Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 08/10/2026The 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! tinyurl.com/yjubmvvb 02719 27
Reposted by Ian BallardJeremy Hogeveen @jeremyhogeveen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026The Society for the Science of Motivation is hosting a pre-meeting at @psychonomicsociety.bsky.social this year (coordinated by rockstar postdoc Pelin Tanberg). 111 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Speakers so far include @kimberlychiew.bsky.social, myself, and @ashenhav.bsky.social 000 0
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 01/09/2026📝 Call for abstracts for data blitz and talk slots! Submission deadline: October 1st 2026. 🔗 More info & submission link: ssmmotivatedcognition.my.canva.site Send inquiries to ssmmotivatedcog@gmail.com #AcademicTwitter #PsychResearch #CognitivePsychologyssmmotivatedcognition.my.canva.siteHome 100 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 01/09/2026📢 Save the date! The Society for the Science of Motivation (SSM) is excited to announce the first-ever Motivated Cognition satellite meeting at Psychonomics 2026 in San Diego! 🗓️ Thursday, November 19th, 11am–5pm 📍 San Diego ssmmotivatedcognition.my.canva.site #Psychonomics2026 #MotivatedCognitionssmmotivatedcognition.my.canva.siteHome 174 7
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 17/11/2025Thank you for the kind words-- I am glad you enjoyed it! I hope the technique can be useful to folks. 010 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 05/11/2025The 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... 12317 23
Reposted by Ian BallardDecision & Aging @srndna.bsky.social · 02/07/2025🎧 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/ 063 6
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 02/07/2025🧠👀 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. 060 6
Reposted by Ian BallardRLDM @rldmparis2027.bsky.social · 10/06/2025#RLDM2025 officially starts tomorrow! 🚀 Have you checked out our program? See details below, full program is available at rldm.org 👀 New to RLDM? Join our first-timers gathering tonight, 6-7pm, at Kennedy's Pub (30-32 Westland Row) 😊 2189 18
Reposted by Ian BallardRLDM @rldmparis2027.bsky.social · 04/06/2025Only 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.orgrldm.orgRLDM | The Multi-disciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making 2279 27
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 29/05/2025@alanajaskir.bsky.social @marcelomattar.bsky.social @nicoschuck.bsky.social @actlab.bsky.social 030 3
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 29/05/2025Excited 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 12610 26
Reposted by Ian BallardRLDM @rldmparis2027.bsky.social · 26/05/2025📢 #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 1198 19
Reposted by Ian BallardDavid Clewett @davidclewett.bsky.social · 19/05/2025New 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...biorxiv.orgDopaminergic processes predict temporal distortions in event memoryOur 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... 39435 94
Reposted by Ian BallardMartin Wiener @martinwiener.bsky.social · 22/04/2024Excited 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 #sciencenature.comMemorability shapes perceived time (and vice versa) - Nature Human BehaviourIn 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... 17717 77
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 13/05/2025Big 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... 1220 22
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 31/03/2025Thanks! Our technique is indirect (as, unlike PET, fMRI cannot directly assess dopamine), but it does seem to provide useful information linked to dopaminergic function. 011 1
Reposted by Ian BallardDeepu Murty @vpmurty.bsky.social · 28/03/2025Are 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 0283 28
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 28/03/2025Excited 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) 091 9
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 27/03/2025Have you run your estimation on striatal subregions? I'd be very curious to see what the HRFs look like! 110 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 27/03/2025I’m curious to hear what you find! In the preprint, we don’t model the HRF directly, but we have a project looking into trial-by-trial variability in the NAcc HRF time-to-peak 100 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Our TR was 2s. Would love to experiment with faster TRs in the future. 110 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Check out our preprint to learn more about how hemodynamic latencies map regional, individual, and pathological differences linked to dopamine. We'd love to hear your questions, ideas, or feedback! @anneberry.bsky.social @blaisefrederick.bsky.social 140 4
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025In individuals with cocaine use disorder, we found a spatial gradient of altered hemodynamic latencies in the striatum. This pattern independently correlated with nicotine use, revealing a conserved physiological profile associated with addictive substance use. 5/n 130 3
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Using PET, genetics, and pharmacology, we found that hemodynamic latency is tightly coupled to dopamine physiology. Broadly speaking, higher latency in the NAcc was associated with lower dopamine function and more perseverative behavior—linking BOLD signal timing to cognition. 4/n 140 4
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Hemodynamic latencies are markedly increased in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc)—a key dopaminergic region linked to addiction. This effect is strikingly precise: the anatomical NAcc boundary (green) aligns closely with the shift in hemodynamic latency. 3/n 130 3
