WilluhnLab
@willuhnlab.bsky.social
A bunch of passionate neuronerds studying the brain origins of reinforcement learning and compulsive behavior at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. Dopamine, serotonin, basal ganglia, PFC, DBS. https://nin.nl/research/researchgroups/willuhn-group/
Pinned
WilluhnLab
@willuhnlab.bsky.social
· Jul 24
Intracranial electrophysiological biomarkers of compulsivity in obsessive–compulsive disorder - Nature Mental Health
This research identifies local field potential markers associated with obsessive–compulsive disorder symptoms in patients during provocation. Key findings reveal increased delta and alpha power in spe...
www.nature.com
I am very proud of lead author Tara Arbab for completing this most recent manuscript from the lab! --> Intracranial electrophysiological biomarkers of compulsivity in OCD. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
Subsecond dopamine fluctuations do not specify the vigor of ongoing actions
Nature Neuroscience - Liu and colleagues show that the vigor (that is, speed and amplitude) of dexterous movements is not controlled by ongoing fluctuations in extracellular dopamine within the...
rdcu.be
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
Reposted by WilluhnLab
🚨🧠🚨 POSTDOC POSITION 🚨🧠🚨 in my lab: www.ru.nl/en/working-a... Connectivity in Working Memory. Deadline 12 Nov! Apply via website; please repost.
Postdoc Position: Neural Circuitry Underlying Working Memory | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a Postdoc Position: Neural Circuitry Underlying Working Memory at the Faculty of Social Sciences? Check our vacancy!
www.ru.nl
November 9, 2025 at 9:17 AM
🚨🧠🚨 POSTDOC POSITION 🚨🧠🚨 in my lab: www.ru.nl/en/working-a... Connectivity in Working Memory. Deadline 12 Nov! Apply via website; please repost.
Reposted by WilluhnLab
What an exciting program for GRC Frontal Cortex in 2026! www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
2026 Frontal Cortex Conference GRC
The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Frontal Cortex will be held in Holderness, New Hampshire. Apply today to reserve your spot.
www.grc.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:18 PM
What an exciting program for GRC Frontal Cortex in 2026! www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 1, 2025 at 5:28 PM
arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
Reposted by WilluhnLab
We are seeking a senior tenured professor in our Department working on affective and/or motivational neuroscience (defined in the ad, but pretty broad). The idea is that this person is going help lead our growth in this area alongside our excellent Centers. jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/30693
Associate/Full Professor - Affective Motivational Neuroscience
Position DescriptionThe Department of Neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas seeks a late-stage Associate or Full Professor faculty member to ...
jobs.utdallas.edu
October 31, 2025 at 9:15 PM
We are seeking a senior tenured professor in our Department working on affective and/or motivational neuroscience (defined in the ad, but pretty broad). The idea is that this person is going help lead our growth in this area alongside our excellent Centers. jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/30693
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Ventral tegmental area dopamine controls timing variability https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.27.684913v1
October 28, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Ventral tegmental area dopamine controls timing variability https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.27.684913v1
Join us from September 7-10 (2026) in Amsterdam for the "Monitoring Molecules in Neuroscience" conference! The conference venue is booked, the plenary speakers are invited, and we are starting to work on the scientific program. More news to follow soon! monitoringmolecules.org/mmin-2026/
October 28, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Join us from September 7-10 (2026) in Amsterdam for the "Monitoring Molecules in Neuroscience" conference! The conference venue is booked, the plenary speakers are invited, and we are starting to work on the scientific program. More news to follow soon! monitoringmolecules.org/mmin-2026/
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Looking to improve your PeerReview skills? The Reviewer Mentor Program pairs trainees with #JNeurosci & #eNeuro editors & top reviewers to conduct strong manuscript reviews. Open to SfN members at any career stage: http://www.jneurosci.org/rmp
October 25, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Looking to improve your PeerReview skills? The Reviewer Mentor Program pairs trainees with #JNeurosci & #eNeuro editors & top reviewers to conduct strong manuscript reviews. Open to SfN members at any career stage: http://www.jneurosci.org/rmp
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Abstract submissions are now OPEN for the Dopamine 2026 meeting!
