Milena Musial
@milenamusial.bsky.social
Researching learning, decision-making & habitual behavior 🧠 / ECN & BCCN PhD Fellow / Berlin, Germany
milenamusial.com
milenamusial.com
Reposted by Milena Musial
Terrific work led by @emmaroscow.bsky.social showing that hippocampal replay reflects events with large prediction errors, all the better to bootstrap learning as we slumber
Congratulations to Matt Jones & Nathan Lepora for seeing this through to the end!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congratulations to Matt Jones & Nathan Lepora for seeing this through to the end!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Post-learning replay of hippocampal-striatal activity is biased by reward-prediction signals - Nature Communications
It is unclear which aspects of experience shape sleep’s contributions to learning. Here, by combining neural recordings in rats with reinforcement learning, the authors show that reward-prediction sig...
www.nature.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Terrific work led by @emmaroscow.bsky.social showing that hippocampal replay reflects events with large prediction errors, all the better to bootstrap learning as we slumber
Congratulations to Matt Jones & Nathan Lepora for seeing this through to the end!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congratulations to Matt Jones & Nathan Lepora for seeing this through to the end!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Milena Musial
Fresh from the press 🍃
In this article, we put forward a framework for understanding goal-directed and habitual control. We propose how interactive loops in the brain & shortcuts between them may shape our behavior – and that of Transformers. Looking forward to your thoughts💡
doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
In this article, we put forward a framework for understanding goal-directed and habitual control. We propose how interactive loops in the brain & shortcuts between them may shape our behavior – and that of Transformers. Looking forward to your thoughts💡
doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
Redirecting
doi.org
October 14, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Fresh from the press 🍃
In this article, we put forward a framework for understanding goal-directed and habitual control. We propose how interactive loops in the brain & shortcuts between them may shape our behavior – and that of Transformers. Looking forward to your thoughts💡
doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
In this article, we put forward a framework for understanding goal-directed and habitual control. We propose how interactive loops in the brain & shortcuts between them may shape our behavior – and that of Transformers. Looking forward to your thoughts💡
doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
Ever wondered whether goal-directed behavior on lab-based tasks and its neural correlates can predict behavior in day-to-day life? We did too and our study is finally out in Translational Psychiatry! 🧠
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/9
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/9
Goal-directed behavior and hippocampal activity predict real-life impact of drinking intentions in alcohol use disorder - Translational Psychiatry
Translational Psychiatry - Goal-directed behavior and hippocampal activity predict real-life impact of drinking intentions in alcohol use disorder
www.nature.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Ever wondered whether goal-directed behavior on lab-based tasks and its neural correlates can predict behavior in day-to-day life? We did too and our study is finally out in Translational Psychiatry! 🧠
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/9
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/9
Reposted by Milena Musial
The official 2026 Psychology and Brain meeting website is now online!
Save the date: June 4 – 6, 2026 in Heidelberg, Germany
More information to follow shortly on the website. We already have some awesome keynotes lined up.
pug2026.org
@biodgps-dgpa.bsky.social @igor-dgps.bsky.social
Save the date: June 4 – 6, 2026 in Heidelberg, Germany
More information to follow shortly on the website. We already have some awesome keynotes lined up.
pug2026.org
@biodgps-dgpa.bsky.social @igor-dgps.bsky.social
PUG2026 – PUG 2026: June 4–6, 2026, Heidelberg, Germany
pug2026.org
October 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
The official 2026 Psychology and Brain meeting website is now online!
Save the date: June 4 – 6, 2026 in Heidelberg, Germany
More information to follow shortly on the website. We already have some awesome keynotes lined up.
pug2026.org
@biodgps-dgpa.bsky.social @igor-dgps.bsky.social
Save the date: June 4 – 6, 2026 in Heidelberg, Germany
More information to follow shortly on the website. We already have some awesome keynotes lined up.
pug2026.org
@biodgps-dgpa.bsky.social @igor-dgps.bsky.social
Reposted by Milena Musial
🧠🚨 How does the hippocampus transform the visual similarity space to resolve memory interference?
In this new preprint, we found that the hippocampus sequentially inverts the behaviorally relevant dimensions of similarity 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In this new preprint, we found that the hippocampus sequentially inverts the behaviorally relevant dimensions of similarity 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hippocampal transformations occur along dimensions of memory interference
The role of the hippocampus in resolving memory interference has been greatly elucidated by considering the relationship between the similarity of visual stimuli (input) and corresponding similarity o...
www.biorxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
🧠🚨 How does the hippocampus transform the visual similarity space to resolve memory interference?
In this new preprint, we found that the hippocampus sequentially inverts the behaviorally relevant dimensions of similarity 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In this new preprint, we found that the hippocampus sequentially inverts the behaviorally relevant dimensions of similarity 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Milena Musial
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 Milena Musial
🚨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 2:00 PM
🚨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.