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025fMRI doesn’t directly measure dopamine, but could dopamine influence BOLD signal timing? Dopamine axons wrap around microvessels, and dopamine triggers vasoconstriction. We hypothesized that higher extracellular dopamine increases the latency of the hemodynamic response. 2/n 140 4
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Interested 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/bddyz67bbiorxiv.orgTemporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine PhysiologySpatial 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,... 69943 99
Reposted by Ian BallardDoby Rahnev @dobyrahnev.bsky.social · 20/02/2025New 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...nature.comMultiple brain activation patterns for the same perceptual decision-making task - Nature CommunicationsHere, 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. 37027 70
Reposted by Ian BallardRLDM @rldmparis2027.bsky.social · 11/02/2025Exciting 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. 21715 17
Reposted by Ian BallardEmily G. Jacobs @emilyjacobs.bsky.social · 04/02/2025Advancing 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. 98219 82
Reposted by Ian BallardSam McDougle @actlab.bsky.social · 24/01/2025New 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 👇 23112 31
Reposted by Ian BallardDeepu Murty @vpmurty.bsky.social · 21/01/2025New 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...jmoodanxdisorders.orgPeer victimization but not social anxiety negatively influences predicted enjoyment during peer interactionsWe 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... 2224 22
Reposted by Ian BallardDavid Abel @dabelcs.bsky.social · 12/01/2025The 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 Dublinrldm.orgCALL FOR WORKSHOPS | RLDM 24214 42
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 07/01/2025Some tips for making and keeping New Year's resolutions! @ucriverside.bsky.social news.ucr.edu/articles/202...news.ucr.eduWill you keep your New Year’s resolutions?A UC Riverside psychologist shares his thoughts on how to make them last 042 4
Reposted by Ian BallardIgnacio Saez, PhD @ignaciosaezphd.bsky.social · 22/11/2024In 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... 0144 14
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 10/12/2024How 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.eduReward Reinforcement Creates Enduring Facilitation of Goal-directed BehaviorAbstract. 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... 22810 28
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Check out rldm.org/invited-spea... to see invited speakers!rldm.orgINVITED SPEAKERS | RLDM 010 1
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Get 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. 1116 11
Reposted by Ian BallardCarlos G. Correa @cgcorrea.bsky.social · 03/12/2024My 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... 19938 99
Reposted by Ian BallardJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience (JoCN) @jocn.bsky.social · 26/11/2024dlvr.itNeural and Computational Mechanisms of Motivation and Decision-makingAbstractMotivation is often thought to enhance adaptive decision-making by biasing actions toward rewards and away from punishment. Emerging evidence, however, points to a more nuanced view whereby motivation can both enhance and impair different aspects… 061 6
Reposted by Ian BallardHarrison Ritz @hritz.bsky.social · 25/11/2024Starter pack for researchers studying the control of cognitive processes e.g., attentional control, inhibition, task switching, working memory, error adaptation etc go.bsky.app/12KTqED 2610749 107
Reposted by Ian BallardEarl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 26/11/2024Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond www.cell.com/trends/neuro... #neurosciencecell.comRepresentational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyondThe orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial-prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) play a key role in decision-making and encode task states in addition to expected value. We review evidence suggesting a conne... 0547 54
Reposted by Ian BallardRuss Poldrack @russpoldrack.org · 25/11/2024Are you tempted to orthogonalize the regressors in your fMRI model? @jeanette-mumford.bsky.social tells you why this is almost never a good idea, and is likely to wreck the interpretation of your model. mumfordbrainstats.tumblr.com/post/1337933...mumfordbrainstats.tumblr.comCollinearity...is orthogonalization the answer? (No)If I had a dollar for every time I read a paper purporting to have repaired a multicollinearity issue by orthogonalizing regressors... Unfortunately, once collinearity is there and the data have been... 512835 128
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/11/2024I'd love to be added! Thank you for making this list 000 0
Reposted by Ian BallardBrad Postle @bradpostle.bsky.social · 25/11/2024ALSO in this month's @jocn.bsky.social Special Focus: Neural and Computational Mechanisms of Motivation and Decision Making Debbie M. Yee Tyler J. Adkins, Taraz G. Lee Ian C. Ballard, Michael Waskom, Kerry C. Nix, Mark D’Esposito Yue Zhang, Xiamin Leng, Amitai Shenhav 0175 17
Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 25/11/2024Check out our Special Focus on motivation and decision-making in JOCN 🚨. Each paper applies computational process modeling to reveal how motivational factors shape the cognitive processes guiding decision-making. @tarazlee.bsky.social @lindazhang.bsky.social 070 7