Ricardo J. Alejandro
@ricalbena.bsky.social
PhD researcher, LCC-Lab at Ghent University. Cognitive control, learning, memory, classic Tetris.
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Excited to see our paper with @mwcole.bsky.social finally out in peer-reviewed form @natcomms.nature.com! We examine how the human brain learns new tasks and optimizes representations over practice…1/n
November 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Excited to see our paper with @mwcole.bsky.social finally out in peer-reviewed form @natcomms.nature.com! We examine how the human brain learns new tasks and optimizes representations over practice…1/n
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Excited to share our preprint on variability in patch leaving decisions! Check out the 🧵 below
🧪Preprint!
How foragers depart from optimal models can tell us a lot about how they compute their decisions.
A strong but underexplored departure is that foragers widely vary when they leave identical patches.
A 🧵
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
With
@emmavscholey.bsky.social @brainapps.bsky.social
How foragers depart from optimal models can tell us a lot about how they compute their decisions.
A strong but underexplored departure is that foragers widely vary when they leave identical patches.
A 🧵
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
With
@emmavscholey.bsky.social @brainapps.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Excited to share our preprint on variability in patch leaving decisions! Check out the 🧵 below
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
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 21, 2025 at 3:36 AM
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...
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗫
By Mars and Passingham
"Understanding anthropoid foraging challenges may thus contribute to our understanding of human cognition"
Going to the top of the reading list!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroskyence
By Mars and Passingham
"Understanding anthropoid foraging challenges may thus contribute to our understanding of human cognition"
Going to the top of the reading list!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroskyence
October 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗫
By Mars and Passingham
"Understanding anthropoid foraging challenges may thus contribute to our understanding of human cognition"
Going to the top of the reading list!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroskyence
By Mars and Passingham
"Understanding anthropoid foraging challenges may thus contribute to our understanding of human cognition"
Going to the top of the reading list!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
🚀Excited to share our project: Canonical Representational Mapping for Cognitive Neuroscience. @schottdorflab.bsky.social and I propose a novel multivariate method to isolate neural representations aligned with specific cognitive hypotheses 🧵https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.01.673485v1
September 5, 2025 at 4:18 PM
🚀Excited to share our project: Canonical Representational Mapping for Cognitive Neuroscience. @schottdorflab.bsky.social and I propose a novel multivariate method to isolate neural representations aligned with specific cognitive hypotheses 🧵https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.01.673485v1
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex links abstract planning to motor execution https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.31.673392v1
September 2, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex links abstract planning to motor execution https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.31.673392v1
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
We make predictions based on general knowledge and/or specific memories. Different brain areas are active when these distinct predictions are violated – and hippocampus selectively responds to prediction errors based on episodic memory.
Cool work by @chrismbird.bsky.social @ayab.bsky.social et al!
Cool work by @chrismbird.bsky.social @ayab.bsky.social et al!
Hippocampal mismatch signals are based on episodic memories and not schematic knowledge | PNAS
Prediction errors drive learning by signaling mismatches between expectations and
reality, but the neural systems supporting these computations rem...
www.pnas.org
August 25, 2025 at 1:41 PM
We make predictions based on general knowledge and/or specific memories. Different brain areas are active when these distinct predictions are violated – and hippocampus selectively responds to prediction errors based on episodic memory.
Cool work by @chrismbird.bsky.social @ayab.bsky.social et al!
Cool work by @chrismbird.bsky.social @ayab.bsky.social et al!
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Check out our new review/perspective (w/ @juangallego.bsky.social & Devika Narain) on neural manifolds in the brain! It was a lot of fun to think through these ideas over the past couple of years, and I'm excited it's finally out in the world!
🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📄: rdcu.be/ex8hW
🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📄: rdcu.be/ex8hW
A neural manifold view of the brain - Nature Neuroscience
Recent advances in neuroscience have revealed how neural population activity underlying behavior can be well described by topological objects called neural manifolds. Understanding how nature, nurture...
www.nature.com
July 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Check out our new review/perspective (w/ @juangallego.bsky.social & Devika Narain) on neural manifolds in the brain! It was a lot of fun to think through these ideas over the past couple of years, and I'm excited it's finally out in the world!
🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📄: rdcu.be/ex8hW
🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📄: rdcu.be/ex8hW
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
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 Ricardo J. Alejandro
🚨 We’re hiring a postdoc!
Join the FLARE project @cimcyc.bsky.social to study sudden perceptual learning using fMRI, RSA, and DNNs.
