Ben Hayden
@benhayden.bsky.social
Professor of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Isn’t it time geometric string art made a comeback? This stuff is the absolute suds. The fact that it had a limited fashionability is surely outrun by its COMPLETE AWESOMENESS. I mean, look at this. It fucking SLAPS.
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
January 4, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Isn’t it time geometric string art made a comeback? This stuff is the absolute suds. The fact that it had a limited fashionability is surely outrun by its COMPLETE AWESOMENESS. I mean, look at this. It fucking SLAPS.
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
Reposted by Ben Hayden
My French word of the day:
le trombone = paperclip
(Also, trombone, the musical instrument. 😄)
le trombone = paperclip
(Also, trombone, the musical instrument. 😄)
January 5, 2026 at 4:11 AM
My French word of the day:
le trombone = paperclip
(Also, trombone, the musical instrument. 😄)
le trombone = paperclip
(Also, trombone, the musical instrument. 😄)
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Maybe it’s because we have fewer smokers now but a movie smoker inhales and it sounds like someone is frying a steak.
January 4, 2026 at 5:26 AM
Maybe it’s because we have fewer smokers now but a movie smoker inhales and it sounds like someone is frying a steak.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
having read that, and because I am a whole brain imager, I am wondering, are (almost) all the MEEG and fMRI signals we measure active inhibition? @fmri-today.bsky.social @practicalfmri.bsky.social @benhayden.bsky.social @danielemarinazzo.bsky.social @robertoostenveld.bsky.social
super cool study: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
A latent pool of neurons silenced by sensory-evoked inhibition can be recruited to enhance perception
Gauld et al. use all-optical interrogation to probe sparse coding in the barrel cortex.
They find that targeted photostimulation of task-silent neurons evokes perceptual
choice bias and that these neu...
www.cell.com
January 4, 2026 at 7:35 AM
having read that, and because I am a whole brain imager, I am wondering, are (almost) all the MEEG and fMRI signals we measure active inhibition? @fmri-today.bsky.social @practicalfmri.bsky.social @benhayden.bsky.social @danielemarinazzo.bsky.social @robertoostenveld.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Hayden
55 years ago today the Beatles ended.
January 3, *1970* marks a milestone: the last Beatles recording session. The Threetles convened to carry on the good work that’s always gone down in No. 2 for a proper recording of "I Me Mine." The song's main story comes Jan 8, '69, but sneak a peek here: theymaybeparted.com/2015/09/10/j...
Jan. 8: All through the day
It all came together thanks to television, LSD, a dance and a dare. George Harrison started the fifth day of the Beatles’ sessions at Twickenham, January 8, 1969, with the dare, challenging directo…
theymaybeparted.com
January 3, 2026 at 4:25 PM
55 years ago today the Beatles ended.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Which parcellation to use? The authors here propose to build theories on gradient-based, connectivity-based and population-level explanations instead of focusing solely on areas. True👏, but also cytoarchitectonic areas vary considerably between individuals, which limits how much we can rely on them.
New Perspective from myself, Sarah Heilbronner and @myoo.bsky.social . “Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization” in Nature Neuroscience. 🧵
rdcu.be/eVZ1A
rdcu.be/eVZ1A
Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization
Nature Neuroscience - Parcellation of the cortex into functionally modular brain areas is foundational to neuroscience. Here, Hayden, Heilbronner and Yoo question the central status of brain areas...
rdcu.be
January 3, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Which parcellation to use? The authors here propose to build theories on gradient-based, connectivity-based and population-level explanations instead of focusing solely on areas. True👏, but also cytoarchitectonic areas vary considerably between individuals, which limits how much we can rely on them.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
This is absurd, but also slightly funny.
Academic faculty are, in general, a pack of neurodivergent weirdos who often bristled against traditional educational processes, like the SAT, and love academia *because* it celebrates creativity and innovation and the ability to synthesize knowledge.
Academic faculty are, in general, a pack of neurodivergent weirdos who often bristled against traditional educational processes, like the SAT, and love academia *because* it celebrates creativity and innovation and the ability to synthesize knowledge.
This article advocates for the “Faculty Merit Act” that would — get this — require all faculty applicants to submit their *SAT* scores. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Holy shirts that’s hilarious.
January 2, 2026 at 9:13 PM
This is absurd, but also slightly funny.
Academic faculty are, in general, a pack of neurodivergent weirdos who often bristled against traditional educational processes, like the SAT, and love academia *because* it celebrates creativity and innovation and the ability to synthesize knowledge.
Academic faculty are, in general, a pack of neurodivergent weirdos who often bristled against traditional educational processes, like the SAT, and love academia *because* it celebrates creativity and innovation and the ability to synthesize knowledge.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
In 2026, if you want to be nice from distance on your toddler hoop, your shot should look like this
January 2, 2026 at 10:05 PM
In 2026, if you want to be nice from distance on your toddler hoop, your shot should look like this
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Throwback to this Reddit post I saw in 2024 and that I still think about sometimes
January 2, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Throwback to this Reddit post I saw in 2024 and that I still think about sometimes
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Latin had six noun cases, but in all Romance languages except Romanian, nouns and adjectives only have one singular form and one plural form left. What happened?
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
January 1, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Latin had six noun cases, but in all Romance languages except Romanian, nouns and adjectives only have one singular form and one plural form left. What happened?
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Wikipedia is truly one of the greatest things on the Internet. It is absolutely incredible, and must be preserved at all costs.
