Chris Baker
@cibaker.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist interested in high level vision (faces, scenes etc.), learning and plasticity. All views are my own.
Reposted by Chris Baker
New paper (and thread) on the representational dynamics of the main dimensions of object space: jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx... 1/n
Representational dynamics of the main dimensions of object space: Face/body selectivity aligns temporally with animal taxonomy but not with animacy | JOV | ARVO Journals
jov.arvojournals.org
November 9, 2025 at 1:48 PM
New paper (and thread) on the representational dynamics of the main dimensions of object space: jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx... 1/n
Reposted by Chris Baker
Noise ceilings are really useful: You can estimate the reliability of your data and get an index of how well your model can possibly perform given the noise in the data.
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
November 7, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Noise ceilings are really useful: You can estimate the reliability of your data and get an index of how well your model can possibly perform given the noise in the data.
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
Reposted by Chris Baker
I’ll soon(ish) post an ad for a postdoc position in my lab to study individual differences in brain plasticity following blindness or deafness, with a start date of spring/summer 2026. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’ll soon(ish) post an ad for a postdoc position in my lab to study individual differences in brain plasticity following blindness or deafness, with a start date of spring/summer 2026. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
Reposted by Chris Baker
🌏 Come spend some time with us in Sydney! 🇦🇺
@marcsinstitute.bsky.social is offering International Visiting Scholarships for PhD students + postdocs.
Spend 1–3 months collaborating, exploring ideas, and building connections.
📅 Apply by 4 Dec
📍 Sydney, Australia
Curious or keen? DM or email me
@marcsinstitute.bsky.social is offering International Visiting Scholarships for PhD students + postdocs.
Spend 1–3 months collaborating, exploring ideas, and building connections.
📅 Apply by 4 Dec
📍 Sydney, Australia
Curious or keen? DM or email me
November 5, 2025 at 10:15 PM
🌏 Come spend some time with us in Sydney! 🇦🇺
@marcsinstitute.bsky.social is offering International Visiting Scholarships for PhD students + postdocs.
Spend 1–3 months collaborating, exploring ideas, and building connections.
📅 Apply by 4 Dec
📍 Sydney, Australia
Curious or keen? DM or email me
@marcsinstitute.bsky.social is offering International Visiting Scholarships for PhD students + postdocs.
Spend 1–3 months collaborating, exploring ideas, and building connections.
📅 Apply by 4 Dec
📍 Sydney, Australia
Curious or keen? DM or email me
Reposted by Chris Baker
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
Reposted by Chris Baker
📣 New preprint by a stellar team 🤩
I’m most excited by “phase III” in the alignment time course, which is best captured by mid-layers of temporally integrating video models! While we do not directly compare with image-EEG (yet - will do so in the #VIDI) I suspect this is unique to video vision 🎥🔥
I’m most excited by “phase III” in the alignment time course, which is best captured by mid-layers of temporally integrating video models! While we do not directly compare with image-EEG (yet - will do so in the #VIDI) I suspect this is unique to video vision 🎥🔥
📢 New preprint, together with @sargechris.bsky.social!
Building on @sargechris.bsky.social's previous work, we benchmark 100+ image and video models 🤖 on brain representational alignment, this time to EEG data of humans 🧠 watching videos! 🧵⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Building on @sargechris.bsky.social's previous work, we benchmark 100+ image and video models 🤖 on brain representational alignment, this time to EEG data of humans 🧠 watching videos! 🧵⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The Human Brain as a Dynamic Mixture of Expert Models in Video Understanding
The human brain is the most efficient and versatile system for processing dynamic visual input. By comparing representations from deep video models to brain activity, we can gain insights into mechani...
www.biorxiv.org
October 31, 2025 at 3:52 PM
📣 New preprint by a stellar team 🤩
I’m most excited by “phase III” in the alignment time course, which is best captured by mid-layers of temporally integrating video models! While we do not directly compare with image-EEG (yet - will do so in the #VIDI) I suspect this is unique to video vision 🎥🔥
I’m most excited by “phase III” in the alignment time course, which is best captured by mid-layers of temporally integrating video models! While we do not directly compare with image-EEG (yet - will do so in the #VIDI) I suspect this is unique to video vision 🎥🔥
Reposted by Chris Baker
Michael X Cohen on why he left academia/neuroscience.
mikexcohen.substack.com/p/why-i-left...
mikexcohen.substack.com/p/why-i-left...
Why I left academia and neuroscience
Don't worry, this isn't yet another story of rage-quitting.
mikexcohen.substack.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Michael X Cohen on why he left academia/neuroscience.
mikexcohen.substack.com/p/why-i-left...
mikexcohen.substack.com/p/why-i-left...
