Andrej Bicanski
@andrejbicanski.bsky.social
Research group leader at MPI_CBS. Physicist turned neuroscientist (interests: too many, but mainly spatial cognition), sporadically on X/BSky.
Pinned
www.biorxiv.org
1/N: Dear cognitive map fans, I’d like to share a model I’ve been working on for a while (clearing backlog :). I show how a vector navigation architecture (VNA) and a “positional inference network” (PIN) can build Universal Cognitive Maps (UCMs) for abstract spaces.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
📣 🔥 🤩 Our lab is recruiting a PhD student!
If you want to do a PhD in computational neuroscience come and join us at the @kavlintnu.bsky.social ! 🧠 💻
For questions and info, the lab will be at Bernstein in a few days 😊
⏰ Apply before October 11: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
If you want to do a PhD in computational neuroscience come and join us at the @kavlintnu.bsky.social ! 🧠 💻
For questions and info, the lab will be at Bernstein in a few days 😊
⏰ Apply before October 11: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
PhD in Computational Neuroscience (307990) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Job title: PhD in Computational Neuroscience (307990), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Sunday, October 11, 2026
www.jobbnorge.no
September 18, 2026 at 6:34 AM
📣 🔥 🤩 Our lab is recruiting a PhD student!
If you want to do a PhD in computational neuroscience come and join us at the @kavlintnu.bsky.social ! 🧠 💻
For questions and info, the lab will be at Bernstein in a few days 😊
⏰ Apply before October 11: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
If you want to do a PhD in computational neuroscience come and join us at the @kavlintnu.bsky.social ! 🧠 💻
For questions and info, the lab will be at Bernstein in a few days 😊
⏰ Apply before October 11: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
New tenure-track faculty position at Duke! The Neurobiology department is looking for a computational neuroscientist. Join a highly collaborative & interdisciplinary community. My time at Duke has been amazing so far & we would love the opportunity to collaborate with you! Applications due Dec 1.
Duke University, Neurobiology
Job #AJO32697, Tenure Track Assistant Professor - AI/ML Neurobiology, Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, US
academicjobsonline.org
September 16, 2026 at 3:28 PM
New tenure-track faculty position at Duke! The Neurobiology department is looking for a computational neuroscientist. Join a highly collaborative & interdisciplinary community. My time at Duke has been amazing so far & we would love the opportunity to collaborate with you! Applications due Dec 1.
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Hey @ericlipton.nytimes.com 👋
AI is not “evolving” on its own.
*People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it.
Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
AI is not “evolving” on its own.
*People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it.
Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
OpenAI’s top scientist, in a blog post on Sunday, warns that artificial intelligence is evolving so rapidly that it is becoming increasingly difficult for humans to understand and control it.
Here is the post:
openai.com/index/an-ali...
And a couple of small excerpts--clear warnings.
Here is the post:
openai.com/index/an-ali...
And a couple of small excerpts--clear warnings.
September 8, 2026 at 3:24 AM
Hey @ericlipton.nytimes.com 👋
AI is not “evolving” on its own.
*People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it.
Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
AI is not “evolving” on its own.
*People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it.
Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
New Dentate Gyrus model by @vstudenyak.bsky.social !
New preprint from my PhD at MPI CBS 🧠, with @doellerlab.bsky.social and @andrejbicanski.bsky.social
“A computational model of the two dentate gyrus blades”
What mechanisms allow the two DG blades to support distinct coding regimes? (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...)
1/9
“A computational model of the two dentate gyrus blades”
What mechanisms allow the two DG blades to support distinct coding regimes? (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...)
1/9
September 7, 2026 at 2:07 PM
New Dentate Gyrus model by @vstudenyak.bsky.social !
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
New preprint from my PhD at MPI CBS 🧠, with @doellerlab.bsky.social and @andrejbicanski.bsky.social
“A computational model of the two dentate gyrus blades”
What mechanisms allow the two DG blades to support distinct coding regimes? (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...)
1/9
“A computational model of the two dentate gyrus blades”
What mechanisms allow the two DG blades to support distinct coding regimes? (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...)
1/9
September 7, 2026 at 2:00 PM
New preprint from my PhD at MPI CBS 🧠, with @doellerlab.bsky.social and @andrejbicanski.bsky.social
“A computational model of the two dentate gyrus blades”
What mechanisms allow the two DG blades to support distinct coding regimes? (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...)
