Anirudh Wodeyar @awodeyar@qoto.org

3,013 neurons, half a million synapses: the complete #connectome of the whole #Drosophila larval brain!

Winding, Pedigo et al. 2022. "The connectome of an insect brain" https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.28.516756v1

We’ve mapped and analysed its circuit architecture, from sensory neurons to brain output neurons, as reconstructed from volume electron microscopy, and here is what we found. 1/

#neuroscience #connectomics #vEM #volumeEM

Many studies have shown that humans preferentially remember surprising events. In this preprint, we show that memory is also biased by long-term, multi-state surprise. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.27.517985v1

So, what is long-term surprise? Here’s our example from the paper: Imagine in late January 2020 you predicted that Bernie Sanders would become the Democratic nominee for US president, which was ~20% likely per 538.

Pls Boost!

New review in Nature Reviews Neuroscience
"From cognitive maps to spatial schemas"
With co-authors:
Delaram Farzanfar, Morris Moscovitch & Shayna Rosenbaum
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-022-00655-9

"Better Inference in Neuroscience: Test Less, Estimate More"

is my new paper out in the JNeuro making the case to:

a) use hypothesis testing better, to actually test the *researcher's* hypothesis, and

b) to use estimation for the many, many situations in neuroscience in which a researcher is not yet ready to conduct a strong hypothesis test

Open-access pre-print is here: https://tinyurl.com/testless or get the 'official' version here: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/42/45/8427

⚙️⚙️ My co-first authored paper on the discovery and characterization of a new brain wave (oscillation) called “splines” is open access in Cell Reports!

〰 These oscillations are high-frequency: 130-160 Hz, occurring at the peaks of theta rhythms in the retrosplenial cortex (part of the brain essential for successful navigation). Splines occur during REM sleep and navigation. They become more powerful + more coherent across the hemispheres as a mouse or rat runs faster.

https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2211-1247%2822%2900822-1

Curve fitting - this needs to be shared here :-)
By the great xkcd
https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/curve_fitting_2x.png

The #COSYNE2023 #abstract #submission #deadline is *today*. Get your work in and come share it with us in Montreal!

https://www.cosyne.org/

Please boost this!!!!

The #GreatEgret is a dazzling sight dressed all in white and set against the colourful red and gold background as it flies past a fall forest. A tall, stately white wader of quiet waters it takes flight when disturbed. See at Wilson's Flats, #Ontario at #GrandRiver!
#GreatWhiteEgret #waterbird #bird #animal #nature #birdlover #naturelover #BuyIntoArt #fall #autumn #fallfoliage #autumnfoliage #wildlife #birdphotography #wallart #homedecor #GiftThemArt
Shop here - https://debbie-oppermann.pixels.com/featured/great-white-egret-and-autumn-colours-debbie-oppermann.html

Hey #neuroscience #neurotech #neurodon

I'm very excited about a truly distributed community for #neuroscience.

Let's make it easier for new folks (and #twitterexodus #twittermigration) folks to plug into the #neurodon community!

Please add your Mastodon information to this importable community list: https://forms.gle/sWZyxMGsNefy3kzr5

A new preprint! Bartlett and Welch pioneered stats for estimating frequency spectra in the 50s and 60s. Their core methods are still widely used today though statistical methods have greatly advanced.

We blend Welch-style spectrum estimation and general linear modelling in a single framework allowing contrast coding, confound regression, multi-level modelling and non-parametric permutation.

The GLM-Spectrum:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.14.516449v1

#EEG #MEG #preprint #stats #regression #spectrum #python

What math do neuroscientists need to know?

A highlight of #SFN2022 was Ella Batty's answer to this question. She showed off an incredible math for neuroscientists course she has developed at Harvard with open materials (https://ebatty.github.io/MathToolsforNeuroscience/) and discussed her amazing work with Neuromatch Academy (https://compneuro.neuromatch.io/)

Her SFN slides are here: https://osf.io/s94b2

#Neuroscience #GradSchool #Math

Spikes, Local Field Potentials, and Waves with Leslie Kay, Earl Miller, and Tony Zador
https://youtu.be/qftGEaWKTfI

#neuroscience

Because this was my only post ever that got +5k likes on Twitter, it is only fitting that this is my first post here ⤵️

I created an awesome-PhD list on GitHub where everybody can contribute with their own tools and resources! 🔥

✨ Check it out and contribute yourself via pull requests: https://github.com/helenahartmann/awesome-PhD ✨

#ScienceMastodon #phdchat #academicmastodon

The #fediverse is one of the most hopeful aspects of the internet, since it tries to bring it back to its decentralized, federated roots. In my opinion, there is no other way to guarantee free communication.

However, it is not without its challenges. Looking ahead, it's easy to identify some of them:

1. Centralization is an emergent phenomena. We can see this happening with the distribution of instance sizes, and the clear “rich get richer” dynamics that take place. This is not due to bad actors, it is simply how people tend to behave.

2. Commercialization is yet to hit this platform, but if it becomes popular, it will undoubtedly happen. Instances that serve ads, promotes content, etc, will appear at some point.

3. Related to point 2, it is possible that Google and/or Microsoft will seise the opportunity to try once more to move into the social media domain, and make services that connects to the #fediverse. This will be sold as an adoption of the federation, and hence progress. But to see how that goes, we need only to remember what happened with google chat and the open Jabber protocol — they abandoned it as soon as their service became popular enough. Bait and switch.

4. Legal intimidation of smaller instances is a real menace. The push to force Facebook/Twitter/etc to be liable for what users post will backfire, and render every instance admin responsible for what every single user posts. Note that it does not matter one bit if the content is actually problematic — a single cease or desist letter from a lawyer will terrify most admins out there.

These are not problems without solution, but it's unclear how things will unfold.

.@amykooz presents some interesting work on how the brain energy landscape changes in the LSD state: a flatter energy landscape leads to increased entropy in the brain #brainmodes2022 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33578-1

24,932 accounts
+89 in the last day
+1,026 in the last week