Sam McDougle
@actlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Last few hours to get your submission for #NCMKobe26 in! Deadline is 23:59 PST tonight, February 10.
Learn more about the submission process, guidelines, and access the submission software - ncm-society.org/subm...
Learn more about the submission process, guidelines, and access the submission software - ncm-society.org/subm...
February 10, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Last few hours to get your submission for #NCMKobe26 in! Deadline is 23:59 PST tonight, February 10.
Learn more about the submission process, guidelines, and access the submission software - ncm-society.org/subm...
Learn more about the submission process, guidelines, and access the submission software - ncm-society.org/subm...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Language areas in the cerebellar mapped by @coltoncasto.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/language/cer...
Very consistent with @carobellum.bsky.social functional atlas, but providing deeper details. By now the "terra incognita" of the cerebellum isn't so "incognita" anymore!
Very consistent with @carobellum.bsky.social functional atlas, but providing deeper details. By now the "terra incognita" of the cerebellum isn't so "incognita" anymore!
Cerebellum responds to language like cortical areas
One of four language-responsive cerebellar regions may encode meaningful information, much like the cortical language network in the left hemisphere, according to a new study.
www.thetransmitter.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Language areas in the cerebellar mapped by @coltoncasto.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/language/cer...
Very consistent with @carobellum.bsky.social functional atlas, but providing deeper details. By now the "terra incognita" of the cerebellum isn't so "incognita" anymore!
Very consistent with @carobellum.bsky.social functional atlas, but providing deeper details. By now the "terra incognita" of the cerebellum isn't so "incognita" anymore!
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Very cool work from my friends and colleagues @actlab.bsky.social and Damon Clark - I am lucky to get to hang out with them at @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
Humans can use positive and negative spectrotemporal correlations to detect rising and falling pitch
Humans can use positive and negative spectrotemporal correlations to detect rising and falling pitch
Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 09 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02371-7Vaziri et al. examined how humans detect changes in auditory pitch, revealing that listeners rely on correlations in sound intensity over frequency and time, processing that is reminiscent of visual motion detection.
dlvr.it
February 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Very cool work from my friends and colleagues @actlab.bsky.social and Damon Clark - I am lucky to get to hang out with them at @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
Very proud that this is finally out!
Come for the new auditory illusion, stay for the brain imaging and speech analysis…..
Come for the new auditory illusion, stay for the brain imaging and speech analysis…..
Humans can use positive and negative spectrotemporal correlations to detect rising and falling pitch
Humans can use positive and negative spectrotemporal correlations to detect rising and falling pitch
Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 09 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02371-7Vaziri et al. examined how humans detect changes in auditory pitch, revealing that listeners rely on correlations in sound intensity over frequency and time, processing that is reminiscent of visual motion detection.
dlvr.it
February 9, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Very proud that this is finally out!
Come for the new auditory illusion, stay for the brain imaging and speech analysis…..
Come for the new auditory illusion, stay for the brain imaging and speech analysis…..
we just updated this preprint, now with a new experiment showing no speech adaptation when sensory errors are simply observed without a preceding motor plan -->
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:15 PM
we just updated this preprint, now with a new experiment showing no speech adaptation when sensory errors are simply observed without a preceding motor plan -->
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Imagination in bonobos!
I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org
We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative
youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko
I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org
We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative
youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko
Apes Share Human Ability to Imagine
YouTube video by Johns Hopkins University
youtu.be
February 5, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Imagination in bonobos!
I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org
We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative
youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko
I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org
We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative
youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko
Song of the Cerebellum
Is thought just motion in the mind?
radiolab.org
February 5, 2026 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Sam McDougle
News from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District.
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
February 4, 2026 at 3:00 AM
News from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District.
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
I'm looking to hire a postgraduate research associate in Computational Psychiatry for my new lab at Yale. Please see link below for details & help RT 🙏
postdocs.yale.edu/posts/2026-0...
postdocs.yale.edu/posts/2026-0...
Postgraduate Associate Position in Computational Psychiatry — Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine
postdocs.yale.edu
January 13, 2026 at 1:49 PM
I'm looking to hire a postgraduate research associate in Computational Psychiatry for my new lab at Yale. Please see link below for details & help RT 🙏
postdocs.yale.edu/posts/2026-0...
postdocs.yale.edu/posts/2026-0...
Bob weir 😔
RIP
Come wash the nighttime clean
Come grow this scorched ground green
RIP
Come wash the nighttime clean
Come grow this scorched ground green
January 11, 2026 at 12:39 AM
Bob weir 😔
RIP
Come wash the nighttime clean
Come grow this scorched ground green
RIP
Come wash the nighttime clean
Come grow this scorched ground green
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Ocean Warming Breaks Record for Ninth Straight Year insideclimatenews.org/news/0901202...