1/9
“A computational model of the two dentate gyrus blades”
What mechanisms allow the two DG blades to support distinct coding regimes? (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...)
1/9
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
How fast can mice learn complex mazes? With @mameister4.bsky.social we reveal memory, generalization, latent learning, and remote credit assignment of mice in the Manhattan Maze. Do mice born without a cortex or hippocampus have them too? Check it out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Rapid spatial cognition in mice, with and without neocortex and hippocampus
Rapid learning, memory, and generalization are often attributed to circuits of the neocortex and hippocampus, but their specific role remains unclear. To examine these cognitive abilities together in ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 4, 2026 at 1:56 AM
How fast can mice learn complex mazes? With @mameister4.bsky.social we reveal memory, generalization, latent learning, and remote credit assignment of mice in the Manhattan Maze. Do mice born without a cortex or hippocampus have them too? Check it out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
🧠 Next Mind Meeting Talk!
@suthanalab.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Neural Dynamics of Human Memory in the Real World.
🗓 August 27 | 3:00 PM
📍 In person (Zoom available)
We look forward to seeing you!
@suthanalab.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Neural Dynamics of Human Memory in the Real World.
🗓 August 27 | 3:00 PM
📍 In person (Zoom available)
We look forward to seeing you!
August 24, 2026 at 8:53 AM
🧠 Next Mind Meeting Talk!
@suthanalab.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Neural Dynamics of Human Memory in the Real World.
🗓 August 27 | 3:00 PM
📍 In person (Zoom available)
We look forward to seeing you!
@suthanalab.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Neural Dynamics of Human Memory in the Real World.
🗓 August 27 | 3:00 PM
📍 In person (Zoom available)
We look forward to seeing you!
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Congrats @jespass.bsky.social on her new paper! PFC is widely thought to talk to HPC via nucleus reuniens - but no one has tested if this actual connectivity exists. Turns out it's wired to block it: PFC inputs to reuniens contact only neurons projecting back to PFC, not ones projecting to HPC. 🧪🧠📈
Nucleus reuniens is organised as parallel circuits rather than a prefrontal-hippocampal relay
Interactions between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HPC) are crucial for flexible and memory guided behaviour. Because there are no direct projections from PFC to HPC, it is widely presu...
www.biorxiv.org
August 20, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Congrats @jespass.bsky.social on her new paper! PFC is widely thought to talk to HPC via nucleus reuniens - but no one has tested if this actual connectivity exists. Turns out it's wired to block it: PFC inputs to reuniens contact only neurons projecting back to PFC, not ones projecting to HPC. 🧪🧠📈
"...This exercise teaches us nothing about either animal ..."
Useful precisely because absurd.
Useful precisely because absurd.
Our digital sphinx, a cautionary tale about the interpretation of connectome-body models, is now a reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social. We are grateful to the reviewers for engaging seriously with what we hope is a useful (if absurd) demonstration.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
August 17, 2026 at 7:09 PM
"...This exercise teaches us nothing about either animal ..."
Useful precisely because absurd.
Useful precisely because absurd.
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Our digital sphinx, a cautionary tale about the interpretation of connectome-body models, is now a reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social. We are grateful to the reviewers for engaging seriously with what we hope is a useful (if absurd) demonstration.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
August 17, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Our digital sphinx, a cautionary tale about the interpretation of connectome-body models, is now a reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social. We are grateful to the reviewers for engaging seriously with what we hope is a useful (if absurd) demonstration.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Join us at @mpicbs.bsky.social as a fully funded 4-year PostDoc (m/f/d) in Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex). Excellent infrastructure with a leading scientific network. Apply by 17 August: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/44...?
Fully funded PostDoc Position (m/f/d) for 4 years in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex) - Doeller Lab | Karriereportal Max-Planck-Institut für Kogniti...
Fully funded PostDoc Position (m/f/d) for 4 years in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex) - Doeller Lab | Karriereportal Max-Planck-Institut für Kogniti...
recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com
July 14, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Join us at @mpicbs.bsky.social as a fully funded 4-year PostDoc (m/f/d) in Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex). Excellent infrastructure with a leading scientific network. Apply by 17 August: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/44...?
