Ian Ballard
@iancballard.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at UC Riverside studying learning and goal-directed behavior. Director of the Computational Cognitive and Neural Sciences Lab (https://www.ballardlab.org). He/him
Pinned
The Computational and Cognitive Neural Sciences lab (ballardlab.org) at UC Riverside is recruiting psychology PhD students to join our team! Check out the flyer to learn about the lab and our stellar research community at UCR. Apply by 12/1!
drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
The Computational and Cognitive Neural Sciences lab (ballardlab.org) at UC Riverside is recruiting psychology PhD students to join our team! Check out the flyer to learn about the lab and our stellar research community at UCR. Apply by 12/1!
drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
November 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
The Computational and Cognitive Neural Sciences lab (ballardlab.org) at UC Riverside is recruiting psychology PhD students to join our team! Check out the flyer to learn about the lab and our stellar research community at UCR. Apply by 12/1!
drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
Reposted by Ian Ballard
🎧 New Decision & Aging Insights🎙️ episode
@vpmurty.bsky.social describes his research for an SRNDNA Pilot Grant and finding inspiration at a haunted house. He also talks about moving his lab across country and the impact of a single line in his presentations.
Listen now: srndna.utdallas.edu/podcast/
@vpmurty.bsky.social describes his research for an SRNDNA Pilot Grant and finding inspiration at a haunted house. He also talks about moving his lab across country and the impact of a single line in his presentations.
Listen now: srndna.utdallas.edu/podcast/
July 2, 2025 at 8:20 PM
🎧 New Decision & Aging Insights🎙️ episode
@vpmurty.bsky.social describes his research for an SRNDNA Pilot Grant and finding inspiration at a haunted house. He also talks about moving his lab across country and the impact of a single line in his presentations.
Listen now: srndna.utdallas.edu/podcast/
@vpmurty.bsky.social describes his research for an SRNDNA Pilot Grant and finding inspiration at a haunted house. He also talks about moving his lab across country and the impact of a single line in his presentations.
Listen now: srndna.utdallas.edu/podcast/
🧠👀 Do goals & desires shape what we see—or just what we say we see?
In our review, we outline a neurocomputational framework where motivation biases perception and action via distinct neural systems:
👉 Amygdala & LC-NE boost what we want to see.
👉 Striatal dopamine biases what we choose to report.
In our review, we outline a neurocomputational framework where motivation biases perception and action via distinct neural systems:
👉 Amygdala & LC-NE boost what we want to see.
👉 Striatal dopamine biases what we choose to report.
Excited to share our new review on how neuroimaging and computational models can help uncover how people see what they want to see, now out at @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! It was a blast writing this with Haena Kim and @iancballard.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A neurocomputational account of motivated seeing
Do goals, beliefs, and desires affect visual experience? This question has long been controversial in cognitive science. There exists extensive litera…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 2, 2025 at 6:55 PM
🧠👀 Do goals & desires shape what we see—or just what we say we see?
In our review, we outline a neurocomputational framework where motivation biases perception and action via distinct neural systems:
👉 Amygdala & LC-NE boost what we want to see.
👉 Striatal dopamine biases what we choose to report.
In our review, we outline a neurocomputational framework where motivation biases perception and action via distinct neural systems:
👉 Amygdala & LC-NE boost what we want to see.
👉 Striatal dopamine biases what we choose to report.
Reposted by Ian Ballard
Only ONE WEEK until #RLDM2025 ☘️ We can’t wait to welcome brilliant minds from AI, neuroscience, psychology & beyond for cutting-edge talks on reinforcement learning & decision making. Spaces are disappearing quickly so grab your spot before it’s gone! Register now 👉 rldm.org
RLDM | The Multi-disciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making
rldm.org
June 4, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Excited to share our upcoming workshop on neuroscience, reinforcement learning, and decision making at RLDM 2025 in Dublin, Ireland — June 11–14!
Check out the terrific speaker lineup:
🔗 sites.google.com/view/neurorl...
Co-organized with @angelaradulescu.bsky.social
@rldmdublin2025.bsky.social
Check out the terrific speaker lineup:
🔗 sites.google.com/view/neurorl...
