Neuroscientist interested in cognitive-emotional brain
Author of The Entangled Brain (MIT Press); The Cogitive-Emotional Brain
Neuroscience & Philosophy Salon
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Jun 28 โข 8 tweets โข 2 min read
Predictive Processing: does it explain everything???
Tobias Schlicht (Ruhr-University Bochum)
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ?
Understanding the integration of cognition and emotion.
Classic Nauta (1971) paper that deserves to be better known. link.springer.com/chapter/10.100โฆ
The reciprocal link of the frontal cortex with the hypothalamus still poorly appreciated at present:
Feb 18 โข 5 tweets โข 2 min read
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐-๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ, brain and AI
How can brains retain previously learned information (stability) while being capable of incorporating new knowledge (plasticity)?
Notion has long history in neuroscience but Steve Grossberg deserves credit.
The notion is not widely discussed but Steve is not acknowledged. That happens in science, true. But now that AI and neurorscience want to understand "autonomous/adaptive systems", credit is due I believe.
Jun 28, 2023 โข 11 tweets โข 3 min read
Daniel Margulies starts the day at the Neuro Summer School at Lipari, Italy
@Dr_Alex_Crimi
Where are we today:
Apr 14, 2023 โข 7 tweets โข 3 min read
๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ? In the brain...
I've discussed different kinds of emergence in the brain, and that already got a lot of people frazzled (angry?). This very informal blog discusses a more radical conception that most people won't like!
๐งต dialecticalsystems.eu/contributions/โฆ2) "Not only are they emergent, but they are radically emergent. The way functional circuits assemble is not repeated from time to time, they follow future evolutions that are matched to the specifics of the moment-in-time in question.
Jan 10, 2023 โข 8 tweets โข 3 min read
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐?
Excellent discussion by @awaisaftab about @AnneliJefferson 's book.
Short thread. awaisaftab.substack.com/p/when-are-we-โฆ2) Awais rightly mentions that
"Philosophical technicalities of โrealizationโ aside, my other worry is that it is very difficult to demonstrate that a brain difference Y is sufficient for โ is always accompanied by โ a psychological difference X."
Jan 6, 2023 โข 8 tweets โข 3 min read
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป?
Laurent Perrinet asked about the timing but processing it not sequential in the brain. His figure is below: neuromatch.social/@laurentperrinโฆ
I'll follow up in a thread. 2) A much better way of thinking about it is in terms of "mutliple waves" of activity flowing in parallel with lots of shortcuts such that latencies in frontal cortex can be shorter than in other parts actually.
Nov 18, 2022 โข 7 tweets โข 2 min read
My book **The Entangled Brain** by MIT Press is out and provides an introduction to the brain to non-specialists while embracing the complexity of how brains help bring about behaviors. I'll be posting ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ in the coming 1-2 weeks 2) Chapter 1: From One Area at a Time to Networks Systems
Sep 21, 2022 โข 8 tweets โข 2 min read
A fish inside the brain??
"The optic tectum can be imagined as a 'model fish' inside the brain, which *integrates* sensory information, calculates motor *decisions* to approach or avoid modulated by *motivational state*".
Barbara Finlay on vertebrate evolution @TheBrainingClub
Now Bruno Averbeck talks about PFC connectivity and beyond:
Sep 20, 2022 โข 23 tweets โข 5 min read
Beginning of day 2!
Michael Goldberg:
Sep 19, 2022 โข 6 tweets โข 2 min read
Bob Desimone getting the conference in honor of Leslie Ungerleider started. The context of the discovery of What & Where pathways.
Marlene Berhmann
Sep 17, 2022 โข 11 tweets โข 2 min read
๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ, say, ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป? Among the big mysteries in biology in general.
"When the end modifies its means: the origins of novelty and the evolution of innovation" by A Moczek academic.oup.com/biolinnean/advโฆ2) "across phyla, diverse organisms emerged as modified re-assemblages instructed by the same and seemingly very limited pool of genes, cellular transduction pathways, cell types and morphogenetic processes...
Jun 19, 2022 โข 8 tweets โข 2 min read
Is your paper well written? The "reverse itemized" method of ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ. Check if what you wrote is what you wanted to write!
Simple: After you write it, summarize each paragraph and create an itemized version of your ideas. Does it do what you wanted it to??
2) Some people start writing by creating an itemized list, and then expanding. That's fine too, and it's actually complementary to the reverse itemized idea. (In fact, "reverse" alludes to the fact that it's done "after").
Jun 17, 2022 โข 6 tweets โข 1 min read
๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐:
"Complex dynamical systems invalidate, or at least challenge, our usual procedures for inferring causes from effects."
D.M. Walsh, in Organisms, Agency, and Evolution
"The reason is that compositionality -- the โcanonโ of our usual causal reasoning -- breaks down so comprehensively in these systems."
May 22, 2022 โข 9 tweets โข 2 min read
Want to know everything about ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ? What does it mean anyway? All those terms: ontological, epistemic, weak, strong. So confusing!
Check this book by Paul Humphreys. In-depth treatment, so not light reading. Chapter 1 by itself provides an excellent overview. 2) Emergence in the brain? Are mobs an emergent property of collections of individuals? Is there emergence in the game of Checkers? Traffic jams??
A property belongs to a "whole and not its parts" (say, "liquidity" given H and O atoms) is as old as Aristotle in the West, but...
May 21, 2022 โข 4 tweets โข 1 min read
All those classes in logic, theoretical CS (formal grammars), etc are paying off well to read philosophy texts. :-)
Example: what is novelty?
Definition An entity E is novel with respect to a domain D just in case E is not included in the closure of D under the closure criteria C that are appropriate for D.
(credit: Paul Humphreys)
Apr 25, 2022 โข 14 tweets โข 2 min read
Concept of ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ is central to studying the brain but hard to pin down because it's so "semantically flexible". Can be conceptualized in multiple ways:
M1: Two parts A and B of a system are defined as modules, if and only if they are separately modifiable.
1/
M2: The process carried out in the subsystem, so modifiable, computes a particular type of input-output mapping.
2/
Dec 27, 2021 โข 8 tweets โข 3 min read
1) ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ paper is out! @LoretaMedinaH and @EDesfilis and I make the argument that the architecture of the vertebrate brain doesn't support mental categories as traditionally conceived (attention, emotion, cognition). royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsโฆ2) We propose that mental terms (etc "memory") are ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. We support our thesis based on extensive comparative neuroanatomy knowledge of the organization of the vertebrate brain.
Sep 5, 2021 โข 11 tweets โข 4 min read
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐. But can we learn about the brain? Combined effort from multiple people in the lab: journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/aโฆ2. A ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ was used to predict inputs based on fMRI data. An additional ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ component was used to investigate the (low) dimensionality of "latent spaces".
Aug 31, 2021 โข 9 tweets โข 3 min read
๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ โ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐โ (e.g. โattentionโ) but we've argued that those are "epistemically sterile". Substantially revised manuscript with my colleagues @LoretaMedinaH@EDesfilis osf.io/8cmhg/2. We suggest that the vertebrate neuroarchitecture does not respect the boundaries of standard mental terms, and propose that neuroscience should aim to unravel the dynamic coupling between large-scale brain circuits and complex, naturalistic behaviors.
Jun 27, 2021 โข 11 tweets โข 3 min read
๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป as viewed through the lens of ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐. Work by Sugihara and colleagues offers many interesting and important insights.
๐งต
Good place to start. Interestingly the second author here is Robert May for those familiar with his contributions to dynamical systems and ecology. science.sciencemag.org/content/338/61โฆ