Qihong (Q) Lu
@qlu.bsky.social
Computational models of episodic memory
Postdoc with Daphna Shohamy & Stefano Fusi @ Columbia
PhD with Ken Norman & Uri Hasson @ Princeton
https://qihongl.github.io/
Postdoc with Daphna Shohamy & Stefano Fusi @ Columbia
PhD with Ken Norman & Uri Hasson @ Princeton
https://qihongl.github.io/
Pinned
Qihong (Q) Lu
@qlu.bsky.social
· May 8
I’m thrilled to announce that I will start as a presidential assistant professor in Neuroscience at the City U of Hong Kong in Jan 2026!
I have RA, PhD, and postdoc positions available! Come work with me on neural network models + experiments on human memory!
RT appreciated!
(1/5)
I have RA, PhD, and postdoc positions available! Come work with me on neural network models + experiments on human memory!
RT appreciated!
(1/5)
A RNN with episodic memory, trained on free recall, learned the memory palace strategy -- the network developed an abstract item index code so that it can “walk along” the same trajectory in the hidden state space to encode/retrieve item sequences!
Feedback appreciated!
Feedback appreciated!
I’m excited to share my recent preprint on a neural network model of free recall that learns multiple memory strategies including the memory palace!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
A RNN with episodic memory, trained on free recall, learned the memory palace strategy -- the network developed an abstract item index code so that it can “walk along” the same trajectory in the hidden state space to encode/retrieve item sequences!
Feedback appreciated!
Feedback appreciated!
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Foraging in conceptual spaces: hippocampal oscillatory dynamics underlying searching for concepts in memory
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Foraging in conceptual spaces: hippocampal oscillatory dynamics underlying searching for concepts in memory
How does the brain access stored knowledge? It has been proposed that conceptual search engages neurocognitive processes similar to foraging in physical space. We tested this idea using intracranial E...
www.biorxiv.org
October 13, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Foraging in conceptual spaces: hippocampal oscillatory dynamics underlying searching for concepts in memory
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
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 Qihong (Q) Lu
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Why does AI sometimes fail to generalize, and what might help? In a new paper (arxiv.org/abs/2509.16189), we highlight the latent learning gap — which unifies findings from language modeling to agent navigation — and suggest that episodic memory complements parametric learning to bridge it. Thread:
Latent learning: episodic memory complements parametric learning by enabling flexible reuse of experiences
When do machine learning systems fail to generalize, and what mechanisms could improve their generalization? Here, we draw inspiration from cognitive science to argue that one weakness of machine lear...
arxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Why does AI sometimes fail to generalize, and what might help? In a new paper (arxiv.org/abs/2509.16189), we highlight the latent learning gap — which unifies findings from language modeling to agent navigation — and suggest that episodic memory complements parametric learning to bridge it. Thread:
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
🚨 New paper alert 🚨 Using LLMs as data annotators, you can produce any scientific result you want. We call this **LLM Hacking**.
Paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.08825
Paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.08825
September 12, 2025 at 10:33 AM
🚨 New paper alert 🚨 Using LLMs as data annotators, you can produce any scientific result you want. We call this **LLM Hacking**.
Paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.08825
Paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.08825
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Our new lab for Human & Machine Intelligence is officially open at Princeton University!
Consider applying for a PhD or Postdoc position, either through Computer Science or Psychology. You can register interest on our new website lake-lab.github.io (1/2)
Consider applying for a PhD or Postdoc position, either through Computer Science or Psychology. You can register interest on our new website lake-lab.github.io (1/2)
September 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Our new lab for Human & Machine Intelligence is officially open at Princeton University!
Consider applying for a PhD or Postdoc position, either through Computer Science or Psychology. You can register interest on our new website lake-lab.github.io (1/2)
Consider applying for a PhD or Postdoc position, either through Computer Science or Psychology. You can register interest on our new website lake-lab.github.io (1/2)
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Cognitive scientists and AI researchers make a forceful call to reject “uncritical adoption" of AI in academia
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/cognitive-...
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/cognitive-...
Cognitive scientists and AI researchers make a forceful call to reject “uncritical adoption" of AI in academia
A new paper calls on academia to repel rampant AI in university departments and classrooms.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
September 7, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Cognitive scientists and AI researchers make a forceful call to reject “uncritical adoption" of AI in academia
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/cognitive-...
