changed resting-state connectivity and metabolite concentrations (GABA) in the amygdala - a huge team effort! 🥳🙏🏼
Very happy to share my first preprint from @oxexppsy.bsky.social @oxneuro.bsky.social ! We (me + co-first authors @lilweb.bsky.social @mirunarascu.bsky.social + PI @mkflugge.bsky.social + many others) used transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation (TUS/tFUS/LIFU) of the human amygdala ... (1/15)
August 20, 2025 at 6:45 AM
We are super excited about the first human transcranial ultrasound study from our lab which is now on BiorXiv, showing the amygdala‘s role in processing ambiguous emotions and showing TUS changed resting-state connectivity and metabolite concentrations (GABA) in the amygdala - a huge team effort! 🥳🙏🏼
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
New paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex.
rdcu.be/eAofi
rdcu.be/eAofi
Reconciling flexibility and efficiency: medial entorhinal cortex represents a compositional cognitive map
Nature Communications - How the brain creates compositional cognitive maps that support both flexible and efficient planning remains poorly understood. Here, authors propose a...
rdcu.be
August 12, 2025 at 5:18 PM
New paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex.
rdcu.be/eAofi
rdcu.be/eAofi
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
📢 Job announcement: Two (!) 3-year postdoc jobs in our lab at UCL 📢
🧠💫🔊 We are looking for postdocs interested in the abstract mechanisms underlying social cognition. Modelling, fMRI and non-invasive ultrasound, a new deep-brain stimulation method.
Please RT
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
🧠💫🔊 We are looking for postdocs interested in the abstract mechanisms underlying social cognition. Modelling, fMRI and non-invasive ultrasound, a new deep-brain stimulation method.
Please RT
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
August 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
📢 Job announcement: Two (!) 3-year postdoc jobs in our lab at UCL 📢
🧠💫🔊 We are looking for postdocs interested in the abstract mechanisms underlying social cognition. Modelling, fMRI and non-invasive ultrasound, a new deep-brain stimulation method.
Please RT
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
🧠💫🔊 We are looking for postdocs interested in the abstract mechanisms underlying social cognition. Modelling, fMRI and non-invasive ultrasound, a new deep-brain stimulation method.
Please RT
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Individual differences in decision-making shape how mesolimbic dopamine regulates choice confidence and change-of-mind www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Individual differences in decision-making shape how mesolimbic dopamine regulates choice confidence and change-of-mind - Nature Neuroscience
Differences in neuroeconomic decision-making influence nucleus accumbens dopamine dynamics and reflect choice confidence during evaluation, as well as past and future value during re-evaluation, which...
www.nature.com
August 5, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Individual differences in decision-making shape how mesolimbic dopamine regulates choice confidence and change-of-mind www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This is cool!
Thrilled that our paper on the mechanisms underlying social learning strategies is out! First big paper from my @erc.europa.eu & @kawresearch.bsky.social funded group. More to come! I'm currently looking to recruit two post docs, get in touch if you find this line of research interesting.
Through experiments and simulations, this study shows how individuals learn to learn from others, dynamically shaping the processes involved in cultural evolution. @davidschultner.bsky.social @bjornlindstrom.bsky.social
@lucasmolleman.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@lucasmolleman.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 29, 2025 at 10:42 AM
This is cool!
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
🚨 We’re hiring! The Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Virginia Tech is looking for a postdoc to join our team studying the neural + computational mechanisms of structure learning and flexible cognition: ccnvt.github.io#positions
CCN Lab
ccnvt.github.io
July 10, 2025 at 12:17 PM
🚨 We’re hiring! The Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Virginia Tech is looking for a postdoc to join our team studying the neural + computational mechanisms of structure learning and flexible cognition: ccnvt.github.io#positions
We have a Research Assistant position available in Rushworth Lab to help us with projects involving fMRI, TMS, and TUS. Find out more here my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Job Details
my.corehr.com
July 9, 2025 at 9:07 AM
We have a Research Assistant position available in Rushworth Lab to help us with projects involving fMRI, TMS, and TUS. Find out more here my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
new paper from a collaborative endeavor! (@co0p3r.bsky.social) we find & replicate food-reward biases in a reinforcement learning task (where food stim are incidental)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
Eating disorder symptoms and emotional arousal modulate food biases during reward learning in females - Nature Communications
Disordered eating can disrupt the rewarding value of food. Here, the authors show in a female sample that eating disorder symptoms, emotional arousal, and interoceptive awareness modulate goal-ir...
www.nature.com
May 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
new paper from a collaborative endeavor! (@co0p3r.bsky.social) we find & replicate food-reward biases in a reinforcement learning task (where food stim are incidental)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
Completing the mouse, ANN, human trilogy of projects, here are two openings to study cognitive map deficits in human psychosis patients with the inimitable @mattnour.bsky.social
Using functional neuroimaging and planning tasks.
If you’re keen to join us then apply!
Using functional neuroimaging and planning tasks.
If you’re keen to join us then apply!
🚨 Job adverts LIVE! 🚨
We want to understand how the brain supports abstract cognition in psychosis, using cutting-edge neuroscience.
