Alireza Modirshanechi
@modirshanechi.bsky.social
Postdoc at Helmholtz Munich (Schulz lab) and MPI for Biological Cybernetics (Dayan lab) || Ph.D. from EPFL (Gerstner lab) || Working on computational models of learning and decision-making in the brain; https://sites.google.com/view/modirsha
Pinned
New in @pnas.org: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
We study how humans explore a 61-state environment with a stochastic region that mimics a “noisy-TV.”
Results: Participants keep exploring the stochastic part even when it’s unhelpful, and novelty-seeking best explains this behavior.
#cogsci #neuroskyence
We study how humans explore a 61-state environment with a stochastic region that mimics a “noisy-TV.”
Results: Participants keep exploring the stochastic part even when it’s unhelpful, and novelty-seeking best explains this behavior.
#cogsci #neuroskyence
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
"17 pairs of female friends (N = 34; ages 16-18 years) spent two nights in a sleep laboratory: one night online socialising with their friend in another room (WhatsApp + Netflix), and one night watching Netflix alone without socialising" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41189527/ Sleep lab sleepover!
November 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"17 pairs of female friends (N = 34; ages 16-18 years) spent two nights in a sleep laboratory: one night online socialising with their friend in another room (WhatsApp + Netflix), and one night watching Netflix alone without socialising" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41189527/ Sleep lab sleepover!
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Here’s the same data, but with trust broken down by political views (circles are trust among people on the left, +s the right).
It’s not just that the BBC is widely consumed — it also has solid trust on both left & right, whereas trust in the biggest US media brands is hugely polarised.
It’s not just that the BBC is widely consumed — it also has solid trust on both left & right, whereas trust in the biggest US media brands is hugely polarised.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Here’s the same data, but with trust broken down by political views (circles are trust among people on the left, +s the right).
It’s not just that the BBC is widely consumed — it also has solid trust on both left & right, whereas trust in the biggest US media brands is hugely polarised.
It’s not just that the BBC is widely consumed — it also has solid trust on both left & right, whereas trust in the biggest US media brands is hugely polarised.
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Honored and excited to share that I am the winner of Nomis & Science Young Explorer Award!!
Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!
The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1/
Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!
The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1/
The normalization of (almost) everything: Our minds can get used to anything, and even crises start feeling normal
Our minds can get used to anything, and even crises start feeling normal
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Honored and excited to share that I am the winner of Nomis & Science Young Explorer Award!!
Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!
The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1/
Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!
The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1/
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Just 1 week to apply! 4 year @erc.europa.eu funded PhD position working in an interdisciplinary team to study #culturalEvolution as a process of reuse, recombination, and creative re-engineering of past solutions. Details 👉 hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur... 🙏Please share!
November 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Just 1 week to apply! 4 year @erc.europa.eu funded PhD position working in an interdisciplinary team to study #culturalEvolution as a process of reuse, recombination, and creative re-engineering of past solutions. Details 👉 hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur... 🙏Please share!
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
This was a lot of fun! From my side, it started with a technical Q: what's the relation between two-side cavity and path integrals? Turns out it's a fluctuation correction - and amazingly, this also enable the "O(N) rank" theory by @david-g-clark.bsky.social and @omarschall.bsky.social. 🤯
Now in PRX: Theory linking connectivity structure to collective activity in nonlinear RNNs!
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
Connectivity Structure and Dynamics of Nonlinear Recurrent Neural Networks
The structure of brain connectivity predicts collective neural activity, with a small number of connectivity features determining activity dimensionality, linking circuit architecture to network-level...
journals.aps.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:15 AM
This was a lot of fun! From my side, it started with a technical Q: what's the relation between two-side cavity and path integrals? Turns out it's a fluctuation correction - and amazingly, this also enable the "O(N) rank" theory by @david-g-clark.bsky.social and @omarschall.bsky.social. 🤯
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Ten Simple Rules for AI-Assisted Coding in Science arxiv.org/abs/2510.22254 - our latest, led by @ericwbridgeford.bsky.social
Ten Simple Rules for AI-Assisted Coding in Science
While AI coding tools have demonstrated potential to accelerate software development, their use in scientific computing raises critical questions about code quality and scientific validity. In this pa...
arxiv.org
October 28, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Ten Simple Rules for AI-Assisted Coding in Science arxiv.org/abs/2510.22254 - our latest, led by @ericwbridgeford.bsky.social
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Pleased to share that our survey "Getting aligned on representational alignment" — on representational alignment across cognitive (neuro)science and machine learning — is now published in TMLR! openreview.net/forum?id=Hiq...