January 1, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Wikipedia is truly one of the greatest things on the Internet. It is absolutely incredible, and must be preserved at all costs.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Welcome to the Public Domain, AS I LAY DYING (1930) 📖
🧠 William Faulkner’s groundbreaking modernist novel uses multiple narrators & stream-of-consciousness storytelling to reshape American literature.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay #PublicDomain #CopyrightFree
🧠 William Faulkner’s groundbreaking modernist novel uses multiple narrators & stream-of-consciousness storytelling to reshape American literature.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay #PublicDomain #CopyrightFree
January 1, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Welcome to the Public Domain, AS I LAY DYING (1930) 📖
🧠 William Faulkner’s groundbreaking modernist novel uses multiple narrators & stream-of-consciousness storytelling to reshape American literature.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay #PublicDomain #CopyrightFree
🧠 William Faulkner’s groundbreaking modernist novel uses multiple narrators & stream-of-consciousness storytelling to reshape American literature.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay #PublicDomain #CopyrightFree
Reposted by Ben Hayden
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
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January 1, 2026 at 5:13 PM
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
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🧵
Reposted by Ben Hayden
The last bombshell paleontology discovery of a year of bombshell discoveries: Ammonites survived the K-PG extinction! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark - Scientific Reports
We provide a reassessment of the hypothesis of ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene (Maastrichtian–Danian) boundary, based on new data from the lower Danian Cerithium Limestone Member at ...
www.nature.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:16 PM
The last bombshell paleontology discovery of a year of bombshell discoveries: Ammonites survived the K-PG extinction! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Today I made a small but momentous start to work in 2026 by changing a single number.
I renamed the file “Papers to write and submit in 2025” to “Papers to write and submit in 2026”.
Stay tuned for more file updates on 1st January 2027.
I renamed the file “Papers to write and submit in 2025” to “Papers to write and submit in 2026”.
Stay tuned for more file updates on 1st January 2027.
January 1, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Today I made a small but momentous start to work in 2026 by changing a single number.
I renamed the file “Papers to write and submit in 2025” to “Papers to write and submit in 2026”.
Stay tuned for more file updates on 1st January 2027.
I renamed the file “Papers to write and submit in 2025” to “Papers to write and submit in 2026”.
Stay tuned for more file updates on 1st January 2027.
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Marcel Duchamp, Rotary Demisphere (Precision Optics), Paris, 1925 #museumofmodernart #marcelduchamp
January 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Marcel Duchamp, Rotary Demisphere (Precision Optics), Paris, 1925 #museumofmodernart #marcelduchamp
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Happy birthday(ish) to all of the new polar bear cubs being born around Hudson Bay right now. You have a long, difficult road ahead, but we're all rooting for you. #mammals 🌿
December 31, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Happy birthday(ish) to all of the new polar bear cubs being born around Hudson Bay right now. You have a long, difficult road ahead, but we're all rooting for you. #mammals 🌿
Reposted by Ben Hayden
REMEMBER
Feliz Año Nuevo = Happy New Year
Feliz Ano Nuevo = Happy New Butthole
Feliz Año Nuevo = Happy New Year
Feliz Ano Nuevo = Happy New Butthole
December 31, 2025 at 5:40 PM
REMEMBER
Feliz Año Nuevo = Happy New Year
Feliz Ano Nuevo = Happy New Butthole
Feliz Año Nuevo = Happy New Year
Feliz Ano Nuevo = Happy New Butthole
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Reposted by Ben Hayden
31 December 1995. Still the perfect goodbye.
December 31, 2024 at 12:21 PM
31 December 1995. Still the perfect goodbye.
Should grad schools bring back the GRE for DEI purposes??
Glad to see the conversation continues to grow and data speak to the enormous class bias that is built into bans on standardized testing, which end up only exacerbating them more.
x.com/garrytan/sta...
x.com/garrytan/sta...
x.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Should grad schools bring back the GRE for DEI purposes??
Reposted by Ben Hayden
Glad to see the conversation continues to grow and data speak to the enormous class bias that is built into bans on standardized testing, which end up only exacerbating them more.
x.com/garrytan/sta...
x.com/garrytan/sta...
x.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Glad to see the conversation continues to grow and data speak to the enormous class bias that is built into bans on standardized testing, which end up only exacerbating them more.
x.com/garrytan/sta...
x.com/garrytan/sta...
Reposted by Ben Hayden
"If you *only* used SAT to admit to elite colleges, share of admits from top 1% income falls 15.8% → 9.9% and representation from <$200k rises by +8.8%, with no reduction in post-college outcomes."
December 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
"If you *only* used SAT to admit to elite colleges, share of admits from top 1% income falls 15.8% → 9.9% and representation from <$200k rises by +8.8%, with no reduction in post-college outcomes."
Reposted by Ben Hayden
before I started my lab, I asked several senior PIs what their one piece of advice would be and PI pointedly said: “Know when to drop a project.” And that advice has been invaluable in my lab. There are always other projects to follow up on, dropping one isn’t a failure in and of itself.
Blog post: Just quit
Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it.
open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...
Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it.
open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...
Just quit
Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it.
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:28 PM
before I started my lab, I asked several senior PIs what their one piece of advice would be and PI pointedly said: “Know when to drop a project.” And that advice has been invaluable in my lab. There are always other projects to follow up on, dropping one isn’t a failure in and of itself.