Jonathan Tsay
@tsay.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University | Studying how we acquire, adapt, and retain skilled movements | Physical Intelligence Lab: www.tsaylab.com
Pinned
Target configuration determines how and what we learn during sensorimotor adaptation - npj Science of Learning
npj Science of Learning - Target configuration determines how and what we learn during sensorimotor adaptation
www.nature.com
How does training context—specifically, the configuration of targets—shape motor learning?
In our new paper led by Pam, we show that training context determines both how people learn (implicit vs. explicit) and what rules they learn during motor learning.
tinyurl.com/2xn8mj9w
Feedback welcomed!
In our new paper led by Pam, we show that training context determines both how people learn (implicit vs. explicit) and what rules they learn during motor learning.
tinyurl.com/2xn8mj9w
Feedback welcomed!
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
We recently published a theoretical review about how compositional and generative mechanisms in working memory provide a flexible engine for creative perception and imagery.
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
We recently published a theoretical review about how compositional and generative mechanisms in working memory provide a flexible engine for creative perception and imagery.
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Behavioral, experiential, and physiological signatures of mind blanking.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/vRPz50XSqmA
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/BCNw50XSqmC.
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/BCNw50XSqmC.
January 7, 2026 at 2:00 AM
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Behavioral, experiential, and physiological signatures of mind blanking.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/vRPz50XSqmA
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/BCNw50XSqmC.
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/BCNw50XSqmC.
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Was waiting for that one:
Cerebellar Purkinje cell firing reduction contributes to aging-related declining motor coordination in mice
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Not sure that this translates to humans though given their preserved cerebellar function:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cerebellar Purkinje cell firing reduction contributes to aging-related declining motor coordination in mice
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Not sure that this translates to humans though given their preserved cerebellar function:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
January 6, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Was waiting for that one:
Cerebellar Purkinje cell firing reduction contributes to aging-related declining motor coordination in mice
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Not sure that this translates to humans though given their preserved cerebellar function:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cerebellar Purkinje cell firing reduction contributes to aging-related declining motor coordination in mice
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Not sure that this translates to humans though given their preserved cerebellar function:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
New paper led by wonder postdocs Francesca Greenstreet and @jessegeerts.bsky.social and @clopathlab.bsky.social trying to understand why –in the "what for" sense– there are multiple motor learning systems –supervised and RL-based– in the brain.
Check out Jesse's 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Check out Jesse's 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧠 New year, new preprint!
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 6, 2026 at 1:43 PM
New paper led by wonder postdocs Francesca Greenstreet and @jessegeerts.bsky.social and @clopathlab.bsky.social trying to understand why –in the "what for" sense– there are multiple motor learning systems –supervised and RL-based– in the brain.
Check out Jesse's 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Check out Jesse's 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Can humans & animals really use internal maps to take shortcuts?
Tolman famously said yes - based largely on his Sunburst maze.
Our new review & meta-analysis suggests evidence is far weaker than you might think.
🧵👇 doi.org/10.1111/ejn....
@uofgpsychneuro.bsky.social @ejneuroscience.bsky.social
Tolman famously said yes - based largely on his Sunburst maze.
Our new review & meta-analysis suggests evidence is far weaker than you might think.
🧵👇 doi.org/10.1111/ejn....
@uofgpsychneuro.bsky.social @ejneuroscience.bsky.social
Tolman's Sunburst Maze 80 Years on: A Meta‐Analysis Reveals Poor Replicability and Little Evidence for Shortcutting
In 1946, Tolman et al. reported that rats could take a novel shortcut to a goal after training on an indirect route, supporting the Cognitive Map theory. However, a review of subsequent Sunburst maze...
doi.org
January 5, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Can humans & animals really use internal maps to take shortcuts?
Tolman famously said yes - based largely on his Sunburst maze.
Our new review & meta-analysis suggests evidence is far weaker than you might think.
🧵👇 doi.org/10.1111/ejn....
@uofgpsychneuro.bsky.social @ejneuroscience.bsky.social
Tolman famously said yes - based largely on his Sunburst maze.
Our new review & meta-analysis suggests evidence is far weaker than you might think.
🧵👇 doi.org/10.1111/ejn....
@uofgpsychneuro.bsky.social @ejneuroscience.bsky.social
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Now up as a reviewed @elife.bsky.social preprint: "Continuous developmental changes in word recognition support language learning across early childhood" elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Using data from ~2000 kids ages 1-6, we quantify links between word recognition and early vocabulary growth!
Using data from ~2000 kids ages 1-6, we quantify links between word recognition and early vocabulary growth!
January 5, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Now up as a reviewed @elife.bsky.social preprint: "Continuous developmental changes in word recognition support language learning across early childhood" elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Using data from ~2000 kids ages 1-6, we quantify links between word recognition and early vocabulary growth!
