Tim Behrens
@behrenstimb.bsky.social
Slowly becoming a neuroscientist.
EiC @elife.bsky.social
EiC @elife.bsky.social
Pinned
Tim Behrens
@behrenstimb.bsky.social
· Dec 1
OK If we are moving to Bluesky I am rescuing my favourite ever twitter thread (Jan 2019).
The renamed:
Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)
The renamed:
Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)
This rocks!
Congrats to Ella for her new paper! She asked a really interesting question about how the brain represents uncertainty during hidden state inference, and in a lovely crossover with theoretical work, she shows that in mice, acetylcholine dynamics play a crucial role. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Acetylcholine reflects uncertainty during hidden state inference
To act adaptively, animals must infer features of the environment that cannot be observed directly, such as which option is currently rewarding, or which context they are in. These internal estimates,...
www.biorxiv.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 PM
This rocks!
Reposted by Tim Behrens
Tim I think it was almost 20 years ago when I heard you said that's how you review a paper!
November 8, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Tim I think it was almost 20 years ago when I heard you said that's how you review a paper!
Reposted by Tim Behrens
My favorite thing about elife!
November 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM
My favorite thing about elife!
Yes!!!! (Hence the two axes in elife’s assessment).
My reviewing style has changed over time. Rather than litigate every little thing, and pushing my own ideas, I focus only on 2 things:
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?
Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?
Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.
November 8, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Yes!!!! (Hence the two axes in elife’s assessment).
Reposted by Tim Behrens
Help us challenge the traditional publishing system.
Find out why you should send your research to eLife: buff.ly/MJy9rBE
Find out why you should send your research to eLife: buff.ly/MJy9rBE
November 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Help us challenge the traditional publishing system.
Find out why you should send your research to eLife: buff.ly/MJy9rBE
Find out why you should send your research to eLife: buff.ly/MJy9rBE
Looks quite good this year :)
October 30, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Looks quite good this year :)
Reposted by Tim Behrens
Want the freedom of a fancy fellowship, but not the year-long wait or arduous application?
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
October 23, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Want the freedom of a fancy fellowship, but not the year-long wait or arduous application?
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Opportunity of the year!!!!
Whittington lab is live and hiring…
Whittington lab is live and hiring…
Want the freedom of a fancy fellowship, but not the year-long wait or arduous application?
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
October 23, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Opportunity of the year!!!!
Whittington lab is live and hiring…
Whittington lab is live and hiring…
Super fun
New blog post about @kristorpjensen.bsky.social awesome preprint.
New blog post about @kristorpjensen.bsky.social awesome preprint.
How does the prefrontal cortex plan?
New research from @kristorpjensen.bsky.social & colleagues proposes a ‘spacetime attractor’ model, showing that the brain may plan using the same principles it uses to fill in missing information about the present.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
New research from @kristorpjensen.bsky.social & colleagues proposes a ‘spacetime attractor’ model, showing that the brain may plan using the same principles it uses to fill in missing information about the present.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 13, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Super fun
New blog post about @kristorpjensen.bsky.social awesome preprint.
New blog post about @kristorpjensen.bsky.social awesome preprint.
Reposted by Tim Behrens
How does the prefrontal cortex plan?
New research from @kristorpjensen.bsky.social & colleagues proposes a ‘spacetime attractor’ model, showing that the brain may plan using the same principles it uses to fill in missing information about the present.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
New research from @kristorpjensen.bsky.social & colleagues proposes a ‘spacetime attractor’ model, showing that the brain may plan using the same principles it uses to fill in missing information about the present.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 10, 2025 at 8:36 AM
How does the prefrontal cortex plan?
New research from @kristorpjensen.bsky.social & colleagues proposes a ‘spacetime attractor’ model, showing that the brain may plan using the same principles it uses to fill in missing information about the present.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
New research from @kristorpjensen.bsky.social & colleagues proposes a ‘spacetime attractor’ model, showing that the brain may plan using the same principles it uses to fill in missing information about the present.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
Reposted by Tim Behrens
** We have up to TWO funded PhD positions available in our lab!! Apply below to find new ways to enhance memory👇 Pls retweet **
Deadline: 2nd December
1. Cross-species closed-loopTMR: tinyurl.com/bddu4tp6
2. TUS and TMR in humans:
tinyurl.com/jjws5ctj
Happy to chat to interested applicants.
