Neuroscience of motivation, decision making, and cognitive control shenhavlab.orghttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3ms6xnecmv224Check out our newest preprint, led by @sheensu.bsky.social and with @jasonleng.bsky.social, on when and why people choose to put off choosing! ⚖️🗓️ https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/kp6jv_v1 Sheen summarizes the excellent work in the 🧵 below: [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Aug 2026 16:55 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms6xnecmv224https://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3mguugrn5222pCome see our work @affectscience.bsky.social! 😁 P2.S.207: “How Anticipated Feelings Guide Goal Prioritization Insights from an Inventory of Daily Goals” by Skylar Brooks 😁 P3.A.243: “Decision Goals Shape the Integration of Affective and Perceptual Information about our Options” by Ana Hernandez12 Mar 2026 16:54 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mguugrn5222phttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3mf6f73o47s2aLed by @sheensu.bsky.social, our newest paper helps explain why people choose not to vote when they don't like any of the candidates, and how to undo this: rdcu.be/e4z4O Sheen explains in the 🧵 below: [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Feb 2026 00:57 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf6f73o47s2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3me5fqpjqts2xIf you’ve been taught to think of decisions as a tug-of-war 🪢 (e.g., DDM), our new chapter will try to convince you otherwise! We show that these models miss key aspects of traditional choices, & prevent us from understanding non-traditional ones (e.g., whether/when/how many to choose). 🔗 below: [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Feb 2026 22:09 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3me5fqpjqts2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3mdyk6bqedc2pOur latest paper, spearheaded by @hritz.bsky.social and Romy Frömer, is now out in Communications Psychology!! 🎉🎉 https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00374-8 See Harrison's excellent 🧵 below to learn more about what we found: [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Feb 2026 23:45 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdyk6bqedc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3m5fcb4c25k2gCome see our lab’s presentations at #SFN2025! 🧠 1️⃣ NANO018.12: “Neural dynamics underlying divergent influences of reward and punishment on control allocation” (11/16, 3:45 PM) by @jasonleng.bsky.social11 Nov 2025 23:32 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5fcb4c25k2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3m3xg5p6vxs26Check out our new preprint, led by Romy Froemer and in collaboration with Chih-Chung Ting and Sebastian Gluth: “Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making”. 🔗 https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zvf8c_v124 Oct 2025 17:39 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3xg5p6vxs26https://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3m3nrjkeiyc2fNew preprint led by @debyee.bsky.social: "Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying the distinct motivational influences of reward and punishment on cognitive control". 🔗 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.682886v2 [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Oct 2025 21:36 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3nrjkeiyc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3m2baom4srs2oAt #SNE2025? Check out our lab's presentations! ➡️O.03.02: "Competitors or Opportunities? Mutual exclusivity alters neural and attentional processing of choice alternatives" by @jasonleng.bsky.social at 9:00 on 10/4. (1/2)03 Oct 2025 04:37 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2baom4srs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lz4tceafrk22New preprint led by Ivan Grahek! Shifting demands of daily life require constant adjustments in how we allocate cognitive resources. Here we show that slower transitions between different cognitive strategies limit cognitive flexibility across the lifespan: https://biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.27.672689v2 🧵 A thread:18 Sep 2025 17:02 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lz4tceafrk22https://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lyg53bnvfc2bIn a TEDx talk just out, @ashenhav.bsky.social discusses what research from our lab teaches us about “How to choose when choosing is hardest” (the talk’s original title 😆): ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeHg1rhhxug [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Sep 2025 16:26 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyg53bnvfc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lxfhnvomh222After scrolling Twitter, it will take you a while to get back into “work mode”. Why is this the case? Our new work (out now in Psych Review), led by Ivan Grahek and Xiamin Leng, explores the costs of adjusting cognitive control to meet different goals: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-44795-001?doi=1 🧵 A thread:27 Aug 2025 16:37 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxfhnvomh222https://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lv7itsby7s2qCome and see our work at #cogsci2025! Ziwei Cheng will be presenting a talk “Incentive Effects Capture Variability in Task-General Control Allocation” on Fri 8/1 (4-5:30 pm, Cognition 7) 🔗Paper link: https://escholarship.org/content/qt7bd3x7n7/qt7bd3x7n7.pdf30 Jul 2025 20:52 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lv7itsby7s2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lulisbwh3k2cOur newest preprint “A novel approach-avoidance task to study decision making under outcome uncertainty” investigates the dynamics of approach-avoid decisions! Check out https://www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2025.07.12.663075v1, led by Ziwei Cheng and @nadjagingjehli.bsky.social22 Jul 2025 21:58 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lulisbwh3k2chttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3ltmrmhcik22zOur newest paper, led by Romy Froemer and @fredcallaway.bsky.social‬, is now out in Open Mind: “Considering What We Know and What We Don’t Know: Expectations and Confidence Guide Value Integration in Value-Based Decision-Making” https://direct.mit.edu/opmi/article/doi/10.1162/opmi.a.3/131590/Considering-What-We-Know-and-What-We-Don-t-Know10 Jul 2025 16:43 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltmrmhcik22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3llhounte722b👉“Leveraging Continuous Psychophysics to Study Cognitive Control Allocation in Dynamic Environments” by Yihuan Dong (A117) 👉“The effect of acute stress on mental effort allocation across motivational contexts” by Tony El Nemer (A115) [2/2]28 Mar 2025 20:49 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3llhounte722bhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3llhou4lmwc2bAttending #CNS2025? Check out the following posters! (A98, A115, A117) 👉“Decoding Cognitive Control Dynamics: Neural Evidence of Inertia in Cognitive Control Adjustments Following Goal Changes” by Ivan Grahek (A98) [1/2]28 Mar 2025 20:49 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3llhou4lmwc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lktsog5auc2rAlso at #AffectScience2025, 📣 Ivan Grahek will give the talk “Towards Emotion Regulation Dynamics: A View from Cognitive Control Optimization” for the New Perspectives on Effort in Emotion Regulation Symposium. See you there! 📅: Friday March 21st at 6pm20 Mar 2025 23:04 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lktsog5auc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lktsmoclz22rCurrently at #AffectScience2025? 😁 👉Come visit Ziwei Cheng's poster “Dissociable Influences Of Positive And Negative Incentives On Challenge And Threat States During Mental Effort Allocation“ in Poster Session P1 (P1.T.141)20 Mar 2025 23:03 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lktsmoclz22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/shenhavlab.bsky.social/post/3lingevc4hc2aOur newest chapter, “Breaking the tug-of-war,” reviews the lab’s latest NIH and NSF-funded research that has changed the way we think about decision-making (and we hope how you do also): https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/g2va5 Led by @jasonleng.bsky.social along with @sheensu.bsky.social and Romy Froemer.20 Feb 2025 23:17 +0000at://did:plc:b6mdm5pjcdqbchgeybxiapx7/app.bsky.feed.post/3lingevc4hc2a