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Renée Koolschijn

@reneecabbage.bsky.social
43 followers 44 following 7 posts

Postdoc at the Donders Istitute, previously DPhil at University of Oxford

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Reposted by Renée Koolschijn
Brain Network Dynamics Unit @bndu.ox.ac.uk · 23/03/2026
New unit paper on “Noradrenaline causes a spread of association in the hippocampal cognitive map”, published in @natcomms.nature.com. www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/papers/norad... @ndcnoxford.bsky.social @medsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
PS If you like our paper and are looking to employ a postdoc starting around Oct/Nov then please get in touch :)
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
A huge thanks to all coauthors @mikebrowning.bsky.social, @xenianeuro.bsky.social, Liliana Capitāo, Will Clarke, @tpvogels.bsky.social, and in particular Prakriti Parthasarathy, @helencbarron.bsky.social and Jill O’Reilly for getting this project across the finish line!
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Indeed, we found the neural ‘spread of association’ effect can be predicted by individuals’ physiological markers of elevated noradrenaline, namely cortical inhibition (GABA+ concentration in LOC) and pupil dilation response to surprising stimuli!
Correlation between 'neural spread of association' in the hippocampal formation and the concentration of GABA+ in LOC, and the pupil dilation response to surprising stimuli.
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
In a neural network model, developed by the amazing Prakriti Parthasarathy and @tpvogels.bsky.social, we show that learning during a period of decreased inhibition allows for a ‘spread of association’ along the cognitive map.
Snapshots of the neural network model in the pre-learning state and post-learning state, when learning occurred under atomoxetine/elevated noradrenaline.
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Our key finding: a single dose of the noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine during learning increased behavioural measures of overgeneralisation along the cognitive map, which were predicted by the degree of neural ‘spread of association’ along the hippocampal cognitive map.
Graphical summary of the paper illustrating the main finding that decreased noradrenaline during learning of a cognitive map lowers cortical inhibition, which leads to 'spread of association' in the hippocampal cognitive map, and which in turn predicts overgeneralisation in behaviour.
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
We asked whether the neuromodulator noradrenaline could set the trade-off between storing a veridical copy of past experience versus facilitating novel inferences across a newly formed cognitive map.
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Renée Koolschijn @reneecabbage.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Very pleased to share that our study “Noradrenaline causes a spread of association in the hippocampal cognitive map” is out in @natcomms.nature.com (my final PhD paper, only 3.5 years post PhD! 🙃) Find the paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Noradrenaline causes a spread of association in the hippocampal cognitive map - Nature Communications
When forming a cognitive map, a trade-off exists between facilitating novel inferences and storing veridical copies of past experience. Here the authors show that the neuromodulator noradrenaline sets...
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Reposted by Renée Koolschijn
Soha Farboud | So @sohafarboud.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Ultrasound gives our brain a nudge in the right direction 🧠 👀 Look to your left, look to your right! We used #ultrasound to stimulate the brain and it changed human choice behavior within a fraction of a second. No surgery, no implants. Link to paper ⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Rapid modulation of choice behavior by ultrasound on the human frontal eye fields - Nature Communications
Brief ultrasound to human frontal eye fields, but not motor cortex, rapidly biases eye movement contralaterally in a perceptual choice task. The size of this effect scales with individual baseline FEF...
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