Investigating the cognitive neuroscience of learning, memory, and decision-making
PEOPLE
RAPHAEL KAPLAN
CIDEGENT Group Leader at Universitat Jaume I
Behavioral, computational, & neuroimaging investigation of memory and decision-making systems. Focusing on how map-like learning mechanisms could be a widespread phenomenon in the brain beyond spatial cognition.
AMEER GHOUSE
Postdoc at Universitat Jaume I
The role of episodic memory in navigating the prosocial world
MARTA RODRIGUEZ ARAMENDIA
PhD Student at Universitat Jaume I
Relating social and spatial anchoring biases
MARIACHIARA
ESPOSITO
PhD Student at Universitat Jaume I
Boundary and reference point use in memory-guided decision making
DÖRTE KUHRT
PhD Student at Kavli Institute
(co-supervised by Christian Doeller)
Transfer of learning between spatial and non-spatial domains
RESEARCH
Please send a message to kaplan@uji.es for details about postdoctoral, PhD, research assistant, or other research opportunities in the group.
EPISODIC MEMORY
We investigate how people use past experience to make decisions, plan for the future, and imagine potential scenarios
USING COGNITIVE MAPS IN MEMORY & DECISION-MAKING
We build on the Nobel Prize winning discovery of spatially modulated neurons in the hippocampal formation to investigate how such neural computations can inform memory and decision-making in other domains
PERSPECTIVE-TAKING IN SOCIAL AND SPATIAL COGNITION
We study how ‘map-like’ coding of decision variables may inform learning by providing coordinates and boundaries that can be translated between different frames of reference
PUBLICATIONS
Please see Raphael Kaplan's Google Scholar page for copies of some of our publications
M Rodríguez Aramendía, M Esposito, R Kaplan (Under Review) Egocentric anchoring-and-adjustment of social knowledge in the hippocampus. bioRxiv
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.13.612825v1
M Esposito#, L Abdul#, A Ghouse, M Rodríguez Aramendía, R Kaplan(Under Review) Flexible hippocampal representation of abstract boundaries supports memory-guided choice. bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.23.604745v1
A Ghouse & R Kaplan(Under Review) Social content is prioritized in episodic memory. PsyArXiv https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/m2phn
I Polti#, M Nau#, R Kaplan, V Van Wassenhove, CF Doeller (Under Review) Encoding of task regularities links grid-like signals to human timing behavior. bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.23.576694v1
D Stendardi, L Giacometti Giordani, S Gambino, R Kaplan, E Ciaramelli (2023) Who am I really? The ephemerality of self-knowledge following vmPFC damage. Neuropscyhologia, Available online
I Polti#, M Nau#, R Kaplan, V Van Wassenhove, CF Doeller (2022) Rapid encoding of task regularities in the human hippocampus guides sensorimotor timing. eLife, Nov 1;11:e79027. https://elifesciences.org/articles/79027 #=equal contribution
S Arzy & R Kaplan (2022) Transforming social perspectives with cognitive maps. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
D Kuhrt#, N St. John#, JS Bellmund*, R Kaplan*, CF Doeller* (2021) An immersive first-person navigation task for abstract knowledge acquisition. Scientific Reports, 11(1):5612. *=jointly supervised work.
R Kaplan, A Tauste Campo, D Bush, J King, A Principe, R Koster, M Ley-Nacher, R Rocamora, KJ Friston (2020) Human hippocampal theta oscillations reflect sequential dependencies during spatial planning. Cognitive Neuroscience, 11(3):122-31.
RA Adams#, D Bush#, F Zhen#, SS Meyer, R Kaplan, S Orfanos, TR Marques, O Howes, N Burgess (2020) Impaired theta phase coupling underlies frontotemporal dysconnectivity in schizophrenia. Brain, 143(4):1261-77.
R Kaplan & KJ Friston (2019) Entorhinal transformations in abstract frames of reference. PLoS Biology, 17(5): e3000230.
R Kaplan & KJ Friston (2018) Planning and navigation as active inference. Biological Cybernetics, 112:323-342
R Kaplan, J King, R Koster, WD Penny, N Burgess, & KJ Friston (2017) The neural representation of prospective choice during spatial planning and decisions. PLoS Biology, 15:e1002588.
R Kaplan#, NW Schuck#, CF Doeller (2017) The role of mental maps in decision-making. Trends Neurosci, 40:256-259
R Kaplan#, D Bush#, J Bisby, AJ Horner, SS Meyer, & N Burgess (2017) Medial prefrontal-medial temporal theta phase coupling in dynamic spatial imagery. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 29(3):507-519.
R Kaplan, MH Adhikari, R Hindriks, D Mantini, Y Murayama, NK Logothetis, & G Deco (2016) Hippocampal sharp-wave ripples influence selective activation of the default mode network. Current Biology, 26(5):686-91.
Preview article by M Walker & E Robertson (2016) Current Biology 26(6):239-41
R Kaplan (2014) Endogenous fMRI default mode network fluctuations both positively and negatively correlate with individual transfer of learning. Front Syst Neurosci, 8:229.
R Kaplan, AJ Horner, PA Bandettini, CF Doeller, & N Burgess (2014) Human hippocampal processing of environmental novelty during spatial navigation. Hippocampus, 24(7):740-50.
R Kaplan#, DR Bush#, M Bonnefond, PA Bandettini, GR Barnes, CF Doeller, & N Burgess (2014) Medial prefrontal theta phase coordination during spatial memory retrieval. Hippocampus, 24(6):656-65.
R Kaplan, CF Doeller, GR Barnes, V Litvak, E Duzel, PA Bandettini, & N Burgess (2012) Movement-related theta rhythm in humans: coordinating self-directed hippocampal learning. PLoS Biology, 10(2):e1001267
BR Cornwell, SC Muller, R Kaplan, C Grillon, & M Ernst (2012) Anxiety, a benefit and a detriment to cognition: Behavioral and magnetoencephalographic evidence from a mixed-saccade task. Brain & Cognition, 78(3):257-67
CF Doeller & R Kaplan (2011) Parahippocampal Cortex: translating vision into space. Current Biology, 21:589-91
BR Cornwell, RP Alvarez, S Lissek, R Kaplan, M Ernst, & C Grillon (2011) Anxiety overrides the blocking effects of high perceptual load on amygdala reactivity to threat-related distractors. Neuropsychologia, 5:1363-8.
RP Alvarez, G Chen, J Bodurka, R Kaplan, & C Grillon (2011) Phasic and sustained fear in humans elicits distinct patterns of brain activity. NeuroImage, 55: 389-400.
Group Alumni
Ignacio Polti(PhD student)-Now a postdoc in the Moser lab at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience.
Lubna Abdul(RA)-Now a PhD student with Joao Barbosa and Florent Meyniel at the Institute for Neuromodulation (INM) in Paris.
Natalie St John(RA)-Now a PhD student in the Navarro Schroeder lab at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience.
Stelios Orfanos(Visiting Clinical Researcher)-Psychiatrist at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
Aleix Alcacer Sales(Visiting PhD Student) Postdoctoral research in UJI Math Dept.