Neuroscientist and (kind of) programmer studying the links between the depths of the brain and its surface. Former Kiev, Jerusalem, Wuerzburg, Haifa.https://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mrvjrezrac2j Thomas Zaugg and I have posted our contribution to the lesion network mapping (LNM) debate on bioRxiv. Our main result: LNM can work even with a low-dimensional connectome, providing a mathematical explanation for its apparent success. Feedback and criticism welcome. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.29.741272v130 Jul 2026 22:52 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrvjrezrac2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mpozag7tc22eI'm happy I had a chance to contribute to this important paper on behalf of #SPM with Zita Patai and Jason Taylor. Kudos to the main team for completing this mammoth work. https://osf.io/preprints/metaarxiv/wvx48_v202 Jul 2026 21:50 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpozag7tc22ehttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mnrg57wjcc2pIf you missed the original version of our VTA study, we now have an updated preprint with a new title and some new analyses. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.701696v208 Jun 2026 09:56 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnrg57wjcc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mmyamesvu22oIt’s not at the FIL but across the square but indeed all welcome! [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 May 2026 09:41 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmyamesvu22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mf4w5fwjlk2vOn the importance of ethics and risk assessment https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15563533/Scientist-Havana-Syndrome-BRAIN-damage.html18 Feb 2026 10:55 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf4w5fwjlk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3me6v6kkal22dWe have released a subset of our simultaneous MEG and subthalamic LFP recordings from people with Parkinson’s with clinical metadata. The data cover rest and movement tasks, medication on and off states, and include MEG‑derived virtual electrodes for SMA and bilateral M1. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3125413606 Feb 2026 12:18 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3me6v6kkal22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mdiid44ukk2tPreprint alert!!! We recorded directly from the human ventral tegmental area (VTA), the principal source of cortical dopaminergic innervation, while patients performed an instrumental learning task. 🧵👇 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.701696v128 Jan 2026 14:29 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdiid44ukk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3mcipyfdag22rI’m looking forward to the debate around this important paper. But even if some results from @andreashorn.org, @foxmdphd.bsky.social and other brilliant and hard-working colleagues turn out too good to be true, the field will correct itself and emerge stronger. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02196-7.pdf15 Jan 2026 23:21 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcipyfdag22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3m62salub2227@orcid.org alerted me to the fact that my PhD thesis from 2006 is available online via OSF. I'm not sure how it got there, but it was quite nostalgic to flip through those long-forgotten pages again and remember the good times in Haifa and Würzburg. Enjoy! https://doi.org/10.31237/osf.io/w4cv920 Nov 2025 12:44 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62salub2227https://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3m3pvialcw22aAnd one can definitely learn from it how to write the most useful review. [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Oct 2025 17:52 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3pvialcw22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3m3pvcioras2aI’m really impressed with qedscience.com. Not perfect but the best qualitative jump I’ve seen in AI output since the original ChatGPT. Even the kind of dumb things it sometimes says, a human reviewer could say as well, but many of the points are spot on. https://qedscience.com21 Oct 2025 17:49 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3pvcioras2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3m3ikfp7s2s2qWho says a scientist’s life is boring? Was nice to see some friends from times long gone in this movie. https://youtu.be/46svA-C939s?si=sPLigXk1u_arszaf18 Oct 2025 19:45 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3ikfp7s2s2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3lzldbnjpk22sLooks amazing! Congratulations! [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Sep 2025 11:25 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzldbnjpk22shttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3lxkgpoqi622aDBS Think Tank @dbsthinktank.bsky.social taking place next week is always the highlight of my year. Its Rising Stars event showcasing the work of talented early career DBS researchers starts in an hour. Don’t miss. https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xilYx2eQR_WYzy39lW79_g#/registration29 Aug 2025 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxkgpoqi622ahttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3lwyzqdplps2wThis is very exciting as it could provide a way to identify stimulation targets for syndromes for which no stimulation data exists at all as long as there is some genetic data. Congratulations! [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 Aug 2025 17:56 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwyzqdplps2whttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3lwo3v7sc6s2kGreat news! Ningfei is a great scientist and a highly valued collaborator. I’m looking forward to working with him in the new capacity. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Aug 2025 09:35 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwo3v7sc6s2khttps://bsky.app/profile/vlitvak.bsky.social/post/3lsutweo6622c🧠 New preprint alert! https://medrxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2025.06.28.25330302v1 SEEG in epilepsy affords a rare opportunity to record and stimulate in brain regions that are difficult to access, including the white matter. Could we leverage this to map circuits relevant to psychiatric symptoms? If so, where would one start? 👇01 Jul 2025 04:20 +0000at://did:plc:aiajvcod37lkcezvxssurl7h/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsutweo6622c