🧠 2 years, fully funded, flexible start
More info 👉 gonzalezgarcia.github.io/postdoc/
DMs or emails welcome! Please share!
Join the FLARE project @cimcyc.bsky.social to study sudden perceptual learning using fMRI, RSA, and DNNs.
🧠 2 years, fully funded, flexible start
More info 👉 gonzalezgarcia.github.io/postdoc/
DMs or emails welcome! Please share!
Postdoc Position – FLARE Project
gonzalezgarcia.github.io
July 18, 2025 at 11:17 AM
🚨 We’re hiring a postdoc!
Join the FLARE project @cimcyc.bsky.social to study sudden perceptual learning using fMRI, RSA, and DNNs.
🧠 2 years, fully funded, flexible start
More info 👉 gonzalezgarcia.github.io/postdoc/
DMs or emails welcome! Please share!
Join the FLARE project @cimcyc.bsky.social to study sudden perceptual learning using fMRI, RSA, and DNNs.
🧠 2 years, fully funded, flexible start
More info 👉 gonzalezgarcia.github.io/postdoc/
DMs or emails welcome! Please share!
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Super excited to announce a follow-up to the Janelia 'mechanistic basis of foraging' conference - this time held in Birmingham, UK! Join us from the 3rd - 5th November to discuss all things foraging: uobevents.eventsair.com/the-mechanis...
Homepage - The Mechanistic Basis of Foraging
uobevents.eventsair.com
June 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Super excited to announce a follow-up to the Janelia 'mechanistic basis of foraging' conference - this time held in Birmingham, UK! Join us from the 3rd - 5th November to discuss all things foraging: uobevents.eventsair.com/the-mechanis...
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Model-based planning in structured foraging environments: https://osf.io/8z3qv
April 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Model-based planning in structured foraging environments: https://osf.io/8z3qv
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Excited to share our preprint "Fast-timescale hippocampal processes bridge between slowly unfurling neocortical states during memory search" 🧠✨ We leverage iEEG to elucidate the fast neural mechanisms by which long multimodal narratives are unfurled in continuous memory-search tinyurl.com/wjkr3dvf
Fast-timescale hippocampal processes bridge between slowly unfurling neocortical states during memory search
Prior behavioral work showed that event structure plays a key role in our ability to mentally search through memories of continuous naturalistic experience. We hypothesized that, neurally, this memory...
tinyurl.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Excited to share our preprint "Fast-timescale hippocampal processes bridge between slowly unfurling neocortical states during memory search" 🧠✨ We leverage iEEG to elucidate the fast neural mechanisms by which long multimodal narratives are unfurled in continuous memory-search tinyurl.com/wjkr3dvf
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Reinstatement of temporal context retrieves cognitive control demands: http://osf.io/qgfz6/
January 22, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reinstatement of temporal context retrieves cognitive control demands: http://osf.io/qgfz6/
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Episodic memory and the temporal dynamics of cognitive control: http://osf.io/9jr52/
January 22, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Episodic memory and the temporal dynamics of cognitive control: http://osf.io/9jr52/
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
How important are your #postdoc years in the likelihood of you staying & succeeding in #academia?
In our newly published paper in @pnas.org, "Postdoc Publications and Citations Link to Academic Retention and Faculty Success," we study the journey of #CareerSuccess of ~45,000 #postdocs.
🧵1/7
In our newly published paper in @pnas.org, "Postdoc Publications and Citations Link to Academic Retention and Faculty Success," we study the journey of #CareerSuccess of ~45,000 #postdocs.
🧵1/7
January 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
How important are your #postdoc years in the likelihood of you staying & succeeding in #academia?
In our newly published paper in @pnas.org, "Postdoc Publications and Citations Link to Academic Retention and Faculty Success," we study the journey of #CareerSuccess of ~45,000 #postdocs.
🧵1/7
In our newly published paper in @pnas.org, "Postdoc Publications and Citations Link to Academic Retention and Faculty Success," we study the journey of #CareerSuccess of ~45,000 #postdocs.
🧵1/7
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
We have a new opening for a three-year postdoc position in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University: jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Do...
Doctoral assistant department Experimental psychology
Doctoral assistant department Experimental psychology
jobs.ugent.be
December 13, 2024 at 2:58 PM
We have a new opening for a three-year postdoc position in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University: jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Do...
