Armin Lak
Neuroscientist investigating neuronal bases of reward and learning. Associate Prof at Oxford University. www.laklab.org
- RA job alert. We are looking for a fearless experimentalist to join our experiments on cortical neuromodulators during visually guided learning, lead by @michael-lynn.bsky.social . Opportunity to learn 2p imaging, design and conduct experiments. RT plz. Apply here: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
- Reposted by Armin LakThere is a new Postdoctoral Research Associate position available in my group, to work on computational analysis of human neuroimaging workflows to develop robust, interpretable and scalable biomarkers of cognitive brain health. Closing date 10th Feb 2026. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
- Reposted by Armin LakOut today in Neurophotonics, we show that cross-talk between the imaging laser and opsin in all-optical experiments can affect response dynamics beyond what has been accounted for. Imaging conditions subthreshold for evoking spikes can accelerate opsin desensitization: doi.org/10.1117/1.NP...
- Reposted by Armin LakWe're running a 5th edition of the always-exciting UCL Summer School on Consciousness and Metacognition this year, 8th-10th July 2026 in London. Accommodation and travel expenses are covered. For more information and how to apply, check out metacoglab.org/summer-schoo...
- This one from @kepecslab.bsky.social and Song Hu lab is awesome: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- New preprint. We show that in addition to reward prediction errors (RPEs), dorsal striatal dopamine signals encode sensory prediction errors (SPEs), the difference between sensory prior & observed stimulus. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- It started with a surprising observation: we manipulated both sensory and reward expectation during a visual decision task. These had SIMILAR behavioral effects but OPPOSITE dopamine signals. These, other exp & modelling showed spatially overlapping dopamine SPEs & RPEs for shaping visual decisions
- led by amazing Matthias Fritsche and contributions from several others in the lab and our collaborators, with generous funding from @wellcometrust.bsky.social , @hfspo.bsky.social and @erc.europa.eu
- Reposted by Armin LakWe tend to think of neurons as either excitatory or inhibitory, but some neurons chemically inhibit their downstream targets while electrically exciting their neighbors. What is gained by having an inhibitory neuron excite its neighbor? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Armin LakPlease repost widely. @vanderhaeghenp2.bsky.social and I are hiring a postdoc with expertise in sensory physiology and in vivo circuit imaging/manipulation. The project centers on human-specific brain development and SYNGAP1-related disorders. Call closing soon—apply ASAP jobs.vib.be/j/119852/pos...
- concise and informative review article on corticostriatal pathways in sensory process by @giladsilberberg.bsky.social et al . I find myself looking into it frequently and learn/cross check a new thing every time : www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Armin LakOur lab is looking for a postdoc! We have interesting projects and cutting-edge techniques such as Neuropixels Opto, Light Beads Microscopy and more. We would be delighted to receive your application. Deadline is 25 November 2025. More info here: www.ucl.ac.uk/cortexlab/po...
- 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...
- Congradulations to co-1st authors, Antara Majumdar, Caitlin Ashcroft & Matthias Fritsche, our collaborators and funders
- and here is my (now old) gif on this (it only misses the 2p experiments):
- All-optical experiments are great but @neurorussell.bsky.social found that opsin desensitization due to cross-talk between the imaging laser and the opsin causes major issues. These can be ameleorated with long inter-stimulus intervals & short imaging doses. All here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Armin LakLooking for a PhD next year? Want to come and work on the next generation of OPM-MEG/EEG biomarkers in computational psychiatry? Apply for our MRC iCase studentship with @mkflugge.bsky.social, collabs with @lilweb.bsky.social + industrial placement at P1Vital: www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/gradua...
- Beautiful and clear results showing that temporal difference error calculation is hardwired in the dopamine/striatum mircocircuits: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... from @malcolmgcampbell.bsky.social and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social
- Reposted by Armin LakIn our Learning Club @cmc-lab.bsky.social today (Aug 18, Thu, 2pm CET), Samuel Liebana will tell us about his paper (www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... [joint work w/ @saxelab.bsky.social & @laklab.bsky.social]. Want to attend, send an empty email to virtual-talk-link-request@cmclab.org to get the link!
- Concise and informative highlight on our recent paper, thanks to Seung Chan Kim, Sehwan Kim & Sang Ryong Kim. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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[This post could not be retrieved] - Reposted by Armin LakNew preprint + thread 🧵 #Psychedelics induce the formation of new synapses, but where do they connect? Our rabies tracing study reveals that #psilocybin shifts connectivity across specific cortical networks. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/12
- Reposted by Armin LakCan we use what we’ve learned about cognitive maps to understand social cognition, including theory of mind? If you’re interested in answering this question then this is a fantastic postdoc opportunity with @mkwittmann.bsky.social in collaboration with @summerfieldlab.bsky.social and my lab.