Co-organized with @angelaradulescu.bsky.social
@rldmdublin2025.bsky.social
May 29, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Excited to share our upcoming workshop on neuroscience, reinforcement learning, and decision making at RLDM 2025 in Dublin, Ireland — June 11–14!
Check out the terrific speaker lineup:
🔗 sites.google.com/view/neurorl...
Co-organized with @angelaradulescu.bsky.social
@rldmdublin2025.bsky.social
Check out the terrific speaker lineup:
🔗 sites.google.com/view/neurorl...
Co-organized with @angelaradulescu.bsky.social
@rldmdublin2025.bsky.social
Reposted by Ian Ballard
📢 #RLDM2025 is nearly here – 11–14 June at Trinity College Dublin ☘️
Join researchers from AI, neuroscience, psychology & beyond to explore the latest in reinforcement learning & decision making.
🎟️ Register now to secure your spot: rldm.org #ReinforcementLearning #AI #Neuroscience #CognitiveScience
Join researchers from AI, neuroscience, psychology & beyond to explore the latest in reinforcement learning & decision making.
🎟️ Register now to secure your spot: rldm.org #ReinforcementLearning #AI #Neuroscience #CognitiveScience
May 26, 2025 at 12:18 PM
📢 #RLDM2025 is nearly here – 11–14 June at Trinity College Dublin ☘️
Join researchers from AI, neuroscience, psychology & beyond to explore the latest in reinforcement learning & decision making.
🎟️ Register now to secure your spot: rldm.org #ReinforcementLearning #AI #Neuroscience #CognitiveScience
Join researchers from AI, neuroscience, psychology & beyond to explore the latest in reinforcement learning & decision making.
🎟️ Register now to secure your spot: rldm.org #ReinforcementLearning #AI #Neuroscience #CognitiveScience
Reposted by Ian Ballard
New from our lab: your brain doesn’t just remember time - it bends it.
We show that the dopamine system responds to natural breakpoints in experience, and this relates to more stretched memories of time. Blinking also increases, signaling encoding of new memories.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that the dopamine system responds to natural breakpoints in experience, and this relates to more stretched memories of time. Blinking also increases, signaling encoding of new memories.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Dopaminergic processes predict temporal distortions in event memory
Our memories do not simply keep time - they warp it, bending the past to fit the structure of our experiences. For example, people tend to remember items as occurring farther apart in time if they spa...
www.biorxiv.org
May 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
New from our lab: your brain doesn’t just remember time - it bends it.
We show that the dopamine system responds to natural breakpoints in experience, and this relates to more stretched memories of time. Blinking also increases, signaling encoding of new memories.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that the dopamine system responds to natural breakpoints in experience, and this relates to more stretched memories of time. Blinking also increases, signaling encoding of new memories.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ian Ballard
Excited and thrilled and humbled that our work is now out at Nature Human Behaviour linking Memorability with Time Perception! I hope you all find it of interest 🙂
Memorability shapes perceived time (and vice versa)
#academicsky #neuroskyence #psychscisky #science
Memorability shapes perceived time (and vice versa)
#academicsky #neuroskyence #psychscisky #science
Memorability shapes perceived time (and vice versa) - Nature Human Behaviour
In this Article, Ma et al. show, across a series of experiments, that time and memorability (the probability of recalling a visual stimulus) mutually influence one another, suggesting that time is a f...
www.nature.com
April 22, 2024 at 3:17 PM
Excited and thrilled and humbled that our work is now out at Nature Human Behaviour linking Memorability with Time Perception! I hope you all find it of interest 🙂
Memorability shapes perceived time (and vice versa)
#academicsky #neuroskyence #psychscisky #science
Memorability shapes perceived time (and vice versa)
#academicsky #neuroskyence #psychscisky #science
Big milestone for the Ballard Lab—we scanned our very first neuroimaging participant today! Grateful to be collaborating with my UCR colleagues @halledz.bsky.social and @brenthughes.bsky.social. I love the excitement of new data rolling in...