Reposted by Chris Baker
New paper alert! 🚨 We show that age-related neural dedifferentiation in scene-selective cortex is tied to changes in eye movements. Using simultaneous fMRI + eye-tracking, we found that younger adults’ fixations covary with scene specificity, but this link weakens with age.
Link in post below 👇
Link in post below 👇
September 22, 2025 at 8:59 PM
New paper alert! 🚨 We show that age-related neural dedifferentiation in scene-selective cortex is tied to changes in eye movements. Using simultaneous fMRI + eye-tracking, we found that younger adults’ fixations covary with scene specificity, but this link weakens with age.
Link in post below 👇
Link in post below 👇
Reposted by Chris Baker
🧠 New preprint: Why do deep neural networks predict brain responses so well?
We find a striking dissociation: it’s not shared object recognition. Alignment is driven by sensitivity to texture-like local statistics.
📊 Study: n=57, 624k trials, 5 models doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We find a striking dissociation: it’s not shared object recognition. Alignment is driven by sensitivity to texture-like local statistics.
📊 Study: n=57, 624k trials, 5 models doi.org/10.1101/2025...
September 8, 2025 at 6:32 PM
🧠 New preprint: Why do deep neural networks predict brain responses so well?
We find a striking dissociation: it’s not shared object recognition. Alignment is driven by sensitivity to texture-like local statistics.
📊 Study: n=57, 624k trials, 5 models doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We find a striking dissociation: it’s not shared object recognition. Alignment is driven by sensitivity to texture-like local statistics.
📊 Study: n=57, 624k trials, 5 models doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Happy to hear any and all feedback on our discussion article!
So much fun to work with this amazing set of authors :)
So much fun to work with this amazing set of authors :)
Our target discussion article out in Cognitive Neuroscience! It will be followed by peer commentary and our responses. If you would like to write a commentary, please reach out to the journal! 1/18 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @cibaker.bsky.social @susanwardle.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Happy to hear any and all feedback on our discussion article!
So much fun to work with this amazing set of authors :)
So much fun to work with this amazing set of authors :)
Reposted by Chris Baker
Excited to have this one out! We found that the perception of illusory faces relies on parallel brain representations of faces and objects with different dynamics, enabling flexible behaviour.
EEG shows illusory faces in objects initially resemble real faces then shift to object-like representations, with task demands determining which identity guides behavior.
@amandakrobinson.bsky.social @jesstaubert.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
@amandakrobinson.bsky.social @jesstaubert.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Neural correlates reveal separate stages of spontaneous face perception - Communications Psychology
Neural dynamics reveal separate stages of spontaneous face perception: EEG shows illusory faces in objects initially resemble real faces then shift to object-like representations, with task demands de...
www.nature.com
August 27, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Excited to have this one out! We found that the perception of illusory faces relies on parallel brain representations of faces and objects with different dynamics, enabling flexible behaviour.
Eye movements, vision and memory through the lens of Sherlock - awesome collaborative project led by @matthiasnau.bsky.social
Excited to share our new paper w/ @cibaker.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com linking active vision & memory!
We provide evidence that gaze reinstatement & neural reactivation are deeply related phenomena that jointly reflect the experiences constructed during recall. doi.org/10.1038/s414...
🧵1/9
We provide evidence that gaze reinstatement & neural reactivation are deeply related phenomena that jointly reflect the experiences constructed during recall. doi.org/10.1038/s414...
🧵1/9
Neural and behavioral reinstatement jointly reflect retrieval of narrative events - Nature Communications
When people recall a movie, their eye movements and brain activity resemble those observed during the viewing. These behavioral and neural reactivations are linked through a common process, likely ref...
doi.org
August 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Eye movements, vision and memory through the lens of Sherlock - awesome collaborative project led by @matthiasnau.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Baker
A brain-imaging study of people with amputated arms has upended a long-standing belief
go.nature.com/3Jp9NPG
go.nature.com/3Jp9NPG
The brain’s map of the body is surprisingly stable — even after a limb is lost
Study challenges the textbook idea that the brain region that processes body sensations reorganizes itself after limb amputation.
