Alicia Izquierdo
@aliciaizquierdo.bsky.social
Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at UCLA. Family-loving, vinyl-listening Angeleno 🫶🏼 she/her
Posts are my own and do not reflect my employer.
Posts are my own and do not reflect my employer.
Pinned
Neural coding of choice and outcome are modulated by uncertainty in orbitofrontal but not secondary motor cortex - Nature Communications
Neural mechanisms underlying flexible learning and decision-making are not fully understood. Using single-cell calcium imaging, authors here found that neurons in orbitofrontal and secondary motor cortex exhibit complementary roles in reward learning, with neurons in the former exerting a sustained role in conditions of uncertainty.
www.nature.com
🎇 Excited to finally share JL Romero Sosa’s publication! Results are from single-cell imaging in different subregions of rat frontal cortex during ✨de novo learning. Spoiler: everything is not everywhere all at once www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
So many “new” ideas are old repackaged ones using updated terms based on current technologies.
Either folks need to read papers from > 5yrs ago. Or they need to cite them so readers & the public see the slow plodding incremental nature of discovery science.
#AcademicSky
Either folks need to read papers from > 5yrs ago. Or they need to cite them so readers & the public see the slow plodding incremental nature of discovery science.
#AcademicSky
November 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
So many “new” ideas are old repackaged ones using updated terms based on current technologies.
Either folks need to read papers from > 5yrs ago. Or they need to cite them so readers & the public see the slow plodding incremental nature of discovery science.
#AcademicSky
Either folks need to read papers from > 5yrs ago. Or they need to cite them so readers & the public see the slow plodding incremental nature of discovery science.
#AcademicSky
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
LOVED this paper from @constantinoplelab.bsky.social showing how estrogen modulates reinforcement learning in @natureportfolio.nature.com
Was also stoked to write the commentary for this paper with our superstar postdoc Masa Taira.
Check it out 👇 🧠🧪
Was also stoked to write the commentary for this paper with our superstar postdoc Masa Taira.
Check it out 👇 🧠🧪
Bonus on this paper:
there is also a commentary from Masakazu Taira & @melissajsharpe.bsky.social that is certainly worth reading-
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
there is also a commentary from Masakazu Taira & @melissajsharpe.bsky.social that is certainly worth reading-
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#RewardSignals #neuroskyence
November 20, 2025 at 10:21 PM
LOVED this paper from @constantinoplelab.bsky.social showing how estrogen modulates reinforcement learning in @natureportfolio.nature.com
Was also stoked to write the commentary for this paper with our superstar postdoc Masa Taira.
Check it out 👇 🧠🧪
Was also stoked to write the commentary for this paper with our superstar postdoc Masa Taira.
Check it out 👇 🧠🧪
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
Ed Kravitz was an extraordinary scientist, educator and activist. I had the privilege of getting to know Ed through his work with SPINES, a professional development course at the MBL. His legacy will carry on, not only through his science, but also in the many students he taught and mentored. 🧪
Remembering GABA pioneer Edward Kravitz
The biochemist, who died last month at age 92, was part of the first neurobiology department in the world and showed that gamma-aminobutyric acid is inhibitory.
www.thetransmitter.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Ed Kravitz was an extraordinary scientist, educator and activist. I had the privilege of getting to know Ed through his work with SPINES, a professional development course at the MBL. His legacy will carry on, not only through his science, but also in the many students he taught and mentored. 🧪
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
![On official UC letterhead:
UNIVERSITY
OF
CALIFORNIA
James B. Milliken President
Office of the President
1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607
universityofcalifornia.edu
CAMPUSES Berkeley
Davis
Irvine
UCLA
Merced
Riverside San Diego San Francisco
Santa Barbara Santa Cruz
MEDICAL CENTERS
Davis
Irvine
UCLA
San Diego
San Francisco
NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos
DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
November 18, 2025
Dear Chancellors:
I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive.
As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California.
Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines.
Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership.
[continued on next image]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rzn6yramffebefeitqifiqqz/bafkreigiwq5ongzwpj4wqmgjam3yfvhyjnv5e3dbq6cnrrbwblqvs624gq@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
November 18, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
We are thrilled to announce that the preliminary program for the 2026 GRC on the Frontal Cortex is now live!
www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
Registration is now open for both the GRC and our GRS, chaired by @albitc.bsky.social and @jorge-miranda.bsky.social!
www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
Registration is now open for both the GRC and our GRS, chaired by @albitc.bsky.social and @jorge-miranda.bsky.social!
2026 Frontal Cortex Conference GRC
The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Frontal Cortex will be held in Holderness, New Hampshire. Apply today to reserve your spot.
www.grc.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:15 PM
We are thrilled to announce that the preliminary program for the 2026 GRC on the Frontal Cortex is now live!
www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
Registration is now open for both the GRC and our GRS, chaired by @albitc.bsky.social and @jorge-miranda.bsky.social!
www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
Registration is now open for both the GRC and our GRS, chaired by @albitc.bsky.social and @jorge-miranda.bsky.social!
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
*tapping the sign*
Folks at SfN come see the first Fraser Lab poster ever at FF6 on Tuesday Nov 18, 8am. Serena Miller has oodles of data to share on a new direction for us. Also, that day happens to be my birthday so you have to come say hi or else
November 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
*tapping the sign*
Looking forward to SfN in San Diego ☀️ Come visit our posters and Nano talk!
