Looking for some of our standout papers, to pick a few places to start reading? Look for the ⭐ below.

Preprints

Gutierrez, E., Muller, T. H., Butler, J. L., Malalasekera, W. M. N., Hunt, L. T., Veselic, S. & Kennerley S. W. (2026). Rapid value learning reveals generalized and context-dependent codes in frontal cortex. bioRxiv Preprint. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.03.736027

Lin, W., Hunt, L. T., Pulcu, E., & Browning, M. (2026) Valence-specific representation of uncertainty in the anterior cingulate is impaired in those with affective symptoms. bioRxiv Preprint. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.06.16.732356

Botos, C., Kumar, S., Andrews, A. T. D., Hunt, L. T., Summerfield, C., Tenenbaum, J. B., Costa, R.P., Mattar, M.G & Tomov, M. (2026). Reason to Play: Behavioral and Brain Alignment Between Frontier LRMs and Human Game Learners. arXiv Preprint arXiv:2605. 08019. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.08019

Wójcik, M. J., Li, A., Wasmuht, D., Stroud, J. P., Stokes, M. G., Myers, N. E., Hunt, L. T. (2025) Working memory shapes neural geometry in human EEG over learning. bioRxiv Preprint. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.21.634110

Takagi, Y., Hunt, L. T., Ohata, R., Imamizu, H., & Hirayama, J.-I. (2021). Neural dSCA: demixing multimodal interaction among brain areas during naturalistic experiments. arXiv Preprint arXiv:2106. 02948. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2106.02948 

2026

⭐ D’Ambrogio, S., Grohn, J., Khalighinejad, N., Mattar, M. G., Hunt, L.T.* & Rushworth M.F.S.* Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering. Nature Neuroscience 29, 2036–2047 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02342-9

⭐Wójcik, M. J., Stroud, J. P., Wasmuht, D., Kusunoki, M., Kadohisa, M., Myers, N. E.*, Hunt, L.T.*, Duncan J.*, Stokes, M. G.* (2026). Learning shapes neural geometry in the primate prefrontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 29, 1966–1975 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02333-w

⭐Li, A. X., Chan, B., Donets, S., Boettcher, S.* & Hunt, L. T.* (2026) Covert attention dynamically shapes decision making. eLife, in press.

Butler, J. L., Muller, T. H., Veselic, S., Nishantha Malalasekera, W. M., Behrens, T. E. J., Hunt, L. T.*, & Kennerley, S. W.* (2026). Anterior cingulate neurons perform parallel processing of fixated and peripheral information to guide information sampling and choice. Nature Communications, in press.

Foucault, C., Weber, L. A., & Hunt, L. T. (2026) Environmental dynamics shape human learning: change points versus random walks. eLife 15:RP110137. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.110137.1

Sandbrink, K. J., Hunt L. T., & Summerfield C. Understanding human meta-control and its pathologies using deep neural networks. (2026) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (9) e2510334123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510334123 

del Río, M., Trudel, N., Prabhu, G. Hunt, L.T., Moutoussis, M. Dolan, R.J., Hauser, T.U. (2026) Indecision and recency-weighted evidence integration in non-clinical and clinical settings. Nature Human Behaviour, 10, 727–740. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02385-1

Johnston, R., Boulay, C., Hunt, L. T., Kennerley, S. W., Sachs, A. J. Distinct High-Gamma Signals in Primate Prefrontal Cortex Differentiate Cue Information, Preference Revision, and Expected Reward During Value-Based Decisions. (2026) European Journal of Neuroscience, 64, 3: e70641 https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.70641

2025

Lan, D. C. L., Hunt, L. T.* & Summerfield C.* (2025) Goal-directed navigation in humans and deep reinforcement learning agents relies on an adaptive mix of vector-based and transition-based strategies. PLoS Biology, 23(7), e3003296. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003296

Veselic, S., Muller, T. H., Gutierrez, E., Behrens, T. E. J., Hunt, L. T., Butler, J. L., & Kennerley, S. W. (2025). A cognitive map for value-guided choice in ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Cell, 188, 3259-3273.e22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.038

2024

Yan, Y., Hunt, L. T., & Hassall, C. D. (2024). Reward positivity affects temporal interval production in a continuous timing task. Psychophysiology, e14589. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14589

Marshall, T. R., Ruesseler, M., Hunt, L. T., & O’Reilly, J. X. (2024). The representation of priors and decisions in the human parietal cortex. PLoS Biology, 22(1), e3002383. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002383

Gohil, C., Kohl, O., Huang, R., van Es, M. W. J., Parker Jones, O., Hunt, L. T., … Woolrich, M. W. (2024). Dynamic network analysis of electrophysiological task data. Imaging Neuroscience, 2, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00226

