Nicola Sambuco
@nicolasambuco.bsky.social
Assistant Professor (fixed term- RTDA), University of Bari. Former CSEA trainee at UF
Curating reward processing research → RewardSignals feed (#RewardSignals).
Curating reward processing research → RewardSignals feed (#RewardSignals).
Pinned
🧠💸 Launching the RewardSignals feed
RewardSignals is a custom feed collecting posts about reward processing and decision making.
To appear in the feed, tag your post with #RewardSignals.
You can find and pin the feed from the Feeds tab as “RewardSignals”.
#RewardSignals
RewardSignals is a custom feed collecting posts about reward processing and decision making.
To appear in the feed, tag your post with #RewardSignals.
You can find and pin the feed from the Feeds tab as “RewardSignals”.
#RewardSignals
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
If your ultimate inference target is the group level, then what matters is the joint contribution of trial number per condition and participant sample size, not either one in isolation. We explored this point in detail here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Hyperbolic trade-off: The importance of balancing trial and subject sample sizes in neuroimaging
Here we investigate the crucial role of trials in task-based neuroimaging from the perspectives of statistical efficiency and condition-level generali…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:37 AM
If your ultimate inference target is the group level, then what matters is the joint contribution of trial number per condition and participant sample size, not either one in isolation. We explored this point in detail here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
yep, and in fact..
there is a secret administrative definition of DEI: Distracting Experts Indefinitely
there is a secret administrative definition of DEI: Distracting Experts Indefinitely
New conspiracy theory just dropped:
What if peer review, committee meetings, strategic plans, promotion & tenure processes, and letter-writing requests are all part of a secret plot to keep smart, creative, active minds from thinking and writing the big ideas that would *really* change the world?
What if peer review, committee meetings, strategic plans, promotion & tenure processes, and letter-writing requests are all part of a secret plot to keep smart, creative, active minds from thinking and writing the big ideas that would *really* change the world?
November 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
yep, and in fact..
there is a secret administrative definition of DEI: Distracting Experts Indefinitely
there is a secret administrative definition of DEI: Distracting Experts Indefinitely
@davidbaranger.bsky.social would love your take on the fMRI part of this paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... I’m wondering how much of the poor MID reliability is about adolescent samples + long test–retest gaps, rather than the MID itself.
#neuroskyence #neurosky #RewardSignals
#neuroskyence #neurosky #RewardSignals
www.biorxiv.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
@davidbaranger.bsky.social would love your take on the fMRI part of this paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... I’m wondering how much of the poor MID reliability is about adolescent samples + long test–retest gaps, rather than the MID itself.
#neuroskyence #neurosky #RewardSignals
#neuroskyence #neurosky #RewardSignals
Reviewer: “lack of details about the software used for connectivity.”
Also me: mentioned AFNI several times, with commands.
Folks, believe me, there is life beyond CONN, and diversity ≠ opacity. If something is unclear, ask.
#neurosky #neuroskyence
Also me: mentioned AFNI several times, with commands.
Folks, believe me, there is life beyond CONN, and diversity ≠ opacity. If something is unclear, ask.
#neurosky #neuroskyence
November 20, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reviewer: “lack of details about the software used for connectivity.”
Also me: mentioned AFNI several times, with commands.
Folks, believe me, there is life beyond CONN, and diversity ≠ opacity. If something is unclear, ask.
#neurosky #neuroskyence
Also me: mentioned AFNI several times, with commands.
Folks, believe me, there is life beyond CONN, and diversity ≠ opacity. If something is unclear, ask.
#neurosky #neuroskyence
Bonus on this paper:
there is also a commentary from Masakazu Taira & @melissajsharpe.bsky.social that is certainly worth reading-
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
there is also a commentary from Masakazu Taira & @melissajsharpe.bsky.social that is certainly worth reading-
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
November 20, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Bonus on this paper:
there is also a commentary from Masakazu Taira & @melissajsharpe.bsky.social that is certainly worth reading-
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
there is also a commentary from Masakazu Taira & @melissajsharpe.bsky.social that is certainly worth reading-
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
1/3
New Nature Neuroscience paper on estrogen & dopamine RPEs. Female rats in high-estradiol phase (proestrus) show stronger trial-by-trial adjustment of response vigor in a RL task: they start the next trial faster after better rewards.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
New Nature Neuroscience paper on estrogen & dopamine RPEs. Female rats in high-estradiol phase (proestrus) show stronger trial-by-trial adjustment of response vigor in a RL task: they start the next trial faster after better rewards.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
Estrogen modulates reward prediction errors and reinforcement learning - Nature Neuroscience
Dopamine encoding of reward prediction errors naturally fluctuates over females’ reproductive cycles with estrogenic signaling due to reduced expression of dopamine reuptake proteins.
www.nature.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM
1/3
New Nature Neuroscience paper on estrogen & dopamine RPEs. Female rats in high-estradiol phase (proestrus) show stronger trial-by-trial adjustment of response vigor in a RL task: they start the next trial faster after better rewards.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
New Nature Neuroscience paper on estrogen & dopamine RPEs. Female rats in high-estradiol phase (proestrus) show stronger trial-by-trial adjustment of response vigor in a RL task: they start the next trial faster after better rewards.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
And the next step? Full voxel-level modeling.