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Lesions of anterior cingulate cortex disrupt an electrophysiological signature of reward processing in humans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.04.626789v1
December 7, 2024 at 5:15 PM
Lesions of anterior cingulate cortex disrupt an electrophysiological signature of reward processing in humans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.04.626789v1
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Music helps attentional focus. I hope so. I'm not going to stop listening to music when I work.
Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficulties
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#neuroscience
Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficulties
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#neuroscience
Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficulties - Communications Biology
Rapid temporal modulation added to music affects attentional performance and brain activity; parametric manipulation of this added modulation reveals rates that differentially affect individuals with ...
www.nature.com
December 6, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Music helps attentional focus. I hope so. I'm not going to stop listening to music when I work.
Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficulties
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#neuroscience
Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficulties
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#neuroscience
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Just to give a hint on the potential for think aloud to answer these questions - this is my favorite chess streamer video - pretty nice evidence for model-based planning and model-free decision making from just one trial of data! www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zys...
"I don't wanna think too much" - Hikaru Nakamura
YouTube video by RANJIT
www.youtube.com
December 5, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Just to give a hint on the potential for think aloud to answer these questions - this is my favorite chess streamer video - pretty nice evidence for model-based planning and model-free decision making from just one trial of data! www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zys...
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Proud of my first contribution to memory research: “Brain and eye movement dynamics track the transition from learning to memory-guided action” out in @currentbiology.bsky.social, great team effort together with Janina Klingspohr, Marcel Kehl & Bernhard Staresina.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Brain and eye movement dynamics track the transition from learning to memory-guided action
This study reveals how the brain dynamically shifts from learning to memory-guided
behavior. Büchel et al. use electroencephalography (EEG) and eye tracking in a spatiotemporal
learning task to show a...
www.cell.com
November 27, 2024 at 7:14 AM
Proud of my first contribution to memory research: “Brain and eye movement dynamics track the transition from learning to memory-guided action” out in @currentbiology.bsky.social, great team effort together with Janina Klingspohr, Marcel Kehl & Bernhard Staresina.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
Excited to have our Automated Research Assistant (AutoRA) published. While initially developed for the behavioral sciences, AutoRA is designed as a general framework for closed-loop scientific discovery. Visit the doc to construct your own closed-loop studies: autoresearch.github.io/autora/
December 5, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Excited to have our Automated Research Assistant (AutoRA) published. While initially developed for the behavioral sciences, AutoRA is designed as a general framework for closed-loop scientific discovery. Visit the doc to construct your own closed-loop studies: autoresearch.github.io/autora/
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
This is intuition (inspired, e.g., by @suryaganguli.bsky.social on random projection theory) allowed us to show that if an animal performs the same task on different days, you can recover the same population dynamics even if you record from completely different neurons
tinyurl.com/5n7c6wvw
tinyurl.com/5n7c6wvw
https://comsync.lijit.com/1/d/r?aqet=clk&v0=0768d8a711262f5e4ce0e4cfc5151b3b&ru=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41593-019-0555-4
tinyurl.com
November 23, 2024 at 4:22 PM
This is intuition (inspired, e.g., by @suryaganguli.bsky.social on random projection theory) allowed us to show that if an animal performs the same task on different days, you can recover the same population dynamics even if you record from completely different neurons
tinyurl.com/5n7c6wvw
tinyurl.com/5n7c6wvw
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
We have an updated opinionated review coming out relatively soon on this, but perhaps this perspective we wrote a long ago will help?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Neural Manifolds for the Control of Movement
The analysis of neural dynamics in several brain cortices has consistently uncovered low-dimensional manifolds that capture a significant fraction of …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 23, 2024 at 4:22 PM
We have an updated opinionated review coming out relatively soon on this, but perhaps this perspective we wrote a long ago will help?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ricardo J. Alejandro
If you are looking for an EEG Post Doc position, and have both an applied and fundamental interest, Roeljan Wiersema's lab is the place to be.
Deadline is Monday 25-11, so be quick! #EEG #neuroskyence
Deadline is Monday 25-11, so be quick! #EEG #neuroskyence
Postdoc (100%, 2 years) - arousal and attention regulation in ADHD
Postdoc (100%, 2 years) - arousal and attention regulation in ADHD
tinyurl.com
November 22, 2024 at 11:57 AM
If you are looking for an EEG Post Doc position, and have both an applied and fundamental interest, Roeljan Wiersema's lab is the place to be.
Deadline is Monday 25-11, so be quick! #EEG #neuroskyence
Deadline is Monday 25-11, so be quick! #EEG #neuroskyence