Catrina Hacker
@catrinahacker.bsky.social
Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and sci-comm enthusiast interested in brains 🧠 and models of them 💻.
Website: catrinahacker.com
Website: catrinahacker.com
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Happy to see the final version of our article out! Brain–computer interfaces as a causal probe for scientific inquiry: Trends in Cognitive Sciences doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.017
January 7, 2026 at 7:21 AM
Happy to see the final version of our article out! Brain–computer interfaces as a causal probe for scientific inquiry: Trends in Cognitive Sciences doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.017
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Our new paper in @sfnjournals.bsky.social shows different neural systems for integrating views into places--PPA integrates views *of* a location (e.g., views of a landmark), while RSC integrates views *from* a location (e.g., views of a panorama). Work by the bluesky-less Linfeng Tony Han.
#JNeurosci: Using fMRI, Han and Epstein explored how people integrate different kinds of views to form mental maps of places, revealing two sets of brain regions involved in integrating views of landmarks into existing mental maps of a virtual city.
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0187-25.2025
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0187-25.2025
January 7, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Our new paper in @sfnjournals.bsky.social shows different neural systems for integrating views into places--PPA integrates views *of* a location (e.g., views of a landmark), while RSC integrates views *from* a location (e.g., views of a panorama). Work by the bluesky-less Linfeng Tony Han.
Thank you! We don't extrapolate our results to consider fMRI, but I've been curious about it and would love to hear if you have any thoughts about the implications.
January 5, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Thank you! We don't extrapolate our results to consider fMRI, but I've been curious about it and would love to hear if you have any thoughts about the implications.
This work wouldn’t have been possible without the support, expertise, and patience of @nicolecrust.bsky.social and @brettlfoster.bsky.social, the generosity and helpfulness of @simonbohn.bsky.social, and the support of countless others.
(10/10)
(10/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
This work wouldn’t have been possible without the support, expertise, and patience of @nicolecrust.bsky.social and @brettlfoster.bsky.social, the generosity and helpfulness of @simonbohn.bsky.social, and the support of countless others.
(10/10)
(10/10)
These results provide a framework for translating between spikes and LFPs, highlighting the scenarios likely to be fruitful for translation.
I call this “basic translational neuroscience” and I’m excited to continue with this approach in my research moving forward!
(9/10)
I call this “basic translational neuroscience” and I’m excited to continue with this approach in my research moving forward!
(9/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
These results provide a framework for translating between spikes and LFPs, highlighting the scenarios likely to be fruitful for translation.
I call this “basic translational neuroscience” and I’m excited to continue with this approach in my research moving forward!
(9/10)
I call this “basic translational neuroscience” and I’m excited to continue with this approach in my research moving forward!
(9/10)
And this rule generalizes beyond visual memory!
Sorting previous studies by whether they examined magnitude or pattern-of-spikes codes demonstrates that magnitude codes have consistently been found to be aligned between spikes and LFPs, while heterogenous pattern-of-spikes codes have not.
(8/10)
Sorting previous studies by whether they examined magnitude or pattern-of-spikes codes demonstrates that magnitude codes have consistently been found to be aligned between spikes and LFPs, while heterogenous pattern-of-spikes codes have not.
(8/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
And this rule generalizes beyond visual memory!
Sorting previous studies by whether they examined magnitude or pattern-of-spikes codes demonstrates that magnitude codes have consistently been found to be aligned between spikes and LFPs, while heterogenous pattern-of-spikes codes have not.
(8/10)
Sorting previous studies by whether they examined magnitude or pattern-of-spikes codes demonstrates that magnitude codes have consistently been found to be aligned between spikes and LFPs, while heterogenous pattern-of-spikes codes have not.
(8/10)
We propose that it’s the neural coding scheme of the underlying spiking representation. HGA captures an average of local spikes. This increases signal for variables encoded as overall changes in local magnitude and “washes out” signals encoded as a pattern of heterogeneous responses.
(7/10)
(7/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
We propose that it’s the neural coding scheme of the underlying spiking representation. HGA captures an average of local spikes. This increases signal for variables encoded as overall changes in local magnitude and “washes out” signals encoded as a pattern of heterogeneous responses.
(7/10)
(7/10)
But when we looked at the neural representations of object category, which are very strong in spiking activity, we found much weaker representations in HGA.
Why is alignment so striking for novelty, recency, and memorability, but not for category? 🤔
(6/10)
Why is alignment so striking for novelty, recency, and memorability, but not for category? 🤔
(6/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
But when we looked at the neural representations of object category, which are very strong in spiking activity, we found much weaker representations in HGA.