go.nature.com
August 21, 2025 at 10:07 AM
A brain-imaging study of people with amputated arms has upended a long-standing belief
go.nature.com/3Jp9NPG
go.nature.com/3Jp9NPG
Loss of sensory input has long been used to study brain plasticity - here, we challenge the prevailing view of massive reorganization in a longitudinal study of amputees
Massive effort from @hunterschone.bsky.social who was in the awesome NIH/UCL PhD program with @plasticity-lab.bsky.social
Massive effort from @hunterschone.bsky.social who was in the awesome NIH/UCL PhD program with @plasticity-lab.bsky.social
Now out in @natneuro.nature.com
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
August 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Loss of sensory input has long been used to study brain plasticity - here, we challenge the prevailing view of massive reorganization in a longitudinal study of amputees
Massive effort from @hunterschone.bsky.social who was in the awesome NIH/UCL PhD program with @plasticity-lab.bsky.social
Massive effort from @hunterschone.bsky.social who was in the awesome NIH/UCL PhD program with @plasticity-lab.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Baker
Datasets like NSD & THINGS offer rich stimuli but often test a single task.
After great conversations at #CCN2025 on multi-task studies & generalization in brains & models, I thought I would repost our perspective for those interested in this topic. We need multiple tasks!👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
After great conversations at #CCN2025 on multi-task studies & generalization in brains & models, I thought I would repost our perspective for those interested in this topic. We need multiple tasks!👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Centering cognitive neuroscience on task demands and generalization - Nature Neuroscience
Task demands are a primary determiner of behavior and neurophysiology. Here the authors discuss how understanding their influence through multitask studies and tests of generalization is the key to ar...
doi.org
August 18, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Datasets like NSD & THINGS offer rich stimuli but often test a single task.
After great conversations at #CCN2025 on multi-task studies & generalization in brains & models, I thought I would repost our perspective for those interested in this topic. We need multiple tasks!👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
After great conversations at #CCN2025 on multi-task studies & generalization in brains & models, I thought I would repost our perspective for those interested in this topic. We need multiple tasks!👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Chris Baker
After preparing for a full year together with @neurosteven.bsky.social and all other amazing organizers
of @cogcompneuro.bsky.social, #CCN2025 is finally here!
While I'm proud of the entire program we put together, I'd now like to highlight my own lab's contributions, 6 posters total:
of @cogcompneuro.bsky.social, #CCN2025 is finally here!
While I'm proud of the entire program we put together, I'd now like to highlight my own lab's contributions, 6 posters total:
August 10, 2025 at 3:20 PM
After preparing for a full year together with @neurosteven.bsky.social and all other amazing organizers
of @cogcompneuro.bsky.social, #CCN2025 is finally here!
While I'm proud of the entire program we put together, I'd now like to highlight my own lab's contributions, 6 posters total:
of @cogcompneuro.bsky.social, #CCN2025 is finally here!
While I'm proud of the entire program we put together, I'd now like to highlight my own lab's contributions, 6 posters total:
Reposted by Chris Baker
New CNeuroMod-THINGS open-access fMRI dataset: 4 participants · ~4 000 images (720 categories) each shown 3× (12k trials per subject)· individual functional localizers & NSD-inspired QC . Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2507.09024 Congrats Marie St-Laurent and @martinhebart.bsky.social !!
July 30, 2025 at 1:57 AM
New CNeuroMod-THINGS open-access fMRI dataset: 4 participants · ~4 000 images (720 categories) each shown 3× (12k trials per subject)· individual functional localizers & NSD-inspired QC . Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2507.09024 Congrats Marie St-Laurent and @martinhebart.bsky.social !!
Amazing effort from @gcaedwards.bsky.social @ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll to rigorously test hf-tRNS on visual cortex. We didn’t replicate, but learned a lot and have ideas for moving forward
Thanks to @pci-regreports.bsky.social for constructive guidance through the whole process
Thanks to @pci-regreports.bsky.social for constructive guidance through the whole process
High-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (hf-tRNS) targeted at motion processing region hMT+ does not improve visual motion discrimination. Failed #replication in #registeredreport
@ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll @cibaker.bsky.social
#trns #nibs #NIMH
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
1/6
@ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll @cibaker.bsky.social
#trns #nibs #NIMH
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
1/6
July 22, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Amazing effort from @gcaedwards.bsky.social @ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll to rigorously test hf-tRNS on visual cortex. We didn’t replicate, but learned a lot and have ideas for moving forward
Thanks to @pci-regreports.bsky.social for constructive guidance through the whole process
Thanks to @pci-regreports.bsky.social for constructive guidance through the whole process
Reposted by Chris Baker
Can humans use artificial limbs for body augmentation as flexibly as their own hands?
🚨 Our new interdisciplinary study put this question to the test with the Third Thumb (@daniclode.bsky.social), a robotic extra digit you control with your toes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵1/10
🚨 Our new interdisciplinary study put this question to the test with the Third Thumb (@daniclode.bsky.social), a robotic extra digit you control with your toes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵1/10
July 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Can humans use artificial limbs for body augmentation as flexibly as their own hands?