Ocean Warming Breaks Record for Ninth Straight Year - Inside Climate News
Every second of last year, the Earth’s oceans absorbed the equivalent in energy to 12 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. Global ocean heat content (OHC) increased for the ninth consecutive year in 2025, a...
insideclimatenews.org
January 10, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Ocean Warming Breaks Record for Ninth Straight Year insideclimatenews.org/news/0901202...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Happy New Year, everyone!
Excited to share that our paper, “Goal uncertainty attenuates sensorimotor adaptation,” is now published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Huge thanks to our collaborators—Sritej, Bobby, and Reza @rezashadmehr.bsky.social.
Paper: tinyurl.com/yyfast5m
Excited to share that our paper, “Goal uncertainty attenuates sensorimotor adaptation,” is now published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Huge thanks to our collaborators—Sritej, Bobby, and Reza @rezashadmehr.bsky.social.
Paper: tinyurl.com/yyfast5m
January 8, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Happy New Year, everyone!
Excited to share that our paper, “Goal uncertainty attenuates sensorimotor adaptation,” is now published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Huge thanks to our collaborators—Sritej, Bobby, and Reza @rezashadmehr.bsky.social.
Paper: tinyurl.com/yyfast5m
Excited to share that our paper, “Goal uncertainty attenuates sensorimotor adaptation,” is now published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Huge thanks to our collaborators—Sritej, Bobby, and Reza @rezashadmehr.bsky.social.
Paper: tinyurl.com/yyfast5m
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.
January 7, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Reposted by Sam McDougle
This paper had a pretty shocking headline result (40% of voxels!), so I dug into it, and I think it is wrong. Essentially: they compare two noisy measures and find that about 40% of voxels have different sign between the two. I think this is just noise!
Would love to hear expert views on this paper. It appears to show that the operationalization of brain activity the field has relied on for 3 decades—the BOLD response—is not actually a sensible measure of brain activity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
BOLD signal changes can oppose oxygen metabolism across the human cortex - Nature Neuroscience
Using quantitative brain imaging, the authors show opposite fMRI BOLD signal to metabolic activity due to variable oxygen extraction across the human cortex. This questions the canonical interpretatio...
www.nature.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:22 PM
This paper had a pretty shocking headline result (40% of voxels!), so I dug into it, and I think it is wrong. Essentially: they compare two noisy measures and find that about 40% of voxels have different sign between the two. I think this is just noise!
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Founded in 2021, @yale.edu's Wu Tsai Institute 🏢 is advancing human neuroscience research by connecting cutting-edge neuroimaging, computation, and behavioral science to uncover how brain networks give rise to cognition 🧠
Read More 👇
news.yale.edu/2025/12/05/w...
Read More 👇
news.yale.edu/2025/12/05/w...
Wu Tsai Institute: Making the right connections
With state-of-the-art research facilities and collaborative spaces, Yale’s Wu Tsai Institute is on a mission to understand human cognition by bridging academic disciplines.
news.yale.edu
January 5, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Founded in 2021, @yale.edu's Wu Tsai Institute 🏢 is advancing human neuroscience research by connecting cutting-edge neuroimaging, computation, and behavioral science to uncover how brain networks give rise to cognition 🧠
Read More 👇
news.yale.edu/2025/12/05/w...
Read More 👇
news.yale.edu/2025/12/05/w...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Interested in the latest advances in neuroscience (neural dynamics and internal models) and how they can be leveraged to build smarter, adaptive AI?
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
Leveraging insights from neuroscience to build adaptive artificial intelligence
Nature Neuroscience - Adaptive intelligence envisions AI that, like animals, learns online, generalizes and adapts quickly. This Perspective reviews biological foundations, progress in AI and...
rdcu.be
December 31, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Interested in the latest advances in neuroscience (neural dynamics and internal models) and how they can be leveraged to build smarter, adaptive AI?
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
➡️ My first real solo piece 🖤🫶 @natneuro.nature.com
rdcu.be/eWVmA
Reposted by Sam McDougle
I’m from Whoville, and I say kill the Grinch!
December 25, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I’m from Whoville, and I say kill the Grinch!
Preprint updated -->
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Preprint updated -->
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Key new results: we found a brain-behavior correlation between performance on an RL task (under short feedback delays) and short-delay RPE signals in the 'cognitive' cerebellum!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
I've got a fully-funded PhD studentship open at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social, investigating social learning about metacognition & awareness, w/ behavioural studies & neuroimaging (fMRI) - thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk
More details here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPV831/p...
#cogsci #neuroskyence
More details here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPV831/p...