Kudos to @sucholutsky.bsky.social @lukasmut.bsky.social for leading this!
Kudos to @sucholutsky.bsky.social @lukasmut.bsky.social for leading this!
October 29, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Pleased to share that our survey "Getting aligned on representational alignment" — on representational alignment across cognitive (neuro)science and machine learning — is now published in TMLR! openreview.net/forum?id=Hiq...
Kudos to @sucholutsky.bsky.social @lukasmut.bsky.social for leading this!
Kudos to @sucholutsky.bsky.social @lukasmut.bsky.social for leading this!
Looking for a #postdoc position? 🧠🔬🤖
Join our amazing lab in Munich! 🇩🇪👩🔬
We have a friendly, collaborative, and inclusive environment, where scientific rigour and curiosity are truly valued and celebrated. 🎉
#Jobs #ScienceJobs #cogsci #neuroskyence
Join our amazing lab in Munich! 🇩🇪👩🔬
We have a friendly, collaborative, and inclusive environment, where scientific rigour and curiosity are truly valued and celebrated. 🎉
#Jobs #ScienceJobs #cogsci #neuroskyence
🚀 We are hiring! 🚀
🔍 Join us as a Postdoctoral Researcher (fully-funded) at the Helmholtz Institute for Human-Centered AI in Munich.
🔍 Join us as a Postdoctoral Researcher (fully-funded) at the Helmholtz Institute for Human-Centered AI in Munich.
November 3, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Looking for a #postdoc position? 🧠🔬🤖
Join our amazing lab in Munich! 🇩🇪👩🔬
We have a friendly, collaborative, and inclusive environment, where scientific rigour and curiosity are truly valued and celebrated. 🎉
#Jobs #ScienceJobs #cogsci #neuroskyence
Join our amazing lab in Munich! 🇩🇪👩🔬
We have a friendly, collaborative, and inclusive environment, where scientific rigour and curiosity are truly valued and celebrated. 🎉
#Jobs #ScienceJobs #cogsci #neuroskyence
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Interactive Cognition Lab | USC
Interactive Cognition Lab at USC, led by principal investigator, Dr. Nina Rouhani.
rouhanilab.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
#EPFL has an open faculty position - tenure track or tenured!! - in AI driven biophysics. Deadline is Nov 15th. Please spread the word!
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
Assistant/associate Professor of AI-assisted Biophysics at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Group Leader at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)
The School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) at EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) jointly seek to appoint a Tenure Track Assistant or tenured Associate Professor in AI-As...
www.epfl.ch
October 28, 2025 at 2:56 AM
#EPFL has an open faculty position - tenure track or tenured!! - in AI driven biophysics. Deadline is Nov 15th. Please spread the word!
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
🚀 We’re hiring - Join our lab 🚀
🔍 Hiring: PhD (75% TV-L) & Postdoc (100% TV-L)
🧠 fMRI, VR, EEG, modelling
We combine a range of cognitive neuroscience methods to study flexible behaviour.
📅 Start: Feb 2026 or later | ⏳ Apply by Nov 3!
More details:
tinyurl.com/ms3a9ajt
#CognitiveNeuroscience
🔍 Hiring: PhD (75% TV-L) & Postdoc (100% TV-L)
🧠 fMRI, VR, EEG, modelling
We combine a range of cognitive neuroscience methods to study flexible behaviour.
📅 Start: Feb 2026 or later | ⏳ Apply by Nov 3!
More details:
tinyurl.com/ms3a9ajt
#CognitiveNeuroscience
October 27, 2025 at 11:57 AM
🚀 We’re hiring - Join our lab 🚀
🔍 Hiring: PhD (75% TV-L) & Postdoc (100% TV-L)
🧠 fMRI, VR, EEG, modelling
We combine a range of cognitive neuroscience methods to study flexible behaviour.
📅 Start: Feb 2026 or later | ⏳ Apply by Nov 3!
