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
Finally out! We studied the retinas of the longest-living vertebrate, the Greenland shark, and found that the retinas remain remarkably healthy in animals around 150 years old. What is the mechanism? It may be a highly efficient DNA repair system. Enjoy!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 6, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Finally out! We studied the retinas of the longest-living vertebrate, the Greenland shark, and found that the retinas remain remarkably healthy in animals around 150 years old. What is the mechanism? It may be a highly efficient DNA repair system. Enjoy!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Sea anemones and jellyfish don’t have brains, but the way their neurons behave during sleep shows some surprising similarities to humans
Scientists Catch Jellyfish and Sea Anemones Behaving in Surprisingly Human Ways
Sea anemones and jellyfish don’t have brains, but the way their neurons behave during sleep shows some surprising similarities to humans
www.scientificamerican.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Sea anemones and jellyfish don’t have brains, but the way their neurons behave during sleep shows some surprising similarities to humans
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.
🚨 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.”
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
Please join me and @lizsiefert.bsky.social at 8a tomorrow for a great lineup of speakers focused on bridging the gap between animal and human memory neuroscience!
#neuroskyence #SFN2025
#neuroskyence #SFN2025
"Basic translational neuroscience" is how @catrinahacker.bsky.social describes work focused on filling in the missing foundational info required for translational impact.
Don't miss this terrific #SFN2025 nanosymposium that she & @lizsiefert.bsky.social have organized around that idea! (Sun, 8a).
Don't miss this terrific #SFN2025 nanosymposium that she & @lizsiefert.bsky.social have organized around that idea! (Sun, 8a).
November 15, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Please join me and @lizsiefert.bsky.social at 8a tomorrow for a great lineup of speakers focused on bridging the gap between animal and human memory neuroscience!
#neuroskyence #SFN2025
#neuroskyence #SFN2025
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
There’s a lot of talk about vaccines and autism, but what does the science say?
This week @pennngg.bsky.social student Nita Rome unpacks the history behind these concerns and how modern studies have debunked this misconception.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/11/v...
#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪
This week @pennngg.bsky.social student Nita Rome unpacks the history behind these concerns and how modern studies have debunked this misconception.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/11/v...
#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪
Vaccines and autism: Let’s talk about it
The conversation around autism and vaccines has become an increasingly hot topic of late (to put it mildly), but did you know that this debate began over 25 years ago? Here is a brief overview of t…
pennneuroknow.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:00 PM
There’s a lot of talk about vaccines and autism, but what does the science say?
This week @pennngg.bsky.social student Nita Rome unpacks the history behind these concerns and how modern studies have debunked this misconception.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/11/v...
#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪
This week @pennngg.bsky.social student Nita Rome unpacks the history behind these concerns and how modern studies have debunked this misconception.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/11/v...
#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of brain-computer interfaces and artificial neural networks. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk, write Cory Miller, @movshon.bsky.social and Doris Tsao.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
Without monkeys, neuroscience has no future
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of BCIs, ANNs. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk.
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of brain-computer interfaces and artificial neural networks. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk, write Cory Miller, @movshon.bsky.social and Doris Tsao.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Funders must recognise that great discoveries often come from studies that seeks to advance knowledge for its own sake
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
From MRI to Ozempic: breakthroughs that show why fundamental research must be protected
In these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different.
go.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Funders must recognise that great discoveries often come from studies that seeks to advance knowledge for its own sake
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
With all the fuss over tylenol, we're missing a bigger issue: we don't know enough about medication safety in pregnancy because so few drug studies include pregnant people. And that harms both women and their fetuses. My latest @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
There's a Dangerous Gap in Drug Research in Pregnancy
Less than 1 percent of clinical trials include pregnant or breastfeeding people. Experts say that needs to change
www.scientificamerican.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
With all the fuss over tylenol, we're missing a bigger issue: we don't know enough about medication safety in pregnancy because so few drug studies include pregnant people. And that harms both women and their fetuses. My latest @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
New preprint! How can you remember an image you saw once, even after seeing thousands of them? We find a role for humble mid-level visual cortex in high-capacity, one-shot learning. doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.22.677855 🧵🧪1/
Neuronal signatures of successful one-shot memory in mid-level visual cortex
High-capacity, one-shot visual recognition memory challenges theories of learning and neural coding because it requires rapid, robust, and durable representations. Most studies have focused on the hip...
doi.org
September 23, 2025 at 3:09 PM
New preprint! How can you remember an image you saw once, even after seeing thousands of them? We find a role for humble mid-level visual cortex in high-capacity, one-shot learning. doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.22.677855 🧵🧪1/
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.
On 9/16/25, celebrate a date of mathematical beauty
Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.
n.pr
September 16, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
The @intlbrainlab.bsky.social published 2 papers today on their work to create a map of neural activity across the entire mouse brain. Learn more about the lab: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/02/20/how-do-our-brains-make-decisions-the-international-brain-laboratory-is-closing-in-on-answers/
How Do Our Brains Make Decisions? The International Brain Laboratory Is Closing In on Answers
How Do Our Brains Make Decisions? The International Brain Laboratory Is Closing In on Answers on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
September 3, 2025 at 6:10 PM
The @intlbrainlab.bsky.social published 2 papers today on their work to create a map of neural activity across the entire mouse brain. Learn more about the lab: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/02/20/how-do-our-brains-make-decisions-the-international-brain-laboratory-is-closing-in-on-answers/
Reposted by Catrina Hacker
15 years of radio observations yielded this amazing view down the throat of a black hole.
We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet. 🧪🔭
www.mpg.de/25171297/eye...
We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet. 🧪🔭
www.mpg.de/25171297/eye...
August 17, 2025 at 11:23 PM
15 years of radio observations yielded this amazing view down the throat of a black hole.
We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet. 🧪🔭
www.mpg.de/25171297/eye...
We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet. 🧪🔭
www.mpg.de/25171297/eye...