Publications

Manuscripts

Ballard, I.C., Nix, K., D’Esposito, M.D. Reward reinforcement creates habitual selection of goals. Preprint. In Revision.

Leong, Y.C, Ballard, I.C. In the mind of the beholder: Neurocomputational Approaches to Motivated Seeing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Invited Submission.

Ballard, I.C, D’Esposito, M.D. Striatum updates goal values to support behavioral flexibility. SANS 2021 poster.

Ballard, I.C*, Furman, D.*, Berry, A., White, R., Jagust, W.J., Kayser, A., D’Esposito, M.D. Optimal dopaminergic tone for reward learning and executive control in humans. SFN 2021 poster.

Ballard, I.C., Pappas, I., Peters, J., D’Esposito, M.D. Orbifrontal cortex lesions disrupt hippocampal network connectivity. CNS 2021 poster.

Ongoing Projects

Ballard, I.C.*, Pappas, I.*, Furman, D., Berry, A., White, R., Jagust, W.J., Kaiser, A., D’Esposito, M.D. Striatal dopamine influences the hemodynamic response in humans. SFN 2022 poster.

Ballard, I.C.*, Pappas, I.*, D’Esposito, M.D. Deep learning models reveal hidden structure in human reward generalization.

Ballard, I.C., Lapate, R., Kiyonaga, A., McDougle, S., D’Esposito, M.D. Inhibitory TMS improves decision-making by reducing competition between learning systems.

*Co-first author 

Publications

Lapate, R., Ballard, I.C., Heckner, M., D’Esposito, M.D. Emotional context sculpts action goal representations in the lateral frontal pole. The Journal of Neuroscience, 42 (8): 1529–41 (2022).

Shen, X., Ballard, I.C., Smith, D., Murty, V.P. Decision uncertainty during hypothesis testing has distinct influences on memory accuracy and memory confidence. Learning and Memory. 29 (4): 93–99 (2022).

McDougle, S.D., Ballard, I.C., Baribault, B., Bishop, S., Collins, A.D.E. Executive Function Assigns Value to Novel Goal-Congruent Outcomes. Cerebral Cortex, 32 (1): 231–47 (2021). 

Radulescu, A., Niv, Y., Ballard, I.C. Holistic Reinforcement Learning: The Role of Structure and Attention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(4): 278–92 (2019).  

Ballard, I.C., Wagner, A.D., McClure, S.M. Hippocampal Pattern Separation Supports Reinforcement Learning. Nature Communications, 10(1): 1073 (2019). Analysis Code. OpenNeuro Dataset. 

Ballard, I.C., McClure, S.M. Joint Modeling of Choice and Reaction Times Improves Parameter Identifiability in Reinforcement Learning Models. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 317(4): 37–44 (2019).  Analysis Code and Data.  

Diehl, M., Steele, V., Lempert, L., Parr, A., Ballard, I.C., Smith, D. Toward an Integrative Perspective on the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Persistent Maladaptive Behaviors. European Journal of Neuroscience, 48(3): 1870–83 (2018).

Ballard, I. C.  Kim, B., Aydogan, G., Liatsis, A., Cohen, J.D., McClure, S.M. More Is Meaningful: The Magnitude Effect in Intertemporal Choice Depends on Self-Control. Psychological Science, 28(10), 1443–1454 (2017).  Analysis Code. OpenNeuro Dataset.

Ballard, I. C., Aydogan, G., Kim, B. & McClure, S.M. Causal Evidence for the Dependence of the Magnitude Effect on Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 16545 (2018).  Analysis Code and Data.

Ballard, I.C., Miller, E., Piantadosi, S.T., Goodman, N., McClure, S.M. Beyond Reward Prediction Errors: Human Striatum Represents Rule Values During Categorization Learning. Cerebral Cortex, 19(3), 1-11 (2017).

Murty, V.P*., Ballard, I.C*., Adcock, R.A. Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex Predict Distinct Timescales of Activation in the Human Ventral Tegmental Area. Cerebral Cortex, 27(2), 1660-1669 (2017). 

Ballard, I.C., Hennigan, K., McClure, S.M. (2017) Mere Exposure: Preference for Novel Drinks Reflected in Human Ventral Tegmental Area. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 29, 793–804 (2017). 

Murty, V. P., Ballard, I. C., Macduffie, K. E., Krebs, R. M. & Adcock, R. A. Hippocampal networks habituate as novelty accumulates. Learning & Memory, 20, 229–235 (2013). 

Ballard, I.C.*, Murty, V.P.*, Carter R.M., MacInnes J.J., Huettel S.A., Adcock R.A. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex drives mesolimbic dopaminergic regions to initiate motivated behavior. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(28), 10340-6. (2011).

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Mata, R., Radu, P.T., Ballard, I.C., Carstensen, L.L., McClure, S.M. Age differences in striatal delay sensitivity during intertemporal choice in healthy adults. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 5, 126. (2011).

*Co-first author