Payam Piray
@payampiray.bsky.social
Computational neuroscientist. Assistant professor @USC psychology. Previously @Princeton and @Donders
www.piraylab.com
www.piraylab.com
Pinned
Payam Piray
@payampiray.bsky.social
· Aug 12
Reconciling flexibility and efficiency: medial entorhinal cortex represents a compositional cognitive map
Nature Communications - How the brain creates compositional cognitive maps that support both flexible and efficient planning remains poorly understood. Here, authors propose a...
rdcu.be
New paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex.
rdcu.be/eAofi
rdcu.be/eAofi
Reposted by Payam Piray
🎇 Excited to finally share JL Romero Sosa’s publication! Results are from single-cell imaging in different subregions of rat frontal cortex during ✨de novo learning. Spoiler: everything is not everywhere all at once www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Neural coding of choice and outcome are modulated by uncertainty in orbitofrontal but not secondary motor cortex - Nature Communications
Neural mechanisms underlying flexible learning and decision-making are not fully understood. Using single-cell calcium imaging, authors here found that neurons in orbitofrontal and secondary motor cortex exhibit complementary roles in reward learning, with neurons in the former exerting a sustained role in conditions of uncertainty.
www.nature.com
October 8, 2025 at 12:33 PM
🎇 Excited to finally share JL Romero Sosa’s publication! Results are from single-cell imaging in different subregions of rat frontal cortex during ✨de novo learning. Spoiler: everything is not everywhere all at once www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Payam Piray
Good news of the front of restoring UCLA's grants! calmatters.org/education/20...
Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore hundreds of UCLA research grants
The grants were terminated over alleged DEI violations. University of California attorneys argued the actions were arbitrary and capricious.
calmatters.org
August 13, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Good news of the front of restoring UCLA's grants! calmatters.org/education/20...
New paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex.
rdcu.be/eAofi
rdcu.be/eAofi
Reconciling flexibility and efficiency: medial entorhinal cortex represents a compositional cognitive map
Nature Communications - How the brain creates compositional cognitive maps that support both flexible and efficient planning remains poorly understood. Here, authors propose a...
rdcu.be
August 12, 2025 at 5:18 PM
New paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex.
rdcu.be/eAofi
rdcu.be/eAofi
Reposted by Payam Piray
It looks like all NSF/NIH grants to UCLA (including mine and all fundamental neuroscience grants) have been suspended.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF and NIH suspend grants to UCLA
Move follows Trump administration finding that school didn’t effectively combat antisemitism
www.science.org
August 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
It looks like all NSF/NIH grants to UCLA (including mine and all fundamental neuroscience grants) have been suspended.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Payam Piray
Check out Zaid's open "Podcast" ECoG dataset for natural language comprehension (w/ Hasson Lab). The paper is now out at Scientific Data (nature.com/articles/s41...) and the data are available on OpenNeuro (openneuro.org/datasets/ds0...).
July 7, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Check out Zaid's open "Podcast" ECoG dataset for natural language comprehension (w/ Hasson Lab). The paper is now out at Scientific Data (nature.com/articles/s41...) and the data are available on OpenNeuro (openneuro.org/datasets/ds0...).
Reposted by Payam Piray
Thrilled to see our TinyRNN paper in @nature! We show how tiny RNNs predict choices of individual subjects accurately while staying fully interpretable. This approach can transform how we model cognitive processes in both healthy and disordered decisions. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Discovering cognitive strategies with tiny recurrent neural networks - Nature
Modelling biological decision-making with tiny recurrent neural networks enables more accurate predictions of animal choices than classical cognitive models and offers insights into the underlying cog...
doi.org
July 2, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Thrilled to see our TinyRNN paper in @nature! We show how tiny RNNs predict choices of individual subjects accurately while staying fully interpretable. This approach can transform how we model cognitive processes in both healthy and disordered decisions. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Payam Piray
new paper from a collaborative endeavor! (@co0p3r.bsky.social) we find & replicate food-reward biases in a reinforcement learning task (where food stim are incidental)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
Eating disorder symptoms and emotional arousal modulate food biases during reward learning in females - Nature Communications
Disordered eating can disrupt the rewarding value of food. Here, the authors show in a female sample that eating disorder symptoms, emotional arousal, and interoceptive awareness modulate goal-ir...