More details:
tinyurl.com/ms3a9ajt
#CognitiveNeuroscience
🔍 Hiring: PhD (75% TV-L) & Postdoc (100% TV-L)
🧠 fMRI, VR, EEG, modelling
We combine a range of cognitive neuroscience methods to study flexible behaviour.
📅 Start: Feb 2026 or later | ⏳ Apply by Nov 3!
More details:
tinyurl.com/ms3a9ajt
#CognitiveNeuroscience
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
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...
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
How does our brain excel at complex object recognition, yet get fooled by simple illusory contours? What unifying principle governs all Gestalt laws of perceptual organization?
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
October 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
How does our brain excel at complex object recognition, yet get fooled by simple illusory contours? What unifying principle governs all Gestalt laws of perceptual organization?
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
We are looking for PhD students via the @ellis.eu and @munichcenterml.bsky.social PhD programs!
🎓PhD application season is back!
We’re hiring ONLY through the ELLIS @ellis.eu and the MCML
@munichcenterml.bsky.social
📌Please denote Prof. Zeynep Akata @zeynepakata.bsky.social as your preferred supervisor!
👉 Link to ELLIS (ellis.eu/news/ellis-p...) and MCML (mcml.ai/opportunitie...)
We’re hiring ONLY through the ELLIS @ellis.eu and the MCML
@munichcenterml.bsky.social
📌Please denote Prof. Zeynep Akata @zeynepakata.bsky.social as your preferred supervisor!
👉 Link to ELLIS (ellis.eu/news/ellis-p...) and MCML (mcml.ai/opportunitie...)
October 24, 2025 at 10:27 AM
We are looking for PhD students via the @ellis.eu and @munichcenterml.bsky.social PhD programs!
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
We have a new conference paper out just now! How do infants explore their own body? We show that in the first weeks of life, infants' self-touch actions allow them to gain information about their own body. ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112...
Exploration Patterns in Spontaneous Self-Touch Actions in Infancy
Infants frequently touch their own bodies from the earliest months of life, raising questions about whether these self-directed actions reflect active body exploration. We hypothesize that infants’ se...
ieeexplore.ieee.org
October 23, 2025 at 11:46 AM
We have a new conference paper out just now! How do infants explore their own body? We show that in the first weeks of life, infants' self-touch actions allow them to gain information about their own body. ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112...
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
How do we weigh curiosity, effort, and reward? The labs of @epfl-brainmind.bsky.social professors Wulfram Gerstner & Michael Herzog find humans overexplore when seeking monetary reward, drawn to novel options even when more exploration offers no advantage. Explore the paper 👉 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
October 16, 2025 at 6:41 PM
How do we weigh curiosity, effort, and reward? The labs of @epfl-brainmind.bsky.social professors Wulfram Gerstner & Michael Herzog find humans overexplore when seeking monetary reward, drawn to novel options even when more exploration offers no advantage. Explore the paper 👉 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Sure! econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/...
I originally found it from this review, maybe that’s also interesting: www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...
I originally found it from this review, maybe that’s also interesting: www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...
The Mere Presence of a Cell Phone May be Distracting: Implications for Attention and Task Performance: Social Psychology: Vol 45, No 6
econtent.hogrefe.com
October 22, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Sure! econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/...
I originally found it from this review, maybe that’s also interesting: www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...
I originally found it from this review, maybe that’s also interesting: www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Decided to challenge myself to share more often online without filtering and overthinking, so starting a 365-day challenge where I’ll post a neuro fact once a day.
#ShyButSharing365 (Feel free to join, doesn’t have to be neuro-related)
#ShyButSharing365 (Feel free to join, doesn’t have to be neuro-related)
September 6, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Decided to challenge myself to share more often online without filtering and overthinking, so starting a 365-day challenge where I’ll post a neuro fact once a day.
#ShyButSharing365 (Feel free to join, doesn’t have to be neuro-related)
#ShyButSharing365 (Feel free to join, doesn’t have to be neuro-related)
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
posted on October 16, 2025
We are currently seeking a highly motivated individual for a ful...
hmc-lab.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Very thought-provoking post by @prakhargodara.bsky.social. Is confirmation bias/positivity bias a statistical "ghost" of model specification? Specifically not including temporally decaying learning rates? The evidence suggests this is not the case and here is why (1/n)
Is confirmation bias a real cognitive flaw, or a statistical ghost created by our models? My new PNAS paper shows a startling result: fitting Q-learning models to behavior in bandit tasks detect a bias, even from the behavior of a perfectly rational Bayesian learner.
