I'm all for exploring ways to deemphasize journal prestige, but this isn't it...

Finally putting this work out as a preprint :) Thanks to Emery Brown and @earlkmiller.bsky.social for helping conceptualize this work! Code: github.com/Bowen-Zheng-... and a tutorial notebook on the key ideas: github.com/Bowen-Zheng-... A 3-min overview below: (1/)

Great thread. My favorite tip: write axes labels in plain english and don't rotate the ordinate label! Makes it so much easier to engage, and, if you don't have room to do this, you know you have too many plots on your slide.

There's one week left to apply to become this Fall's BCS Rising Star speaker 🌟 Please make sure to apply if you're a postdoc in the Brain & Cognitive Sciences🧠 Reposts are appreciated! 🪐

In general, students have a clear opportunity to gain a massive advantage over their classmates by simply not using AI for their coursework.

Who knows, maybe AI will make it easier to identify scientific fraud...

In the case of dentate...excited to help the field realize that they've been ignoring a key piece of the puzzle!

Hit the nail on the head.

Don't be shy to take on a little two-week side project. These five months will be the most precious three years of your academic journey.

My K99 was assigned to a study section that, based on the title, is a terrible fit for my grant. SRO dismissed my concerns. Does anyone have any insight on these things? Am I screwed?

I wish I could tell all the young eager people who write to me about wanting to do research, or the new novel exciting theory they have developed, that if your email (or worse, theory) was very obviously generated by chatGPT it will be very hard for anybody to take you seriously.

This is a really insightful piece. Highly recommend 👇🏽

The MIT BCS Postdoc Association is looking for a Rising Star 🌟 Showcase your work and meet folks in the department! Deadline 31st May 2026! @picowerinstitute.bsky.social

Let’s get more scientists into Congress!

At this point, any paper from Mark's group immediately jumps to the top of the reading list.

So strange to see a discussion section in a high profile paper that's clearly written by AI. People, it's very easy to tell. It's not just lazy—it's almost always poorly written neuroscience gobbledygook. Not to mention a disservice to our community.

Do you or someone you know work on the neurobiology of cognition, and is an early career researcher? The cognition GRS is open for applications! Human, non-human, computational models are all welcome. Apply here now: www.grc.org/neurobiology...

Such a great idea!

Do you have questions about how to use neuropixels in NHPs? Want to learn about how to record simultaneously from a crap-load of probes? Come stop by the Neuropixels booth (#3731) today from 3-4pm, where I'll be serving as an "expert"! #SfN25 #SfN2025

Come to my poster at SfN on Wednesday morning! I'll present my work on how the cerebellum uses internal models to control neocortical dynamics in a non-motor learning task. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty exciting! www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...

Come to my poster at SfN on Wednesday morning! I'll present my work on how the cerebellum uses internal models to control neocortical dynamics in a non-motor learning task. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty exciting! www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...

Not only that, but new tech is making monkey neuroscience more exciting/promising than it ever has been!

My reviewing style has changed over time. Rather than litigate every little thing, and pushing my own ideas, I focus only on 2 things: (1) Are the claims interesting/important? (2) Does the evidence support the claims? Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.

Anyone know what happens with NIH deadlines during a government shut down??

Interested in doing a Ph.D. to work on building models of the brain/behavior? Consider applying to graduate schools at CU Anschutz: 1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro... 2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri... You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.

Some journals are claiming that you need to pay big $$ for gold open access to comply with NIH's new public access policy. FYI that is total bs. You can comply by depositing the Accepted Manuscript into PubMed Central on the Date of Publication without embargo. Pass it on.

Please reach out if you want help with these probes. I benefited immensely by having early access to them, and so I feel an obligation/responsibility to help others adopt the tech. And, stay tuned for open-source hardware/software for a motorized microdrive to lower these (and other) probes!

Finally out! I've been using these probes for a few years and they have been truly transformative for us. The core experiments of my lab are based around them.

Our paper on NHP neuropixels is finally out in Nat Neuro! These probes have already been transformative and will usher in a new era of primate neuroscience. I am extremely proud to have played a very small role in this project. I can't wait to see what our community discovers. tinyurl.com/54u3hrj8

This is amazing.

The cerebellar vermis keeps us balanced by integrating sensory and motor signals. In this new review, Drs. Mildren and Cullen examine how the specialized functions of the anterior and posterior vermis contribute to postural control across a variety of contexts. www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...

A reminder that the deadline for this is coming up! Please spread the word/repost!

These charlatans seem to outdo their stupidity every single day.

The deadline for this is ⏰THIS SATURDAY!⏰ Please consider applying and share your science with the MIT BCS community!🧠

Neuronal computation in the cerebellum via a vector calculus. Work of Mohammad Amin Fakharian, Alden Shoup, Paul Hage, and Hisham Elseweifi www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A reminder that the deadline for this is coming up! Please spread the word/repost!

Agreed. IMO, the key question is how much flexibility does the brain have to extract information that is present in the population activity? For a variety of reasons, I think this read-out is highly constrained, and so the brain figures out solutions that are robust and generalizable.

Many approaches assume precise control over how single neurons are combined. The "cost" of this mechanism seems high. If the brain can organize things such that random weights get you pretty far, I think that's an easier/more robust solution. I think this is one reason why topography is everywhere.

A bit delayed, but I'm happy to announce my first paper as a postdoc in the Jazayeri lab! We discuss recent insights into the neurobiology of timing and why timing is a useful platform to understand flexible control of behavior more generally. We hope the review is useful! tinyurl.com/5n8yhxet

In life, 3 things are certain: death, taxes, and decision-making variability🧠. Our review tinyurl.com/4dcwafc4 explores how computational models 💻 explain variability, their limits, and recent advances. A thread🧵👇 @redmondoconnell.bsky.social @neuromurphy.bsky.social Mark Bellgrove (not on Bluesky)

The MIT BCS postdoc association in collaboration with the BCS department is excited to announce this year's rising star symposium for external postdocs! Please consider applying and send to anyone who may be interested! See the link and flyer below for more info: mailchi.mp/be586538a6ab...

Are you a neuroscience postdoc interested in an academic career? Apply (by 05/31/2025) for this invited seminar at MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences department! Applications are reviewed by postdoc, keeping in mind the importance of varied contributions to the scientific community!

Many cognitive neuroscientists ignore the cerebellum but it's long past time to pay more attention to it (and fund more cerebellum grants). Not just for basic science: the cerebellum is commonly affected by pediatric brain tumors, leading to lifelong motor AND cognitive deficits. Must-read paper 👇🏼

AND...I am setting up my new lab at UW-Madison (herzfeldlab.neuro.wisc.edu) this summer! If you are interested in linking cell types and neural circuits to computation - please reach out! (4/4)

PSA to cerebellar neurophysiologists: NHP neuropixels can pierce the tentorium in the macaque : )

Couldn't agree more. Primate neuroscience has entered a new era. Exciting times!

When we don’t train our students ab the history of our field knowledge gets lost; debates about semantics distract; and “discoveries” are “re”-discovered 3/

Folks who oppose elife are missing the point. Experimenting requires fiddling with the knobs and they are the only ones in town actually trying anything.

I hope people will see we are trying to play for the long game here and will give us their support in doing so. There is no point in just making a journal for the radicals. We need to bring the whole community.