2023

⭐Ruesseler*, M., Weber*, L. A., Marshall, T. R., O’Reilly, J., & Hunt, L. T. (2023). Quantifying decision-making in dynamic, continuously evolving environments. eLife, 12, e82823. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.82823

Hassall, C. D., Yan, Y., & Hunt, L. T. (2023). The neural correlates of continuous feedback processing. Psychophysiology, 60(12), e14399. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14399

2022

Hassall, C. D., & Hunt, L. T. (2022). Novelty, uncertainty, and the looming horizon. Neuron, 110(16), 2521–2523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.07.009

Hassall, C. D., Hunt, L. T., & Holroyd, C. B. (2022). Task-level value affects trial-level reward processing. NeuroImage, 260, 119456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119456

⭐Hassall, C. D., Harley, J., Kolling, N., & Hunt, L. T. (2022). Temporal scaling of human scalp-recorded potentials. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(43), e2214638119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2214638119

Manning, C., Hassall, C. D., Hunt, L. T., Norcia, A. M., Wagenmakers, E.-J., Snowling, M. J., … Evans, N. J. (2022). Visual motion and decision-making in dyslexia: Reduced accumulation of sensory evidence and related neural dynamics. Journal of Neuroscience, 42(1), 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1232-21.2021

Manning, C., Hassall, C. D., Hunt, L. T., Norcia, A. M., Wagenmakers, E.-J., Evans, N. J., & Scerif, G. (2022). Behavioural and neural indices of perceptual decision-making in autistic children during visual motion tasks. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 6072. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09885-4

2021

⭐Hunt, L. T., Daw, N. D., Kaanders, P., MacIver, M. A., Mugan, U., Procyk, E., … Others. (2021). Formalizing planning and information search in naturalistic decision-making. Nature Neuroscience, 24(8), 1051–1064. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-021-00866-w

Takagi, Y., Hunt, L. T., Woolrich, M. W., Behrens, T. E. J., & Klein-Flügge, M. C. (2021). Adapting non-invasive human recordings along multiple task-axes shows unfolding of spontaneous and over-trained choice. eLife, 10, e60988.  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.60988

Kaanders, P., Juechems, K., O’Reilly, J., & Hunt, L. (2021). Dissociable mechanisms of information sampling in prefrontal cortex and the dopaminergic system. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 41, 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.04.005

Hunt, Laurence T. (2021). Frontal circuit specialisations for decision making. European Journal of Neuroscience, 53(11), 3654-3671. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15236

2020 and earlier

Cavanagh, Sean E., Hunt, L. T., & Kennerley, S. W. (2020). A diversity of intrinsic timescales underlie neural computations. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 14, 615626. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2020.615626

Kaanders, P., Nili, H., O’Reilly, J. X., & Hunt, L. (2021). Medial frontal cortex activity predicts information sampling in economic choice. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(40), 8403–8413. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0392-21.2021

Cavanagh, Sean Edward, Lam, N. H., Murray*, J. D., Hunt*, L. T., & Kennerley*, S. W. (2020). A circuit mechanism for decision-making biases and NMDA receptor hypofunction. eLife, 9, e53664.  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.53664

Cavanagh, Sean E., Malalasekera, W. M. N., Miranda, B., Hunt, L. T., & Kennerley, S. W. (2019). Visual fixation patterns during economic choice reflect covert valuation processes that emerge with learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(45), 22795–22801. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1906662116

Hunt, Laurence T. (2019). The life-changing magic of sharing your data. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(4), 312–315. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0560-3

Fineberg, S. K., Leavitt, J., Stahl, D. S., Kronemer, S., Landry, C. D., Alexander-Bloch, A., … Corlett, P. R. (2018). Differential valuation and learning from social and nonsocial cues in borderline personality disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 84(11), 838–845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.05.020

Cavanagh, Sean E., Towers, J. P., Wallis, J. D., Hunt, L. T., & Kennerley, S. W. (2018). Reconciling persistent and dynamic hypotheses of working memory coding in prefrontal cortex. Nature Communications, 9(1), 3498. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05873-3

⭐Hunt*, L. T., Malalasekera*, W. M. N., de Berker, A. O., Miranda, B., Farmer, S. F., Behrens, T. E. J., & Kennerley, S. W. (2018). Triple dissociation of attention and decision computations across prefrontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 21(10), 1471–1481. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-018-0239-5

Vidaurre, D., Hunt, L. T., Quinn, A. J., Hunt, B. A. E., Brookes, M. J., Nobre, A. C., & Woolrich, M. W. (2018). Spontaneous cortical activity transiently organises into frequency specific phase-coupling networks. Nature Communications, 9(1), 2987. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05316-z

Kaanders, P., & Hunt, L. T. (2018). Neuroscience: Intracranial recordings of value. Current Biology, 28(18), R1106–R1108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.003

