Joost Haarsma
@jhaarsma.bsky.social
Assistant professor at the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience of the University of Maastricht, studying the Neuroscience of false percepts.
Girl Dad
Girl Dad
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Super happy to share my very first first-author paper out in
@sfnjournals.bsky.social! We show content-specific predictions are represented in an alpha rhythm. It’s been a beautiful, inspiring, yet challenging journey.
Huge thanks to everyone, especially @peterkok.bsky.social @jhaarsma.bsky.social
@sfnjournals.bsky.social! We show content-specific predictions are represented in an alpha rhythm. It’s been a beautiful, inspiring, yet challenging journey.
Huge thanks to everyone, especially @peterkok.bsky.social @jhaarsma.bsky.social
@dotproduct.bsky.social's first first author paper is finally out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! Her findings show that content-specific predictions fluctuate with alpha frequencies, suggesting a more specific role for alpha oscillations than we may have thought. With @jhaarsma.bsky.social. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
Contents of visual predictions oscillate at alpha frequencies
Predictions of future events have a major impact on how we process sensory signals. However, it remains unclear how the brain keeps predictions online in anticipation of future inputs. Here, we combin...
www.jneurosci.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Super happy to share my very first first-author paper out in
@sfnjournals.bsky.social! We show content-specific predictions are represented in an alpha rhythm. It’s been a beautiful, inspiring, yet challenging journey.
Huge thanks to everyone, especially @peterkok.bsky.social @jhaarsma.bsky.social
@sfnjournals.bsky.social! We show content-specific predictions are represented in an alpha rhythm. It’s been a beautiful, inspiring, yet challenging journey.
Huge thanks to everyone, especially @peterkok.bsky.social @jhaarsma.bsky.social
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
@dotproduct.bsky.social's first first author paper is finally out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! Her findings show that content-specific predictions fluctuate with alpha frequencies, suggesting a more specific role for alpha oscillations than we may have thought. With @jhaarsma.bsky.social. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
Contents of visual predictions oscillate at alpha frequencies
Predictions of future events have a major impact on how we process sensory signals. However, it remains unclear how the brain keeps predictions online in anticipation of future inputs. Here, we combin...
www.jneurosci.org
October 21, 2025 at 11:05 AM
@dotproduct.bsky.social's first first author paper is finally out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! Her findings show that content-specific predictions fluctuate with alpha frequencies, suggesting a more specific role for alpha oscillations than we may have thought. With @jhaarsma.bsky.social. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Hellohello again! Tomorrow at 5:15pm I’m giving a short talk on our latest MEG study about our very well-loved oscillating perceptual predictions @meguki2025.bsky.social. Come by and talk brains!
There are amazing talks and very cool science happening all around! MEGUKI 2025👌
There are amazing talks and very cool science happening all around! MEGUKI 2025👌
Programme – MEG UKI
meguk.ac.uk
July 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Hellohello again! Tomorrow at 5:15pm I’m giving a short talk on our latest MEG study about our very well-loved oscillating perceptual predictions @meguki2025.bsky.social. Come by and talk brains!
There are amazing talks and very cool science happening all around! MEGUKI 2025👌
There are amazing talks and very cool science happening all around! MEGUKI 2025👌
@peterkok.bsky.social and I wrote a book chapter on how layer specific fMRI can shine light on disorders hallmarked by perceptual disturbances. This is part of a series on Perceptual Dysregulation in Psychiatric Nosology edited by @skhalsa.bsky.social and Al Powers link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
How Layer-Specific fMRI Can Contribute to Understanding Perceptual Disturbances Across Psychiatric Disorders
Perceptual disturbances occur across various sensory domains and contribute to significant suffering in numerous psychiatric and neurological conditions. Despite decades of research into the neural me...
link.springer.com
July 15, 2025 at 10:00 AM
@peterkok.bsky.social and I wrote a book chapter on how layer specific fMRI can shine light on disorders hallmarked by perceptual disturbances. This is part of a series on Perceptual Dysregulation in Psychiatric Nosology edited by @skhalsa.bsky.social and Al Powers link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
I enjoyed reviewing this study. Fascinating you get improved decoding of feedback signalling on memantine while ketamine is thought to disrupt it (both NMDA-ant). Could subtle differences in ketamine and memantine beyond NMDA-ant be relevant to psychosis? (Memantine being much less psychotomimetic)
We show that memantine selectively improves neural decoding of attended illusory Kanizsa triangles, revealing NMDA receptor-dependent enhancement of feedback processing.
elifesciences.org/articles/100...
Thanks to Samuel Noorman @fahrenfort.bsky.social @timostein.bsky.social Jasper Zantvoord
elifesciences.org/articles/100...