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
October 22, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Abstract submissions are now OPEN for the Dopamine 2026 meeting!
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
Reposted by WilluhnLab
🚨 Countdown begins!
Only one month until the call for abstracts, travel grants and registrations open for #FENS2026! 🧠
🗓️ Mark your calendars!
👉 https://loom.ly/0eQS4lE
#FENS #BrainResearch #NeuroscienceConference #FENSForum
Only one month until the call for abstracts, travel grants and registrations open for #FENS2026! 🧠
🗓️ Mark your calendars!
👉 https://loom.ly/0eQS4lE
#FENS #BrainResearch #NeuroscienceConference #FENSForum
October 17, 2025 at 11:00 AM
🚨 Countdown begins!
Only one month until the call for abstracts, travel grants and registrations open for #FENS2026! 🧠
🗓️ Mark your calendars!
👉 https://loom.ly/0eQS4lE
#FENS #BrainResearch #NeuroscienceConference #FENSForum
Only one month until the call for abstracts, travel grants and registrations open for #FENS2026! 🧠
🗓️ Mark your calendars!
👉 https://loom.ly/0eQS4lE
#FENS #BrainResearch #NeuroscienceConference #FENSForum
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Out today at Neuron, our experiments show that frontal cortical representation of economic variables is jointly determined by spatial organization and downstream
connectivity of neurons, revealing a structured, multi-scale code for economic variables. www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
connectivity of neurons, revealing a structured, multi-scale code for economic variables. www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Out today at Neuron, our experiments show that frontal cortical representation of economic variables is jointly determined by spatial organization and downstream
connectivity of neurons, revealing a structured, multi-scale code for economic variables. www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
connectivity of neurons, revealing a structured, multi-scale code for economic variables. www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Really interesting work by Bakhurin and colleagues challenging the reward prediction error hypothesis of dopamine:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
October 14, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Really interesting work by Bakhurin and colleagues challenging the reward prediction error hypothesis of dopamine:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
Reposted by WilluhnLab
⏳ Less than two hours to go! #ECNP2025 starts soon — join us in Amsterdam or virtually. Still time to register 👉 www.ecnp.eu/registration2025
#Psychiatry #Neuroscience
#Psychiatry #Neuroscience
October 11, 2025 at 7:15 AM
⏳ Less than two hours to go! #ECNP2025 starts soon — join us in Amsterdam or virtually. Still time to register 👉 www.ecnp.eu/registration2025
#Psychiatry #Neuroscience
#Psychiatry #Neuroscience
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Exciting news! 🎉 Our Computational Neuroscience course has been awarded NIH BRAIN Initiative funding! Students will get hands-on experience w real BRAIN Initiative datasets, helping them build computational skills that are essential for the future of neuroscience.
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
September 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Exciting news! 🎉 Our Computational Neuroscience course has been awarded NIH BRAIN Initiative funding! Students will get hands-on experience w real BRAIN Initiative datasets, helping them build computational skills that are essential for the future of neuroscience.
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
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 WilluhnLab
Very excited and proud to share my postdoctoral research with @neurrriot.bsky.social looking at the context-specific encoding of social behavior 💃🕺 in hormone-sensitive, large-scale brain networks in mice!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
September 25, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Very excited and proud to share my postdoctoral research with @neurrriot.bsky.social looking at the context-specific encoding of social behavior 💃🕺 in hormone-sensitive, large-scale brain networks in mice!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
Reposted by WilluhnLab
A method for capturing neuronal activity using fMRI excited the neuroimaging field but couldn’t be replicated. Today, the authors of the original paper retracted their work.
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/a...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/a...
Authors retract Science paper on controversial fMRI method
Several MRI artifacts contribute to the neuronal activity signal picked up by the method, according to a preprint the authors posted this month.
www.thetransmitter.org
September 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
A method for capturing neuronal activity using fMRI excited the neuroimaging field but couldn’t be replicated. Today, the authors of the original paper retracted their work.
