Surprising new result: Participants with vmPFC lesions *do not* show the usual effect where moral judgments impact intuitions about whether a behavior was performed intentionally
Lesion to the vmPFC abolishes intentionality (mis)attribution in the Knobe effect - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Lesion to the vmPFC abolishes intentionality (mis)attribution in the Knobe effect
www.nature.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Surprising new result: Participants with vmPFC lesions *do not* show the usual effect where moral judgments impact intuitions about whether a behavior was performed intentionally
1/n
With Cosyne around the corner, I thought I would:
a) make a thread about our “A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the vmPFC” Cell paper (i'm a bit late). shorturl.at/DBA3H
With Cosyne around the corner, I thought I would:
a) make a thread about our “A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the vmPFC” Cell paper (i'm a bit late). shorturl.at/DBA3H
A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex
Value-based decision-making can be conceptualized as navigation within a cognitive
map of choice values. During choice, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) compositionally
builds cognitive maps...
shorturl.at
March 12, 2026 at 12:43 PM
1/n
With Cosyne around the corner, I thought I would:
a) make a thread about our “A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the vmPFC” Cell paper (i'm a bit late). shorturl.at/DBA3H
With Cosyne around the corner, I thought I would:
a) make a thread about our “A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the vmPFC” Cell paper (i'm a bit late). shorturl.at/DBA3H
Theta phasic value signals via grid like coding of value space in vmPFC. This looks fantastic.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
A cognitive map for value-guided choice in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex
Value-based decision-making can be conceptualized as navigation within a cognitive
map of choice values. During choice, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) compositionally
builds cognitive maps...
www.cell.com
March 17, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Theta phasic value signals via grid like coding of value space in vmPFC. This looks fantastic.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
#acnp2024 Hugo Tejada showing that vmPFC dynorphin neurons fire in response to aversive experiences & cues & release dynorphin.
Knocking down dynorphin amplifies freezing & (reduces fleeing?) & impairs performance on reward/shock & looming stimulus conflict tasks.
Knocking down dynorphin amplifies freezing & (reduces fleeing?) & impairs performance on reward/shock & looming stimulus conflict tasks.
December 9, 2024 at 4:24 PM
#acnp2024 Hugo Tejada showing that vmPFC dynorphin neurons fire in response to aversive experiences & cues & release dynorphin.
Knocking down dynorphin amplifies freezing & (reduces fleeing?) & impairs performance on reward/shock & looming stimulus conflict tasks.
Knocking down dynorphin amplifies freezing & (reduces fleeing?) & impairs performance on reward/shock & looming stimulus conflict tasks.
Happy to share our review on OFC/vmPFC representations in Trends in Neurosciences, written with @nirmoneta.bsky.social and Shany Grossman
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Very short thread below to summarize our review
#neuroscience #neuroskyence #compneurosky #PsychSciSky
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Very short thread below to summarize our review
#neuroscience #neuroskyence #compneurosky #PsychSciSky
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me
November 15, 2024 at 11:33 AM
Happy to share our review on OFC/vmPFC representations in Trends in Neurosciences, written with @nirmoneta.bsky.social and Shany Grossman
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Very short thread below to summarize our review
#neuroscience #neuroskyence #compneurosky #PsychSciSky
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Very short thread below to summarize our review
#neuroscience #neuroskyence #compneurosky #PsychSciSky
One of the better feelings in science when the plot you sketch out on the whiteboard comes ~true in the data 😊
February 21, 2025 at 10:40 PM
One of the better feelings in science when the plot you sketch out on the whiteboard comes ~true in the data 😊
Our paper showing treatment-resistant depression is marked by WM loss and rewiring of reward circuits. ⬇️ FA in major tracts & hyperconnectivity b/w insula↔vmPFC and striatum↔vmPFC, & hypoconnectivity b/w striatum↔insula—linked to anhedonia severity. #neuroskyence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Complex Patterns of Altered White Matter Structural Connectivity within a ‘subjective valuation network’ in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Background Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) poses a significant clinical challenge, demanding a deeper understanding of its neurobiological underpinnings to improve therapeutics. We examined white...