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/cognitive-...
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
I'm excited to share that my new postdoctoral position is going so well that I submitted a new paper at the end of my first week! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A thread below
Sensory Compression as a Unifying Principle for Action Chunking and Time Coding in the Brain
The brain seamlessly transforms sensory information into precisely-timed movements, enabling us to type familiar words, play musical instruments, or perform complex motor routines with millisecond pre...
www.biorxiv.org
September 6, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I'm excited to share that my new postdoctoral position is going so well that I submitted a new paper at the end of my first week! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A thread below
Key-value memory network can learn to represent event memories by their causal relations to support event cognition!
Congrats to @hayoungsong.bsky.social on this exciting paper! So fun to be involved!
Congrats to @hayoungsong.bsky.social on this exciting paper! So fun to be involved!
How does the brain🧠 make causal inferences and use memories to understand narratives🎬?
We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do!
Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do!
Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
A neural network with episodic memory learns causal relationships between narrative events
Humans reflect on past memories to make sense of an ongoing event. Past work has shown that people retrieve causally related past events during comprehension, but the exact process by which this causa...
www.biorxiv.org
September 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Key-value memory network can learn to represent event memories by their causal relations to support event cognition!
Congrats to @hayoungsong.bsky.social on this exciting paper! So fun to be involved!
Congrats to @hayoungsong.bsky.social on this exciting paper! So fun to be involved!
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Our new study (Titled: Memory Loves Company) asks whether working memory hold more when objects belong together.
And yes, when everyday objects are paired meaningfully (Bow-Arrow), people remember them better than when they’re unrelated (Glass-Arrow). (mini thread)
And yes, when everyday objects are paired meaningfully (Bow-Arrow), people remember them better than when they’re unrelated (Glass-Arrow). (mini thread)
August 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Our new study (Titled: Memory Loves Company) asks whether working memory hold more when objects belong together.
And yes, when everyday objects are paired meaningfully (Bow-Arrow), people remember them better than when they’re unrelated (Glass-Arrow). (mini thread)
And yes, when everyday objects are paired meaningfully (Bow-Arrow), people remember them better than when they’re unrelated (Glass-Arrow). (mini thread)
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Now out in print at @jephpp.bsky.social ! doi.org/10.1037/xhp0...
Yu, X., Thakurdesai, S. P., & Xie, W. (2025). Associating everything with everything else, all at once: Semantic associations facilitate visual working memory formation for real-world objects. JEP:HPP.
Yu, X., Thakurdesai, S. P., & Xie, W. (2025). Associating everything with everything else, all at once: Semantic associations facilitate visual working memory formation for real-world objects. JEP:HPP.
June 27, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Now out in print at @jephpp.bsky.social ! doi.org/10.1037/xhp0...
Yu, X., Thakurdesai, S. P., & Xie, W. (2025). Associating everything with everything else, all at once: Semantic associations facilitate visual working memory formation for real-world objects. JEP:HPP.
Yu, X., Thakurdesai, S. P., & Xie, W. (2025). Associating everything with everything else, all at once: Semantic associations facilitate visual working memory formation for real-world objects. JEP:HPP.
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Who else argues (in print) that we should eliminate the category of "emotion" as an explanatory target?
I know of Griffiths:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
And Moors:
www.cambridge.org/core/books/d...
I know of Griffiths:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
And Moors:
www.cambridge.org/core/books/d...
What Emotions Really Are
In this provocative contribution to the philosophy of science and mind, Paul E. Griffiths criticizes contemporary philosophy and psychology of emotion for failing to take in an evolutionary perspectiv...
press.uchicago.edu
August 26, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Who else argues (in print) that we should eliminate the category of "emotion" as an explanatory target?
I know of Griffiths:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
And Moors:
www.cambridge.org/core/books/d...
I know of Griffiths:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
And Moors:
www.cambridge.org/core/books/d...
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
When powering fMRI studies, sample size is king, but scan duration can also be a powerful tool, improving phenotypic prediction and cost-efficiency, a new analysis shows
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/fmri/longer-...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/fmri/longer-...
