Neurofrontiers @neurofrontiers@qoto.org

An opioid expert from Texas A&M gave a guest lecture and mentioned that Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick’s policies were costing lives. Within hours, Patrick’s office got her suspended, formally censored, and nearly fired.

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/25/texas-a-m-professor-opioids-dan-patrick/

@Neurograce
I agree 100%. There are good computational models of emotions as representational patterns of interoception and societal structure. (For example, Kristin Lindquist's beautiful Nature Reviews Neuroscience paper. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-022-00105-4)

@NicoleCRust @axoaxonic

A lot of the problem is that people confound "computational neuroscience" with "brain as a digital computer like the one on your desk". That computer model (digital hardware + software) was a theory in the 1960s to 1980s, but was disproved decades ago.* (That's good science!)

What the computational neuroscience paradigm is really saying is that there is a process in which information is stored and transformed in ways that can be described mathematically. For example, an associative network doing pattern completion through basins of attraction is a fundamentally different computational process than a von Neumann computer. A reservoir network is a different computational process than a von Neumann computer. Reinforcement learning is a different computational process than a von Neumann computer. Yet these are all computational processes.

* Also, the fact that the "brain as a digital computer" is wrong is why neuroscience techniques are ill-suited to understand transistor chips - the brain doesn't work that way and we know it - so neuroscience techniques are designed to understand the computations the brain does do.

Kyoto snowy night. #streetphotography #写真 #photography

We got an email from someone who was falsely accused of using ChatGPT to generate their essays.

My name is XXX I am a XXX year old XX student at XXX. I am currently being falsely accused of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) on an assignment of mine. The AI detector is used through the company "Turnitin".

I am contacting you because I am interested in discussing this subject with someone who is willing to listen.

You may not have heard of it. But it’s the hottest field in life science for making new discoveries about human health and disease

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/spatial-biology-is-lighting-it-up

I’ve noticed a strong alignment between those who think that the computer metaphor for the brain makes little sense and those who’ve thought about how the brain might give rise to emotion.

As much as I love all the progress happening in NeuroAI to push our understanding of perception, memory & intelligence forward, I very much think they are right - there’s a crucial swath that doesn’t seem to fit with that agenda.

#neuroscience #neuroAI #philosophy

This is the real, human cost of mass surveillance of everyone's private digital communications.

If we actually care about keeping people safe, we need more end-to-end encryption not less.

This is like dinosaurs having their picture taken with an asteroid. #funny #climate

I very much dislike peer review.

My modal experience is uninformed reviewers just asking me to do random shit because it feels like the right sciencey thing to do.

After all if they don't tell me to e.g. "talk about VR" in a paper that has nothing do with it, how did they contribute as expected? What a joke.

Not once has a paper improved through this process. It is extremely rare for a reviewer to check my work.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01637-2

Pls boost so I can show my wife how a toot can go round the world

(we are boarding a long haul flight and will be on the other side of the world when I turn my phone back on, so even with 0 boosts I think this will be a sound demonstration)

Looking for a permanent #job in #neuroscience? We are recruiting a (Senior) Scientist to study the biophysics of neural computation in the Groschner lab at the Francis Crick Institute.

Please share!

https://crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job/London/XMLNAME--Senior--Laboratory-Research-Scientist_R1199-2

How we can teach children so they survive AI – and cope with whatever comes next | George Monbiot https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/08/teach-children-survive-ai #AI #education

Announcing SNUFA 2023: 7-8 November (online). Your friendly focus meeting on spiking neural networks. Invited speakers: Rodolphe Sepulchre, Melika Payvand, Gabriel Ocker, Jeff Krichmar. Abstract submission open! https://snufa.net/2023. w/ Charlotte Frenkel, Emre Neftci, and @neuralreckoning

Happy to announce that the paper introducing our Misinformation Game simulator (led by the amazing Lucy Butler) is out in Behavior Research Methods today: https://rdcu.be/dgCo6
 
It's a social-media simulation for experimental research. Full experimental control, open source, Qualtrics integration, no coding skills required.

Posts can be text, image (incl. gif) or both. You can choose between a feed mode or page-wise presentation.

You can edit source handles and avatars, as well as engagement metrics (e.g. number of likes). There's a source-credibility badge and follower counts. Source-post assignments can range from fully random to fully determined.

Participants can like, dislike, share, or flag content, and they can comment. Their credibility score and follower count changes dynamically based on the choices they make. And all these features can easily be switched on or off.

Note that posts *can* be classified as true vs. false but they don't have to be. We developed the tool with misinformation experiments in mind but it can be used for many other purposes. We hope it'll be useful!
 
Full access here: https://misinfogame.com

Our review paper on #cortical integration of #vestibular and #visual signals is now out on @AnnualReviews. We delve into the fascinating topic, shedding light on knowledge gaps and suggesting promising directions for future research. Check it out!

#multisensoryintegration #percepcion #spatialnavigation #selfmotion #cortex #neurosciene #neuralcircuits

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-120722-100503

One of the biggest habits that humanity has to kick is that of seeing a human-free space and assuming it’s worthless/empty unless we fill it up with something. It’s happening with plans for the ocean, deforestation for “development”, talk of delivery drones filling the future sky, cube sats that will hide the stars. This “space” is the planetary engine, and it’s incredibly valuable NOW. doing all sorts of things that keep us alive & enrich our lives. We should protect it. #ocean #climate #Earth

Some people today are understandably overwhelmed by the avalanche of negative and depressing news on climate change we hear every day.

As a defense mechanism, they've convinced themselves that nothing they or anyone else can do will make a difference. We're doomed, they believe. As psychologist Susan Tanner says, "apocalyptic thinking can be very useful to people who need to feel a sense of control. Living with uncertainty...is the hardest thing to do for all human beings."

I understand and completely sympathise with where they are coming from. But if we decide we are doomed, then we truly will be. That's why, to them, I say:

If you are convinced that we are doomed and there’s nothing anyone can do to avoid the climate crisis and the collapse of the biosphere,

❌ stop doom scrolling and get off social media
😳 don’t attack or hinder others who are doing their best to make a difference
🐾 adopt a pet in need of a home
🌳 spend as much time as you can in nature
🤲 if you are able, find a local climate action group, and ask what you can do to help
❤️ focus on love

Asking better questions about involuntary psychiatric care

Acknowledging the necessity of involuntary care allows many to be complacent about the status quo

https://awaisaftab.substack.com/p/asking-better-questions-about-involuntary

yes this is me being frustrated with senior academics settled atop their local prestige fiefdoms holding everyone else beneath them back. no this is not in any way directed at my fellow early career researchers trying to survive.

I want us to break out of the insular subdisciplinary columns we are trained to fight our way to the top of and instead recommit ourselves to being part of this world. science is labor. information is political. We can be more than unwilling porters of grant money into the revenue streams of conglomerates with higher profit margins than Raytheon.

I'm happy to report that the third edition of my textbook Evolution, coauthored with @LeeDugatkin, is now available.

The new edition features expanded coverage of anthropogenic evolution as well as a strengthened focus on data literacy and data reasoning.

If you're an instructor in this field or training to become one, drop me a DM or email, and I can get you an evaluation copy.