Yonatan Loewenstein Lab

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Home » ELSC Members » Yonatan Loewenstein

David and Inez Myers Chair in Neural Computation (SB)
Loewenstein's lab

We are an interdisciplinary laboratory, interested in computational neuroscience and computational cognition. Research in the lab in recent years has primarily revolved around the neural mechanisms and computational principles underlying different types of learning. However, we are easily distracted and study whatever question we find interesting.

Tomer Barak

PhD Student

Mousa Karayanni

PhD Student

David Shoresh

PhD Student

Tsahi Asher

MSc Student

David Hansel

Visiting Professor

Shir Shapira

Lab Manager

Silviya Tommasin

Victor Pedrosa

Gianluigi Mongillo

Erez Wolfson

Chanan Shteingart

Noam Saadon-Grosman

Ofri Raviv

Tal Neiman

Lior Lebovich

Lior Fox

Lotem Elber-Dorozko

Ohad Dan

Galit Agmon

Uri Yanover

Dana Shulman

Eran Marom

Yinnon Dolev

Yoni Lavi

Neta Ravid

David Ungarish

Matan Sorek

Assif Ziv

Paymon Ashourian

Dror Cohen

Tal Neiman

Ohad Asulin

Galit Agmon

Yinnon Dolev

Eran Marom

Ofri Raviv

Hanan Shteingart

Uri Yanover

Daniel Schwartz

Ohad Assulin

Dror Cohen

Yoni Lavi

Neta Ravid

Matan Sorek

David Ungarish

Assif Ziv

David Shoresh, Sarit Kraus, Yonatan Loewenstein

Communicate-Predict-Act: Evaluating Social Intelligence of Agents

arXiv (Cornell University) (2026)

Yonatan Loewenstein

Robustness of learning that is based on covariance-driven synaptic plasticity

PLoS Computational Biology (2008)

Yonatan Loewenstein, Séverine Mahon, Paul Chadderton, Kazuo Kitamura, Haim Sompolinsky, Yosef Yarom, Michael Häusser

Bistability of cerebellar Purkinje cells modulated by sensory stimulation

Nature neuroscience (2005)

T Barak, Y Loewenstein

Two pathways to resolve relational inconsistencies

Scientific Reports (2025)

D Shoresh, Y Loewenstein

Subject Matter Expertise vs Professional Management in Collective Sequential Decision Making

arXiv (2025)

Saadon-Grosman, N., Asher, T., & Loewenstein, Y.

On the geometry of somatosensory representations in the Cortex

NeuroImage (2025)

Noda, T., Kienle, E., Eppler, J. - B., Aschauer, D. F., Kaschube, M., Loewenstein, Y., & Rumpel, S.

Homeostasis of a representational map in the neocortex

Nature Neuroscience (2025)

Lebovich, Lior, Lea Kaplan, David Hansel, and Yonatan Loewenstein

Stability and robustness of idiosyncratic choice bias

communications Psychology (2025)

Fox, L., Loewenstein, Y.

Is there Value in Reinforcement Learning?

arXiv (2025)

Dan, O., Plonsky, O. & Loewenstein, Y.

Behavior engineering using quantitative reinforcement learning models

Nature Communications (2025)

D Shoresh, Y Loewenstein

Modeling the Centaur: Human-Machine Synergy in Sequential Decision Making

arXiv (2024)

T Barak, Y Loewenstein

Untrained neural networks can demonstrate memorization-independent abstract reasoning

Scientific Reports (2024)

T Barak, Y Loewenstein

Is it me, or is A larger than B: Uncovering the determinants of relational cognitive dissonance resolution

arXiv (2024)

Z Liu, R Reiner, Y Loewenstein, E Lottem

Value Modulation of Self-Defeating Impulsivity

Biological Psychiatry (2024)

Barak, T., & Loewenstein, Y.

Investigating learning-independent abstract reasoning in artificial neural networks

arXiv (2024)

Lebovich, L., Alisch, T., Redhead, E. S., Parker, M. O., Loewenstein, Y., Couzin, I. D., & de Bivort, B. L.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of locomotor decisions in Drosophila melanogaster

bioRxiv (2024)

Lebovich, L., Kaplan, L., Hansel, D., & Loewenstein, Y.