Why is alignment so striking for novelty, recency, and memorability, but not for category? 🤔
(6/10)
Why is alignment so striking for novelty, recency, and memorability, but not for category? 🤔
(6/10)
Not only were the signals well aligned, but we found that novelty signals were STRONGER in HGA than in spikes, requiring at least 4-fold less data to reached matched discriminability of novel from repeated images. In this case, you're better off with one channel of HGA than one neuron.
(5/10)
(5/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Not only were the signals well aligned, but we found that novelty signals were STRONGER in HGA than in spikes, requiring at least 4-fold less data to reached matched discriminability of novel from repeated images. In this case, you're better off with one channel of HGA than one neuron.
(5/10)
(5/10)
We started by examining a number of variables for which we’ve previously linked spiking neural representations to visual memory behavior: novelty, recency, and memorability.
For all three variables, we found a strong correspondence between the signals measured in spikes and HGA.
(4/10)
For all three variables, we found a strong correspondence between the signals measured in spikes and HGA.
(4/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
We started by examining a number of variables for which we’ve previously linked spiking neural representations to visual memory behavior: novelty, recency, and memorability.
For all three variables, we found a strong correspondence between the signals measured in spikes and HGA.
(4/10)
For all three variables, we found a strong correspondence between the signals measured in spikes and HGA.
(4/10)
Others have suggested that high-gamma activity (HGA) captures a proxy of underlying spiking activity. We found that was true of our datasets as well, where HGA consistently captured spiking activity better than other frequency bands.
(3/10)
(3/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Others have suggested that high-gamma activity (HGA) captures a proxy of underlying spiking activity. We found that was true of our datasets as well, where HGA consistently captured spiking activity better than other frequency bands.
(3/10)
(3/10)
We leveraged datasets where we've previously reported on the spiking neural representations that support visual memory to ask a simple question: would we have made the same conclusions if we’d been limited to LFPs (similar to many human intracranial experiments)?
(2/10)
(2/10)
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
We leveraged datasets where we've previously reported on the spiking neural representations that support visual memory to ask a simple question: would we have made the same conclusions if we’d been limited to LFPs (similar to many human intracranial experiments)?
(2/10)
(2/10)
🚨 New preprint!
Why do some insights from spikes translate to field potentials while others don't? In this paper we compare visual memory representations in spikes and LFPs to propose a general framework that answers this question.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 (1/10)
🧠🟦 🧠💻
Why do some insights from spikes translate to field potentials while others don't? In this paper we compare visual memory representations in spikes and LFPs to propose a general framework that answers this question.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 (1/10)
🧠🟦 🧠💻
Neural representations of visual memory in inferotemporal cortex reveal a generalizable framework for translating between spikes and field potentials
Translating neurophysiological findings requires understanding the relationship between common measures of brain activity in animals (spiking activity) and humans (local field potentials, LFP). Prior ...
www.biorxiv.org
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
🚨 New preprint!
Why do some insights from spikes translate to field potentials while others don't? In this paper we compare visual memory representations in spikes and LFPs to propose a general framework that answers this question.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 (1/10)
🧠🟦 🧠💻
Why do some insights from spikes translate to field potentials while others don't? In this paper we compare visual memory representations in spikes and LFPs to propose a general framework that answers this question.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 (1/10)
🧠🟦 🧠💻
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
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
December 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Amid the rise of billion-parameter models, I argue that toy models, with just a few neurons, remain essential—and may be all neuroscience needs, writes @marcusghosh.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/theoretical-...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/theoretical-...
Not playing around: Why neuroscience needs toy models
Amid the rise of billion-parameter models, I argue that toy models, with just a few neurons, remain essential—and may be all neuroscience needs.
www.thetransmitter.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Amid the rise of billion-parameter models, I argue that toy models, with just a few neurons, remain essential—and may be all neuroscience needs, writes @marcusghosh.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/theoretical-...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/theoretical-...
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
From glowing neurons to newborn memories, here are the most fascinating brain discoveries of 2025
The 10 Most Mind-Blowing Discoveries About the Brain in 2025
From glowing neurons to newborn memories, here are the most fascinating brain discoveries of 2025
www.scientificamerican.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
From glowing neurons to newborn memories, here are the most fascinating brain discoveries of 2025
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Bichan Wu (@bichanw.bsky.social) & I wrote a tutorial paper on Reduced Rank Regression (RRR) — the statistical method underlying "communication subspaces" from Semedo et al 2019 — aimed at neuroscientists.
arxiv.org/abs/2512.12467
arxiv.org/abs/2512.12467
Reduced rank regression for neural communication: a tutorial for neuroscientists
Reduced rank regression (RRR) is a statistical method for finding a low-dimensional linear mapping between a set of high-dimensional inputs and outputs. In recent years, RRR has found numerous applica...
arxiv.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Bichan Wu (@bichanw.bsky.social) & I wrote a tutorial paper on Reduced Rank Regression (RRR) — the statistical method underlying "communication subspaces" from Semedo et al 2019 — aimed at neuroscientists.
arxiv.org/abs/2512.12467
arxiv.org/abs/2512.12467
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
“Basic neuroscience hasn’t produced new drugs.” 💊
Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab.