Non-Clinical RA:
lnkd.in/eva-Zzfj
Clinical RA:
lnkd.in/eSgdad_F
Postdoc:
lnkd.in/eid8gtbR
Oxford University
Due June 23
We want to understand how the brain supports abstract cognition in psychosis, using cutting-edge neuroscience.
Non-Clinical RA:
lnkd.in/eva-Zzfj
Clinical RA:
lnkd.in/eSgdad_F
Postdoc:
lnkd.in/eid8gtbR
Oxford University
Due June 23
May 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Completing the mouse, ANN, human trilogy of projects, here are two openings to study cognitive map deficits in human psychosis patients with the inimitable @mattnour.bsky.social
Using functional neuroimaging and planning tasks.
If you’re keen to join us then apply!
Using functional neuroimaging and planning tasks.
If you’re keen to join us then apply!
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
New in Nature MentalHealth! with Vrizzi, Najar, Lemogne, and @mael-lebreton.bsky.social
We tested whether behavioural and RL-based model parameters are test-retest reliable and predict mental health traits.
The result? Not really.
A cautionary tale for comp. psychiatry
doi.org/10.1038/s442...
We tested whether behavioural and RL-based model parameters are test-retest reliable and predict mental health traits.
The result? Not really.
A cautionary tale for comp. psychiatry
doi.org/10.1038/s442...
Behavioral, computational and self-reported measures of reward and punishment sensitivity as predictors of mental health characteristics - Nature Mental Health
Reinforcement learning task-based behavioral and computational measures displayed low test–retest reliability at the individual level. Also in contrast to self-assessed personality measures, behaviora...
doi.org
May 26, 2025 at 6:34 PM
New in Nature MentalHealth! with Vrizzi, Najar, Lemogne, and @mael-lebreton.bsky.social
We tested whether behavioural and RL-based model parameters are test-retest reliable and predict mental health traits.
The result? Not really.
A cautionary tale for comp. psychiatry
doi.org/10.1038/s442...
We tested whether behavioural and RL-based model parameters are test-retest reliable and predict mental health traits.
The result? Not really.
A cautionary tale for comp. psychiatry
doi.org/10.1038/s442...
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨
Thrilled to share new research on teaching!
Work supervised by
@cocoscilab.bsky.social, @yaelniv.bsky.social, and @markkho.bsky.social.
This project asks:
When do people teach by mentalizing vs with heuristics? 1/3
osf.io/preprints/os...
Thrilled to share new research on teaching!
Work supervised by
@cocoscilab.bsky.social, @yaelniv.bsky.social, and @markkho.bsky.social.
This project asks:
When do people teach by mentalizing vs with heuristics? 1/3
osf.io/preprints/os...
May 19, 2025 at 6:44 PM
🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨
Thrilled to share new research on teaching!
Work supervised by
@cocoscilab.bsky.social, @yaelniv.bsky.social, and @markkho.bsky.social.
This project asks:
When do people teach by mentalizing vs with heuristics? 1/3
osf.io/preprints/os...
Thrilled to share new research on teaching!
Work supervised by
@cocoscilab.bsky.social, @yaelniv.bsky.social, and @markkho.bsky.social.
This project asks:
When do people teach by mentalizing vs with heuristics? 1/3
osf.io/preprints/os...
Humans learn generalizable representations through efficient coding
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Humans learn generalizable representations through efficient coding - Nature Communications
Reinforcement learning models of human behavior are limited in explaining the capacity for generalization. Here, the authors propose an efficient coding principle for reinforcement learning, whereby a...
www.nature.com
April 30, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Humans learn generalizable representations through efficient coding
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Hippocampal output suppresses orbitofrontal cortex schema cell formation
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Hippocampal output suppresses orbitofrontal cortex schema cell formation - Nature Neuroscience
Inactivation of the ventral subiculum does not change existing schema cells in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) but aids their formation during new learning. This challenges the idea that the OFC relies...
www.nature.com
April 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Hippocampal output suppresses orbitofrontal cortex schema cell formation
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
🚨 New study alert! 🚨
Ever wondered if rats and humans learn in the same way? 🐭🧑🔬
We tested this — and the answer is yes, at least when it comes to how we value rewards in context.
(with @shaunaparkes.bsky.social Lachlan Ferguson, Magdalena Soukupova)
🧵Thread 👇
1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ever wondered if rats and humans learn in the same way? 🐭🧑🔬
We tested this — and the answer is yes, at least when it comes to how we value rewards in context.
(with @shaunaparkes.bsky.social Lachlan Ferguson, Magdalena Soukupova)
🧵Thread 👇
1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reference Point-Dependent Reinforcement Learning in Humans and Rats
Previous studies indicate that rewards and punishments in reinforcement learning are encoded in a relative manner. Reference point-dependence, a valuation bias shared by eminent adaptation level and p...
www.biorxiv.org
April 14, 2025 at 8:49 AM
🚨 New study alert! 🚨
Ever wondered if rats and humans learn in the same way? 🐭🧑🔬
We tested this — and the answer is yes, at least when it comes to how we value rewards in context.