November 18, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
Who wore it better? Our new paper shows that rat OFC supports Bayesian inference of hidden states! With neural correlates of inferred state transitions at the level of single neurons and population-level latent factors. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Who wore it better? Our new paper shows that rat OFC supports Bayesian inference of hidden states! With neural correlates of inferred state transitions at the level of single neurons and population-level latent factors. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
A habit and working memory model as an alternative account of human reward-based learning
Nature Human Behaviour - In this study, Collins proposes an alternative dual-process (working memory and habit) model of reinforcement learning in humans.
rdcu.be
November 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
November 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
We ate well last night (in a tent, indoors, with s'mores for dessert), and are energized to talk science today at #SfN2025. Come visit our posters:
AA14 this morning
Y11, GG13, HH11 this afternoon
AA14 this morning
Y11, GG13, HH11 this afternoon
November 17, 2025 at 1:42 PM
We ate well last night (in a tent, indoors, with s'mores for dessert), and are energized to talk science today at #SfN2025. Come visit our posters:
AA14 this morning
Y11, GG13, HH11 this afternoon
AA14 this morning
Y11, GG13, HH11 this afternoon
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
We’ll be showing:
• Fully wireless, open-source Miniscopes for long-term recording
• A modular multimodal biosignal platform for freely behaving animals
• Miniscope-UltraSmall for long-term, multi-region imaging
• MiniSTIM, integrating one-photon imaging with neural modulation
• Fully wireless, open-source Miniscopes for long-term recording
• A modular multimodal biosignal platform for freely behaving animals
• Miniscope-UltraSmall for long-term, multi-region imaging
• MiniSTIM, integrating one-photon imaging with neural modulation
November 17, 2025 at 2:05 AM
We’ll be showing:
• Fully wireless, open-source Miniscopes for long-term recording
• A modular multimodal biosignal platform for freely behaving animals
• Miniscope-UltraSmall for long-term, multi-region imaging
• MiniSTIM, integrating one-photon imaging with neural modulation
• Fully wireless, open-source Miniscopes for long-term recording
• A modular multimodal biosignal platform for freely behaving animals
• Miniscope-UltraSmall for long-term, multi-region imaging
• MiniSTIM, integrating one-photon imaging with neural modulation
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
Excited for my group's #SfN posters tomorrow (Nov. 17, 1–5 PM)!
We will be presenting new #Miniscopes, neural recording tools, calcium image processing, and data infrastructure advances.
If you’re at the meeting, stop by posters ZZ7–ZZ14!
We will be presenting new #Miniscopes, neural recording tools, calcium image processing, and data infrastructure advances.
If you’re at the meeting, stop by posters ZZ7–ZZ14!
November 17, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Excited for my group's #SfN posters tomorrow (Nov. 17, 1–5 PM)!
We will be presenting new #Miniscopes, neural recording tools, calcium image processing, and data infrastructure advances.
If you’re at the meeting, stop by posters ZZ7–ZZ14!
We will be presenting new #Miniscopes, neural recording tools, calcium image processing, and data infrastructure advances.
If you’re at the meeting, stop by posters ZZ7–ZZ14!
Come to Rm 30 for a nanosymposium on Adaptive Choice and hear about Juan Luis’ latest work with miniscopes in rat OFC- imaging amygdala inputs to this region throughout learning #SfN2025
🎇 Excited to finally share JL Romero Sosa’s publication! Results are from single-cell imaging in different subregions of rat frontal cortex during ✨de novo learning. Spoiler: everything is not everywhere all at once www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Neural coding of choice and outcome are modulated by uncertainty in orbitofrontal but not secondary motor cortex - Nature Communications
Neural mechanisms underlying flexible learning and decision-making are not fully understood. Using single-cell calcium imaging, authors here found that neurons in orbitofrontal and secondary motor cortex exhibit complementary roles in reward learning, with neurons in the former exerting a sustained role in conditions of uncertainty.
www.nature.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Come to Rm 30 for a nanosymposium on Adaptive Choice and hear about Juan Luis’ latest work with miniscopes in rat OFC- imaging amygdala inputs to this region throughout learning #SfN2025
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
Looking forward to SfN in San Diego ☀️ Come visit our posters and Nano talk!
November 12, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Looking forward to SfN in San Diego ☀️ Come visit our posters and Nano talk!
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
November 16, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
Personal apologies to everyone who came to “sunny” San Diego for #SfN2025.🌧️😱
November 15, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Personal apologies to everyone who came to “sunny” San Diego for #SfN2025.🌧️😱
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
In a major win for UC faculty groups and unions that sued, a federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump from imposing a $1.2-billion fine on UCLA along with stipulations for deep campus changes in exchange for being eligible for federal grants: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Judge blocks Trump administration push to fine UCLA $1.2 billion for alleged antisemitism
A federal judge late Friday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from imposing a $1.2-billion fine on UCLA for alleged civil rights violations over antisemitism, its recog...
www.latimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:12 AM
In a major win for UC faculty groups and unions that sued, a federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump from imposing a $1.2-billion fine on UCLA along with stipulations for deep campus changes in exchange for being eligible for federal grants: www.latimes.com/california/s...
💦 An atmospheric river for SfN ☔️
November 15, 2025 at 2:53 AM
💦 An atmospheric river for SfN ☔️
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
November 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Alicia Izquierdo
NIH grant applicants:
October and November grant application submission *deadlines* will be rescheduled (🤯). Specific dates TBD.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
October and November grant application submission *deadlines* will be rescheduled (🤯). Specific dates TBD.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-26-005: Interim Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Interim Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities NOT-OD-26-005. NIH
grants.nih.gov
November 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
NIH grant applicants:
October and November grant application submission *deadlines* will be rescheduled (🤯). Specific dates TBD.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
October and November grant application submission *deadlines* will be rescheduled (🤯). Specific dates TBD.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...