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Ravi Mill

@ravimill.bsky.social
121 followers 188 following 10 posts

Assistant Research Professor in Neuroscience, Director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience (PhD), Rutgers University-Newark Cognitive, Computational and Network Neuroscience

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Reposted by Ravi Mill
Atsushi Kikumoto @kikumotoatsushi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm recruiting a PhD student for Fall 2027 at the University of Maryland — Cognitive Flexibility Dynamics Lab, studying cognitive control via brain recording (M/EEG, MRI), stimulation (TUS), and computational modeling. Please email me: cfd-lab.com/join
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Reposted by Ravi Mill
Michael W. Cole @mwcole.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Why do our visual systems have “shortcut” connections (V1-V4)? What do they add beyond the classic hierarchical (V1-V2-V3-V4) pathway? 

The lab’s latest study takes activity flow modeling to the next level to answer this question, led by @alextzalav.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
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Evan Gordon @gordonneuro.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I always assumed that brain function had to line up with cytoarchitectonics. It turns out I was wrong. Human cortex, especially PFC, is tiled by chains of functional patches that subdivide and interlink architectonic areas into parallel processing streams. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Nicholas Menghi @nichome.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Our new paper, now published in @natcomms.nature.com , asks a simple question: when two tasks share a common structure, does the brain learn them more efficiently? Surprisingly, this was not the case. Thread below (1/7) rdcu.be/eSwvU
rdcu.be
The effects of task similarity during representation learning in brains and neural networks
Nature Communications - Here, the authors show learning tasks with similar structures can initially cause interference and slow down learning, but both the brain and artificial networks gradually...
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
10) Please check out the full paper here: “Dynamically shifting from compositional to conjunctive brain representations supports cognitive task learning”, doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org
Dynamically shifting from compositional to conjunctive brain representations supports cognitive task learning - Nature Communications
Learning shifts multi-task representations from compositional to conjunctive formats. Cortical conjunctions uniquely associate with effects of practice, and index switch costs. Subcortex is critical f...
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
9)Our results suggest the shift from compositional-conjunctive representations serves as a general neurocomputational signature of learning. So early experience of learning the cello is reliant on retrieval of compositional reps, whilst later practice encodes more specialized cortical conjunctions.
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
8) Despite the observed importance of cortical conjunctions, subcortical regions (hippocampus and cerebellum) have a critical role in orchestrating the cross-network interactions that bind compositional representations into conjunctions.
Matrix of cross-network interactions, with violin plot summary of distal (off-diagonal) interactions
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
7) The strength of conjunctions specifically in cortex index the extent/robustness of practice, associating with behavioral improvement, increased pattern separation and resistance to task switching costs.
Results graphs depicting association between cortical conjunction strength and increased pattern separation, and practice-induced resistance to task switching costs
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
6)We find that novel tasks rely on task-general compositional representations (allowing transfer of abstract knowledge), whereas practiced tasks are reliant on task-specific conjunctions (allowing for specialization/expertise). Conjunctions originate in subcortex before slowly spreading to cortex.
Results plot showing method of estimating compositional and conjunctive representations, block-averaged strength estimates for each type, and timecourse trajectories for each over practice
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
5) We tackled this question here, using functional MRI to scan healthy young adults as they performed a battery of complex tasks, from first novel presentation through hours of practice.
Design schematic for multi-task fMRI paradigm
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
4) Although the effects of practice in improving behavior are well-established, what happens in the brain to allow us to perform tasks when they are novel through repeated practice remains mysterious.
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
3)However, practice is required to move from mere competency towards proficiency/expertise. Whilst transfer of prior knowledge may allow you to play “Mary had a little lamb” on the cello within days-weeks, it will require months-years of practice to play more complex pieces, like Bach’s cello suites
Schematic showing necessity/utility of practice for cello skill development
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
2) We all perform a multitude of cognitive tasks every day. Many tasks are novel, requiring rapid transfer of prior knowledge to achieve basic competency. E.g., when learning to play the cello, you may benefit from prior knowledge of sheet music or prior experience with another bowed instrument...
Schematic showing compositional sensory and motor transfer when the task of playing the cello is new
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Ravi Mill @ravimill.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Excited to see our paper with @mwcole.bsky.social finally out in peer-reviewed form @natcomms.nature.com! We examine how the human brain learns new tasks and optimizes representations over practice…1/n
Schematic depicting cortical-subcortical interactions during multi-task learning
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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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Michael W. Cole @mwcole.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Lab’s latest is out in Imaging Neuroscience, led by Kirsten Peterson: “Regularized partial correlation provides reliable functional connectivity estimates while correcting for widespread confounding”, where we demonstrate a major improvement to standard fMRI functional connectivity (correlation) 1/n
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