Interested in how we make preference-driven decisions, and how this is implemented in the brain? We report that neural correlates of evidence accumulation (CPP, Mu/Beta) are also observed during value-based decisions. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Led by @laurencf.bsky.social (Lauren Fong) 1/n

Big Doughnutty News. Just out in Nature: the all-new 2025 Doughnut. Transformed from a single-year snapshot to an annual global monitor of 21st century social & ecological thriving. Available to all in an open-access paper by @andrewlfanning.bsky.social and me. 🧵 1/ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Check out our reviewed preprint, now out in eLife! With @spk3lly.bsky.social, @redmondoconnell.bsky.social and Anna Geuzebroek elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre... While we work on improving the [solid] paper based on the reviews, here are the key take-home messages:

Introducing hMFC: A Bayesian hierarchical model of trial-to-trial fluctuations in decision criterion! Now out in @plos.org Comp Bio. led by Robin Vloeberghs with @anne-urai.bsky.social Scott Linderman Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓ #PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence

Common neural choice signals reflect accumulated evidence, not confidence! Now out in @cerebralcortex.bsky.social w @helenevanmarcke.bsky.social @pierreledenmat.bsky.social @yfvisser.bsky.social @denizerdil.bsky.social a.o. Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓

On Wednesday at 16:30, I will be presenting at a symposium organised by @redmondoconnell.bsky.social SY24: Integrating Distinct Viewpoints On The Neural Origins Of Metacognition. I will show a series of experiments on higher-order monitoring for distinguishing imagination and perception.

Trinity College unveils 'gamechanger' brain scanner. Watch the full interview with Professor Redmond O'Connell with RTE here: www.rte.ie/news/ireland... @redmondoconnell.bsky.social

Check out our new multisensory decision study! We tackle a decades-old Q: does faster detection of bimodal targets come from a race or co-activation between modalities? And also a vital, orthogonal Q: is it one decision process or two? A1: co-activation A2: two! Read here: rdcu.be/eASYd

Delighted to share this paper, now published in @arvoinfo.bsky.social. With @spk3lly.bsky.social‬ and Anna Geuzebroek we explored differences in visual cortical responses for pattern pulses and pattern reversals. Here's the link: jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...

Ireland launches global talent fund! www.researchireland.ie/funding/glob... If you're a neuroscience professor (assistant/associate/full) and would consider relocating to the vibrant and booming city of Dublin, please get in touch!

1/3 Check out our new commentary bsky.app/profile/imag....

Laminar MEG is possible across all cortical depths. Our comprehensive simulations outline SNR, head movement, and micro/macro anatomical limitations to source reconstruction precision. Not perfect by any chance, lots of confirmatory work ahead, but it's promising. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our newest preprint is out (doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.05.658071), with @lucvermeylen.bsky.social,Dasha Monakhovych, Cameron McCabe, Sarah-Louise Mannion, @kobedesender.bsky.social, @redmondoconnell.bsky.social, comparing post-decision confidence models against behaviour and neural decision signals...

#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) 😊

📢 #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

Very happy to share this paper, now published in @natcomms.nature.com! nature.com/articles/s41... With @spk3lly.bsky.social and @neuromurphy.bsky.social, we investigated the neural computations that allow us to make near-optimal decisions in changing environments. Here's a short summary:

getting this paper published was a bit painful but I am proud of it: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We use deep RL to find mechanisms that help (real) people sustain the commons. Well done to Raphael Koster and Miruna Pislar (not on BlueSky). non-paywalled version on arxiv.

Check out this great thread by @jduffy9.bsky.social highlighting our new review paper in which we examine emerging methods for disentangling sources of behavioural variability on perceptual and cognitive tasks bsky.app/profile/jduf...

Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Exciting 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.

Thanks to all who came to support and watched online! A recording is available here: www.youtube.com/live/6LSfkQk...

My article "A comprehensive assessment of current methods for measuring metacognition" is finally out in Nature Communications 🎉 If you work on metacognition and think you know the psychometric properties of your favorite measure, you may be surprised. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Come join us in Dublin June 11-14th for the Multidisciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social! Great speaker list rldm.org/invited-spea..., workshops and tutorials soon to be announced. Abstract submission deadline 15th January. Don't miss out!

Devastating news that Eleanor Maguire has passed away. She was my mentor for many years. She was a wonderfully thoughtful and kind person and a brilliant scientist. Her research inspired so many of us and her legacy of incredible discoveries will continue to inspire far into the future. RIP Eleanor

There's a movement in neuroscience suggesting we should be pursuing bigger bets with larger teams. I think there's a case for doing a bit of this, but I think it's a bad idea to prioritise it for two reasons, and a good case for saying we should be moving in the exact opposite direction. 🧠🧪

Time to re-up this old blog of mine: No gene is an island www.wiringthebrain.com/2013/07/no-g... (or: complex traits and disorders are genuinely freaking COMPLEX!)

I wrote an article about my dad's death, and how it affected my views on assisted dying, published in the Times Free version here

Fresh out: a short review article where I give an overview of different ways that across-trial temporal structure is helpful in understanding cognitive models of decision-making osf.io/preprints/ps...

Nice review of the history of the peer review system It’s increasingly clear to me this has to change - experts should be paid by journals to do this key task that adds rigour & value to scientific publications Journals have exploited academics & universities to make massive profits for too long

Hey 👋 the deadline for submitting workshop proposals to #RLDM is fast approaching! We would especially love creative structures for workshops, like hackathons, debates or other traditional formats. Follow @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social for more updates!

Although we don’t want this fight now, if we have to have it we will. We have all the funders/unis/institutes on our side. Elife papers will be treated just the same as before. And maybe we can collectively put a dent in Clarivate’s business model.

This is leadership

“Regressing common choice signals away does not make them artifacts" Please check out our commentary on the Frömer et al paper (2024, Nature Human Behaviour) in which we highlight important problems with the analysis and interpretation of their perceptual choice data. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A reminder that there's still to apply for this postdoc position in our lab. Deadline is 22nd December

We're hiring! The O'Connell Lab is offering a 2-year postdoctoral position to join our team and work on our ERC-funded project developing neurally-informed models of perceptual decision making and metacognition. Full info here: oconnell-lab.com/home/opportu..., feel free to DM any questions

I'm on my way to the biggest city in the world - Dublin. Come see my poster at #MEGUKI2023 I'll tell you about even more laminar MEG than you have heard before. Everyone will find something for them, if you don't like the science, at least the figures will be pretty 🧪 🧠🟦 🧠🤖 #neuroimaging

On my way to Dublin to attend #MEGUKI2023 and present our results on “what” and “when” predictions in speech processing, come say hi!