Recent numerical advances cracked the scalability barrier. Voxel-level hierarchical modeling is now feasible, revealing just how punishing traditional multiple-comparison adjustments really are.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.12825
Recent numerical advances cracked the scalability barrier. Voxel-level hierarchical modeling is now feasible, revealing just how punishing traditional multiple-comparison adjustments really are.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.12825
SIMBA: Scalable Image Modeling using a Bayesian Approach, A Consistent Framework for Including Spatial Dependencies in fMRI Studies
Bayesian spatial modeling provides a flexible framework for whole-brain fMRI analysis by explicitly incorporating spatial dependencies, overcoming the limitations of traditional massive univariate app...
arxiv.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
And the next step? Full voxel-level modeling.
Recent numerical advances cracked the scalability barrier. Voxel-level hierarchical modeling is now feasible, revealing just how punishing traditional multiple-comparison adjustments really are.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.12825
Recent numerical advances cracked the scalability barrier. Voxel-level hierarchical modeling is now feasible, revealing just how punishing traditional multiple-comparison adjustments really are.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.12825
Looking forward to this!
Next up: bringing this to everyday analysis.
AFNI’s new program SIMBA is in development and aims to make full whole-brain voxel-level hierarchical modeling accessible to users, hopefully within the next few months.
AFNI’s new program SIMBA is in development and aims to make full whole-brain voxel-level hierarchical modeling accessible to users, hopefully within the next few months.
November 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Looking forward to this!
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
Is the “standard workflow” holding back fMRI analysis?
Mass-univariate analysis is still the bread-and-butter: intuitive, fast… and chronically overfitted. Add harsh multiple-comparison penalties, and we patch the workflow with statistical band-aids. No wonder the stringency debates never die.
Mass-univariate analysis is still the bread-and-butter: intuitive, fast… and chronically overfitted. Add harsh multiple-comparison penalties, and we patch the workflow with statistical band-aids. No wonder the stringency debates never die.
November 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Is the “standard workflow” holding back fMRI analysis?
Mass-univariate analysis is still the bread-and-butter: intuitive, fast… and chronically overfitted. Add harsh multiple-comparison penalties, and we patch the workflow with statistical band-aids. No wonder the stringency debates never die.
Mass-univariate analysis is still the bread-and-butter: intuitive, fast… and chronically overfitted. Add harsh multiple-comparison penalties, and we patch the workflow with statistical band-aids. No wonder the stringency debates never die.
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
RL Debates 5: Anne "not everything is RL" Collins
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
A habit and working memory model as an alternative account of human reward-based learning
Nature Human Behaviour - In this study, Collins proposes an alternative dual-process (working memory and habit) model of reinforcement learning in humans.
rdcu.be
November 19, 2025 at 7:28 AM
RL Debates 5: Anne "not everything is RL" Collins
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
Great resource here ⬇️
Confidence interval discussion time! The perfect opportunity to repost this blog post answering the question you haven’t dared to ask: www.the100.ci/2024/12/05/w...
November 19, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Great resource here ⬇️
1/
New preprint on causal control of Pavlovian go bias:
Aster et al. “Continuous theta-burst stimulation of the vmPFC reduces Pavlovian go-invigoration and enhances thalamo-striatal RPE signals” (n=90, cTBS-fMRI Go/NoGo).
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
New preprint on causal control of Pavlovian go bias:
Aster et al. “Continuous theta-burst stimulation of the vmPFC reduces Pavlovian go-invigoration and enhances thalamo-striatal RPE signals” (n=90, cTBS-fMRI Go/NoGo).
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
1/
New preprint on causal control of Pavlovian go bias:
Aster et al. “Continuous theta-burst stimulation of the vmPFC reduces Pavlovian go-invigoration and enhances thalamo-striatal RPE signals” (n=90, cTBS-fMRI Go/NoGo).
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
New preprint on causal control of Pavlovian go bias:
Aster et al. “Continuous theta-burst stimulation of the vmPFC reduces Pavlovian go-invigoration and enhances thalamo-striatal RPE signals” (n=90, cTBS-fMRI Go/NoGo).
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
We were trained to believe that hard work and good ideas would translate into grants and papers. Now it feels like none of that is guaranteed, and the cost is paid by our families, our students, our teams, and the futures we hoped to build with them.