Using data from ~2000 kids ages 1-6, we quantify links between word recognition and early vocabulary growth!
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
We wrote a short piece on conducting participatory workshops to change research culture, given our experiences in teaching workshops on climate activism & open scholarship.
With @anne-urai.bsky.social @clarekelly.bsky.social @annaveer.bsky.social
📝 rdcu.be/eXja4
🧪 #AcademicSky
With @anne-urai.bsky.social @clarekelly.bsky.social @annaveer.bsky.social
📝 rdcu.be/eXja4
🧪 #AcademicSky
How to change research culture with participatory workshops
Nature Human Behaviour - Changing research culture begins with the kind of engaged, collaborative, critical reflection that can spark collective action. This Comment outlines how to design...
rdcu.be
January 6, 2026 at 11:08 AM
We wrote a short piece on conducting participatory workshops to change research culture, given our experiences in teaching workshops on climate activism & open scholarship.
With @anne-urai.bsky.social @clarekelly.bsky.social @annaveer.bsky.social
📝 rdcu.be/eXja4
🧪 #AcademicSky
With @anne-urai.bsky.social @clarekelly.bsky.social @annaveer.bsky.social
📝 rdcu.be/eXja4
🧪 #AcademicSky
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Check out our new work on motor learning across multiple brain regions!
🧠 New year, new preprint!
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Check out our new work on motor learning across multiple brain regions!
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
How does the brain control locomotion? In our new preprint, we uncover a brain circuit in Drosophila that controls forward walking independently of turning. This dedicated locomotor circuit enables flexible motor control and might reflect a shared principle across species. doi.org/10.64898/202...
January 5, 2026 at 4:25 PM
How does the brain control locomotion? In our new preprint, we uncover a brain circuit in Drosophila that controls forward walking independently of turning. This dedicated locomotor circuit enables flexible motor control and might reflect a shared principle across species. doi.org/10.64898/202...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
I am very excited to announce that over the holidays, my first ever paper (w/ @samiyousif.bsky.social) was published in Cognitive Science! Here, we describe a new illusion of *number*: The Crowd Size Illusion!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
January 5, 2026 at 5:04 PM
I am very excited to announce that over the holidays, my first ever paper (w/ @samiyousif.bsky.social) was published in Cognitive Science! Here, we describe a new illusion of *number*: The Crowd Size Illusion!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
interesting experiments suggesting simple grammar in the japanese tit www.nature.com/articles/nco...
Experimental evidence for compositional syntax in bird calls - Nature Communications
Animal vocalizations contain distinct elements, but it is not clear whether they convey combined meanings in the same way as human speech. Here, Suzuki et al.show that Japanese great tits can combine ...
www.nature.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM
interesting experiments suggesting simple grammar in the japanese tit www.nature.com/articles/nco...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
An excellent retort to “that BOLD” paper making the rounds lately. A great example of needing to understand the assumptions of an analysis method.
This paper had a pretty shocking headline result (40% of voxels!), so I dug into it, and I think it is wrong. Essentially: they compare two noisy measures and find that about 40% of voxels have different sign between the two. I think this is just noise!
Would love to hear expert views on this paper. It appears to show that the operationalization of brain activity the field has relied on for 3 decades—the BOLD response—is not actually a sensible measure of brain activity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 5, 2026 at 5:44 PM
An excellent retort to “that BOLD” paper making the rounds lately. A great example of needing to understand the assumptions of an analysis method.
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
🧠 New year, new preprint!
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 5, 2026 at 12:54 PM
🧠 New year, new preprint!
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Why does motor learning involve multiple brain regions? We propose that the cortico-cerebellar system learns a "map" of actions where similar movements are nearby, while basal ganglia do RL in this simplified space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Interested in the latest advances in neuroscience (neural dynamics and internal models) and how they can be leveraged to build smarter, adaptive AI?
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
Leveraging insights from neuroscience to build adaptive artificial intelligence
Nature Neuroscience - Adaptive intelligence envisions AI that, like animals, learns online, generalizes and adapts quickly. This Perspective reviews biological foundations, progress in AI and...
rdcu.be
December 31, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Interested in the latest advances in neuroscience (neural dynamics and internal models) and how they can be leveraged to build smarter, adaptive AI?
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
This is an outstanding essay describing some of the important roles and influences of NIH program officers (from an insider perspective).
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
The Quiet Power of Program Officers
How invisible decisions shape what science gets done—and whether it matters
elizabethginexi.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:56 AM
This is an outstanding essay describing some of the important roles and influences of NIH program officers (from an insider perspective).