🚨 Our new interdisciplinary study put this question to the test with the Third Thumb (@daniclode.bsky.social), a robotic extra digit you control with your toes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵1/10
🚨 Our new interdisciplinary study put this question to the test with the Third Thumb (@daniclode.bsky.social), a robotic extra digit you control with your toes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵1/10
Reposted by Chris Baker
New work from our lab investigating the relationship between repetition suppression, repetition priming and increases in oscillatory power in simultaneous fMRI-EEG. Induced power increases are strongly associated with priming magnitude, supporting a mix of the synchrony and facilitation models.
Repetition-related reductions in neural activity support improved behavior through increases in oscillatory power https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.06.663291v1
July 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
New work from our lab investigating the relationship between repetition suppression, repetition priming and increases in oscillatory power in simultaneous fMRI-EEG. Induced power increases are strongly associated with priming magnitude, supporting a mix of the synchrony and facilitation models.
Reposted by Chris Baker
In these tumultuous times, still happy to report a scientific achievement: our preprint on affordance perception was just published in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
Representation of locomotive action affordances in human behavior, brains, and deep neural networks | PNAS
To decide how to move around the world, we must determine which locomotive actions
(e.g., walking, swimming, or climbing) are afforded by the immed...
www.pnas.org
June 16, 2025 at 11:34 AM
In these tumultuous times, still happy to report a scientific achievement: our preprint on affordance perception was just published in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
Reposted by Chris Baker
How is high-level visual cortex organized?
In a new preprint with @martinhebart.bsky.social & @kathadobs.bsky.social, we show that category-selective areas encode a rich, multidimensional feature space 🌈
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence
🧵 1/n
In a new preprint with @martinhebart.bsky.social & @kathadobs.bsky.social, we show that category-selective areas encode a rich, multidimensional feature space 🌈
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence
🧵 1/n
www.biorxiv.org
June 18, 2025 at 12:28 PM
How is high-level visual cortex organized?
In a new preprint with @martinhebart.bsky.social & @kathadobs.bsky.social, we show that category-selective areas encode a rich, multidimensional feature space 🌈
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence
🧵 1/n
In a new preprint with @martinhebart.bsky.social & @kathadobs.bsky.social, we show that category-selective areas encode a rich, multidimensional feature space 🌈
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence
🧵 1/n
Reposted by Chris Baker
I'm excited to announce that my lab's open textbook on Scientific Computing for Cognitive Neuroscience (v1.0) has just gone live! Our goal is to help mend the gap between the computational skills needed by cognitive neuroscience, and typical curricula that don't yet include it. 1/3
June 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I'm excited to announce that my lab's open textbook on Scientific Computing for Cognitive Neuroscience (v1.0) has just gone live! Our goal is to help mend the gap between the computational skills needed by cognitive neuroscience, and typical curricula that don't yet include it. 1/3
Reposted by Chris Baker
Reposted by Chris Baker
🚨 3-year postdoc opportunity! 🚨
Join @fraserwsmith.bsky.social sky.social @timkietzmann.bsky.social n.bsky.social and me at UEA for cutting-edge research on neuroimaging + deep learning in multimodal material perception 🧠🤖👀
#compneurosky #neuroskyence
🔗 Apply here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMP873/s...
Join @fraserwsmith.bsky.social sky.social @timkietzmann.bsky.social n.bsky.social and me at UEA for cutting-edge research on neuroimaging + deep learning in multimodal material perception 🧠🤖👀
#compneurosky #neuroskyence
🔗 Apply here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMP873/s...
Senior Research Associate in Cognitive Computational Neuroscience at University of East Anglia
Discover Senior Research Associate in Cognitive Computational Neuroscience jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.
www.jobs.ac.uk
May 13, 2025 at 12:41 PM
🚨 3-year postdoc opportunity! 🚨
Join @fraserwsmith.bsky.social sky.social @timkietzmann.bsky.social n.bsky.social and me at UEA for cutting-edge research on neuroimaging + deep learning in multimodal material perception 🧠🤖👀
#compneurosky #neuroskyence
🔗 Apply here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMP873/s...
Join @fraserwsmith.bsky.social sky.social @timkietzmann.bsky.social n.bsky.social and me at UEA for cutting-edge research on neuroimaging + deep learning in multimodal material perception 🧠🤖👀
#compneurosky #neuroskyence
🔗 Apply here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMP873/s...