Dear comp-neuro community, as part of the Paris Region (Île-de-France) DIM C-BRAINS 2025-2026 International PhD studentship program, we are looking for excellent international candidates who would wish to work on the following topic: Stress-Based Modulation of Hippocampal Replay-Inspired Techniques in Reinforcement Learning (SMaRT-RL) Supervisors: Elisa Massi (elisa.massi [@] cyu.fr, https://www.etis-lab.fr/2024/01/11/massi-elisa/ ) and Lola Cañamero (lola.canamero [@] cyu.fr, www.etis-lab.fr/canamero-lola/ ), ETIS Lab UMR8051, CY Cergy Paris University, France Summary of the PhD project : ====================== Animals and humans process vast amounts of information but retain only the most relevant experiences, with emotions playing a key role in memory consolidation. Emotions, particularly stress, enhancing attention and arousal, influence brain regions like the hippocampus. In neuroscience, it is known that hippocampal reactivations help recall and consolidate experiences. In artificial intelligence (AI), strategies inspired by these reactivations, especially in reinforcement learning, have been shown to accelerate learning. When it comes to emotionally charged circumstances, the relationship between stress, its most prominent hormone, cortisol, and memory functions in the hippocampus, is complex. This project aims to explore the link between stress and hippocampal reactivations via a computational model, and test it in artificial agents. This bio-inspired approach could (a) reveal new insights into the generation of hippocampal replay mechanisms and (b) improve AI's learning efficiency. Keywords : stress modelling, reinforcement learning, hippocampal replay, computational modeling, cognitive and affective neuroscience For a detailed description of the project, please visit: https://dim-cbrains.fr/en/phd-program/dim-cbrains?search=lola+canamero Further information: =============== - Eligibility criteria: https://dim-cbrains.fr/api/1.0/editorjs/7c5b1e85-a681-4eff-9382-dcb70bed6819... - About the DIM C-BRAIN International PhD studentship program: https://dim-cbrains.fr/api/1.0/editorjs/c035c5d8-3f2b-4745-86c2-dadf90771416... - TO APPLY: https://dim-cbrains.fr/en/platform/login Applications close on the 30th of January 2026. Best regards, -- Elisa MASSI Assistant professor ETIS Lab -- CY Cergy Paris Université, France