Idiosyncratic choice bias and feedback-induced bias differ in their long-term dynamics

bioRxiv (2024)

E. J. Wolfson, T. Fekete, Y. Loewenstein & O. Shriki

Multi-scale entropy assessment of magnetoencephalography signals in schizophrenia

Scientific Reports (2024)

Fox, L., Dan, O., & Loewenstein, Y.

On the computational principles underlying human exploration

PsyArXiv (2023)

Elber-Dorozko, L., & Loewenstein, Y.

Do Retinal Neurons Also Represent Somatosensory Inputs? On Why Neuronal Responses Are Not Sufficient to Determine What Neurons Do

Cognitive Science (2023)

Shulman, D., Dubnov, S., Zorbaz, T., Madrer, N., Paldor, I., Bennett, D. A., Seshadri, S., Elliott J. Mufson, Greenberg, D. S., Loewenstein, Y., Soreq, H.

Sex-specific declines in cholinergic-targeting tRNA fragments in the nucleus accumbens in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer's & Dementia, 19, 11, Pp. 5159-5172 (2023)

Shental, N., Loewenstein Y..

Computational Models in Cognition

lamda openu books (2023)

Barak, T., & Loewenstein, Y.

Zero-Episode Few-Shot Contrastive Predictive Coding: Solving intelligence tests without prior training

arXiv (2022)

Barak, T., & Loewenstein, Y.

Naive Few-Shot Learning: Uncovering the fluid intelligence of machines

arXiv (2022)

Johannes P.-H. Seiler, Ohad Dan, Oliver Tüscher, Yonatan Loewenstein, Simon Rumpel

Experienced entropy drives choice behavior in a boring decision-making task

Scientific Reports, 12, Pp. 3162 (2022)

Agmon, G., Loewenstein, Y., & Grodzinsky, Y. .

Negative Sentences Exhibit a Sustained Effect in Delayed Verification Tasks

Journal Of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, And Cognition, 48, 1, Pp. 122-141 (2022)

Lebovich, L., Yunerman, M., Scaiewicz, V., Loewenstein, Y., & Rokni, D.

Paradoxical relationship between speed and accuracy in olfactory figure-background segregation

Plos Computational Biology, 17, 12, Pp. e1009674 (2021)

Refaeli, R., Doron, A., Benmelech‐Chovav, A., Groysman, M., Kreisel, T., Loewenstein, Y., & Goshen, I. .

Features of hippocampal astrocytic domains and their spatial relation to excitatory and inhibitory neurons

Glia, Volume 69, Issue 10, Pp. 2378-2390 (2021)

Loewenstein, Y., Raviv, O., & Ahissar, M. .

Dissecting the Roles of Supervised and Unsupervised Learning in Perceptual Discrimination Judgments

Journal of Neuroscience JN-RM-0757-20 (2021)

Castello-Waldow, T. P., Weston, G., Ulivi, A. F., Chenani, A., Loewenstein, Y., Chen, A., & Attardo, A. .

Hippocampal neurons with stable excitatory connectivity become part of neuronal representations

PLoS Biol 18(11): e3000928 (2020)

Fox, L., Dan, O., Elber-Dorozko, L., & Loewenstein, Y. .

Exploration: from machines to humans

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 35, 2020, Pages 104-111, ISSN 2352-1546 (2020)

Saadon-Grosman, N., Arzy, S., & Loewenstein, Y. .

Hierarchical cortical gradients in somatosensory processing

NeuroImage Volume 222, 2020, 117257 (2020)

Grodzinsky, Y., Jaichenco, V., Deschamps, I., Sanchez, M. E., Fuchs, M., Pieperhoff, P., Loewenstein, Y., Amunts K. .

NEGATION AND THE BRAIN: Experiments in health and in focal brain disease, and their theoretical implications

Oxford University Press (2020)

Saadon-Grosman, N., Loewenstein, Y., & Arzy, S. .

