Armin Lak
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
- Wellcome Trust Henry Dale Fellow
- St John's College Fellow
My group aims to gain a quantitative circuit-level understanding of neuronal mechanisms that subserve learning and decision making. We employ a multi-disciplinary approach including high-count electrophysiology, cell type-specific multi-phton imaging, optogenetic manipulations, highly-controlled behavioural tasks in mice, and computational modelling. Our research is supported by funding from ERC and Wellcome Trust
I completed my PhD in neuroscience at Cambridge University with Wolfram Schultz, investigating the roles of midbrain dopamine neurons in economic decision making. As a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, I worked with Matteo Carandini, Kenneth Harris and Adam Kepecs at UCL (London) and CSHL (NY). I combined neuronal circuit tools with novel behavioural and computational methods that I developed to investigate the roles that frontal cortex and dopamine neurons play in perceptual and economic decisions.
Colleges
Research groups
Key publications
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Dopamine encodes deep network teaching signals for individual learning trajectories.
Journal article
Liebana S. et al, (2025), Cell, 188, 3789 - 3805.e33
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Distinct representations of economic variables across regions and projections of the frontal cortex.
Journal article
Majumdar A. et al, (2025), Neuron, 113, 4232 - 4244.e8
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Temporal regularities shape perceptual decisions and striatal dopamine signals.
Journal article
Fritsche M. et al, (2024), Nat Commun, 15
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Dopaminergic and Prefrontal Basis of Learning from Sensory Confidence and Reward Value.
Journal article
Lak A. et al, (2020), Neuron, 105, 700 - 711.e6
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Orbitofrontal cortex is required for optimal waiting based on decision confidence.
Journal article
Lak A. et al, (2014), Neuron, 84, 190 - 201
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Dopamine prediction error responses integrate subjective value from different reward dimensions.
Journal article
Lak A. et al, (2014), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 111, 2343 - 2348
Recent publications
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Distinct representations of economic variables across regions and projections of the frontal cortex.
Journal article
Majumdar A. et al, (2025), Neuron, 113, 4232 - 4244.e8
-
Dopamine encodes deep network teaching signals for individual learning trajectories.
Journal article
Liebana S. et al, (2025), Cell, 188, 3789 - 3805.e33
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A hierarchical adaptive optics strategy for three-photon imaging during behavior
Preprint
Atilgan H. et al, (2025)
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An orexin-sensitive subpopulation of layer 6 neurons regulates cortical excitability and anxiety behaviour.
Journal article
Messore F. et al, (2025), Transl Psychiatry, 15
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An axonal brake on striatal dopamine output by cholinergic interneurons.
Journal article
Zhang Y-F. et al, (2025), Nat Neurosci, 28, 783 - 794