#neuroskyence #neurosky
#neuroskyence #neurosky
Weird thing happening where I + my colleagues, same convo on repeat: can't think about next year, next month, even next week. All I can do is wait for the next days or next hrs, close projects, write more grants that wont save us, sit in misery. This is what the fed govt is doing to science
November 17, 2025 at 6:54 AM
We were trained to believe that hard work and good ideas would translate into grants and papers. Now it feels like none of that is guaranteed, and the cost is paid by our families, our students, our teams, and the futures we hoped to build with them.
#neuroskyence #neurosky
#neuroskyence #neurosky
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
❤️ Bluesky fMRI people! 3-day #fMRI course live online Jan 7-9, 2026.
#SPM, #ICA, GLM, connectivity, mediation, MRI physics, #DataScience with @vcalhoun.bsky.social and Kent Kiehl.
We love talking methods & connecting with colleagues! Come join us!
Register here:
sites.google.com/dartmouth.ed...
#SPM, #ICA, GLM, connectivity, mediation, MRI physics, #DataScience with @vcalhoun.bsky.social and Kent Kiehl.
We love talking methods & connecting with colleagues! Come join us!
Register here:
sites.google.com/dartmouth.ed...
fMRI Course
Instructors
sites.google.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
❤️ Bluesky fMRI people! 3-day #fMRI course live online Jan 7-9, 2026.
#SPM, #ICA, GLM, connectivity, mediation, MRI physics, #DataScience with @vcalhoun.bsky.social and Kent Kiehl.
We love talking methods & connecting with colleagues! Come join us!
Register here:
sites.google.com/dartmouth.ed...
#SPM, #ICA, GLM, connectivity, mediation, MRI physics, #DataScience with @vcalhoun.bsky.social and Kent Kiehl.
We love talking methods & connecting with colleagues! Come join us!
Register here:
sites.google.com/dartmouth.ed...
1/3
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology
Spatial variations in dopamine function are linked to cognition and substance use disorders but are challenging to characterize with current methods. Because dopamine influences blood vessel dilation,...
doi.org
November 16, 2025 at 10:21 PM
1/3
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
We're looking forward to telling you what we've been up to at #sfn25. Flagel Lab posters are all on Monday. Come say hi and speak to these amazing trainees about their research!
November 11, 2025 at 3:28 AM
We're looking forward to telling you what we've been up to at #sfn25. Flagel Lab posters are all on Monday. Come say hi and speak to these amazing trainees about their research!
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
Please RT
2 new positions in the lab as postdoc & PhD!
Interested in stress, pain, or reward? This project has it all!
We are a friendly but ambitious group. Oslo is a capital city on the fjord & bordered by forest, great urban & outdoors opportunities: 💃 ⛷️ 🚣 🎭 🎶
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
2 new positions in the lab as postdoc & PhD!
Interested in stress, pain, or reward? This project has it all!
We are a friendly but ambitious group. Oslo is a capital city on the fjord & bordered by forest, great urban & outdoors opportunities: 💃 ⛷️ 🚣 🎭 🎶
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (286516) | University of Oslo
Job title: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (286516), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
www.jobbnorge.no
September 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Please RT
2 new positions in the lab as postdoc & PhD!
Interested in stress, pain, or reward? This project has it all!
We are a friendly but ambitious group. Oslo is a capital city on the fjord & bordered by forest, great urban & outdoors opportunities: 💃 ⛷️ 🚣 🎭 🎶
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
2 new positions in the lab as postdoc & PhD!
Interested in stress, pain, or reward? This project has it all!
We are a friendly but ambitious group. Oslo is a capital city on the fjord & bordered by forest, great urban & outdoors opportunities: 💃 ⛷️ 🚣 🎭 🎶
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Come meet Antonella Lupo (grad student, Bari) at #SFN25 late-breaking poster [LBP087]: “fMRI reveals stable sign- and goal-tracking phenotypes linked to dopaminergic modulation and psychopathology”. Mon 17, 8–12 — chat about translating ST/GT models to humans 🧠 #neuroskyence #RewardSignals
November 15, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Come meet Antonella Lupo (grad student, Bari) at #SFN25 late-breaking poster [LBP087]: “fMRI reveals stable sign- and goal-tracking phenotypes linked to dopaminergic modulation and psychopathology”. Mon 17, 8–12 — chat about translating ST/GT models to humans 🧠 #neuroskyence #RewardSignals
🧠💸 Launching the RewardSignals feed
RewardSignals is a custom feed collecting posts about reward processing and decision making.
To appear in the feed, tag your post with #RewardSignals.
You can find and pin the feed from the Feeds tab as “RewardSignals”.
#RewardSignals
RewardSignals is a custom feed collecting posts about reward processing and decision making.
To appear in the feed, tag your post with #RewardSignals.
You can find and pin the feed from the Feeds tab as “RewardSignals”.