The “creatures” of the human cortical somatosensory system

Brain Communications Volume 2, Issue 1, fcaa003 (2020)

Lebovich, L., Darshan, R., Lavi, Y., Hansel, D., & Loewenstein, Y. .

Idiosyncratic choice bias naturally emerges from intrinsic stochasticity in neuronal dynamics

Nature Human Behaviour (2019)

Grodzinsky Y, Deschamps I, Pieperhoff P, Iannilli F, Agmon G, Loewenstein Y, Amunts K

Logical negation mapped onto the brain

Brain Structure and Function (2019)

Gonzales BJ, Mukherjee D, Ashwal-Fluss R, Loewenstein Y, Citri A

Subregion-specific rules govern the distribution of neuronal immediate-early gene induction

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019)

Dan, O., & Loewenstein, Y. .

From choice architecture to choice engineering

Nature Communications, volume 10, Article number: 2808 (2019)

Agmon, G., Loewenstein, Y., & Grodzinsky, Y. .

Measuring the cognitive cost of downward monotonicity by controlling for negative polarity

Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 4(1), 36. (2019)

Iigaya, K., Ahmadian, Y., Sugrue, L. P., Corrado, G. S., Loewenstein, Y., Newsome, W. T., & Fusi, S. .

Deviation from the matching law reflects an optimal strategy involving learning over multiple timescales

Nature Communications volume 10, Article number: 1466 (2019)

Elber-Dorozko, L. and Loewenstein, Y.,

Striatal action-value neurons reconsidered

eLife 7: e34248. (2018)

Fox, L. Choshen, L., and Loewenstein, Y.,

DORA the explorer: directed outreaching reinforcement action-selection

Proc. ICLR (2018)

Mongillo G, Rumpel S, Loewenstein Y

Inhibitory connectivity defines the realm of excitatory plasticity

Nature Neuroscience, 21, 1463–1470 (2018)

Mongillo G, Loewenstein Y.

Neuroscience: Formation of a Percept in the Rat Cortex

Curr Biol. 2017 Jun 5;27(11):R423-R425. (2017)

Mongillo, G., Rumpel, S. and Loewenstein Y.

Intrinsic volatility of synaptic connections – a challenge to the synaptic trace theory of memory

Current Opinion in Neurobiology (2017)

Murakami M, Shteingart H, Loewenstein Y, Mainen ZF.

Distinct Sources of Deterministic and Stochastic Components of Action Timing Decisions in Rodent Frontal Cortex

Neuron. May 17;94(4):908-919.e7. (2017)

Dan, O., Hochner-Celnikier, D., Solinca, A. and Loewenstein, Y.

Association of Catastrophic Neonatal Outcomes With Increased Rate of Subsequent Cesarean Deliveries

Obstetrics and Gynecology (2017)

Sagi Jaffe-Dax, Ofri Raviv, Yonatan Loewenstein, Merav Ahissar

A Computational Model of Dyslexics’ Perceptual Difficulties as Impaired Inference of Sound Statistics

(2017)

Shteingart H, Loewenstein Y.

Heterogeneous Suppression of Sequential Effects in Random Sequence Generation, but Not in Operant Learning

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 18;11(8):e0157643. (2016)

Deschamps I, Agmon G, Loewenstein Y, Grodzinsky Y.

The processing of polar quantifiers, and numerosity perception

Cognition. 2015 Oct;143:115-28. (2015)

Shteingart H., Loewenstein Y.

The Effect of Sample Size and Cognitive Strategy on Probability Estimation Bias

Decison, 04/2015, Volume 2, Issue 2, p.107-117 (2015)

Loewenstein Y, Yanover U, Rumpel S.

Predicting the Dynamics of Network Connectivity in the Neocortex

J Neurosci. 2015 Sep 9;35(36):12535-44. (2015)

Jaffe-Dax S, Raviv O, Jacoby N, Loewenstein Y, Ahissar M.

