Erica Townsend, PhD
@ericastownsend.bsky.social
behavioral neuroscientist and postdoc at temple med in the giovanniello lab. dopamine, learning, motivation, & stress. formerly: phd @ dartmouth, bs @ virginia tech. she/her
📍philadelphia
ericastownsend.github.io
📍philadelphia
ericastownsend.github.io
Pinned
Phasic dopamine encodes persistent attraction to reward cues https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.09.693300v1
very excited to share some of the final bits of work from my PhD! 🎉 we find that phasic DA in the accumbens simultaneously tracks persistent motivation towards reward cues in addition to new learning (but maybe not RPE?!) in sign-tracking rats. check out the preprint below!
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
🚨New Kutlu Lab preprint! Excited to share our latest work led by Oyku Dinckol and Noah Wenger.
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We find that ACh shapes DLS neural ensembles for outcome learning but is biased toward signaling threats over rewards 👇
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We find that ACh shapes DLS neural ensembles for outcome learning but is biased toward signaling threats over rewards 👇
Dorsolateral striatal acetylcholine reorganizes neural ensembles to anticipate threat
Adaptive behavior requires flexible encoding of emotional valence. Although striatal acetylcholine (ACh) signaling is critical for reinforcement learning, its contribution to aversive learning has rem...
www.biorxiv.org
December 13, 2025 at 2:24 PM
🚨New Kutlu Lab preprint! Excited to share our latest work led by Oyku Dinckol and Noah Wenger.
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We find that ACh shapes DLS neural ensembles for outcome learning but is biased toward signaling threats over rewards 👇
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We find that ACh shapes DLS neural ensembles for outcome learning but is biased toward signaling threats over rewards 👇
very excited to share some of the final bits of work from my PhD! 🎉 we find that phasic DA in the accumbens simultaneously tracks persistent motivation towards reward cues in addition to new learning (but maybe not RPE?!) in sign-tracking rats. check out the preprint below!
Phasic dopamine encodes persistent attraction to reward cues https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.09.693300v1
December 12, 2025 at 6:29 PM
very excited to share some of the final bits of work from my PhD! 🎉 we find that phasic DA in the accumbens simultaneously tracks persistent motivation towards reward cues in addition to new learning (but maybe not RPE?!) in sign-tracking rats. check out the preprint below!
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
Huge congrats to Gio Lab postdoc Dr @ericastownsend.bsky.social on her poster award at Temple’s Department of Neural Sciences Research Day!
a little girl is crying while holding her fist in the air and the word exciting is on the bottom .
ALT: a little girl is crying while holding her fist in the air and the word exciting is on the bottom .
media.tenor.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Huge congrats to Gio Lab postdoc Dr @ericastownsend.bsky.social on her poster award at Temple’s Department of Neural Sciences Research Day!
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
#JNeurosci: A functional MRI study from <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ztzcqpfb6ll52ygn2jymypmh" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky-mention">@maechlermarvin.bsky.social et al. identify brain regions that might be the source of hemifield-specific capacity limits in attentional tracking of multiple moving objects.
vist.ly/3n7a9wt
vist.ly/3n7a9wt
June 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
#JNeurosci: A functional MRI study from <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ztzcqpfb6ll52ygn2jymypmh" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky-mention">@maechlermarvin.bsky.social et al. identify brain regions that might be the source of hemifield-specific capacity limits in attentional tracking of multiple moving objects.
vist.ly/3n7a9wt
vist.ly/3n7a9wt
well its officially official - I graduated yesterday! 🎓 super honored to have also received my department’s promise award in brain science research. pumped to start my postdoc next month!!
June 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
well its officially official - I graduated yesterday! 🎓 super honored to have also received my department’s promise award in brain science research. pumped to start my postdoc next month!!
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
I am excited to announce (belatedly) that my dissertation’s final chapter has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience! doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...