www.nature.com
May 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
new paper from a collaborative endeavor! (@co0p3r.bsky.social) we find & replicate food-reward biases in a reinforcement learning task (where food stim are incidental)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
people with eating disorder symptoms show a low-calorie food bias while those without show a high-calorie food bias... (1/3)
Reposted by Payam Piray
Re-posting is appreciated: We have a fully funded PhD position in CMC lab @cmc-lab.bsky.social (at @tudresden_de). You can use forms.gle/qiAv5NZ871kv... to send your application and find more information. Deadline is April 30. Find more about CMC lab: cmclab.org and email me if you have questions.
forms.gle
February 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Re-posting is appreciated: We have a fully funded PhD position in CMC lab @cmc-lab.bsky.social (at @tudresden_de). You can use forms.gle/qiAv5NZ871kv... to send your application and find more information. Deadline is April 30. Find more about CMC lab: cmclab.org and email me if you have questions.
Reposted by Payam Piray
Very cool work on the intersection of interpretability and multi-lingual LLMs, led by @elnaz-rahmati.bsky.social
Read our latest work CoCo-CoLa on measuring and improving language adherence in multilingual LLMs with efficient fine-tuning. 📖 arxiv.org/abs/2502.12476
Thanks to my co-authors @alirezaziabari.bsky.social and @mdehghani.bsky.social
for their collaboration!
#LLMs #NLP #Multilinguality
Thanks to my co-authors @alirezaziabari.bsky.social and @mdehghani.bsky.social
for their collaboration!
#LLMs #NLP #Multilinguality
CoCo-CoLa: Evaluating Language Adherence in Multilingual LLMs
Multilingual Large Language Models (LLMs) develop cross-lingual abilities despite being trained on limited parallel data. However, they often struggle to generate responses in the intended language, f...
arxiv.org
February 20, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Very cool work on the intersection of interpretability and multi-lingual LLMs, led by @elnaz-rahmati.bsky.social
Reposted by Payam Piray
Our new paper explores how to align LLMs with System 1 (intuitive) and System 2 (analytical) thinking styles. This work challenges the idea that step-by-step reasoning (CoT) is always best and highlights the need for adapting reasoning strategies based on the task
arxiv.org/abs/2502.12470
arxiv.org/abs/2502.12470
February 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Our new paper explores how to align LLMs with System 1 (intuitive) and System 2 (analytical) thinking styles. This work challenges the idea that step-by-step reasoning (CoT) is always best and highlights the need for adapting reasoning strategies based on the task
arxiv.org/abs/2502.12470
arxiv.org/abs/2502.12470
Reposted by Payam Piray
hello world. we have an opening for a strong theory postdoc to work in my lab on a exciting collaboration with Josh Berke and Loren Frank labs modeling and analyzing data on rat hipp-pfc-bg-da involvement in spatial maze foraging, replay, value etc. apply here: www.princeton.edu/acad-positio...
Application for Postdoctoral Research Associate
www.princeton.edu
February 5, 2025 at 2:29 PM
hello world. we have an opening for a strong theory postdoc to work in my lab on a exciting collaboration with Josh Berke and Loren Frank labs modeling and analyzing data on rat hipp-pfc-bg-da involvement in spatial maze foraging, replay, value etc. apply here: www.princeton.edu/acad-positio...
Reposted by Payam Piray
Poster submissions for the Computational Psychiatry Conference 2025 in Tübingen are now open. Deadline is 7th February. Symposium submissions are open until 15th January. www.cpconf.org. Please RB.
Computational Psychiatry Conference
Tübingen, Germany (July 14-16, 2025)
www.cpconf.org
January 9, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Poster submissions for the Computational Psychiatry Conference 2025 in Tübingen are now open. Deadline is 7th February. Symposium submissions are open until 15th January. www.cpconf.org. Please RB.
Reposted by Payam Piray
(1/4) Our new JEP:G paper dives into how moral values and misinformation spread on social media: media.mola-lab.org/file/1737039...
media.mola-lab.org
January 17, 2025 at 3:31 AM
(1/4) Our new JEP:G paper dives into how moral values and misinformation spread on social media: media.mola-lab.org/file/1737039...
Reposted by Payam Piray
I'm hiring a full-time lab manager / research tech for my new psychology lab at Boston University, to start this summer (July 2025)!
The lab's research focuses on understanding developmental changes in learning, memory, and exploration.
More details here: cldlab.org/join/
🧠💻 #psychscisky
The lab's research focuses on understanding developmental changes in learning, memory, and exploration.