⭐Hunt, Laurence T., & Hayden, B. Y. (2017). A distributed, hierarchical and recurrent framework for reward-based choice. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 18(3), 172–182. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.7

Cavanagh, Sean E., Wallis, J. D., Kennerley*, S. W., & Hunt*, L. T. (2016). Autocorrelation structure at rest predicts value correlates of single neurons during reward-guided choice. Elife, 5, e18937. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18937

⭐Hunt, Laurence T., Rutledge, R. B., Malalasekera, W. M. N., Kennerley, S. W., & Dolan, R. J. (2016). Approach-induced biases in human information sampling. PLoS Biology, 14(11), e2000638. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2000638

Hunt, Laurence T., Behrens, T. E. J., Hosokawa, T., Wallis, J. D., & Kennerley, S. W. (2015). Capturing the temporal evolution of choice across prefrontal cortex. eLife, e11945. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11945

Kolling, N., & Hunt, L. T. (2015). Divide and conquer: strategic decision areas. Nature Neuroscience, 18(5), 616–618. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4005

Lim, Matthew S. M., Jocham, G., Hunt, L. T., Behrens, T. E. J., & Rogers, R. D. (2015). Impulsivity and predictive control are associated with suboptimal action-selection and action-value learning in regular gamblers. International Gambling Studies, 15(3), 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2015.1078835

Hauser*, T. U., Hunt*, L. T., Iannaccone, R., Walitza, S., Brandeis, D., Brem, S., & Dolan, R. J. (2015). Temporally dissociable contributions of human medial prefrontal subregions to reward-guided learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(32), 11209–11220. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0560-15.2015

⭐Hunt, Laurence T., Dolan, R. J., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2014). Hierarchical competitions subserving multi-attribute choice. Nature Neuroscience, 17(11), 1613–1622. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3836

Jocham, G., Furlong, P. M., Kröger, I. L., Kahn, M. C., Hunt, L. T., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2014). Dissociable contributions of ventromedial prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex to value-guided choice. NeuroImage, 100, 498–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.06.005

Chau, B. K. H., Kolling, N., Hunt, L. T., Walton, M. E., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2014). A neural mechanism underlying failure of optimal choice with multiple alternatives. Nature Neuroscience, 17(3), 463–470. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3649

Hunt, Laurence T. (2014). What are the neural origins of choice variability? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(5), 222–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.01.004

Brazil, I. A., Hunt, L. T., Bulten, B. H., Kessels, R. P. C., de Bruijn, E. R. A., & Mars, R. B. (2013). Psychopathy-related traits and the use of reward and social information: a computational approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 952. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00952

Hunt, Laurence T., Woolrich, M. W., Rushworth, M. F. S., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2013). Trial-type dependent frames of reference for value comparison. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(9), e1003225. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003225

Nicolle, A., Klein-Flügge, M. C., Hunt, L. T., Vlaev, I., Dolan, R. J., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2012). An agent independent axis for executed and modeled choice in medial prefrontal cortex. Neuron, 75(6), 1114–1121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.07.023

Jocham, G., Hunt, L. T., Near, J., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2012). A mechanism for value-guided choice based on the excitation-inhibition balance in prefrontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 15(7), 960–961. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3140

Woolrich, M., Hunt, L., Groves, A., & Barnes, G. (2011). MEG beamforming using Bayesian PCA for adaptive data covariance matrix regularization. Neuroimage, 57(4), 1466–1479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.04.041

⭐Hunt, Laurence T., Kolling, N., Soltani, A., Woolrich, M. W., Rushworth, M. F. S., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2012). Mechanisms underlying cortical activity during value-guided choice. Nature Neuroscience, 15(3), 470–476. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3017

Klein-Flügge, M. C., Hunt, L. T., Bach, D. R., Dolan, R. J., & Behrens, T. E. J. (2011). Dissociable reward and timing signals in human midbrain and ventral striatum. Neuron, 72(4), 654–664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.08.024

Behrens, T. E. J., Hunt, L. T., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2009). The computation of social behavior. Science, 324(5931), 1160–1164. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1169694

Hunt, Laurence T. (2008). Distinctive roles for the ventral striatum and ventral prefrontal cortex during decision-making. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(35), 8658–8659. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3076-08.2008

⭐Behrens*, T. E. J., Hunt*, L. T., Woolrich, M. W., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2008). Associative learning of social value. Nature, 456(7219), 245–249. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07538

Pinnock, S. B., Balendra, R., Chan, M., Hunt, L. T., Turner-Stokes, T., & Herbert, J. (2007). Interactions between nitric oxide and corticosterone in the regulation of progenitor cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the adult rat. Neuropsychopharmacology, 32(2), 493–504. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1301245