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Great to see Ellie Spens’ model out! Interplay btwn episodic (hippo) & semantic (neocort’l) systems, in encoding, consolidatn, recall & problem solving with sequential info, as compressive retrieval-augmented generation. Inc gist-based distortion in stories & inference
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Hippocampo-neocortical interaction as compressive retrieval-augmented generation - Nature Communications
Here the authors model interactions between episodic and semantic memory as ‘retrieval-augmented generation’, explaining consolidation of structure from sequential experience, the reconstruction and d...
www.nature.com
August 8, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Great to see Ellie Spens’ model out! Interplay btwn episodic (hippo) & semantic (neocort’l) systems, in encoding, consolidatn, recall & problem solving with sequential info, as compressive retrieval-augmented generation. Inc gist-based distortion in stories & inference
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Errors or Adaptations? A Critical Review of Predictive Processing in Psychiatry pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42510237/ Hmmm...
July 28, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Errors or Adaptations? A Critical Review of Predictive Processing in Psychiatry pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42510237/ Hmmm...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Why is reading so fundamental to the human mind? In this fascinating paper, @standehaene.bsky.social & Co show how literacy reshapes and connects the brain’s visual and language systems. A timely reminder of what education could lose if LLMs replace reading & writing.
www.unicog.org/publications...
www.unicog.org/publications...
July 19, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Why is reading so fundamental to the human mind? In this fascinating paper, @standehaene.bsky.social & Co show how literacy reshapes and connects the brain’s visual and language systems. A timely reminder of what education could lose if LLMs replace reading & writing.
www.unicog.org/publications...
www.unicog.org/publications...
Postdoc position on Perirhinal Cortex function in Leipzig!
Join us at @mpicbs.bsky.social as a fully funded 4-year PostDoc (m/f/d) in Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex). Excellent infrastructure with a leading scientific network. Apply by 17 August: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/44...?
Fully funded PostDoc Position (m/f/d) for 4 years in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex) - Doeller Lab | Karriereportal Max-Planck-Institut für Kogniti...
Fully funded PostDoc Position (m/f/d) for 4 years in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex) - Doeller Lab | Karriereportal Max-Planck-Institut für Kogniti...
recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com
July 14, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Postdoc position on Perirhinal Cortex function in Leipzig!
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Join us at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig as a fully funded 4-year postdoc position (m/f/d) in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Social Cognition). Excellent infrastructure with a leading scientific network. Apply by 13 July: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/44...?
June 4, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Join us at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig as a fully funded 4-year postdoc position (m/f/d) in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Social Cognition). Excellent infrastructure with a leading scientific network. Apply by 13 July: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/44...?
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Really excited about this work with the awesome Will de Cothi & @shipleysj.bsky.social, out in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. We propose acetylcholine is an analogue of dopamine — tracking not reward prediction errors but state-transition prediction errors. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-026-01058-w
June 23, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Really excited about this work with the awesome Will de Cothi & @shipleysj.bsky.social, out in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. We propose acetylcholine is an analogue of dopamine — tracking not reward prediction errors but state-transition prediction errors. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-026-01058-w
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Get submitting to OpenMind!! Not a bad deal :-)
——
Open Mind is MIT Press’s Diamond Open Access Cognitive Science journal.
We now have our first Impact Factor: 2.9 as of June 2026
Submit your papers to Open Mind
direct.mit.edu/opmi
Open Mind is MIT Press’s Diamond Open Access Cognitive Science journal.
We now have our first Impact Factor: 2.9 as of June 2026
Submit your papers to Open Mind
direct.mit.edu/opmi
June 20, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Get submitting to OpenMind!! Not a bad deal :-)
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
New paper out in Current Biology.
We define thalamic head direction (HD) cells based on the combination of neurochemical identity, physiology, sensorimotor responses, and connectivity, suggesting cell types.
Great work led by Sara Hijazi and Shan Jiang from the lab.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
We define thalamic head direction (HD) cells based on the combination of neurochemical identity, physiology, sensorimotor responses, and connectivity, suggesting cell types.
Great work led by Sara Hijazi and Shan Jiang from the lab.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Diversity and sensorimotor specialization of head direction cells in the mouse thalamus
Hijazi and Jiang et al. identify distinct head direction (HD) cell subpopulations
in the mouse anterodorsal thalamic nucleus, based on the combination of firing patterns,
connectivity, and neurochemic...
www.cell.com
June 10, 2026 at 10:23 PM
New paper out in Current Biology.
We define thalamic head direction (HD) cells based on the combination of neurochemical identity, physiology, sensorimotor responses, and connectivity, suggesting cell types.