A Computational Model of Implicit Memory Captures Dyslexics’ Perceptual Deficits

J Neurosci. 2015 Sep 2;35(35):12116-26. (2015)

Gianluigi Mongillo, Hanan Shteingart, and Yonatan Loewenstein

The Misbehavior of Reinforcement Learning

Proceedings of the IEEE, 04/2014, Volume 102, Issue 4, p.528-541 (2014)

Neiman, T., & Loewenstein, Y. .

Spatial Generalization in Operant Learning: Lessons from Professional Basketball

PLoS Comput Biol. 2014 May; 10(5): e1003623. (2014)

Shteingart H, Loewenstein Y.

Reinforcement learning and human behavior

Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2014 Apr;25:93-8. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.12.004. (2014)

Ofri Raviv, Itay Lieder, Yonatan Loewenstein, and Merav Ahissar

Contradictory Behavioral Biases Result from the Influence of Past Stimuli on Perception

PLoS Comput Biol. 2014 Dec; 10(12): e1003948. (2014)

Shteingart H, Neiman T, Loewenstein Y.

The Role of First Impression in Operant Learning

J Exp Psychol Gen. 2013 May;142(2):476-88. (2013)

Sorek M, Balaban NQ, Loewenstein Y.

Stochasticity, bistability and the wisdom of crowds: a model for associative learning in genetic regulatory networks

PLoS Comput Biol. 2013;9(8):e1003179. (2013)

Tal Neiman and Yonatan Loewenstein

Covariance-Based Synaptic Plasticity in an Attractor Network Model Accounts for Fast Adaptation in Free Operant Learning

Journal of Neuroscience 23 January 2013, 33 (4) 1521-1534; (2013)

O Raviv, I Lieder, Y Loewenstein, M Ahissar

Contradictory behavioral biases result from the influence of past stimuli on perception

PLoS Computational Biology (2014)

Laquitaine S, Piron C, Abellanas D, Loewenstein Y, Boraud T.

Complex Population Response of Dorsal Putamen Neurons Predicts the Ability to Learn

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 14;8(11):e80683. (2013)

Gianluigi Mongillo, Hanan Shteingart, Yonatan Loewenstein

Race against the machine

Proceedings of the IEEE (2014)

Leshem Choshen, Lior Fox, Zohar Aizenbud, Omri Abend

On the Weaknesses of Reinforcement Learning for Neural Machine Translation

International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) (2020)

Shomrat T, Graindorge N, Bellanger C, Fiorito G, Loewenstein Y, Hochner B.

Alternative Sites of Synaptic Plasticity in Two Homologous “Fan-out Fan-in” Learning and Memory Networks

Curr Biol. 2011 Nov 8;21(21):1773-82. (2011)

Ashourian P, Loewenstein Y.

Bayesian inference underlies the contraction bias in delayed comparison tasks

PLoS One. 2011 May 12;6(5):e19551. (2011)

Loewenstein Y, Kuras A, Rumpel S.

Multiplicative dynamics underlie the emergence of the log-normal distribution of spine sizes in the neocortex in vivo

J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 29;31(26):9481-8. (2011)

Yonatan Loewenstein

Synaptic theory of replicator-like melioration

Front Comput Neurosci. 2010; 4: 17. (2010)

Jeffrey P. Gavornik, Marshall G. Hussain Shuler, Yonatan Loewenstein, Mark F. Bear, and Harel Z. Shouval

Learning reward timing in cortex through reward dependent expression of synaptic plasticity

PNAS April 21, 2009 106 (16) 6826-6831; (2009)

Loewenstein Y, Prelec D, Seung HS.

Operant matching as a Nash equilibrium of an intertemporal game

Neural Comput. 2009 Oct;21(10):2755-73. (2009)

Loewenstein Y.