#RewardSignals
November 15, 2025 at 8:02 PM
🧠💸 Launching the RewardSignals feed
RewardSignals is a custom feed collecting posts about reward processing and decision making.
To appear in the feed, tag your post with #RewardSignals.
You can find and pin the feed from the Feeds tab as “RewardSignals”.
#RewardSignals
RewardSignals is a custom feed collecting posts about reward processing and decision making.
To appear in the feed, tag your post with #RewardSignals.
You can find and pin the feed from the Feeds tab as “RewardSignals”.
#RewardSignals
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
How prediction error drives memory updating: role of locus coeruleus–hippocampal interactions
Looks interesting, from Groves et al
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
Looks interesting, from Groves et al
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
How prediction error drives memory updating: role of locus coeruleus–hippocampal interactions
The brain constantly generates predictions based on one’s knowledge of the world, as captured in memory. When these predictions are in error, our know…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:22 AM
How prediction error drives memory updating: role of locus coeruleus–hippocampal interactions
Looks interesting, from Groves et al
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
Looks interesting, from Groves et al
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
14 months after submission, our article “Stimulus-modulated approach to steady state (SASS): a flexible paradigm for event-related fMRI" is now out in @natmethods.nature.com . You can read it here rdcu.be/ePJo6
It is the first first author paper from my student @renilmathew.bsky.social 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 …1/N
It is the first first author paper from my student @renilmathew.bsky.social 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 …1/N
Stimulus-modulated approach to steady state (SASS): a flexible paradigm for event-related fMRI
Nature Methods - Stimulus-modulated approach to steady state (SASS) is an acquisition scheme for event-related fMRI that generates data with high temporal signal-to-noise ratios interspaced with...
rdcu.be
November 13, 2025 at 12:23 PM
14 months after submission, our article “Stimulus-modulated approach to steady state (SASS): a flexible paradigm for event-related fMRI" is now out in @natmethods.nature.com . You can read it here rdcu.be/ePJo6
It is the first first author paper from my student @renilmathew.bsky.social 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 …1/N
It is the first first author paper from my student @renilmathew.bsky.social 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 …1/N
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
Early life adversity increases striatal dopamine D1 receptor density and promotes social alcohol drinking in mice, especially males https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.10.687736v1
November 12, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Early life adversity increases striatal dopamine D1 receptor density and promotes social alcohol drinking in mice, especially males https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.10.687736v1
"What are you doing tonight?"
"I'm fitting 7,200 HMMs, how about you?"
"....."
#neuroskyence
#Neuroimaging
"I'm fitting 7,200 HMMs, how about you?"
"....."
#neuroskyence
#Neuroimaging
November 11, 2025 at 8:18 PM
"What are you doing tonight?"
"I'm fitting 7,200 HMMs, how about you?"
"....."
#neuroskyence
#Neuroimaging
"I'm fitting 7,200 HMMs, how about you?"
"....."
#neuroskyence
#Neuroimaging
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
Hidden Markov Models
Speaking of HMMs, really enjoyed this paper on dynamics underlying resting state and other conditions. The idea of a baseline state from which excursions lead to more integrated states is really interesting.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
#neuroskyence
Speaking of HMMs, really enjoyed this paper on dynamics underlying resting state and other conditions. The idea of a baseline state from which excursions lead to more integrated states is really interesting.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
#neuroskyence
November 9, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Hidden Markov Models
Speaking of HMMs, really enjoyed this paper on dynamics underlying resting state and other conditions. The idea of a baseline state from which excursions lead to more integrated states is really interesting.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
#neuroskyence
Speaking of HMMs, really enjoyed this paper on dynamics underlying resting state and other conditions. The idea of a baseline state from which excursions lead to more integrated states is really interesting.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Nicola Sambuco
This is 🤯
All publicly available. Looks like an amazing new histology-based human probabilistic atlas and parcellation tool.
#neuroskyence #mri #brainmapping
A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation | Nature share.google/5AD0iW7pxgb4...
All publicly available. Looks like an amazing new histology-based human probabilistic atlas and parcellation tool.
#neuroskyence #mri #brainmapping
A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation | Nature share.google/5AD0iW7pxgb4...
A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation - Nature
NextBrain is an open source, probabilistic atlas of the entire human brain, assembled using artificial-intelligence-enabled registration and segmentation methods to reconstruct the multimodal serial h...
share.google
November 6, 2025 at 5:35 AM
This is 🤯
All publicly available. Looks like an amazing new histology-based human probabilistic atlas and parcellation tool.
#neuroskyence #mri #brainmapping
A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation | Nature share.google/5AD0iW7pxgb4...
All publicly available. Looks like an amazing new histology-based human probabilistic atlas and parcellation tool.
#neuroskyence #mri #brainmapping
A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation | Nature share.google/5AD0iW7pxgb4...