Great work led by Sara Hijazi and Shan Jiang from the lab.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
We define thalamic head direction (HD) cells based on the combination of neurochemical identity, physiology, sensorimotor responses, and connectivity, suggesting cell types.
Great work led by Sara Hijazi and Shan Jiang from the lab.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Ever wonder how your brain navigates the real world? 🧠
Most spatial navigation studies use flat, 2D mazes.
But the real world is hilly, irregular, and bumpy! ⛰️
Our new paper in #ScienceAdvances asked a simple question: How does the brain map uneven terrain?
📄 doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵👇️️️
1/
Most spatial navigation studies use flat, 2D mazes.
But the real world is hilly, irregular, and bumpy! ⛰️
Our new paper in #ScienceAdvances asked a simple question: How does the brain map uneven terrain?
📄 doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵👇️️️
1/
June 5, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Ever wonder how your brain navigates the real world? 🧠
Most spatial navigation studies use flat, 2D mazes.
But the real world is hilly, irregular, and bumpy! ⛰️
Our new paper in #ScienceAdvances asked a simple question: How does the brain map uneven terrain?
📄 doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵👇️️️
1/
Most spatial navigation studies use flat, 2D mazes.
But the real world is hilly, irregular, and bumpy! ⛰️
Our new paper in #ScienceAdvances asked a simple question: How does the brain map uneven terrain?
📄 doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵👇️️️
1/
Great postdoc opportunity.
Join us at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig as a fully funded 4-year postdoc position (m/f/d) in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (Area: Social Cognition). Excellent infrastructure with a leading scientific network. Apply by 13 July: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/44...?
June 5, 2026 at 7:46 AM
Great postdoc opportunity.
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
🧠 Next Mind Meeting Talk!
Jennifer Li and Drew Robson from the RoLi Lab at @mpicybernetics.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Uncovering the neural mechanisms of spatial cognition with behavior-aware autonomous microscopes.
Jennifer Li and Drew Robson from the RoLi Lab at @mpicybernetics.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Uncovering the neural mechanisms of spatial cognition with behavior-aware autonomous microscopes.
May 5, 2026 at 12:39 PM
🧠 Next Mind Meeting Talk!
Jennifer Li and Drew Robson from the RoLi Lab at @mpicybernetics.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Uncovering the neural mechanisms of spatial cognition with behavior-aware autonomous microscopes.
Jennifer Li and Drew Robson from the RoLi Lab at @mpicybernetics.bsky.social will give a talk titled: Uncovering the neural mechanisms of spatial cognition with behavior-aware autonomous microscopes.
Been thinking about this topic for a while but never seen it expressed this well. Thank you @tonyzador.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/machine-lear...
www.thetransmitter.org/machine-lear...
Can AI do neuroscience without understanding?
Prediction without understanding sustained astronomy through a thousand years of epicycles. Artificial intelligence is now offering neuroscience the same deal.
www.thetransmitter.org
May 2, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Been thinking about this topic for a while but never seen it expressed this well. Thank you @tonyzador.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/machine-lear...
www.thetransmitter.org/machine-lear...
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Job alert! We are seeking a rodent in vivo electrophysiologist to work on coordination between anterior thalamus and hippocampus in rats using Neuropixels. Beautiful Scotland, leading university (Glasgow) and vibrant intellectual setting. Post is 23 months but hopefully extensible. Details here 👇
April 21, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Job alert! We are seeking a rodent in vivo electrophysiologist to work on coordination between anterior thalamus and hippocampus in rats using Neuropixels. Beautiful Scotland, leading university (Glasgow) and vibrant intellectual setting. Post is 23 months but hopefully extensible. Details here 👇
Reposted by Andrej Bicanski
Can we really measure replay in humans using MEG with current methods? In our most recent paper we simulated replay under realistic conditions via a novel hybrid approach with astonishing results.
we're delighted that it has now been published @elife.bsky.social!
elifesciences.org/articles/108...
we're delighted that it has now been published @elife.bsky.social!
elifesciences.org/articles/108...
TDLM-Resting-State Simulation
How sensitive is TDLM really? Can we actually find replay when we know it is present?
cimh-clinical-psychology.github.io
April 10, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Can we really measure replay in humans using MEG with current methods? In our most recent paper we simulated replay under realistic conditions via a novel hybrid approach with astonishing results.
we're delighted that it has now been published @elife.bsky.social!
elifesciences.org/articles/108...
we're delighted that it has now been published @elife.bsky.social!
elifesciences.org/articles/108...