Thanks to Samuel Noorman @fahrenfort.bsky.social @timostein.bsky.social Jasper Zantvoord
A causal role of the NMDA receptor in recurrent processing during perceptual integration
Memantine selectively improves neural decoding of attended illusory contours, revealing NMDA receptor-dependent enhancement of feedback processing in human visual perception.
elifesciences.org
June 25, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I enjoyed reviewing this study. Fascinating you get improved decoding of feedback signalling on memantine while ketamine is thought to disrupt it (both NMDA-ant). Could subtle differences in ketamine and memantine beyond NMDA-ant be relevant to psychosis? (Memantine being much less psychotomimetic)
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Out now @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, w/ @akalt.bsky.social & @drmattdavis.bsky.social.
Are sensory sampling rhythms fixed by intrinsically-determined processes, or do they couple to external structure? Here we highlight the incompatibility between these accounts and propose a resolution [1/6]
Are sensory sampling rhythms fixed by intrinsically-determined processes, or do they couple to external structure? Here we highlight the incompatibility between these accounts and propose a resolution [1/6]
June 19, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Out now @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, w/ @akalt.bsky.social & @drmattdavis.bsky.social.
Are sensory sampling rhythms fixed by intrinsically-determined processes, or do they couple to external structure? Here we highlight the incompatibility between these accounts and propose a resolution [1/6]
Are sensory sampling rhythms fixed by intrinsically-determined processes, or do they couple to external structure? Here we highlight the incompatibility between these accounts and propose a resolution [1/6]
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Check out my published PhD work including links to analysis code and EEG data (n=83): www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Big thank you to my co-authors, the editor and the reviewers.
Big thank you to my co-authors, the editor and the reviewers.
Pre-stimulus beta power mediates explicit and implicit perceptual biases in distinct cortical areas - Communications Psychology
Two EEG studies in healthy human adults suggest that choice history and stimulus probability-induced biases in somatosensory perception are reflected in distinct prestimulus beta power modulations acr...
www.nature.com
June 22, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Check out my published PhD work including links to analysis code and EEG data (n=83): www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Big thank you to my co-authors, the editor and the reviewers.
Big thank you to my co-authors, the editor and the reviewers.
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Just a reminder that Orwell’s protagonist in 1984, Winston Groom, works as a copy editor, except that his job entails endlessly “correcting the data” so that the archival record conforms to the Party’s preferred fictions, and what is “known” becomes a principal instrument of conformity.
June 21, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Just a reminder that Orwell’s protagonist in 1984, Winston Groom, works as a copy editor, except that his job entails endlessly “correcting the data” so that the archival record conforms to the Party’s preferred fictions, and what is “known” becomes a principal instrument of conformity.
Just a couple days left to apply for this position! Come work with me @fedemar.bsky.social, @predictivebrain.bsky.social & Sonja Kotz to investigate the neural-circuitry underlying of perceptual inference
🚨PhD position alert!🚨
Joint PhD position with @fedemar.bsky.social @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz, to investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of perceptual decisions
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Please share and if you have questions, send me a message!
Joint PhD position with @fedemar.bsky.social @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz, to investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of perceptual decisions
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Please share and if you have questions, send me a message!
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl
June 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Just a couple days left to apply for this position! Come work with me @fedemar.bsky.social, @predictivebrain.bsky.social & Sonja Kotz to investigate the neural-circuitry underlying of perceptual inference
Really glad my first MEG paper is out! Orientation-specific sensory signals accompanied falsely perceived gratings, and a shared perceptual confidence code was present on FA and veridical trials. We also found a unique role for increased beta oscillations preceding high confidence FA. Read for more!
Shared and diverging neural dynamics underlying false and veridical perception
We often mistake visual noise for meaningful images, which sometimes appear as convincing as veridical percepts. This suggests considerable overlap between the mechanisms that underlie false and verid...
www.jneurosci.org
June 10, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Really glad my first MEG paper is out! Orientation-specific sensory signals accompanied falsely perceived gratings, and a shared perceptual confidence code was present on FA and veridical trials. We also found a unique role for increased beta oscillations preceding high confidence FA. Read for more!
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
A bit less than 2 weeks left to apply for this position! If you are interested in perceptual decisions, top-down modulations, predictions, laminar fMRI - join us for what will be a great collaborative project!
🚨PhD position alert!🚨
Joint PhD position with @fedemar.bsky.social @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz, to investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of perceptual decisions
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Please share and if you have questions, send me a message!
Joint PhD position with @fedemar.bsky.social @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz, to investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of perceptual decisions
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Please share and if you have questions, send me a message!
