Zijing Wu
@zijingwu.bsky.social
Thinking on dopamine heterogeneity
NeuroAI PhD student at @mcgillu.
Prev: @GeorgiaTech @FlatironCCN.
NeuroAI PhD student at @mcgillu.
Prev: @GeorgiaTech @FlatironCCN.
Reposted by Zijing Wu
I am recruiting graduate students for the experimental side of my lab @mcgill.ca for admission in Fall 2026!
Get in touch if you're interested in how brain circuits implement distributed computation, including dopamine-based distributed RL and probabilistic representations.
Get in touch if you're interested in how brain circuits implement distributed computation, including dopamine-based distributed RL and probabilistic representations.
November 19, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I am recruiting graduate students for the experimental side of my lab @mcgill.ca for admission in Fall 2026!
Get in touch if you're interested in how brain circuits implement distributed computation, including dopamine-based distributed RL and probabilistic representations.
Get in touch if you're interested in how brain circuits implement distributed computation, including dopamine-based distributed RL and probabilistic representations.
Reposted by Zijing Wu
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 Zijing Wu
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
November 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
Reposted by Zijing Wu
Excited to share that our work ‘Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing’ with @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social, @neurovenki.bsky.social , @cpehlevan.bsky.social, @jzv.bsky.social and @paulmasset.bsky.social has been launched!
1/7
1/7
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
November 4, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Excited to share that our work ‘Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing’ with @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social, @neurovenki.bsky.social , @cpehlevan.bsky.social, @jzv.bsky.social and @paulmasset.bsky.social has been launched!
1/7
1/7
Reposted by Zijing Wu
This is one of the most outstanding examples of circuit understanding I've seen in a long time. The unification of theory and experiment is beautiful.
When Malcolm presented this in my lab, the audience was cheering at the end, and one person shouted (non-ironically) "You did it!"
When Malcolm presented this in my lab, the audience was cheering at the end, and one person shouted (non-ironically) "You did it!"
🚨Our preprint is online!🚨
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
September 19, 2025 at 1:37 PM
This is one of the most outstanding examples of circuit understanding I've seen in a long time. The unification of theory and experiment is beautiful.
When Malcolm presented this in my lab, the audience was cheering at the end, and one person shouted (non-ironically) "You did it!"
When Malcolm presented this in my lab, the audience was cheering at the end, and one person shouted (non-ironically) "You did it!"
Reposted by Zijing Wu
🚨Our preprint is online!🚨
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
September 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
🚨Our preprint is online!🚨
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
Yes, finally! The bookmarking button is here for caching of both existing and future posts.
September 8, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Yes, finally! The bookmarking button is here for caching of both existing and future posts.
My biggest skill/life gains come when I’m unconscious of the external metering. Heavy reliance on external reward signals, neglecting the intrinsic drives and non-reward returns hamper long-horizon success in complex real life setting - a lose hypothesis - and what in part motivates #scicomm :)
Some scientists haven't yet internalized the "why" behind science writing for the public - not just as a service, but for themselves. (I didn't always get it). In this piece for @natrevneuro.nature.com, I draw on the neuroscience of curiosity & decision making to unpack its value.
rdcu.be/eCGr7
rdcu.be/eCGr7
The unexpected value of communicating science to the public
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - As a group, our scientific community has a responsibility to unpack the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind our work for the public, not least because much...
rdcu.be
August 28, 2025 at 8:56 PM
My biggest skill/life gains come when I’m unconscious of the external metering. Heavy reliance on external reward signals, neglecting the intrinsic drives and non-reward returns hamper long-horizon success in complex real life setting - a lose hypothesis - and what in part motivates #scicomm :)
Reposted by Zijing Wu
Where do some of Reinforcement Learning's great thinkers stand today?
Find out! Keynotes of the RL Conference are online:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Wanting vs liking, Agent factories, Theoretical limit of LLMs, Pluralist value, RL teachers, Knowledge flywheels
(guess who talked about which!)
Find out! Keynotes of the RL Conference are online:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Wanting vs liking, Agent factories, Theoretical limit of LLMs, Pluralist value, RL teachers, Knowledge flywheels
(guess who talked about which!)
August 27, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Where do some of Reinforcement Learning's great thinkers stand today?