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
This is your brain on Ritalin. Got your attention? Stimulant medications like Ritalin (methylphenidate) do, but not in the way you might think. They don't act directly on the brain’s attention systems! Find out what's really happening in @cellpress.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
December 24, 2025 at 4:46 PM
This is your brain on Ritalin. Got your attention? Stimulant medications like Ritalin (methylphenidate) do, but not in the way you might think. They don't act directly on the brain’s attention systems! Find out what's really happening in @cellpress.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
I’m excited to share our new Current Biology paper! We use retrograde optogenetics in non-human primate and revealed a visuomotor convergence mechanism in the FEF-SC pathway.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Retrograde optogenetics reveals sensorimotor convergence within a corticotectal pathway of non-human primates
Yu et al. demonstrate that diverse frontal eye field signals converge on motor-selective
superior colliculus neurons to generate saccades, revealing visuomotor convergence
and establishing retrograde ...
www.cell.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:43 AM
I’m excited to share our new Current Biology paper! We use retrograde optogenetics in non-human primate and revealed a visuomotor convergence mechanism in the FEF-SC pathway.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Thrilled to share our paper in @pnas.org!
"Neural synchrony links sensorimotor cortices in a network for facial motor control"
With superb team: Ianni GR (co-first), Rassi E, Rouse AG, Schieber MH, Yazdani F, Prut Y, Freiwald WA.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
"Neural synchrony links sensorimotor cortices in a network for facial motor control"
With superb team: Ianni GR (co-first), Rassi E, Rouse AG, Schieber MH, Yazdani F, Prut Y, Freiwald WA.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
December 23, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Thrilled to share our paper in @pnas.org!
"Neural synchrony links sensorimotor cortices in a network for facial motor control"
With superb team: Ianni GR (co-first), Rassi E, Rouse AG, Schieber MH, Yazdani F, Prut Y, Freiwald WA.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
"Neural synchrony links sensorimotor cortices in a network for facial motor control"
With superb team: Ianni GR (co-first), Rassi E, Rouse AG, Schieber MH, Yazdani F, Prut Y, Freiwald WA.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Scientists have developed a robotic hand exoskeleton that can passively train expert pianists to play faster keystrokes and overcome the ceiling effect in motor skills.
Read more in #ScienceRobotics: https://scim.ag/3N3bJil
Read more in #ScienceRobotics: https://scim.ag/3N3bJil
December 23, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Scientists have developed a robotic hand exoskeleton that can passively train expert pianists to play faster keystrokes and overcome the ceiling effect in motor skills.
Read more in #ScienceRobotics: https://scim.ag/3N3bJil
Read more in #ScienceRobotics: https://scim.ag/3N3bJil
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
New Perspective from myself, Sarah Heilbronner and @myoo.bsky.social . “Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization” in Nature Neuroscience. 🧵
rdcu.be/eVZ1A
rdcu.be/eVZ1A
Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization
Nature Neuroscience - Parcellation of the cortex into functionally modular brain areas is foundational to neuroscience. Here, Hayden, Heilbronner and Yoo question the central status of brain areas...
rdcu.be
December 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
New Perspective from myself, Sarah Heilbronner and @myoo.bsky.social . “Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization” in Nature Neuroscience. 🧵
rdcu.be/eVZ1A
rdcu.be/eVZ1A
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Sleep dependent consolidation and replay that doesn’t require the hippocampus?
Very beautiful work by Marcus Stephenson-Jones’ lab on sleep driven sequential skill consolidation in the striatum.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Very beautiful work by Marcus Stephenson-Jones’ lab on sleep driven sequential skill consolidation in the striatum.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Sleep dependent consolidation and replay that doesn’t require the hippocampus?
Very beautiful work by Marcus Stephenson-Jones’ lab on sleep driven sequential skill consolidation in the striatum.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Very beautiful work by Marcus Stephenson-Jones’ lab on sleep driven sequential skill consolidation in the striatum.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Gov. Shapiro highlights $5M investment in neurodegenerative disease research during Pitt visit
Gov. Shapiro highlights $5M investment in neurodegenerative disease research during Pitt visit
Governor Josh Shapiro and state Health Secretary Debra Bogen on Friday joined researchers and officials at the University of Pittsburgh to highlight a...
www.post-gazette.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Gov. Shapiro highlights $5M investment in neurodegenerative disease research during Pitt visit
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Preprint updated -->
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Preprint updated -->
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jonathan Tsay
Are you interested in a MSc/PhD in human sensorimotor neuroscience? Learn to design experiments, analyze data, read & write papers, present at conferences, & work with a vibrant group of students & faculty in a world-class research environment.
#neuroskyence #psychscisky
gribblelab.org/join.html
#neuroskyence #psychscisky
gribblelab.org/join.html
December 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Are you interested in a MSc/PhD in human sensorimotor neuroscience? Learn to design experiments, analyze data, read & write papers, present at conferences, & work with a vibrant group of students & faculty in a world-class research environment.
#neuroskyence #psychscisky
gribblelab.org/join.html
#neuroskyence #psychscisky
gribblelab.org/join.html