Computational neuroscientist. Assistant professor @USC psychology. Previously @Princeton and @Donders www.piraylab.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3mwe6voxkus2vThe lab had 4 out of 4 papers accepted at NeurIPS. More on each one soon. We also have postdoc openings funded by our new grants, so email me if you're interested in our research. https://usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-angeles/postdoctoral-scholar-research-associate/1209/10106746112025 Sep 2026 16:29 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwe6voxkus2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3mu5uv3gzjk2eI am happy to share some good news: my lab has received an NSF CAREER award and an NIH R01 this summer, supporting our work on how the brain handles uncertainty during learning. We will be hiring postdocs and PhD students in the coming year, so please get by email in touch if you are interested.28 Aug 2026 17:23 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5uv3gzjk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3m5ttaaskgs2yHappy to share my new paper published in @nathumbehav.nature.com: A critical look at statistical power in computational modeling studies, particularly those based on model selection. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02348-617 Nov 2025 18:13 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5ttaaskgs2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3lw7swi5cbc2mNew paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex. rdcu.be/eAofi https://rdcu.be/eAofi12 Aug 2025 17:18 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3lw7swi5cbc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3lapflxwun22fX’s (it is definitely X not twitter) “For you” tab should be called 'Not for you'! Meanwhile, Bluesky feels like a cozy science cafe! 🧠☕️ Computational neuro/psychiatry folks, NeuroAI enthusiasts, cognitive science/neuroscience students - let's build this community!11 Nov 2024 22:47 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3lapflxwun22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3l753pyno5t2jNew in Nature Communication with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social : humans tell apart volatility from stochasticity & adapt their learning adaptively in opposite directions. Both response times and prediction data suggest outcome autocorrelation is key in this process https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53459-z22 Oct 2024 22:38 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3l753pyno5t2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3l6bck5nw6s23I'll be recruiting PhD students for Fall 2025. Take a look at the lab website and the FAQ for prospective students: piraylab.com/join Feel free to reach out if you have questions. https://piraylab.com/join11 Oct 2024 21:25 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3l6bck5nw6s23https://bsky.app/profile/payampiray.bsky.social/post/3l4372zuplz2v🧠💻 @USCPsychology seeks tenure-track Assistant Professor in Brain & Cognitive Sciences with a focus on computational language research. Join us at the forefront of AI-driven cognition studies! Apply here: https://usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-angeles/assistant-professor-in-brain-and-cognitive-science/1209/6986863216014 Sep 2024 00:16 +0000at://did:plc:26tqs2o7h2cs7sp35qc6745e/app.bsky.feed.post/3l4372zuplz2v