Robustness of learning that is based on covariance-driven synaptic plasticity

PLoS Comput Biol. 2008 Mar 7;4(3):e1000007. (2008)

Yonatan Loewenstein and H. Sebastian Seung

Operant matching is a generic outcome of synaptic plasticity based on the covariance between reward and neural activity

PNAS October 10, 2006 103 (41) 15224-15229; (2006)

Yonatan Loewenstein, Séverine Mahon, Paul Chadderton, Kazuo Kitamura, Haim Sompolinsky, Yosef Yarom & Michael Häusser

Purkinje cells in awake behaving animals operate in stable upstate membrane potential

Nature Neurosciencevolume 9, page461 (2006)

Yonatan Loewenstein; Séverine Mahon; Paul Chadderton; Kazuo Kitamura; Haim Sompolinsky; Yosef Yarom; Michael Häusser

Bistability of cerebellar Purkinje cells modulated by sensory stimulation

Nature Neuroscience, Volume 8, p.202–211 (2005)

Häusser M, Raman IM, Otis T, Smith SL, Nelson A, du Lac S, Loewenstein Y, Mahon S, Pennartz C, Cohen I, Yarom Y.

The beat goes on: spontaneous firing in mammalian neuronal microcircuits

J Neurosci. 2004 Oct 20;24(42):9215-9. (2004)

Loewenstein Y.

Ph.D. Thesis: The Olivo-cerebellar System: Dynamical Processes and Computational Principles

(2003)

Yonatan Loewenstein; Haim Sompolinsky

Temporal integration by calcium dynamics in a model neuron

Nat Neurosci. 2003 Sep;6(9):961-7. (2003)

Loewenstein Y.

A possible role of olivary gap-junctions in the generation of physiological and pathological tremors

Mol Psychiatry. 2002;7(2):129-31. (2002)

Yonatan Loewenstein; Haim Sompolinsky

Oscillations by symmetry breaking in homogeneous networks with electrical coupling

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2002 May;65(5 Pt 1):051926 (2002)

Loewenstein Y, Yarom Y, Sompolinsky H.

The generation of oscillations in networks of electrically coupled cells

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jul 3;98(14):8095-100 (2001)

Ofri Raviv , Merav Ahissar, Yonatan Loewenstein

How Recent History Affects Perception: The Normative Approach and Its Heuristic Approximation

PLoS Computational Biology 8(10):e1002731 (2012)

Tal Neiman, Yonatan Loewenstein

Reinforcement learning in professional basketball players

Nature Communications volume 2, Article number: 569 (2011)

Yonatan Loewenstein

Robustness of learning that is based on covariance-driven synaptic plasticity

PLoS Computational Biology (2008)

Yonatan Loewenstein, H Sebastian Seung

Operant matching is a generic outcome of synaptic plasticity based on the covariance between reward and neural activity

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2006)

Martijn Schonewille, Sara Khosrovani, Beerend HJ Winkelman, Freek E Hoebeek, Marcel TG De Jeu, Inger M Larsen, J Van der Burg, Matthew T Schmolesky, Maarten A Frens, Chris I De Zeeuw

Purkinje cells in awake behaving animals operate at the upstate membrane potential

Nature neuroscience (2006)

Y Loewenstein, HS Seung

Stochastic choice and operant matching in a neuronal model

REVIEWS IN THE NEUROSCIENCES (2005)

Michael Häusser, Indira M Raman, Thomas Otis, Spencer L Smith, Alexandra Nelson, Sascha Du Lac, Yonatan Loewenstein, Séverine Mahon, Cyriel Pennartz, Ivan Cohen, Yosef Yarom

The beat goes on: spontaneous firing in mammalian neuronal microcircuits

Journal of Neuroscience (2004)

Y Loewenstein, H Sompolinsky

Temporal integration by calcium dynamics in a model neuron

Nature neuroscience (2003)

Y Loewenstein, H Sompolinsky

Oscillations by symmetry breaking in homogeneous networks with electrical coupling

Physical Review (2002)

Y Loewenstein

A possible role of olivary gap-junctions in the generation of physiological and pathological tremors

Molecular psychiatry (2001)

Y Loewenstein, Y Yarom, H Sompolinsky

The generation of oscillations in networks of electrically coupled cells

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2001)