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl
June 10, 2025 at 10:13 AM
A bit less than 2 weeks left to apply for this position! If you are interested in perceptual decisions, top-down modulations, predictions, laminar fMRI - join us for what will be a great collaborative project!
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
New MEG paper by @jhaarsma.bsky.social and @dotproduct.bsky.social! Same design and behavioural results as our 7T layer fMRI study (www.jneurosci.org/content/43/4...), but now shedding light on the temporal dynamics of the sensory signals underlying false percepts. #neuroskyence
Shared and diverging neural dynamics underlying false and veridical perception
We often mistake visual noise for meaningful images, which sometimes appear as convincing as veridical percepts. This suggests considerable overlap between the mechanisms that underlie false and verid...
www.jneurosci.org
June 10, 2025 at 9:27 AM
New MEG paper by @jhaarsma.bsky.social and @dotproduct.bsky.social! Same design and behavioural results as our 7T layer fMRI study (www.jneurosci.org/content/43/4...), but now shedding light on the temporal dynamics of the sensory signals underlying false percepts. #neuroskyence
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
PhD position alert!!!
Together with @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz we are looking for a PhD candidate to join a great project on the biological foundations of perceptual decisions vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Happy to answer any question you may have!
Together with @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz we are looking for a PhD candidate to join a great project on the biological foundations of perceptual decisions vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Happy to answer any question you may have!
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl
June 3, 2025 at 4:54 AM
PhD position alert!!!
Together with @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz we are looking for a PhD candidate to join a great project on the biological foundations of perceptual decisions vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Happy to answer any question you may have!
Together with @predictivebrain.bsky.social and Sonja Kotz we are looking for a PhD candidate to join a great project on the biological foundations of perceptual decisions vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Happy to answer any question you may have!
www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/3525...
New PhD position part of a joint research program between Maastricht and the Radboud University on neural control. Are you interested in predictive processes and perception, and using ultra high field fMRI to study these systems? Apply or get in touch now!
New PhD position part of a joint research program between Maastricht and the Radboud University on neural control. Are you interested in predictive processes and perception, and using ultra high field fMRI to study these systems? Apply or get in touch now!
PhD position in biological foundations of neural control
Maastricht University and Radboud University Nijmegen are jointly starting a research program on neural control to understand and restore brain function. In this project we aim to understand the neuro...
www.academictransfer.com
June 2, 2025 at 10:09 AM
www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/3525...
New PhD position part of a joint research program between Maastricht and the Radboud University on neural control. Are you interested in predictive processes and perception, and using ultra high field fMRI to study these systems? Apply or get in touch now!
New PhD position part of a joint research program between Maastricht and the Radboud University on neural control. Are you interested in predictive processes and perception, and using ultra high field fMRI to study these systems? Apply or get in touch now!
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Our study using layer fMRI to study the direction of communication between the hippocampus and cortex during perceptual predictions is finally out in Science Advances! Predicted-but-omitted shapes are represented in CA2/3 and correlate specifically with deep layers of PHC, suggesting feedback. 🧠🟦
Communication of perceptual predictions from the hippocampus to the deep layers of the parahippocampal cortex
High-resolution neuroimaging reveals stimulus-specific predictions sent from hippocampus to the neocortex during perception.
www.science.org
May 22, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Our study using layer fMRI to study the direction of communication between the hippocampus and cortex during perceptual predictions is finally out in Science Advances! Predicted-but-omitted shapes are represented in CA2/3 and correlate specifically with deep layers of PHC, suggesting feedback. 🧠🟦
Symposium on setbacks in science! @imagingneuroucl.bsky.social @roelandheerema.bsky.social Looking forward to share my rocky journey through science with everyone
May 15, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Symposium on setbacks in science! @imagingneuroucl.bsky.social @roelandheerema.bsky.social Looking forward to share my rocky journey through science with everyone
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
So, it will be a fascinating day of reckoning with "failure" as a normal part of science. The event is part of Mental Health Awareness Week, which is all about creating a positive research culture! Register for FREE online or in-person attendance here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/symposium-...
Symposium on Setbacks (SOS) in Science
Let's talk about reckoning with setbacks and failure as a normal part of science, and contribute to a positive research culture!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
April 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
So, it will be a fascinating day of reckoning with "failure" as a normal part of science. The event is part of Mental Health Awareness Week, which is all about creating a positive research culture! Register for FREE online or in-person attendance here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/symposium-...
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
📢 Fantastic post doc job opportunity in my group and co-supervised by DeepMind's @mariaeckstein.bsky.social - now live! Ad here: tinyurl.com/26rafzdc - deadline May 29th.