- 📢 Job announcement: Two (!) 3-year postdoc jobs in our lab at UCL 📢 🧠💫🔊 We are looking for postdocs interested in the abstract mechanisms underlying social cognition. Modelling, fMRI and non-invasive ultrasound, a new deep-brain stimulation method. Please RT www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
- Reposted by Armin LakOur paper on foraging is now published in Neuron! Read it here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt... This project was co-led by Michael Bukwich (not on Bluesky) and me, with major contributions from all co-authors. Huge thanks to the whole team!
- Reposted by Armin Lak🚨Pre-print alert🚨 We stimulated serotonin with optogenetics while doing large-scale Neuropixel recordings across the mouse brain. We found strong widespread modulation of neural activity, but no effect on the choices of the mouse 🐭 How is this possible? Strap in! (1/9) 👇🧵 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Armin LakWe're looking for a research assistant to work in our neuroscience lab at @princetonneuro.bsky.social @hhmi.org where we study learning and decision-making circuitry. Apply here: research-princeton.icims.com/jobs/21001/r... Pls share w/ anyone who might be interested!
- Reposted by Armin Lak2 Lecturer (Assistant Prof) positions available @yorkpsychology.bsky.social! Come join our department! #neuroskyence #cognition #psychscisky #neurojobs jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
- Reposted by Armin LakA new study led by @timothysit.bsky.social reveals that different layers of mouse V1 integrate visual and non-visual signals differently. Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Armin LakVery happy to share our protocols paper for CELLO-seq. This will make single cell long read RNA-seq more accessible and provides analysis guidelines. We hope this helps the #transposon #TEsky community and folks working on #singleCell isoform and allelic #gene expression. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
- Reposted by Armin LakNew work! Learning is assumed to involve synaptic plasticity, but which specific synapses change to enable higher order cognitive functions? We actually find that cognitive flexibility involves potentiation of long-range GABAergic synapses from prefrontal PV neurons: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Armin LakAssistant Prof/Associate Prof position in Mammalian Neuroscience! 👩🔬👨🔬 My department is hiring! Closing on June 30th. Please repost widely! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNK944/a...
- Our work, out at Cell, shows that the brain’s dopamine signals teach each individual a unique learning trajectory. Collaborative experiment-theory effort, led by Sam Liebana in the lab. The first experiment my lab started just shy of 6y ago & v excited to see it out: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
- We show that in learning to make decisions from naïve to expert, i)Individuals form diverse yet systematic learning trajectories. ii)Dopamine in select striatal regions acts as a teaching signal shaping the trajectories. iii)A deep RL model with heterogenous teaching signals accounts for the data.
- Bonus points i) We made the (big) data and codes publicly available (follow the links in the paper). ii) The paper is open access, thanks to our funders. So enjoy reading it in the train, in a beer garden or while cooking :)
- & thanks to all authors: Samuel Liebana,Aeron Laffere, Chiara Toschi, Louisa Schilling, Jessica Moretti, Jacek Podlaski, Matthias Fritsche, Peter Zatka-Haas, Yulong Li, Rafal Bogacz, Andrew Saxe and our funders especially @wellcometrust.bsky.social
- Two awesome papers on dopamine neuronal computations , congratulations to authors
- 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
- Reposted by Armin LakWe’re hiring a postdoc with slice patch-clamp expertise to study head direction circuits and plasticity during spatial learning. Ideal for a neurophysiologist excited to combine ex vivo and in vivo approaches. Come join us in beautiful Cambridge! 🐭🧭🧠 📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
- Reposted by Armin Lak*** Come join us !! We are recruiting !! *** How does the brain generate beliefs that go beyond direct experience? How do these mechanisms go awry in psychosis? The Barron lab tinyurl.com/bdf4drjf @MRCBNDU @NDCNOxford are recruiting a new postdoc tinyurl.com/ut4vbwt4 to work in mouse models
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- Reposted by Armin LakOur paper is out in Nature. By examining various inputs to the motor cortex during learning, we found that thalamic inputs learn to activate the cortical neurons encoding the movement being learned. Tour de force by Assaf in collab with Felix and Marcus. Congrats! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Armin LakPleased to share the final published version of @glopez.bsky.social's work in @currentbiology.bsky.social! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "Region-specific nucleus accumbens dopamine signals encode distinct aspects of avoidance learning" Congrats, Gaby!!!