I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab.
I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs
A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.
www.thetransmitter.org
December 15, 2025 at 3:15 PM
“Basic neuroscience hasn’t produced new drugs.” 💊
Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab.
I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab.
I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Last week, we published the surprising result below (visual cortex == hippocampus).
Today, we've posted a revised preprint showing something that's actually different between the two structures. Evidence for a novel medial temporal lobe computation!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Today, we've posted a revised preprint showing something that's actually different between the two structures. Evidence for a novel medial temporal lobe computation!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Last week, we published the surprising result below (visual cortex == hippocampus).
Today, we've posted a revised preprint showing something that's actually different between the two structures. Evidence for a novel medial temporal lobe computation!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Today, we've posted a revised preprint showing something that's actually different between the two structures. Evidence for a novel medial temporal lobe computation!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to see this work led by Barnes Jannuzi published!
With a hard-won dataset, Barnes shares the surprising result that visual cortex looks more like the hippocampus than you might think!
#neuroskyence
With a hard-won dataset, Barnes shares the surprising result that visual cortex looks more like the hippocampus than you might think!
#neuroskyence
Excited to share a new article, led by Barnes Jannuzi. Here we tried to pinpoint something about visual familiarity that isn't reflected in visual cortex via something putatively hippocampal. Nope! Per the theme of this era, the brain is not so simple. /1
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
Sharpened visual memory representations are reflected in inferotemporal cortex
Humans and other primates can robustly report whether they've seen specific images before, even when those images are extremely similar to ones they've previously seen. Multiple lines of evidence sugg...
www.jneurosci.org
December 6, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Excited to see this work led by Barnes Jannuzi published!
With a hard-won dataset, Barnes shares the surprising result that visual cortex looks more like the hippocampus than you might think!
#neuroskyence
With a hard-won dataset, Barnes shares the surprising result that visual cortex looks more like the hippocampus than you might think!
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
Neural dynamics outside task-coding dimensions drive decision trajectories through transient amplification
Most behaviors involve neural dynamics in high-dimensional activity spaces. A common approach is to extract dimensions that capture task-related variability, such as those separating stimuli or choice...
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
So well deserved! Congrats!!
November 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
So well deserved! Congrats!!
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
I'm so grateful to be recognized as one of The Transmitter's Rising Stars of Neuroscience. Thank you, @thetransmitter.bsky.social!
Learn about the amazing scientific, mentoring, and community-building contributions made by friends selected around the world 🧠🌍 www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
Learn about the amazing scientific, mentoring, and community-building contributions made by friends selected around the world 🧠🌍 www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
November 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I'm so grateful to be recognized as one of The Transmitter's Rising Stars of Neuroscience. Thank you, @thetransmitter.bsky.social!
Learn about the amazing scientific, mentoring, and community-building contributions made by friends selected around the world 🧠🌍 www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
Learn about the amazing scientific, mentoring, and community-building contributions made by friends selected around the world 🧠🌍 www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Friends at #SFN25: Want to know more about how seeing is transformed into familiarity? Check out Simon Bohn's poster this afternoon (Board P9; PSTR224.03).
There, he'll tell you about a pardox and its resolution - along with a previously undescribed computation in the medial temporal lobe.
There, he'll tell you about a pardox and its resolution - along with a previously undescribed computation in the medial temporal lobe.
November 17, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Friends at #SFN25: Want to know more about how seeing is transformed into familiarity? Check out Simon Bohn's poster this afternoon (Board P9; PSTR224.03).
There, he'll tell you about a pardox and its resolution - along with a previously undescribed computation in the medial temporal lobe.
There, he'll tell you about a pardox and its resolution - along with a previously undescribed computation in the medial temporal lobe.
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Additional plug for my talk, at 8:45am, examining the relationship between arousal state and hippocampal ripples in both sleep and wake states! In close collaboration with @yvonnechen.bsky.social 👁️😴🧠 #SfN
November 16, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Additional plug for my talk, at 8:45am, examining the relationship between arousal state and hippocampal ripples in both sleep and wake states! In close collaboration with @yvonnechen.bsky.social 👁️😴🧠 #SfN