May 13, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Big milestone for the Ballard Lab—we scanned our very first neuroimaging participant today! Grateful to be collaborating with my UCR colleagues @halledz.bsky.social and @brenthughes.bsky.social. I love the excitement of new data rolling in...
So excited to see this come out!
In keeping with the theme of time travel… now into the future: 🕰️ Another recent paper from the lab—a preregistered study with Isabel Schuman, Jingyi Wang & Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social —is now published. Here, we looked at future orientation, decision making & anorexia nervosa risk.
Willing to wait: Anorexia nervosa symptomatology is associated with higher future orientation and reduced intertemporal discounting - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Willing to wait: Anorexia nervosa symptomatology is associated with higher future orientation and reduced intertemporal discounting
www.nature.com
April 9, 2025 at 8:31 PM
So excited to see this come out!
Reposted by Ian Ballard
Are you at CNS: hot* symposia alert featuring myself, @aaronbornstein.bsky.social, @chelseahelion.bsky.social, and @iancballard.bsky.social talking about uncertainty resolution across learning, memory, social cognition, and decision-making. See you Monday at 10:00 AM.
*I sweat a lot giving talks
*I sweat a lot giving talks
March 28, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Are you at CNS: hot* symposia alert featuring myself, @aaronbornstein.bsky.social, @chelseahelion.bsky.social, and @iancballard.bsky.social talking about uncertainty resolution across learning, memory, social cognition, and decision-making. See you Monday at 10:00 AM.
*I sweat a lot giving talks
*I sweat a lot giving talks
Excited for my lab’s first CNS!
Catch us at:
Saturday 10:30–12:00: Datablitz Session 3 (Xinxu Shen)
Monday 10:00 AM: Symposium – Uncertainty resolution across learning, memory, and decision-making
Posters: Saturday 3:00–5:00 (A133), Monday 8:00–10:00 (D156), Tuesday 8:00–10:00 (F145)
Catch us at:
Saturday 10:30–12:00: Datablitz Session 3 (Xinxu Shen)
Monday 10:00 AM: Symposium – Uncertainty resolution across learning, memory, and decision-making
Posters: Saturday 3:00–5:00 (A133), Monday 8:00–10:00 (D156), Tuesday 8:00–10:00 (F145)
March 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Excited for my lab’s first CNS!
Catch us at:
Saturday 10:30–12:00: Datablitz Session 3 (Xinxu Shen)
Monday 10:00 AM: Symposium – Uncertainty resolution across learning, memory, and decision-making
Posters: Saturday 3:00–5:00 (A133), Monday 8:00–10:00 (D156), Tuesday 8:00–10:00 (F145)
Catch us at:
Saturday 10:30–12:00: Datablitz Session 3 (Xinxu Shen)
Monday 10:00 AM: Symposium – Uncertainty resolution across learning, memory, and decision-making
Posters: Saturday 3:00–5:00 (A133), Monday 8:00–10:00 (D156), Tuesday 8:00–10:00 (F145)
Interested in dopamine? Have fMRI data? We’ve identified a temporal BOLD feature that carries rich information about dopamine physiology. This measure, obtainable from resting-state and task fMRI, opens new ways to indirectly probe dopamine’s role in cognition and disease. 1/n tinyurl.com/bddyz67b
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,...
www.biorxiv.org
March 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Interested in dopamine? Have fMRI data? We’ve identified a temporal BOLD feature that carries rich information about dopamine physiology. This measure, obtainable from resting-state and task fMRI, opens new ways to indirectly probe dopamine’s role in cognition and disease. 1/n tinyurl.com/bddyz67b
Reposted by Ian Ballard
New paper alert! Have you ever looked at single-trial fMRI activation maps? If so, you know that they are super variable. Here we show that the variability is not just noise. In fact, the same task can consistently elicit different activation patterns. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Multiple brain activation patterns for the same perceptual decision-making task - Nature Communications
Here, the authors show the brain uses multiple activation patterns to perform the same task. Even the default mode network, which is often inactive during focus, plays a role.
www.nature.com
February 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
New paper alert! Have you ever looked at single-trial fMRI activation maps? If so, you know that they are super variable. Here we show that the variability is not just noise. In fact, the same task can consistently elicit different activation patterns. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ian Ballard
Exciting news - early bird registration is now open for #RLDM2025!