This is part of a very exciting collaboration with @melgaby.bsky.social and Matt Nour, funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social.
This is part of a very exciting collaboration with @melgaby.bsky.social and Matt Nour, funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social.
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).
tinyurl.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:35 PM
📢 Fantastic post doc job opportunity in my group and co-supervised by DeepMind's @mariaeckstein.bsky.social - now live! Ad here: tinyurl.com/26rafzdc - deadline May 29th.
This is part of a very exciting collaboration with @melgaby.bsky.social and Matt Nour, funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social.
This is part of a very exciting collaboration with @melgaby.bsky.social and Matt Nour, funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social.
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
A large-scale collaborative consensus piece on predictive processing is now online arxiv.org/abs/2504.09614 impressively orchestrated by @jeromelecoq.bsky.social
Neural mechanisms of predictive processing: a collaborative community experiment through the OpenScope program
This review synthesizes advances in predictive processing within the sensory cortex. Predictive processing theorizes that the brain continuously predicts sensory inputs, refining neuronal responses by...
arxiv.org
April 15, 2025 at 6:40 AM
A large-scale collaborative consensus piece on predictive processing is now online arxiv.org/abs/2504.09614 impressively orchestrated by @jeromelecoq.bsky.social
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
🚨 Available postdoc in my lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social
See below 👇 for further details. 🧠
Any Qs feel free to email 📧
See below 👇 for further details. 🧠
Any Qs feel free to email 📧
📣 I'm hiring 📣
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Postdoctoral Researcher (2106) - Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck
cis7.bbk.ac.uk
April 14, 2025 at 11:32 AM
🚨 Available postdoc in my lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social
See below 👇 for further details. 🧠
Any Qs feel free to email 📧
See below 👇 for further details. 🧠
Any Qs feel free to email 📧
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
Today we write in the magazine Curie about the lack of feedback on grant applications, and that it becomes weird when funding agencies require open science but don't provide a single word of feedback on applications.
www.tidningencurie.se/debatt/oppen...
www.tidningencurie.se/debatt/oppen...
Öppen vetenskap borde gälla ansökningar också | Tidningen Curie
Idag får många forskare minimal respons eller ingen alls när de söker forskningsmedel. Men principerna för öppen vetenskap borde praktiseras även vid bedömning av forskningsansökningar, skriver 23 for...
www.tidningencurie.se
April 9, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Today we write in the magazine Curie about the lack of feedback on grant applications, and that it becomes weird when funding agencies require open science but don't provide a single word of feedback on applications.
www.tidningencurie.se/debatt/oppen...
www.tidningencurie.se/debatt/oppen...
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
🤝 The Donders Institute, Radboud University, and Maastricht University are joining forces by establishing a platform for research, education and medical applications. The first project to make use of this platform is #Neural #Control: 👉
www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...
www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...
Radboud University and Maastricht University collaborate for Neural Control Research | Donders Institute
The Donders Institute, the Radboud University and the Faculties of Psychology and Neuroscience and Health, Medicine and Life Sciences of the Maastricht University are launching an innovative platform ...
www.ru.nl
February 5, 2025 at 2:26 PM
🤝 The Donders Institute, Radboud University, and Maastricht University are joining forces by establishing a platform for research, education and medical applications. The first project to make use of this platform is #Neural #Control: 👉
www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...
www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...
Reposted by Joost Haarsma
📣 I'm hiring 📣
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Postdoctoral Researcher (2106) - Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck
cis7.bbk.ac.uk
March 28, 2025 at 3:06 PM
📣 I'm hiring 📣
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I can officially say I've made it!
March 27, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Ladies and Gentlemen, I can officially say I've made it!
I am delighted to announce that I will be starting a new job as assistant professor at
@maastrichtu.bsky.social
from the beginning of June. Sad to be leaving the
@imagingneuroucl.bsky.social
after 5 wonderful and inspiring years, but beyond excited to be embarking on this new adventure.
@maastrichtu.bsky.social
from the beginning of June. Sad to be leaving the
@imagingneuroucl.bsky.social
after 5 wonderful and inspiring years, but beyond excited to be embarking on this new adventure.
March 24, 2025 at 9:50 AM
I am delighted to announce that I will be starting a new job as assistant professor at
@maastrichtu.bsky.social
from the beginning of June. Sad to be leaving the
@imagingneuroucl.bsky.social
after 5 wonderful and inspiring years, but beyond excited to be embarking on this new adventure.
@maastrichtu.bsky.social
from the beginning of June. Sad to be leaving the
@imagingneuroucl.bsky.social
after 5 wonderful and inspiring years, but beyond excited to be embarking on this new adventure.