Timothy Behrens
Professor of Computational Neuroscience
- Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow
- Deputy Director, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging
I head the Computational Neuroscience Group at WIN. We study how our brains learn and represent knowledge about the world in service of flexible behaviour. We use computational descriptions at the behavioural and network levels to form predictions, and test these in neurophysiological, neurochemical, and lesion data.
If you are interested in doing a PhD with me, the best route is through one of Oxford's (or UCL's) funded schemes. There are lots of them so check them out before contacting me.
Recent publications
Neural signatures of model-based and model-free reinforcement learning across prefrontal cortex and striatum
Preprint
Miranda B. et al, (2026)
An abstract relational map emerges in the human medial prefrontal cortex with consolidation
Journal article
Baram AB. et al, (2026), Current Biology, 36, 3315 - 3325.e4
Neural signatures of model-based and model-free reinforcement learning across prefrontal cortex and striatum.
Journal article
Miranda B. et al, (2026), Elife, 14
Development of non-spatial grid-like neural codes tracks inference and intelligence
Journal article
Qu Y. et al, (2026), Cell, 189, 3091 - 3106.e15
Rethinking how research is reviewed and published.
Journal article
Behrens TE. et al, (2026), Elife, 15
Flexible neural representations of abstract structural knowledge in the human entorhinal cortex.
Journal article
Mark S. et al, (2026), Elife, 13
Human hippocampal ripples coordinate planning sequences and compositional representations in neocortex
Journal article
He L. et al, (2026), Nature Neuroscience
Interpreting human sleep activity through neural contrastive learning
Journal article
Chen Z. et al, (2026), Neuron
Structured and flexible representations in medial-frontal cortex support goal-directed navigation
Preprint
Doohan P. et al, (2026)