Find out! Keynotes of the RL Conference are online:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Wanting vs liking, Agent factories, Theoretical limit of LLMs, Pluralist value, RL teachers, Knowledge flywheels
(guess who talked about which!)
Find out! Keynotes of the RL Conference are online:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Wanting vs liking, Agent factories, Theoretical limit of LLMs, Pluralist value, RL teachers, Knowledge flywheels
(guess who talked about which!)
What's even better than a great review is a volume of them! So excited to learn that The Handbook of Dopamine is out!
A landmark volume, The Handbook of Dopamine, is now online:
www.sciencedirect.com/handbook/han...
Big kudos to the editors, Stephanie Cragg and Mark Walton, for putting this together.
www.sciencedirect.com/handbook/han...
Big kudos to the editors, Stephanie Cragg and Mark Walton, for putting this together.
Handbook of Behavioral Neuroscience | Volume 32: The Handbook of Dopamine | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier
Read the latest chapters of Handbook of Behavioral Neuroscience at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature
www.sciencedirect.com
August 5, 2025 at 4:48 AM
What's even better than a great review is a volume of them! So excited to learn that The Handbook of Dopamine is out!
Reposted by Zijing Wu
Another RL in rodents paper. This one shows synchronized responses in cerebellum and SNr during learning - definitely feels like the whole-brain aspect of RL needs more exploration like this!
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...
#neuroscience 🧪
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...
#neuroscience 🧪
Synergistic Reinforcement Learning by Cooperation of the Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia
The cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia are essential for flexible learning in mammals. Although traditionally thought to operate under different learning rules, recent evidence suggests th...
www.jneurosci.org
June 4, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Another RL in rodents paper. This one shows synchronized responses in cerebellum and SNr during learning - definitely feels like the whole-brain aspect of RL needs more exploration like this!
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...
#neuroscience 🧪
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...
#neuroscience 🧪
Reposted by Zijing Wu
Our work with Pablo Tano, @hyunggoo-kim.bsky.social Athar Malik, Alexandre Pouget and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social exploring how dopamine neurons could enable multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain is out in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain - Nature
Individual dopaminergic neurons encode future rewards over distinct temporal horizons.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Our work with Pablo Tano, @hyunggoo-kim.bsky.social Athar Malik, Alexandre Pouget and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social exploring how dopamine neurons could enable multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain is out in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Zijing Wu
Two papers out today on RL in the dopaminergic neurons of the midbrain of mice (one from McGill's new PI @paulmasset.bsky.social). Both papers demonstrate heterogeneity in discount factors!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
🧠📈 🧪 #NeuroAI
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
🧠📈 🧪 #NeuroAI
Multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain - Nature
Individual dopaminergic neurons encode future rewards over distinct temporal horizons.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Two papers out today on RL in the dopaminergic neurons of the midbrain of mice (one from McGill's new PI @paulmasset.bsky.social). Both papers demonstrate heterogeneity in discount factors!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
🧠📈 🧪 #NeuroAI
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
🧠📈 🧪 #NeuroAI
Reposted by Zijing Wu
Honoured to have been selected as a #SloanFellow
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Professors Paul Masset and David Rolnick awarded 2025 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships ✨ Their work ‘exemplifies McGill’s leadership in AI research and innovation.’ Since 1955, 33 McGill faculty members have received this honour.
Read more: mcgill.ca/x/iZ4
Read more: mcgill.ca/x/iZ4
February 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Honoured to have been selected as a #SloanFellow
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
What a great thread! Repost for bookmarking. A real bookmarking button is needed here as great content and convo are emerging at scale now.
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 6, 2024 at 7:23 PM
What a great thread! Repost for bookmarking. A real bookmarking button is needed here as great content and convo are emerging at scale now.
Reposted by Zijing Wu
I am recruiting graduate students for my lab @mcgillu.bsky.social for admission in Fall 2025! Get in touch if you're interested in how brain circuits implement distributed computation, including dopamine-based distributed RL and probabilistic representations.
November 9, 2024 at 8:25 PM
I am recruiting graduate students for my lab @mcgillu.bsky.social for admission in Fall 2025! Get in touch if you're interested in how brain circuits implement distributed computation, including dopamine-based distributed RL and probabilistic representations.