Yonatan Loewenstein

Professor

Email: yonatan@huji.ac.il

Phone: +972-2-6585996

Address: The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences
The Suzanne and Charles Goodman Brain Sciences Building,
Level 1, Room 2101, Edmond J. Safra Campus,
The Hebrew of University Jerusalem, 9190401

https://loewenstein.huji.ac.il

David and Inez Myers Chair in Neural Computation (SB)
Loewenstein's lab

People

Robert Reiner

Lab Manager

Haneen Rajabi

PhD student

Jonathan Schwarcz

PhD student

Adria Dym

PhD student

Gabrielle Marmur

PhD student

Shai Yellinek

PhD student

Itai Wasserman

PhD student

Ala Shaloudy

PhD Student

Josue Zini

Moran Moradi

Gon Ishay

Zhe Liu

Shahar Haim

Publications

Adi Hovav-Lixenberg, Yirat Henshke, Tirzah Kreisel, Eran Lottem, Mati Joshua

Enhanced reward coding and condition-independent dynamics in optogenetically identified corticostriatal neurons in monkeys

Nature Communications (2026)

Silvana C Araujo, B. Lacoste, Luis Moreira, Oihane Horno, Eran Lottem, Joaquim Alves da Silva, Boris Gutkin, Christian K. Machens, Susana Q. Lima

Control of Male Mouse Copulatory Behavior by Midbrain Dopamine Neurons

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026)

Haimson, B., Gilday, O.D., Lavi-Rudel, A., Sagi, H., Lottem, E., Mizrahi, A.

Single neuron responses to perceptual difficulty in the mouse auditory cortex

Sci Adv. (2024)

Haim, S., Ofir, N., Deouell, L.Y., Landau, A.N., Lottem, E.

Neural Signatures of Flexible Multiple Timing

J Neurosci. (2025)

Liu, Z., Reiner, R., Loewenstein, Y., Lottem, E.

Value Modulation of Self-Defeating Impulsivity

Biol Psychiatry. (2025)

Vertechi, P., Lottem, E., Sarra, D., Godinho, B., Treves, I., Quendera, T., Lohuis, M.N.O, Mainen, Z.F.

Inference-Based Decisions in a Hidden State Foraging Task: Differential Contributions of Prefrontal Cortical Areas

Neuron. (2020)

Lottem, E., Banerjeem, D., Vertechi, P., Sarra, D., Lohuis, M.O, Mainen, Z.F.

Activation of serotonin neurons promotes active exploitation in a probabilistic foraging task

Nature Communications. (2018)

Matias, S., Lottem, E., Dugué, G.P., Mainen, Z.F.

Activity patterns of serotonin neurons underlying cognitive flexibility

Elife. (2017)

Correia, P.A., Lottem, E., Banerjee, D., Machado, A.S., Carey, M.R., Mainen, Z.F.

Transient inhibition and long-term facilitation of locomotion by phasic optogenetic activation of serotonin neurons

Elife. (2017)

Lottem, E., Lörincz, M.L., Mainen, Z.F.

Optogenetic activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons rapidly inhibits spontaneous but not odor-evoked activity in olfactory cortex

J Neurosci. (2016)

Dugué, G.P., Lörincz, M.L., Lottem, E., Audero, E., Matias, S., Correia, P.A., Léna, C., Mainen, Z.F.

Optogenetic recruitment of dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons acutely decreases mechanosensory responsivity in behaving mice

PLoS One. (2014)

Lottem, E., Gugig, E., Azouz, R.

Parallel Coding Schemes of Whisker Velocity in the Rat’s Somatosensory System

J Neurophysiol. (2014)

Lottem, E., Azouz, R.

A unifying framework underlying mechanotransduction in the somatosensory system

J Neurosci. (2011)

Lottem, E., Azouz, R.

Mechanisms of tactile information transmission through whisker vibrations

J Neurosci. (2009)

Lottem, E., Azouz, R.

Dynamic translation of surface coarseness into whisker vibrations

J Neurophysiol. (2008)

Open Positions

We are looking for talented, creative and motivated students and postdocs to join our team.

Additional Information

Eran Lottem

Assistant Professor

Email: eran.lottem@mail.huji.ac.il

Phone: +972-52-7450155

Eran Lottem CV

Address: The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences
The Suzanne and Charles Goodman Brain Sciences Building,
Level 1, Room 2104, Edmond J. Safra Campus,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 9190401