Reposted by Milena Musial
Delighted to share our work on replay and successor representations! We find replay during very short task pauses in human visual cortex that is linked to learning SRs & happens when learning is implicit. Study led by @lnnrtwttkhn.bsky.social
#compneuro #neuroskyence
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
#compneuro #neuroskyence
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Replay in the human visual cortex during brief task pauses is linked to implicit learning of successor representations | PNAS
Humans can implicitly learn about multistep sequential relationships between events
in the environment from their statistical co-occurrence. Theore...
www.pnas.org
August 22, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Delighted to share our work on replay and successor representations! We find replay during very short task pauses in human visual cortex that is linked to learning SRs & happens when learning is implicit. Study led by @lnnrtwttkhn.bsky.social
#compneuro #neuroskyence
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
#compneuro #neuroskyence
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Milena Musial
For anyone wondering why preprints are suddenly offline! Would be useful if the redirect message said something more useful than ‘page not found’…
Due to a recent influx of problematic submissions, PsyArXiv has switched to pre-moderating its content. If your submitted preprint had not yet been approved, it will be temporarily inaccessible to the public (you can still view your preprint when logged into your OSF account). #PsychSciSky
August 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM
For anyone wondering why preprints are suddenly offline! Would be useful if the redirect message said something more useful than ‘page not found’…
Reposted by Milena Musial
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
Just uploaded the preprint 📄 for this project!
„The successor representation in high-risk drinking and alcohol-related contexts“
Check it out at osf.io/preprints/ps...
„The successor representation in high-risk drinking and alcohol-related contexts“
Check it out at osf.io/preprints/ps...
August 10, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Just uploaded the preprint 📄 for this project!
„The successor representation in high-risk drinking and alcohol-related contexts“
Check it out at osf.io/preprints/ps...
„The successor representation in high-risk drinking and alcohol-related contexts“
Check it out at osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Milena Musial
Entorhinal cortex signals dimensions of past experience that can be generalised in a novel environment https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.01.668096v1
August 1, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Entorhinal cortex signals dimensions of past experience that can be generalised in a novel environment https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.01.668096v1
Reposted by Milena Musial
🌍 Ready to take your research career to the global stage? Whether you’re pursuing a #PhD, #Postdoc, or #Professorship — #Berlin is your next stop! Check out our new Global Scholars’ Gateway, your one-stop-shop for research opportunities in Berlin! 👉 www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/commitmen...
July 28, 2025 at 11:47 AM
🌍 Ready to take your research career to the global stage? Whether you’re pursuing a #PhD, #Postdoc, or #Professorship — #Berlin is your next stop! Check out our new Global Scholars’ Gateway, your one-stop-shop for research opportunities in Berlin! 👉 www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/commitmen...
Reposted by Milena Musial
Super excited to contribute to this book with our chapter "Enhancing Ecological Validity in Habit Research via Naturalistic Methods" (with Elizabeth Tricomi). Thanks, @dvsmith.bsky.social, @thepsychologist.bsky.social, and @dfareri.bsky.social for organizing!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
July 19, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Super excited to contribute to this book with our chapter "Enhancing Ecological Validity in Habit Research via Naturalistic Methods" (with Elizabeth Tricomi). Thanks, @dvsmith.bsky.social, @thepsychologist.bsky.social, and @dfareri.bsky.social for organizing!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Milena Musial
🚨 New paper alert!
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 8, 2025 at 9:55 AM
🚨 New paper alert!
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Excited to present our latest findings on what role the successor representation plays in high-risk drinking and alcohol-related contexts at #CPConf2025!
Come by at poster 2.31 on Tuesday to discuss how the SR fits in with the habit account of addiction 💭
www.cpconf.org
Come by at poster 2.31 on Tuesday to discuss how the SR fits in with the habit account of addiction 💭
www.cpconf.org
Computational Psychiatry Conference
Tübingen, Germany (July 14-16, 2025)
www.cpconf.org
July 13, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Excited to present our latest findings on what role the successor representation plays in high-risk drinking and alcohol-related contexts at #CPConf2025!
Come by at poster 2.31 on Tuesday to discuss how the SR fits in with the habit account of addiction 💭
www.cpconf.org
Come by at poster 2.31 on Tuesday to discuss how the SR fits in with the habit account of addiction 💭
www.cpconf.org
This sounds incredibly interesting!
Thrilled to see our TinyRNN paper in @nature! We show how tiny RNNs predict choices of individual subjects accurately while staying fully interpretable. This approach can transform how we model cognitive processes in both healthy and disordered decisions. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Discovering cognitive strategies with tiny recurrent neural networks - Nature
Modelling biological decision-making with tiny recurrent neural networks enables more accurate predictions of animal choices than classical cognitive models and offers insights into the underlying cog...
doi.org
July 2, 2025 at 9:56 PM
This sounds incredibly interesting!