Hemifield Specificity of Attention Response Functions during Multiple-Object Tracking
The difficulty of tracking multiple moving objects among identical distractors increases with the number of tracked targets. Previous research has shown that the number of targets tracked (i.e., load)...
doi.org
May 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I am excited to announce (belatedly) that my dissertation’s final chapter has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience! doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...
defended my dissertation and officially became Dr. Townsend yesterday! 🍾 feeling so much gratitude for my friends and family, my wonderful advisor, the bluesky-less Kyle Smith, and the many mentors & colleagues who supported me along the way 🩷
May 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
defended my dissertation and officially became Dr. Townsend yesterday! 🍾 feeling so much gratitude for my friends and family, my wonderful advisor, the bluesky-less Kyle Smith, and the many mentors & colleagues who supported me along the way 🩷
despite the horrors, I will continue to share and engage with science without fear!! thus, I'm very happy to share my recent article out in Learning & Memory. I'm so proud of this work. it's been my little passion project for some time now. a student of mine, Angela Shang, even made the cover art!
March 10, 2025 at 6:09 PM
despite the horrors, I will continue to share and engage with science without fear!! thus, I'm very happy to share my recent article out in Learning & Memory. I'm so proud of this work. it's been my little passion project for some time now. a student of mine, Angela Shang, even made the cover art!
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
We are organizing a Stand Up for Science rally at Dartmouth College!
When: This Friday, March 7th, at 12pm (noon)
Where: Center of the Dartmouth Green
When: This Friday, March 7th, at 12pm (noon)
Where: Center of the Dartmouth Green
March 3, 2025 at 3:40 PM
We are organizing a Stand Up for Science rally at Dartmouth College!
When: This Friday, March 7th, at 12pm (noon)
Where: Center of the Dartmouth Green
When: This Friday, March 7th, at 12pm (noon)
Where: Center of the Dartmouth Green
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
Step 1) find your rep
www.congress.gov/members/find...
Step 2) send an email or call their office
Step 3) tell them that federal spending on scientific advancement is the best hope we have to “win against china” or whatever these guys are obsessed with these days
www.congress.gov/members/find...
Step 2) send an email or call their office
Step 3) tell them that federal spending on scientific advancement is the best hope we have to “win against china” or whatever these guys are obsessed with these days
www.congress.gov
January 22, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Step 1) find your rep
www.congress.gov/members/find...
Step 2) send an email or call their office
Step 3) tell them that federal spending on scientific advancement is the best hope we have to “win against china” or whatever these guys are obsessed with these days
www.congress.gov/members/find...
Step 2) send an email or call their office
Step 3) tell them that federal spending on scientific advancement is the best hope we have to “win against china” or whatever these guys are obsessed with these days
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
I just reached out to my senators about the NIH situation. If you need to find out how much impact NIH has in your state in terms of dollars in and their economic impact here's a link: www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research
Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.
www.unitedformedicalresearch.org
January 22, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I just reached out to my senators about the NIH situation. If you need to find out how much impact NIH has in your state in terms of dollars in and their economic impact here's a link: www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
Reposted by Erica Townsend, PhD
TT28 with is the place to be in DC! Come learn about how serotonin modulates reward-related DMS calcium activity.
November 15, 2023 at 2:02 PM
TT28 with is the place to be in DC! Come learn about how serotonin modulates reward-related DMS calcium activity.
if you are interested in behavioral microstructures of motivation, come check out my SfN poster today at board JJ8! we explore sign-tracking responses in depth, favoring detailed analysis of video behavior over automatic readouts (eg, presses per min). come check it out and talk behavior! ☺️
November 11, 2023 at 4:22 PM
if you are interested in behavioral microstructures of motivation, come check out my SfN poster today at board JJ8! we explore sign-tracking responses in depth, favoring detailed analysis of video behavior over automatic readouts (eg, presses per min). come check it out and talk behavior! ☺️
using my first bluesky post to say that i officially started my dissertation process and i am ABD 🥂🥳
November 9, 2023 at 2:08 AM
using my first bluesky post to say that i officially started my dissertation process and i am ABD 🥂🥳