- Reposted by Armin LakFirst preprint from our lab! An @jerlich.bsky.social collaboration We developed novel frameworks to study multi-agent decisions in mice. Mice flexibly shift their decision preference under social competition, by integrating real-time self and opponent information! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Armin LakShould you stick to your goal, try something else, or give up? Your median raphe nucleus in the brainstem knows and will decide for you 😉. First foray of my lab into foraging, behavioural strategies and exploration. Amazing work from the one and only Mehran Ahmadlou: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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- Reposted by Armin Lak🚨 New study alert! 🚨 Ever wondered if rats and humans learn in the same way? 🐭🧑🔬 We tested this — and the answer is yes, at least when it comes to how we value rewards in context. (with @shaunaparkes.bsky.social Lachlan Ferguson, Magdalena Soukupova) 🧵Thread 👇 1/ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Armin LakOur new paper is out in Science. What is the synaptic plasticity rule in the brain, we asked. It turns out there are multiple, even within individual neurons. Congrats Jake! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Armin Lak1/ Why do patients with late-stage cancer lose motivation & sink into apathy? 🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵 🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
- Congratulations to DR. Sam Liebana for successful DPhil viva 🍾🎉Pure scientific and personal pleasure to have this thoughtful, creative and kind man in the lab. Stay tuned for his paper coming out in final form very soon. @oxforddpag.bsky.social
- Reposted by Armin LakMany of us use 2p scopes to image 3D volumes of brain. But then we analyze the data plane by plane, resulting in duplicated neurons, missed neurons, and low s/n. Let's go 3D! Suite3D: Volumetric cell detection for two-photon microscopy by @haydari.bsky.social & team. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Armin LakWe’re recruiting for 5 faculty positions in cognitive neuroscience, psychology & animal neuroscience! Exciting science going on @UofG, Glasgow is an amazing and green city with the friendliest people, and you’ll have the stunning highlands on your doorstep! tinyurl.com/mbn6yf56 Please repost!
- Neat and nice results
- Awesome work from @yanfengzhang.bsky.social and @stephcragg.bsky.social
- 🚨 Excited to share our new study in @natureneuro.bsky.social! We (+ @stephcragg.bsky.social) show that ChIs (via nAChRs) continuously, and dynamically DEPRESS dopamine release! @oxforddpag.bsky.social @hls.exeter.ac.uk www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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- Reposted by Armin LakScience Matters. 🔬 For 80 years, science has been a north star for the U.S. In 1945, Vannevar Bush’s report Science, The Endless Frontier called for bold government investment in research transforming our health, economy, quality of life. Science is not zero-sum—it creates value and better lives.
- Reposted by Armin LakI am very proud to announce that my PhD paper finally came out in Cell! In this *very* collaborative study, we develop and release a deep-learning approach to predict neuron type identity from their electrical signature. doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... 1/16 🧵
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- This review has turned into my go-to paper for rodent PFC circuit. Useful in the lab and for teaching. Thanks @panastasiades.bsky.social and @carterlab.bsky.social for writing this. www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
- Reposted by Armin LakExcited to announce multiple #PhD & #Postdoc positions opening in my lab over the next three years as part of the #ERC Starting grant DIVERSE! Reposts appreciated 😊 #neuroscience #neuroskyence
- Reposted by Armin LakWe have an opening for a 12 month Research Assistant post, funded by an ERC grant. The postholder would help with several neuroimaging projects, including MEG and 7T fMRI. Please repost and share with anyone who may be interested. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... #neuroskyence #Neuroimaging
- Reposted by Armin Lakhello 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...
- Happy #WomenInScience day. I am thankful to all girls and women in my lab whom I am learning from every day. Photos featuring current/recent lab members. @oxforddpag.bsky.social
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- Reposted by Armin Lak📰Today the BNA has released an open letter to research #funders highlighting the urgent need for action to protect #preclinical neuroscience research in the UK. Read our report & open letter to funders here: tinyurl.com/464zezam #researchpolicy #sciencepolicy
- Reposted by Armin LakJOB ADVERT Associate Professor of Social Psychology at University of Oxford + Fellowship at Christ Church. Can be appointed at Full Professor if suitably qualified. Come and join the best Psychology department there is! @oxexppsy.bsky.social Please share, and apply: tinyurl.com/OxSocialPsych
- Applying to neuroscience grad schools this year? Then don’t miss this one at Oxford (deadline jan 29). Multiple funded places. Apply and come work with us and excellent labs around us
- Two weeks to go until the application deadline for ILESLA. If you or anyone you know would benefit from full funding to carry out a PhD in Life and/or Environmental Science please visit/refer to our website page iles.web.ox.ac.uk/how-apply where you can see open day videos and get full guidance.