Longer fMRI brain scans boost reliability—but only to a point
Around 30 minutes of imaging per person seems to be the “sweet spot” for linking functional connectivity differences to traits in an accurate and cost-effective way.
www.thetransmitter.org
August 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
When powering fMRI studies, sample size is king, but scan duration can also be a powerful tool, improving phenotypic prediction and cost-efficiency, a new analysis shows
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/fmri/longer-...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/fmri/longer-...
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Cortico-hippocampal interactions underlie schema-supported memory encoding in older adults
New paper led by @shenyanghuang.bsky.social!
academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...
Older adults' memory benefits from richer semantic contexts. We found connectivity patterns supporting this semantic scaffolding.
New paper led by @shenyanghuang.bsky.social!
academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...
Older adults' memory benefits from richer semantic contexts. We found connectivity patterns supporting this semantic scaffolding.
August 19, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Cortico-hippocampal interactions underlie schema-supported memory encoding in older adults
New paper led by @shenyanghuang.bsky.social!
academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...
Older adults' memory benefits from richer semantic contexts. We found connectivity patterns supporting this semantic scaffolding.
New paper led by @shenyanghuang.bsky.social!
academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...
Older adults' memory benefits from richer semantic contexts. We found connectivity patterns supporting this semantic scaffolding.
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Successful prediction of the future enhances encoding of the present.
I am so delighted that this work found a wonderful home at Open Mind. The peer review journey was a rollercoaster but it *greatly* improved the paper.
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
I am so delighted that this work found a wonderful home at Open Mind. The peer review journey was a rollercoaster but it *greatly* improved the paper.
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
August 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Successful prediction of the future enhances encoding of the present.
I am so delighted that this work found a wonderful home at Open Mind. The peer review journey was a rollercoaster but it *greatly* improved the paper.
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
I am so delighted that this work found a wonderful home at Open Mind. The peer review journey was a rollercoaster but it *greatly* improved the paper.
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
This was a fun paper to write, and one that fits nicely with some recent work I've been doing on the role of counterfactual simulation in memory encoding. link.springer.com/article/10.3...
Episodic details are better remembered in plausible relative to implausible counterfactual simulations - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
People often engage in episodic counterfactual thinking, or mentally simulating how the experienced past might have been different from how it was. A commonly held view is that mentally simulating alt...
link.springer.com
August 6, 2025 at 2:27 AM
This was a fun paper to write, and one that fits nicely with some recent work I've been doing on the role of counterfactual simulation in memory encoding. link.springer.com/article/10.3...
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Excited to share that our paper is now out in Neuron @cp-neuron.bsky.social (dlvr.it/TM9zJ8).
Our perception isn't a perfect mirror of the world. It's often biased by our expectations and beliefs. How do these biases unfold over time, and what shapes their trajectory? A summary thread. (1/13)
Our perception isn't a perfect mirror of the world. It's often biased by our expectations and beliefs. How do these biases unfold over time, and what shapes their trajectory? A summary thread. (1/13)
Attractor dynamics of working memory explain a concurrent evolution of stimulus-specific and decision-consistent biases in visual estimation
People exhibit biases when perceiving features of the world, shaped by both external
stimuli and prior decisions. By tracking behavioral, neural, and mechanistic markers
of stimulus- and decision-rela...
dlvr.it
July 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Excited to share that our paper is now out in Neuron @cp-neuron.bsky.social (dlvr.it/TM9zJ8).
Our perception isn't a perfect mirror of the world. It's often biased by our expectations and beliefs. How do these biases unfold over time, and what shapes their trajectory? A summary thread. (1/13)
Our perception isn't a perfect mirror of the world. It's often biased by our expectations and beliefs. How do these biases unfold over time, and what shapes their trajectory? A summary thread. (1/13)
Take a look if you are interested in the differences between LLM memory-augmentation vs human episodic memory!
And let us know if you have any feedback!
And let us know if you have any feedback!
My first, first author paper, comparing the properties of memory-augmented large language models and human episodic memory, out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lV174sIRv...
Here’s a quick 🧵(1/n)
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lV174sIRv...
Here’s a quick 🧵(1/n)
authors.elsevier.com
July 28, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Take a look if you are interested in the differences between LLM memory-augmentation vs human episodic memory!