#cogsci #neuroskyence
PhD Studentship: Social Learning of Metacognition and Awareness at Birkbeck, University of London
jobs.ac.uk now advertising a PhD Studentship: Social Learning of Metacognition and Awareness Visit jobs.ac.uk to apply and to browse more PhD opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I've got a fully-funded PhD studentship open at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social, investigating social learning about metacognition & awareness, w/ behavioural studies & neuroimaging (fMRI) - thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk
More details here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPV831/p...
#cogsci #neuroskyence
More details here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPV831/p...
#cogsci #neuroskyence
Reposted by Sam McDougle
From Sam McDougle's love of music has sprung a focus on how people learn and get better at motor skills – an area he sees as sometimes neglected in cognitive neuroscience. Read a new Q&A with him, a preview of his #CNS2026 YIA talk:
www.cogneurosociety.org/taking-actio...
@actlab.bsky.social
www.cogneurosociety.org/taking-actio...
@actlab.bsky.social
Taking Action Seriously in the Brain: Revealing the Role of Cognition in Motor Skills
Samuel McDougle, a CNS 2026 YIA recipient, studies both how people build motor skills through mental functions like “motor working memory."
www.cogneurosociety.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:23 PM
From Sam McDougle's love of music has sprung a focus on how people learn and get better at motor skills – an area he sees as sometimes neglected in cognitive neuroscience. Read a new Q&A with him, a preview of his #CNS2026 YIA talk:
www.cogneurosociety.org/taking-actio...
@actlab.bsky.social
www.cogneurosociety.org/taking-actio...
@actlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam McDougle
Incredible piece on Oliver Sacks. If you were ever awed at his supposedly true stories (I remember being stunned by the account of the autistic twins who rattled off large prime numbers), read this. He told wonderful stories, but they were in large part fiction.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost?
The scientist was famous for linking healing with storytelling. Sometimes that meant reshaping patients’ reality.
www.newyorker.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Incredible piece on Oliver Sacks. If you were ever awed at his supposedly true stories (I remember being stunned by the account of the autistic twins who rattled off large prime numbers), read this. He told wonderful stories, but they were in large part fiction.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
NEW: An AI conference was bombarded with complaints about peer reviews sounding AI-generated. A startup jumped in with an outside analysis, estimating that as many 1 in 5 could have been ChatGPT-written. Chaos ensued.
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
The Conference Where ChatGPT Wrote One in Five Reviews (Maybe)
An AI conference was bombarded with complaints about peer reviews sounding AI-generated. Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:32 AM
NEW: An AI conference was bombarded with complaints about peer reviews sounding AI-generated. A startup jumped in with an outside analysis, estimating that as many 1 in 5 could have been ChatGPT-written. Chaos ensued.
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
Reposted by Sam McDougle
New paper out on @openmindjournal.bsky.social *
I propose balance is a core biophysical self-regulatory function, organisationally akin to thermo-regulation. Might seem radical off the bat, but by the end of the paper I hope you'll agree it seems pretty obvious.
doi.org/10.1162/OPMI...
I propose balance is a core biophysical self-regulatory function, organisationally akin to thermo-regulation. Might seem radical off the bat, but by the end of the paper I hope you'll agree it seems pretty obvious.
doi.org/10.1162/OPMI...
What is Balance? A Vital Mechano-Regulation Paradigm
Abstract. Within minutes of birth a newborn gnu or giraffe works to stand and walk, asserting postural balance and organised animate behaviour in an apparently goal-directed manner. In contrast, robot...
doi.org
December 10, 2025 at 11:03 AM
New paper out on @openmindjournal.bsky.social *
I propose balance is a core biophysical self-regulatory function, organisationally akin to thermo-regulation. Might seem radical off the bat, but by the end of the paper I hope you'll agree it seems pretty obvious.
doi.org/10.1162/OPMI...
I propose balance is a core biophysical self-regulatory function, organisationally akin to thermo-regulation. Might seem radical off the bat, but by the end of the paper I hope you'll agree it seems pretty obvious.
doi.org/10.1162/OPMI...
Reposted by Sam McDougle
The Journal of Neuroscience has updated its policy on supplemental material. https://www.jneurosci.org/content/information-authors#suppl
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The Journal of Neuroscience has updated its policy on supplemental material. https://www.jneurosci.org/content/information-authors#suppl
Reposted by Sam McDougle
The Sensorimotor Superlab with @gribblelab.org and @andpru.bsky.social is a unique place to work and learn. We are now accepting MSc and PhD applications for Fall 2026. Join our awesome team at Western University... For application instructions see diedrichsenlab.org and gribblelab.org/join.html!
Diedrichsenlab
diedrichsenlab.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The Sensorimotor Superlab with @gribblelab.org and @andpru.bsky.social is a unique place to work and learn. We are now accepting MSc and PhD applications for Fall 2026. Join our awesome team at Western University... For application instructions see diedrichsenlab.org and gribblelab.org/join.html!