www.biorxiv.org
September 13, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Our paper showing treatment-resistant depression is marked by WM loss and rewiring of reward circuits. ⬇️ FA in major tracts & hyperconnectivity b/w insula↔vmPFC and striatum↔vmPFC, & hypoconnectivity b/w striatum↔insula—linked to anhedonia severity. #neuroskyence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Planning + navigating novel shortcuts differently tax vmPFC subregions
Shortcuts differing more from prior experience are more demanding
Posterior vmPFC functions more closely resemble hippocampus and event separation
@crane-navsci.bsky.social
@paulinamaxim.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Shortcuts differing more from prior experience are more demanding
Posterior vmPFC functions more closely resemble hippocampus and event separation
@crane-navsci.bsky.social
@paulinamaxim.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Redirecting
doi.org
January 24, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Planning + navigating novel shortcuts differently tax vmPFC subregions
Shortcuts differing more from prior experience are more demanding
Posterior vmPFC functions more closely resemble hippocampus and event separation
@crane-navsci.bsky.social
@paulinamaxim.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Shortcuts differing more from prior experience are more demanding
Posterior vmPFC functions more closely resemble hippocampus and event separation
@crane-navsci.bsky.social
@paulinamaxim.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a
Biological and cognitive underpinnings of religious fundamentalism - PubMed
Beliefs profoundly affect people's lives, but their cognitive and neural pathways are poorly understood. Although previous research has identified the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) as critical to representing religious beliefs, the means by which vmPFC enables religious belief is uncertain. …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
March 17, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a
2/11
V hlave máme vmPFC – procesor, kde sa biológia mení na sociálne činy. Vyhodnocuje naše ciele a to, akú váhu pripíšeme sebe a akú ostatným. Taký vnútorný kompas, ktorý momentálne v našej spoločnosti dosť blázni.
V hlave máme vmPFC – procesor, kde sa biológia mení na sociálne činy. Vyhodnocuje naše ciele a to, akú váhu pripíšeme sebe a akú ostatným. Taký vnútorný kompas, ktorý momentálne v našej spoločnosti dosť blázni.
February 18, 2026 at 7:39 AM
2/11
V hlave máme vmPFC – procesor, kde sa biológia mení na sociálne činy. Vyhodnocuje naše ciele a to, akú váhu pripíšeme sebe a akú ostatným. Taký vnútorný kompas, ktorý momentálne v našej spoločnosti dosť blázni.
V hlave máme vmPFC – procesor, kde sa biológia mení na sociálne činy. Vyhodnocuje naše ciele a to, akú váhu pripíšeme sebe a akú ostatným. Taký vnútorný kompas, ktorý momentálne v našej spoločnosti dosť blázni.
Is it safe yet... 😟? How does our brain estimate our safety by integrating external threats with other information? @fearbrain.bsky.social &co reveal the contribution of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex subregions to our sense of safety... 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/4adf9qB
January 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Is it safe yet... 😟? How does our brain estimate our safety by integrating external threats with other information? @fearbrain.bsky.social &co reveal the contribution of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex subregions to our sense of safety... 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/4adf9qB
Jo Cutler presenting on the effects of damage to VmPFC on prosocial behaviour.
October 11, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Jo Cutler presenting on the effects of damage to VmPFC on prosocial behaviour.
So many papers claiming vmPFC signal is linked to this or that behavior, but is it really when the vmPFC appears empty is many fMRI scans? => QC matters a lot! AFNI soft can help, check out their online demo : afni.github.io/qc-demo-repo/
@PaulTaylor during the #OHBM2024 #Brainhack
@PaulTaylor during the #OHBM2024 #Brainhack
June 25, 2024 at 2:40 AM
So many papers claiming vmPFC signal is linked to this or that behavior, but is it really when the vmPFC appears empty is many fMRI scans? => QC matters a lot! AFNI soft can help, check out their online demo : afni.github.io/qc-demo-repo/
@PaulTaylor during the #OHBM2024 #Brainhack
@PaulTaylor during the #OHBM2024 #Brainhack
Our review on representational spaces in OFC/vmPFC and deepRL is out in Trends in Neuroscience. Was great working with Shany Grossman and @nicoschuck.bsky.social on this!
Happy to share our review on OFC/vmPFC representations in Trends in Neurosciences, written with @nirmoneta.bsky.social and Shany Grossman
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Very short thread below to summarize our review
#neuroscience #neuroskyence #compneurosky #PsychSciSky
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Very short thread below to summarize our review
#neuroscience #neuroskyence #compneurosky #PsychSciSky
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me
November 15, 2024 at 4:37 PM
Our review on representational spaces in OFC/vmPFC and deepRL is out in Trends in Neuroscience. Was great working with Shany Grossman and @nicoschuck.bsky.social on this!
Theta-mediated conceptual reinstatement in vmPFC precedes perceptual reinstatement in ventral visual cortex during memory recall https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.17.695049v1
December 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Theta-mediated conceptual reinstatement in vmPFC precedes perceptual reinstatement in ventral visual cortex during memory recall https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.17.695049v1
Blammo.
The Reward Positivity: sources, vmPFC-specific diminishment in MDD, and predictions for future research.
Paper and data now out:
tinyurl.com/trufuz2k
#Openneuro ds005356
The Reward Positivity: sources, vmPFC-specific diminishment in MDD, and predictions for future research.
Paper and data now out:
tinyurl.com/trufuz2k
#Openneuro ds005356
January 17, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Blammo.