And let us know if you have any feedback!
And let us know if you have any feedback!
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
We put out this preprint a couple months ago, but I really wanted to replicate our findings before we went to publication.
At first, what we found was very confusing!
But when we dug in, it revealed a fascinating neural strategy for how we switch between tasks
doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.29.615736
🧵
At first, what we found was very confusing!
But when we dug in, it revealed a fascinating neural strategy for how we switch between tasks
doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.29.615736
🧵
July 27, 2025 at 9:31 PM
We put out this preprint a couple months ago, but I really wanted to replicate our findings before we went to publication.
At first, what we found was very confusing!
But when we dug in, it revealed a fascinating neural strategy for how we switch between tasks
doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.29.615736
🧵
At first, what we found was very confusing!
But when we dug in, it revealed a fascinating neural strategy for how we switch between tasks
doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.29.615736
🧵
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
@nichols.bsky.social collaborated with researchers at the National University of Singapore on a recent study published in @nature.com on how longer duration fMRI brain scans reduce costs and improve prediction accuracy for AI models. Read more about the study below 👇
1/11 Excited to share our @Naturestudy led by @leonooi.bsky.social @csabaorban.bsky.social @shaoshiz.bsky.social
AI performance is known to scale with logarithm of sample size (Kaplan 2020), but in many domains, sample size can be # participants or # measurements...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
AI performance is known to scale with logarithm of sample size (Kaplan 2020), but in many domains, sample size can be # participants or # measurements...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
July 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM
@nichols.bsky.social collaborated with researchers at the National University of Singapore on a recent study published in @nature.com on how longer duration fMRI brain scans reduce costs and improve prediction accuracy for AI models. Read more about the study below 👇
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Fantastic work by our (now former) lab manager Liv Christiano. We assess the test-retest reliability of OPM and compare it to fMRI and iEEG. 🧠📄🧵
How reliable is OPM-MEG, and how does it compare to other neuroimaging modalities? 🤔
In a new preprint with @s-michelmann.bsky.social, we evaluate the reliability of OPM-MEG within & between individuals, and compare it to fMRI & iEEG during repeated movie viewing. 🧠
📄 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
In a new preprint with @s-michelmann.bsky.social, we evaluate the reliability of OPM-MEG within & between individuals, and compare it to fMRI & iEEG during repeated movie viewing. 🧠
📄 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reliability and signal comparison of OPM-MEG, fMRI & iEEG in a repeated movie viewing paradigm
Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) offer a promising advancement in noninvasive neuroimaging via magnetoencephalography (MEG), but establishing their reliability and comparability to existing metho...
doi.org
July 19, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Fantastic work by our (now former) lab manager Liv Christiano. We assess the test-retest reliability of OPM and compare it to fMRI and iEEG. 🧠📄🧵
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Excited to share a new preprint w/ @annaschapiro.bsky.social! Why are there gradients of plasticity and sparsity along the neocortex–hippocampus hierarchy? We show that brain-like organization of these properties emerges in ANNs that meta-learn layer-wise plasticity and sparsity. bit.ly/4kB1yg5
A gradient of complementary learning systems emerges through meta-learning
Long-term learning and memory in the primate brain rely on a series of hierarchically organized subsystems extending from early sensory neocortical areas to the hippocampus. The components differ in t...
bit.ly
July 16, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Excited to share a new preprint w/ @annaschapiro.bsky.social! Why are there gradients of plasticity and sparsity along the neocortex–hippocampus hierarchy? We show that brain-like organization of these properties emerges in ANNs that meta-learn layer-wise plasticity and sparsity. bit.ly/4kB1yg5
Reposted by Qihong (Q) Lu
Numerosity coding in the brain: from early visual processing to abstract representations
doi.org/10.1093/cerc...
#neuroscience
doi.org/10.1093/cerc...
#neuroscience
Numerosity coding in the brain: from early visual processing to abstract representations
Abstract. Numerosity estimation refers to the ability to perceive and estimate quantities without explicit counting, a skill crucial for both human and ani
doi.org
July 15, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Numerosity coding in the brain: from early visual processing to abstract representations
doi.org/10.1093/cerc...
#neuroscience
doi.org/10.1093/cerc...
#neuroscience