🔗 Register now: forms.gle/QZS1GkZhYGRF...
Register now to save €100 on your ticket. Early bird prices are only available until 1st April.
🔗 Register now: forms.gle/QZS1GkZhYGRF...
Register now to save €100 on your ticket. Early bird prices are only available until 1st April.
February 11, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Exciting news - early bird registration is now open for #RLDM2025!
🔗 Register now: forms.gle/QZS1GkZhYGRF...
Register now to save €100 on your ticket. Early bird prices are only available until 1st April.
🔗 Register now: forms.gle/QZS1GkZhYGRF...
Register now to save €100 on your ticket. Early bird prices are only available until 1st April.
Reposted by Ian Ballard
Advancing Inclusive AI in Women’s Brain Health 🧠✨
We are thrilled to announce a $1.5M award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support the Women’s Brain Health Initiative in advancing inclusive AI through multi-modal biomedical datasets.
We are thrilled to announce a $1.5M award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support the Women’s Brain Health Initiative in advancing inclusive AI through multi-modal biomedical datasets.
February 4, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Advancing Inclusive AI in Women’s Brain Health 🧠✨
We are thrilled to announce a $1.5M award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support the Women’s Brain Health Initiative in advancing inclusive AI through multi-modal biomedical datasets.
We are thrilled to announce a $1.5M award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support the Women’s Brain Health Initiative in advancing inclusive AI through multi-modal biomedical datasets.
Reposted by Ian Ballard
New lab paper out now in JEP:G!
From Juliana Trach, @mdebettencourt.bsky.social , @angelaradulescu.bsky.social , and myself.
"Rewards Transiently and Automatically Enhance Sustained Attention."
t.co/r72fZRn3Nh
👇
From Juliana Trach, @mdebettencourt.bsky.social , @angelaradulescu.bsky.social , and myself.
"Rewards Transiently and Automatically Enhance Sustained Attention."
t.co/r72fZRn3Nh
👇
January 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
New lab paper out now in JEP:G!
From Juliana Trach, @mdebettencourt.bsky.social , @angelaradulescu.bsky.social , and myself.
"Rewards Transiently and Automatically Enhance Sustained Attention."
t.co/r72fZRn3Nh
👇
From Juliana Trach, @mdebettencourt.bsky.social , @angelaradulescu.bsky.social , and myself.
"Rewards Transiently and Automatically Enhance Sustained Attention."
t.co/r72fZRn3Nh
👇
Reposted by Ian Ballard
New paper with Johanna Jarcho, Isabel Leiva, and Sam Reisman looking at distortions in perceived liking and its relationship with bullying (in adults!). Don’t worry we collected memory data for future analyses!
www.jmoodanxdisorders.org/article/S295...
www.jmoodanxdisorders.org/article/S295...
Peer victimization but not social anxiety negatively influences predicted enjoyment during peer interactions
We often underestimate how much others enjoy initial interactions with us - a phenomenon
known as the liking gap. While widely documented, less research has explored how individual
differences such as...
www.jmoodanxdisorders.org
January 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM
New paper with Johanna Jarcho, Isabel Leiva, and Sam Reisman looking at distortions in perceived liking and its relationship with bullying (in adults!). Don’t worry we collected memory data for future analyses!
www.jmoodanxdisorders.org/article/S295...
www.jmoodanxdisorders.org/article/S295...
Reposted by Ian Ballard
The RLDM workshop list is now up! Have a look: rldm.org/call-for-wor...
More workshop details coming soon :)
There were so many wonderful submissions---this was really tough for the committee. Huge thanks to all involved, and looking forward to seeing folks in Dublin
More workshop details coming soon :)
There were so many wonderful submissions---this was really tough for the committee. Huge thanks to all involved, and looking forward to seeing folks in Dublin
CALL FOR WORKSHOPS | RLDM
rldm.org
January 12, 2025 at 2:03 PM
The RLDM workshop list is now up! Have a look: rldm.org/call-for-wor...