(with @shaunaparkes.bsky.social Lachlan Ferguson, Magdalena Soukupova)
🧵Thread 👇
1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ever wondered if rats and humans learn in the same way? 🐭🧑🔬
We tested this — and the answer is yes, at least when it comes to how we value rewards in context.
(with @shaunaparkes.bsky.social Lachlan Ferguson, Magdalena Soukupova)
🧵Thread 👇
1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
join us at @oxexppsy.bsky.social | @ox.ac.uk!
We're excited to share that our lab is hiring for the position of Lab Manager/Research Assistant. A great opportunity to join our lab!
You can find full details and apply via the link below:
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMN515/r...
Please feel free to share this with anyone who might be interested!
You can find full details and apply via the link below:
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMN515/r...
Please feel free to share this with anyone who might be interested!
Research Assistant/Lab Manager at University of Oxford
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Research Assistant/Lab Manager on jobs.ac.uk!
www.jobs.ac.uk
April 7, 2025 at 10:45 AM
join us at @oxexppsy.bsky.social | @ox.ac.uk!
Blimey! Machine-unique chess knowledge from an AI system (AlphaZero) can be transferred to four current or former world chess champions.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Bridging the human–AI knowledge gap through concept discovery and transfer in AlphaZero | PNAS
AI systems have attained superhuman performance across various domains. If the hidden
knowledge encoded in these highly capable systems can be leve...
www.pnas.org
April 2, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Blimey! Machine-unique chess knowledge from an AI system (AlphaZero) can be transferred to four current or former world chess champions.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
Our new paper with Max Taylor-Davies introduces a resource-rational model of Theory of Mind.
The model can explain many of the successes and failures of mindreading in human adults and children, and non-human primates. 🧵
The model can explain many of the successes and failures of mindreading in human adults and children, and non-human primates. 🧵
March 31, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Our new paper with Max Taylor-Davies introduces a resource-rational model of Theory of Mind.
The model can explain many of the successes and failures of mindreading in human adults and children, and non-human primates. 🧵
The model can explain many of the successes and failures of mindreading in human adults and children, and non-human primates. 🧵
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
getting this paper published was a bit painful but I am proud of it: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We use deep RL to find mechanisms that help (real) people sustain the commons. Well done to Raphael Koster and Miruna Pislar (not on BlueSky). non-paywalled version on arxiv.
Deep reinforcement learning can promote sustainable human behaviour in a common-pool resource problem - Nature Communications
Koster et al introduce a deep reinforcement learning (RL) mechanism designed to manage common-pool resources successfully encourages sustainable cooperation among human participants by dynamically adj...
www.nature.com
March 24, 2025 at 8:22 AM
getting this paper published was a bit painful but I am proud of it: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We use deep RL to find mechanisms that help (real) people sustain the commons. Well done to Raphael Koster and Miruna Pislar (not on BlueSky). non-paywalled version on arxiv.
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
Re-posting is appreciated: We have a fully funded PhD position in CMC lab @cmc-lab.bsky.social (at @tudresden_de). You can use forms.gle/qiAv5NZ871kv... to send your application and find more information. Deadline is April 30. Find more about CMC lab: cmclab.org and email me if you have questions.
forms.gle
February 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Re-posting is appreciated: We have a fully funded PhD position in CMC lab @cmc-lab.bsky.social (at @tudresden_de). You can use forms.gle/qiAv5NZ871kv... to send your application and find more information. Deadline is April 30. Find more about CMC lab: cmclab.org and email me if you have questions.
Reposted by Ali Mahmoodi
🚨 New paper 🚨
Out in @commspsychol.bsky.social: "Manipulating attention facilitates cooperation" with Claire Lugrin and @ccruff.bsky.social
We use gaze data and display manipulations in one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma games and find that these manipulations can drive choices through attention 👇
Out in @commspsychol.bsky.social: "Manipulating attention facilitates cooperation" with Claire Lugrin and @ccruff.bsky.social
We use gaze data and display manipulations in one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma games and find that these manipulations can drive choices through attention 👇
In a one-shot prisoner’s dilemma game, manipulating the location of payout information on computer screens changed participants’ gaze pattern sequences and resulted in greater cooperation when more focus was given to others’ outcomes.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Manipulating attention facilitates cooperation - Communications Psychology
In a one-shot prisoner’s dilemma game, manipulating the location of payout information on computer screens changed participants’ gaze pattern sequences and resulted in greater cooperation when more fo...
www.nature.com
March 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
🚨 New paper 🚨
Out in @commspsychol.bsky.social: "Manipulating attention facilitates cooperation" with Claire Lugrin and @ccruff.bsky.social
We use gaze data and display manipulations in one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma games and find that these manipulations can drive choices through attention 👇
Out in @commspsychol.bsky.social: "Manipulating attention facilitates cooperation" with Claire Lugrin and @ccruff.bsky.social
We use gaze data and display manipulations in one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma games and find that these manipulations can drive choices through attention 👇