Reposted by Milena Musial
It is now possible for participants to sign up for the "Unconference" focused on taking action on responsible research! Scientists, science managers, journal editors, policy makers & more - take a look at the 10 interesting projects that will be developed on site during the event! 🧪
🌟Please share!🌟
🌟Please share!🌟
Shape research culture + practices! Join the Responsible Research in Action Unconference 2025, Sept 22–24, Berlin, to collaborate on innovative solutions – from reproducibility checks to researcher-driven funding models.
rr-in-action2025.org
@dfg.de @ucoimbra.bsky.social @berlinualliance.bsky.social
rr-in-action2025.org
@dfg.de @ucoimbra.bsky.social @berlinualliance.bsky.social
Responsible Research | In Action -
An Unconference exploring the world of responsible research with Responsible Research in Action. Learn about ethical practices, principles, and innovations in impactful science
rr-in-action2025.org
July 1, 2025 at 12:51 PM
It is now possible for participants to sign up for the "Unconference" focused on taking action on responsible research! Scientists, science managers, journal editors, policy makers & more - take a look at the 10 interesting projects that will be developed on site during the event! 🧪
🌟Please share!🌟
🌟Please share!🌟
Reposted by Milena Musial
One way to tackle a new task is to reuse solutions from the past. Check out Sam Hall-McMaster's latest finding that strategy reuse is accompanied by neural reactivation of prior solutions @plosbiology.org
Collab w/ M Tomov & @gershbrain.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Collab w/ M Tomov & @gershbrain.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Neural evidence that humans reuse strategies to solve new tasks
Humans can apply solutions used in past problems to new problems. In this study, the authors reveal the neural correlates of this process, known as generalization, and show that humans apply past poli...
journals.plos.org
June 6, 2025 at 2:39 PM
One way to tackle a new task is to reuse solutions from the past. Check out Sam Hall-McMaster's latest finding that strategy reuse is accompanied by neural reactivation of prior solutions @plosbiology.org
Collab w/ M Tomov & @gershbrain.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Collab w/ M Tomov & @gershbrain.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Milena Musial
Please join me, @petergs.bsky.social, @jeffsebo.bsky.social, @aliboyle.bsky.social, Marta Halina, Nick Shea and Matt Sims online or in London, 28 May, for Grades of Mind: Agency, Memory, Sentience - a workshop so interesting it doesn't need a relevant image. www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/e...
Grades of Mind: Agency, Memory, Sentience
“In attempting to understand the elements out of which mental phenomena are compounded, it is of the greatest importance to remember that from the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide…
www.lse.ac.uk
May 8, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Please join me, @petergs.bsky.social, @jeffsebo.bsky.social, @aliboyle.bsky.social, Marta Halina, Nick Shea and Matt Sims online or in London, 28 May, for Grades of Mind: Agency, Memory, Sentience - a workshop so interesting it doesn't need a relevant image. www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/e...
Reposted by Milena Musial
What could large-scale AI do for neuroscience? What barriers prevent us from pursuing an AlphaFold for the brain? What are the limits of scale, and where will we need more tailored solutions? Eva Dyer and @tyrellturing.bsky.social ask nine neuroscientists to weigh in.
bit.ly/4iXjK3q
bit.ly/4iXjK3q
Accepting “bitter lesson” and embracing brain’s complexity
To gain insight into complex neural data, we must move toward a data-driven regime, employing large models trained on vast amounts of data. Experts weigh in.
bit.ly
March 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
What could large-scale AI do for neuroscience? What barriers prevent us from pursuing an AlphaFold for the brain? What are the limits of scale, and where will we need more tailored solutions? Eva Dyer and @tyrellturing.bsky.social ask nine neuroscientists to weigh in.
bit.ly/4iXjK3q
bit.ly/4iXjK3q
Reposted by Milena Musial
Abstract submission extended!
You can now submit your abstract to the Computational Psychiatry Conference until next Friday, 14th February
#CPConf2025
You can now submit your abstract to the Computational Psychiatry Conference until next Friday, 14th February
#CPConf2025
Abstract submission for the Computational Psychiatry Conference #CPConf closes this Friday 7th February!
Submit your cool abstracts now!
keynotes, tutorials, and much more await you - details here: www.cpconf.org
Submit your cool abstracts now!
keynotes, tutorials, and much more await you - details here: www.cpconf.org
February 6, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Abstract submission extended!
You can now submit your abstract to the Computational Psychiatry Conference until next Friday, 14th February
#CPConf2025
You can now submit your abstract to the Computational Psychiatry Conference until next Friday, 14th February
#CPConf2025