The Reward Positivity: sources, vmPFC-specific diminishment in MDD, and predictions for future research.
Paper and data now out:
tinyurl.com/trufuz2k
#Openneuro ds005356
The Reward Positivity: sources, vmPFC-specific diminishment in MDD, and predictions for future research.
Paper and data now out:
tinyurl.com/trufuz2k
#Openneuro ds005356
This paper interests me in part because vmPFC is also a region associated with cessation of #dreaming during #sleep in Mark Solms' lesion work (e.g. sci-hub.st/10.1017/S014...). IDK if these lesions are in precisely the same locations as Solms' patients though.
vmPFC damage reduces mind-wandering, but not other classes of off-task thought
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is consistently engaged during mind-wandering, but its role in mind-wandering is still unclear. The present stu…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 26, 2026 at 11:35 AM
This paper interests me in part because vmPFC is also a region associated with cessation of #dreaming during #sleep in Mark Solms' lesion work (e.g. sci-hub.st/10.1017/S014...). IDK if these lesions are in precisely the same locations as Solms' patients though.
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
The 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...
www.cell.com
November 18, 2024 at 12:04 PM
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
The 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...
www.cell.com
November 26, 2024 at 8:46 PM
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#neuroscience
Is it safe yet... 😟? How does our brain estimate our safety by integrating external threats with other information? @fearbrain.bsky.social &co reveal the contribution of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex subregions to our sense of safety... 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/4adf9qB
January 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Is it safe yet... 😟? How does our brain estimate our safety by integrating external threats with other information? @fearbrain.bsky.social &co reveal the contribution of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex subregions to our sense of safety... 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/4adf9qB
That’s a talk by a Stanford MD, PhD who specializes in psychopaths.
It’s the combo of no vmPFC, no amygdala and an over active nucleus accumbens that explains everything
Be it Ted Bundy, MTG, Trump, musk, hitler, Koresh, Rick Scot, etc, you have a deep understanding
It’s the combo of no vmPFC, no amygdala and an over active nucleus accumbens that explains everything
Be it Ted Bundy, MTG, Trump, musk, hitler, Koresh, Rick Scot, etc, you have a deep understanding
December 6, 2024 at 1:36 AM
That’s a talk by a Stanford MD, PhD who specializes in psychopaths.
It’s the combo of no vmPFC, no amygdala and an over active nucleus accumbens that explains everything
Be it Ted Bundy, MTG, Trump, musk, hitler, Koresh, Rick Scot, etc, you have a deep understanding
It’s the combo of no vmPFC, no amygdala and an over active nucleus accumbens that explains everything
Be it Ted Bundy, MTG, Trump, musk, hitler, Koresh, Rick Scot, etc, you have a deep understanding
A placebo suggesting a reduction of hunger / increase of hunger has a differential effect on vmPFC activity. Work presented by Liane Schmidt from Institute du Cerveau Paris. #ABIM2025 #neuroskyence
January 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
A placebo suggesting a reduction of hunger / increase of hunger has a differential effect on vmPFC activity. Work presented by Liane Schmidt from Institute du Cerveau Paris. #ABIM2025 #neuroskyence
Psychopaths know the dance but can’t hear the music
Bc they can’t abstract reason bc their vmPFC doesn’t work
youtu.be/L4j6PzwmFgc?...
Bc they can’t abstract reason bc their vmPFC doesn’t work
youtu.be/L4j6PzwmFgc?...
The Neuroscience of Real Life Monsters: Psychopaths, CEOs, & Politicians (Science on Tap Livestream)
YouTube video by Science on Tap OR WA
youtu.be
December 6, 2024 at 1:34 AM
Psychopaths know the dance but can’t hear the music
Bc they can’t abstract reason bc their vmPFC doesn’t work
youtu.be/L4j6PzwmFgc?...
Bc they can’t abstract reason bc their vmPFC doesn’t work
youtu.be/L4j6PzwmFgc?...
Direct AIC and VMPFC stimulation! Instant read.
Direct stimulation of anterior insula and ventromedial prefrontal cortex disrupts economic choices. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
sciencecast.org/casts/13spgf...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
sciencecast.org/casts/13spgf...
December 13, 2023 at 7:18 PM
Direct AIC and VMPFC stimulation! Instant read.
What a stimulus predicts, not what it depicts, determines striatal reward signals www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... This is interesting. nAcc responds most strongly to stimuli that predict reward, but vmPFC responds more to inherently pleasant (erotic 😳) stimuli.
May 18, 2026 at 2:30 PM
What a stimulus predicts, not what it depicts, determines striatal reward signals www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... This is interesting. nAcc responds most strongly to stimuli that predict reward, but vmPFC responds more to inherently pleasant (erotic 😳) stimuli.