More details here: cldlab.org/join/
🧠💻 #psychscisky
December 2, 2024 at 1:25 PM
I'm hiring a full-time lab manager / research tech for my new psychology lab at Boston University, to start this summer (July 2025)!
The lab's research focuses on understanding developmental changes in learning, memory, and exploration.
More details here: cldlab.org/join/
🧠💻 #psychscisky
The lab's research focuses on understanding developmental changes in learning, memory, and exploration.
More details here: cldlab.org/join/
🧠💻 #psychscisky
Reposted by Payam Piray
OK If we are moving to Bluesky I am rescuing my favourite ever twitter thread (Jan 2019).
The renamed:
Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)
The renamed:
Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)
December 1, 2024 at 8:29 PM
OK If we are moving to Bluesky I am rescuing my favourite ever twitter thread (Jan 2019).
The renamed:
Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)
The renamed:
Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)
Reposted by Payam Piray
Neuromatch is looking for a curriculum specialist for our #neuroAI course. Spread the word!
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
Adobe Acrobat
acrobat.adobe.com
November 24, 2024 at 2:59 PM
Neuromatch is looking for a curriculum specialist for our #neuroAI course. Spread the word!
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
Reposted by Payam Piray
Come join us at Trinity College Dublin for the 6th Multidisciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making (RLDM2025)
Abstract deadline January 15: rldm.org/submit
Abstract deadline January 15: rldm.org/submit
November 15, 2024 at 10:53 AM
Come join us at Trinity College Dublin for the 6th Multidisciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making (RLDM2025)
Abstract deadline January 15: rldm.org/submit
Abstract deadline January 15: rldm.org/submit
Reposted by Payam Piray
RLDM | The Multi-disciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making
rldm.org
November 11, 2024 at 7:32 PM
X’s (it is definitely X not twitter) “For you” tab should be called 'Not for you'! Meanwhile, Bluesky feels like a cozy science cafe! 🧠☕️ Computational neuro/psychiatry folks, NeuroAI enthusiasts, cognitive science/neuroscience students - let's build this community!
November 11, 2024 at 10:47 PM
X’s (it is definitely X not twitter) “For you” tab should be called 'Not for you'! Meanwhile, Bluesky feels like a cozy science cafe! 🧠☕️ Computational neuro/psychiatry folks, NeuroAI enthusiasts, cognitive science/neuroscience students - let's build this community!
New in Nature Communication with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social : humans tell apart volatility from stochasticity & adapt their learning adaptively in opposite directions. Both response times and prediction data suggest outcome autocorrelation is key in this process
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Computational processes of simultaneous learning of stochasticity and volatility in humans - Nature Communications
Adaptive learning is difficult in noisy environments, yet people often succeed. Here, the authors show that humans do this by distinguishing between two easily confused types of noise—volatility and s...
www.nature.com
October 22, 2024 at 10:38 PM
New in Nature Communication with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social : humans tell apart volatility from stochasticity & adapt their learning adaptively in opposite directions. Both response times and prediction data suggest outcome autocorrelation is key in this process
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I'll be recruiting PhD students for Fall 2025. Take a look at the lab website and the FAQ for prospective students:
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
Piray Lab | Join us
The lab will be looking for PhD students, postdocs, and research assistants who want to do research at the intersection of computational and cognitive neuroscience. We are looking for students from a ...
piraylab.com
October 11, 2024 at 9:25 PM
I'll be recruiting PhD students for Fall 2025. Take a look at the lab website and the FAQ for prospective students:
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
🧠💻 @USCPsychology seeks tenure-track Assistant Professor in Brain & Cognitive Sciences with a focus on computational language research. Join us at the forefront of AI-driven cognition studies! Apply here:
usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
September 14, 2024 at 12:16 AM
🧠💻 @USCPsychology seeks tenure-track Assistant Professor in Brain & Cognitive Sciences with a focus on computational language research. Join us at the forefront of AI-driven cognition studies! Apply here:
usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
I'll be recruiting PhD students for Fall 2024. Take a look at the lab website and the FAQ for prospective students:
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
Piray Lab | Join us
The lab will be looking for PhD students, postdocs, and research assistants who want to do research at the intersection of computational and cognitive neuroscience. We are looking for students from a ...
piraylab.com
November 3, 2023 at 5:31 PM
I'll be recruiting PhD students for Fall 2024. Take a look at the lab website and the FAQ for prospective students:
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
piraylab.com/join
Feel free to reach out if you have questions.