More workshop details coming soon :)
There were so many wonderful submissions---this was really tough for the committee. Huge thanks to all involved, and looking forward to seeing folks in Dublin
More workshop details coming soon :)
There were so many wonderful submissions---this was really tough for the committee. Huge thanks to all involved, and looking forward to seeing folks in Dublin
Some tips for making and keeping New Year's resolutions! @ucriverside.bsky.social
news.ucr.edu/articles/202...
news.ucr.edu/articles/202...
Will you keep your New Year’s resolutions?
A UC Riverside psychologist shares his thoughts on how to make them last
news.ucr.edu
January 7, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Some tips for making and keeping New Year's resolutions! @ucriverside.bsky.social
news.ucr.edu/articles/202...
news.ucr.edu/articles/202...
Reposted by Ian Ballard
In our recent preprint, we unveil a new role for neural activity in the human dopaminergic system in reward learning - at the single neuron level! 🧠🖥️ #EEG #neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 22, 2024 at 6:29 PM
In our recent preprint, we unveil a new role for neural activity in the human dopaminergic system in reward learning - at the single neuron level! 🧠🖥️ #EEG #neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do rewards influence how we select and pursue goals? Our study finds that rewards can create 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 in goal selection and execution—similar to habits—but without reducing cognitive flexibility. Check out our paper for more! @jocn.bsky.social
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
Reward Reinforcement Creates Enduring Facilitation of Goal-directed Behavior
Abstract. Stimulus–response habits benefit behavior by automatizing the selection of rewarding actions. However, this automaticity can come at the cost of reduced flexibility to adapt behavior when ci...
direct.mit.edu
December 10, 2024 at 10:25 PM
How do rewards influence how we select and pursue goals? Our study finds that rewards can create 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 in goal selection and execution—similar to habits—but without reducing cognitive flexibility. Check out our paper for more! @jocn.bsky.social
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
Get your abstract submissions ready for RLDM 2025, at Trinity College in Dublin (abstracts due 1/15). Tutorial submissions close on 12/20. RLDM is a terrific interdisciplinary conference at the intersection of computational theory (AI, ML, robotics), cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience.
📢 Call for Abstracts 📢
Submit your extended abstracts on "learning and decision-making over time to achieve a goal" to #RLDM2025. Successful applications will be selected for poster or oral presentation to an interdisciplinary audience.
🗓️ Deadline: Jan 15th
🔗 Learn more: rldm.org/call-for-abs...
Submit your extended abstracts on "learning and decision-making over time to achieve a goal" to #RLDM2025. Successful applications will be selected for poster or oral presentation to an interdisciplinary audience.
🗓️ Deadline: Jan 15th
🔗 Learn more: rldm.org/call-for-abs...
December 10, 2024 at 5:19 PM
Get your abstract submissions ready for RLDM 2025, at Trinity College in Dublin (abstracts due 1/15). Tutorial submissions close on 12/20. RLDM is a terrific interdisciplinary conference at the intersection of computational theory (AI, ML, robotics), cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience.
Reposted by Ian Ballard
My paper on hierarchical plans is out in Cognition!🎉
tldr: We ask participants to generate hierarchical plans in a programming game. People prefer to reuse beyond what standard accounts predict, which we formalize as induction of a grammar over actions.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kBQr2Hx2x...
tldr: We ask participants to generate hierarchical plans in a programming game. People prefer to reuse beyond what standard accounts predict, which we formalize as induction of a grammar over actions.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kBQr2Hx2x...
December 3, 2024 at 3:37 PM
My paper on hierarchical plans is out in Cognition!🎉
tldr: We ask participants to generate hierarchical plans in a programming game. People prefer to reuse beyond what standard accounts predict, which we formalize as induction of a grammar over actions.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kBQr2Hx2x...
tldr: We ask participants to generate hierarchical plans in a programming game. People prefer to reuse beyond what standard accounts predict, which we formalize as induction of a grammar over actions.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kBQr2Hx2x...