Deadline: 2nd December
1. Cross-species closed-loopTMR: tinyurl.com/bddu4tp6
2. TUS and TMR in humans:
tinyurl.com/jjws5ctj
Happy to chat to interested applicants.
Enhancing memory using cross-species closed-loop Targeted Memory Reactivation | mrcbndu
tinyurl.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:51 AM
** We have up to TWO funded PhD positions available in our lab!! Apply below to find new ways to enhance memory👇 Pls retweet **
Deadline: 2nd December
1. Cross-species closed-loopTMR: tinyurl.com/bddu4tp6
2. TUS and TMR in humans:
tinyurl.com/jjws5ctj
Happy to chat to interested applicants.
Deadline: 2nd December
1. Cross-species closed-loopTMR: tinyurl.com/bddu4tp6
2. TUS and TMR in humans:
tinyurl.com/jjws5ctj
Happy to chat to interested applicants.
Reposted by Tim Behrens
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...
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...
Development of robust, single-subject markers of predictive inference for computational psychiatry
www.medsci.ox.ac.uk
September 26, 2025 at 10:11 AM
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...
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...
Reposted by Tim Behrens
🙋Are you interested in bridging theory & experiments?
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
🙋Are you interested in bridging theory & experiments?
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
Reposted by Tim Behrens
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Tim Behrens
This is one of my favourite things ever. From the awesome @kristorpjensen.bsky.social
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
This is one of my favourite things ever. From the awesome @kristorpjensen.bsky.social
Awesome 4 year phd in compsys neuro !!
Applications are now open for the SWC Systems Neuroscience PhD Programme.
Join us in London!
🧠 World-class neuroscience training
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🖥️ Close links to @gatsbyucl.bsky.social
Apply by 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
Join us in London!
🧠 World-class neuroscience training
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🖥️ Close links to @gatsbyucl.bsky.social
Apply by 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
September 24, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Awesome 4 year phd in compsys neuro !!
This is one of my favourite things ever. From the awesome @kristorpjensen.bsky.social
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
This is one of my favourite things ever. From the awesome @kristorpjensen.bsky.social
Look at Edinburgh being stunning for British Cognitive Neurosciences
September 11, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Look at Edinburgh being stunning for British Cognitive Neurosciences
Super fun paper by the awesome Michael Bukwich and team!
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!
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!
Competitive integration of time and reward explains value-sensitive foraging decisions and frontal cortex ramping dynamics
Bukwich and Campbell et al. show that mice integrate elapsed time and reward intake,
scaled by a latent patience variable, to decide when to leave virtual “patches.” Frontal
cortex ramping activity ma...
www.cell.com
August 8, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Super fun paper by the awesome Michael Bukwich and team!
This is a cool paper :)
July 20, 2025 at 6:54 AM
This is a cool paper :)
Reposted by Tim Behrens
I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better
July 16, 2025 at 6:39 AM
I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better
What an absolutely extraordinary milestone. Congrats @fmrib-steve.bsky.social @fmrib-karla.bsky.social and everyone else involved.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Biggest human imaging study scans 100,000th UK volunteer
UK Biobank scientists say the human body can be studied in greater detail than ever thanks to people like Steve.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 15, 2025 at 9:19 AM
What an absolutely extraordinary milestone. Congrats @fmrib-steve.bsky.social @fmrib-karla.bsky.social and everyone else involved.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Scary. Authors building in hidden instructions for presumed LLM peer reviewers (in white text on white background).
White text on white background instructing LLMs to give positive reviews is apparently now common enough to show up in searches for boilerplate text.
"in 2025 we will have flying cars" 😂😂😂
July 5, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Scary. Authors building in hidden instructions for presumed LLM peer reviewers (in white text on white background).
Let's say you have a journal that isn't worried about protecting an impact factor, so it didn't need to package a million results into a single paper (to maximise citation-to-publication ratio). What would you do? Couple of suggestions below. Others very much appreciated!
July 5, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Let's say you have a journal that isn't worried about protecting an impact factor, so it didn't need to package a million results into a single paper (to maximise citation-to-publication ratio). What would you do? Couple of suggestions below. Others very much appreciated!