October 19, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Very thought-provoking post by @prakhargodara.bsky.social. Is confirmation bias/positivity bias a statistical "ghost" of model specification? Specifically not including temporally decaying learning rates? The evidence suggests this is not the case and here is why (1/n)
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
🎓 Alumni Spotlight: @mmondelli.bsky.social
From EPFL to @istaresearch.bsky.social , Marco’s journey in Algorithms & Theoretical Computer Science shows the impact of an EDIC PhD. Today, he’s advancing research in algorithms, coding theory, and data science.
From EPFL to @istaresearch.bsky.social , Marco’s journey in Algorithms & Theoretical Computer Science shows the impact of an EDIC PhD. Today, he’s advancing research in algorithms, coding theory, and data science.
October 17, 2025 at 7:35 AM
🎓 Alumni Spotlight: @mmondelli.bsky.social
From EPFL to @istaresearch.bsky.social , Marco’s journey in Algorithms & Theoretical Computer Science shows the impact of an EDIC PhD. Today, he’s advancing research in algorithms, coding theory, and data science.
From EPFL to @istaresearch.bsky.social , Marco’s journey in Algorithms & Theoretical Computer Science shows the impact of an EDIC PhD. Today, he’s advancing research in algorithms, coding theory, and data science.
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Over the past year, my lab has been working on fleshing out theory + applications of the Platonic Representation Hypothesis.
Today I want to share two new works on this topic:
Eliciting higher alignment: arxiv.org/abs/2510.02425
Unpaired learning of unified reps: arxiv.org/abs/2510.08492
1/9
Today I want to share two new works on this topic:
Eliciting higher alignment: arxiv.org/abs/2510.02425
Unpaired learning of unified reps: arxiv.org/abs/2510.08492
1/9
October 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Over the past year, my lab has been working on fleshing out theory + applications of the Platonic Representation Hypothesis.
Today I want to share two new works on this topic:
Eliciting higher alignment: arxiv.org/abs/2510.02425
Unpaired learning of unified reps: arxiv.org/abs/2510.08492
1/9
Today I want to share two new works on this topic:
Eliciting higher alignment: arxiv.org/abs/2510.02425
Unpaired learning of unified reps: arxiv.org/abs/2510.08492
1/9
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Science is a question-answering activity. Whenever someone tries to pose a scientific question about art, it always turns out to really be a question about something else (perception, emotion, etc). This is why many attempts to bring art and science together fall flat.
October 15, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Science is a question-answering activity. Whenever someone tries to pose a scientific question about art, it always turns out to really be a question about something else (perception, emotion, etc). This is why many attempts to bring art and science together fall flat.
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
If you're interested in doing a postdoc at @icepfl.bsky.social , there's still time to apply for the @epfl-ai-center.bsky.social postdoctoral fellowships.
Apart from this, I'm also recruiting postdocs in developing novel training algorithms for reasoning models and agentic AI.
Apart from this, I'm also recruiting postdocs in developing novel training algorithms for reasoning models and agentic AI.
October 14, 2025 at 5:56 PM
If you're interested in doing a postdoc at @icepfl.bsky.social , there's still time to apply for the @epfl-ai-center.bsky.social postdoctoral fellowships.
Apart from this, I'm also recruiting postdocs in developing novel training algorithms for reasoning models and agentic AI.
Apart from this, I'm also recruiting postdocs in developing novel training algorithms for reasoning models and agentic AI.
Reposted by Alireza Modirshanechi
Last week, we had three amazing days full of discussions and wondering what curiosity actually means. Thank you to @modirshanechi.bsky.social, @mjgruber.bsky.social, and Lisa Beinborn for being there with us, it was a pleasure. Special thanks to Azzurra Ruggeri for her great talk!
October 14, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Last week, we had three amazing days full of discussions and wondering what curiosity actually means. Thank you to @modirshanechi.bsky.social, @mjgruber.bsky.social, and Lisa Beinborn for being there with us, it was a pleasure. Special thanks to Azzurra Ruggeri for her great talk!