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/a...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/a...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
🛑 Attention researchers who train freely-moving rodents!
Jess Breda and I developed a protocol for training center-port nose fixation 61% faster than a previous curriculum while keeping violation rates low.
Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Jess Breda and I developed a protocol for training center-port nose fixation 61% faster than a previous curriculum while keeping violation rates low.
Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
FixGrower: An efficient and robust curriculum for shaping fixation behavior in rodents
Center-port fixation is a common prerequisite for many freely-moving rodent tasks in neuroscience and psychology. However, typical protocols for shaping this behavior are non-standardized and ineffici...
www.biorxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 2:59 PM
🛑 Attention researchers who train freely-moving rodents!
Jess Breda and I developed a protocol for training center-port nose fixation 61% faster than a previous curriculum while keeping violation rates low.
Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Jess Breda and I developed a protocol for training center-port nose fixation 61% faster than a previous curriculum while keeping violation rates low.
Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
I once saw a (very interesting) talk about sleep in which the speaker started by saying that we don't really know how to define sleep, and then proceeded to operationalize sleep in flies as basically periods when they are still for a long time. This got me thinking...
September 21, 2025 at 12:29 PM
I once saw a (very interesting) talk about sleep in which the speaker started by saying that we don't really know how to define sleep, and then proceeded to operationalize sleep in flies as basically periods when they are still for a long time. This got me thinking...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
September 17, 2025 at 7:09 PM
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
Reposted by WilluhnLab
We’re searching for TWO tenure-track cognitive neuroscientists here in the Wesleyan University Psychology Department! Apply here wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/careers
Careers at Wesleyan
We welcome your interest in Wesleyan’s diverse, energetic community of employees who, by their creativity, innovative thinking, and generosity of spirit, help make Wesleyan a great place to work. In t...
wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
September 17, 2025 at 9:52 PM
We’re searching for TWO tenure-track cognitive neuroscientists here in the Wesleyan University Psychology Department! Apply here wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/careers
Reposted by WilluhnLab
WAChRs are excitatory opsins sensitive to indoor lighting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 18, 2025 at 3:47 AM
WAChRs are excitatory opsins sensitive to indoor lighting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by WilluhnLab
1/
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
September 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
1/
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
Reposted by WilluhnLab
How does the brain decide? 🧠
Our new @nature.com paper shows that neural activity switches from an 'evidence gathering' to a 'commitment' state at a precise moment we call nTc.
After nTc, new evidence is ignored, revealing a neural marker for the instant when the mind is made up.
rdcu.be/eGUrv
Our new @nature.com paper shows that neural activity switches from an 'evidence gathering' to a 'commitment' state at a precise moment we call nTc.
After nTc, new evidence is ignored, revealing a neural marker for the instant when the mind is made up.
rdcu.be/eGUrv
Transitions in dynamical regime and neural mode during perceptual decisions - Nature
Simultaneous recordings were made of hundreds of neurons in the rat frontal cortex and striatum, showing that decision commitment involves a rapid, coordinated transition in dynamical regime and neura...
www.nature.com
September 17, 2025 at 8:12 PM
How does the brain decide? 🧠
Our new @nature.com paper shows that neural activity switches from an 'evidence gathering' to a 'commitment' state at a precise moment we call nTc.
After nTc, new evidence is ignored, revealing a neural marker for the instant when the mind is made up.
rdcu.be/eGUrv
Our new @nature.com paper shows that neural activity switches from an 'evidence gathering' to a 'commitment' state at a precise moment we call nTc.
After nTc, new evidence is ignored, revealing a neural marker for the instant when the mind is made up.
rdcu.be/eGUrv
Reposted by WilluhnLab
Out today in @nature.com: we show that individual neurons have diverse tuning to a decision variable computed by the entire population, revealing a unifying geometric principle for the encoding of sensory and dynamic cognitive variables.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
June 25, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Out today in @nature.com: we show that individual neurons have diverse tuning to a decision variable computed by the entire population, revealing a unifying geometric principle for the encoding of sensory and dynamic cognitive variables.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...