hkl @hkl@qoto.org

Neural tuning instantiates prior expectations in the human visual system https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41027-w Now my prior is that I expect to see a rising bright line when hearing a rising tone - so brain, get on to it! #neuroscience

A galaxy view edge-on by the Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 5866, also known as the Spindle Galaxy or Messier 102, is a bright lenticular galaxy in constellation Draco.

Source and more details: https://science.nasa.gov/edge-galaxy-ngc-5866

For all the folks starting their #PhD (or their master thesis) today - a reminder why your PhD advisor can solve a problem so "easily" ...

#astrodon #academia #AcademiChatter #research

Now open for submissions: The 4th annual #CellPress, Cell Signaling Technology, & Elsevier Foundation Rising Black Scientists Awards are now open!

These awards are open to all sciences. Deadline to submit your essay is October 31st. https://www.cell.com/diversity/awards?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

A ring of fire rises over Western Australia as the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth during an annular eclipse in 2013.

Video credit: Colin Legg & Geoff Sims
Full video and more details: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200615.html
#AltText4Me

Neural specialization for 'visual' concepts emerges in the absence of vision https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.23.552701v1 "preserved neural signatures of 'visual' light events in the left middle temporal gyrus (LMTG)"; #congenitally #blind

More information on Twitter/X at https://twitter.com/miriam_hauptman/status/1695002791180152971

If you have ever wondered where the decibel came from and why it's dB and not db, Jerger (2013) has you covered.

> Prior to 1923 the unit for expressing telephone transmission efficiency was the “mile of standard cable”, but in that year the Bell system adopted a new concept, the “Transmission Unit” or TU, defined as 1/10 log P/Po, where P and Po are pressure levels in the ratio of 10:1. A year later Bell scientists decided that a more workable unit should be defined as 10 transmission units or, simply log P/Po. They proposed to name this new unit the bel, after Alexander Graham Bell, founder of Bell Laboratories, and to introduce the concept of 1/10th of a bel, the decibel. In effect they traded “transmission unit” for “decibel”. This decibel notation was readily adopted by Harvey Fletcher to supplant the sensation unit on the intensity scale of the audiogram. Years later the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics evolved the rule that the first letters of physical units named after persons should be capitalized. Since the bel was named after an actual person, Alexander Graham Bell, it became the Bel, and decibel became dB.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/14992027.2012.752112

Scientists reconstruct Pink Floyd song by listening to people’s brainwaves
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/aug/15/scientists-reconstruct-pink-floyd-song-by-listening-to-peoples-brainwaves?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
#Neuroscience

The view from the International Space Station as an aurora meets the sunrise in space.

Watch the full 4K widescreen version on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmK7oY-Xcr8

Hi all,

Our research group “Circuit Mechanisms of Behavior” at the University Hospital Bonn (lab Tobias Rose) invites applications for a full-time (38.5 hours/week) position as: Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/d):

Detailed description here:
https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12803739/postdoctoral-researcher-mfd

Closing date: 31st of August 2023
Start date: flexible
Contact: Tobias Rose, Tobias.Rose@ukbonn.de

The selected candidate will investigate the "Encoding of Landmark Stability and Stability of Landmark Encoding”:

You will study visual landmark encoding at the intersection of hippocampal, thalamic, and cortical inputs to retrosplenial cortex. You will use cutting-edge miniature two-photon Ca2+ imaging (https://tinyurl.com/mini2pCA1), enabling you to longitudinally record activity in defined, large neuronal populations and long-range afferents in freely moving animals.

You will carry out rigorous neuronal and behavioral analyses within the confines of automatized closed-loop tasks tailored for visual navigation. This will involve the application of advanced tools for dense behavioral quantification, including multi-angle videography, inertial motion sensing, and egocentric recording with head-mounted cameras for the reconstruction of retinal input.

Our aim is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the immediate and sustained multi-area neuronal representation of visual landmarks during unrestricted behavior. We aim to elucidate the mechanisms through which stable visual landmarks are encoded and the processes by which these representations are stabilized to facilitate robust allocentric navigation.

Ideal candidates for this position should hold a doctorate in neuroscience, engineering, physics, or a related discipline, and should be deeply committed to rigorous neuroethology and technical development. We seek individuals with a "tinkering spirit", i.e., a strong penchant for problem-solving and creativity. Essential competencies include the demonstrated ability to design and carry out complex neuroscience experiments, robust programming capabilities, and a foundational knowledge of machine learning methodologies. Valuable experience would include a familiarity with rodent behavior, both in freely moving and head-fixed contexts. Although not mandatory, a background in visual neuroscience or navigation neuroscience would be viewed favorably.

We are looking for a driven candidate with a solid record of accomplishment who is enthusiastic about interdisciplinary research. The successful candidate will be prepared to bring their skills and experience to our innovative and collaborative research environment.

While this role is tailored towards a specific project, we are equally enthusiastic about supporting the development of your individual research pursuits.

Applicants should send their application in a single pdf file, including a cover letter explaining your research interests and motivation for joining the team, CV, and contact information for two references. Applications will be shortlisted based on the above selection criteria. Please send your formal application to Prof. Tobias Rose via email until 31.08.2023. The Expected start date is September 2023 or at the earliest possible date thereafter. Informal enquires about the post are welcome. For more information on our research, please visit www.troselab.de (mastodon: @trose_neuro, twitter: @trose_neuro).

Rufus making himself known in New Mexico

How 'visual' is the visual cortex? The interactions between the visual cortex and other sensory, motivational and motor systems as enabling factors for visual perception https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2022.0336 "we propose that visual percepts are generated by a larger network—the extended visual system—spanning other sensory cortices, supramodal areas and frontal systems."

Crossmodal visual predictions elicit spatially specific early visual cortex activity but later than real visual stimuli https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2022.0339 "participants were exposed to audiovisual combinations comprising one of two sounds and a Gabor patch either in the top left or in the bottom right visual field."

Gorgeous Greenfinch against the green of the woods..

#nature #NaturePhotography #birds #Wildlife #naturecommunity #photography #BirdsOfMastodon #birdphotography

Very proud of this paper that was led by a wonderful postdoc in my lab, Iva Lučić. My first paper without any channels, I think. #biophysics #enzymes #neuroscience #memory

CaMKII autophosphorylation can occur between holoenzymes without subunit exchange https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86090

#pic #pics #pictures #picture #photo #photography #PhotoMonday #photografie #photographie #Fotomontag #foto #fotos #fotographie #fotografie #fotograf #BirdsOfMastodon #bird #birds

Where it all started:

Before I took this picture back in March 2022, I was not a bird photographer. Seeing this Long-tailed tit hooked me in, its such a beautiful bird and since then I have seen 100's of beautiful birds I'd never appreciated prior. I would say this is my first birding photo.

#nature #birds #Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #UK

One of the most spectacular coronal mass ejections from the Sun ever captured by NASA's SDO spacecraft.

Credit: NASA​/​SDO

How Sony cameras help Vivienne Gucwa with her #cortical #blindness https://www.thephoblographer.com/2023/07/29/how-sony-cameras-help-vivienne-gucwa-with-her-cortical-blindness/ on @travelinglens

‘There’s a lack of trust in science – we need to show how it’s done.

Interview Nobel prize winner Giorgio Parisi

Source: The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jun/25/giorgio-parisi-nobel-prize-physics-spin-glasses-complex-systems-in-a-flight-of-starlings

#science #trust #NobelPrize #GiorioParisi