David Soto
@dsotob.bsky.social
Studying awareness and metacognition at BCBL in Spain, formerly at U of Birmingham and Imperial College London. Eclectic music fan, husband and dad.
Reposted by David Soto
Clever behavioural experiment exposing how confidence is formed in visual perception
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41138620/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41138620/
Perceptual confidence has near perfect access to the existence of discrete representations, but only weak access to precision - PubMed
Perceptual confidence describes the degree to which we believe our internal perceptual representations reflect the external stimuli that caused them. How confidence is derived from internal representations is currently debated, but answering this question is made difficult because the nature of inte …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
October 28, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Clever behavioural experiment exposing how confidence is formed in visual perception
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41138620/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41138620/
Reposted by David Soto
@aliekhlasi.bsky.social has been doing some brilliant work on domain adaptation approaches to characterizing the nature of higher order representations. Please come see our work at @sfn.org this year!
Going to @sfn.org this year? Check out @aliekhlasi.bsky.social's poster. November 19th from 4-5pm.
See the abstract: www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/?_gl=1*1...
See the abstract: www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/?_gl=1*1...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:13 PM
@aliekhlasi.bsky.social has been doing some brilliant work on domain adaptation approaches to characterizing the nature of higher order representations. Please come see our work at @sfn.org this year!
Reposted by David Soto
Glad to see my first-year project is out!
In two experiments, we manipulated multiple stimulus features in a perception task, yet their effects on confidence and accuracy fell into just two distinct behavioral patterns, offering a way to predict the effects of novel stimulus manipulations.
1/n
In two experiments, we manipulated multiple stimulus features in a perception task, yet their effects on confidence and accuracy fell into just two distinct behavioral patterns, offering a way to predict the effects of novel stimulus manipulations.
1/n
Similarities and differences in the effects of different stimulus manipulations on accuracy and confidence
Visual stimuli can vary in multiple dimensions that affect accuracy and confidence in a perceptual decision-making task. However, previous studies hav…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Glad to see my first-year project is out!
In two experiments, we manipulated multiple stimulus features in a perception task, yet their effects on confidence and accuracy fell into just two distinct behavioral patterns, offering a way to predict the effects of novel stimulus manipulations.
1/n
In two experiments, we manipulated multiple stimulus features in a perception task, yet their effects on confidence and accuracy fell into just two distinct behavioral patterns, offering a way to predict the effects of novel stimulus manipulations.
1/n
Reposted by David Soto
My paper with @stellalourenco.bsky.social is now out in Science Advances!
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Fast and robust visual object recognition in young children
The visual recognition abilities of preschool children rival those of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models.
doi.org
July 2, 2025 at 7:38 PM
My paper with @stellalourenco.bsky.social is now out in Science Advances!
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Reposted by David Soto
The call for commentaries on our BBS paper is out now (deadline October 15): shorturl.at/Hu3Yu. In the paper (shorturl.at/4Rbk6), we provide recommendations and outstanding issues about designing experimental paradigms, analyzing data, and reporting the results of studies on unconscious processing 👇
September 30, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The call for commentaries on our BBS paper is out now (deadline October 15): shorturl.at/Hu3Yu. In the paper (shorturl.at/4Rbk6), we provide recommendations and outstanding issues about designing experimental paradigms, analyzing data, and reporting the results of studies on unconscious processing 👇
Reposted by David Soto
Absolutely incredible work led by @patxelos.bsky.social and @dsotob.bsky.social - such a compelling case of unconscious perception! Privileged to have been a little part of this 🧠
1/Preprint Alert🔔: Across two experiments plus a computational model, we show the visual system compresses complex scenes into summary statistics that can guide behavior without conscious access to the task-defining features. We term this the Ensemble Blindsight effect.
September 29, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Absolutely incredible work led by @patxelos.bsky.social and @dsotob.bsky.social - such a compelling case of unconscious perception! Privileged to have been a little part of this 🧠
Great work by the unstoppable @patxelos.bsky.social
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@hakwan.bsky.social
@smfleming.bsky.social
@liadmudrik.bsky.social
@theassc.bsky.social
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@hakwan.bsky.social
@smfleming.bsky.social
@liadmudrik.bsky.social
@theassc.bsky.social
1/Preprint Alert🔔: Across two experiments plus a computational model, we show the visual system compresses complex scenes into summary statistics that can guide behavior without conscious access to the task-defining features. We term this the Ensemble Blindsight effect.
September 29, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Great work by the unstoppable @patxelos.bsky.social
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@hakwan.bsky.social
@smfleming.bsky.social
@liadmudrik.bsky.social
@theassc.bsky.social
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@hakwan.bsky.social
@smfleming.bsky.social
@liadmudrik.bsky.social
@theassc.bsky.social
Reposted by David Soto
1/Preprint Alert🔔: Across two experiments plus a computational model, we show the visual system compresses complex scenes into summary statistics that can guide behavior without conscious access to the task-defining features. We term this the Ensemble Blindsight effect.
September 28, 2025 at 7:49 PM
1/Preprint Alert🔔: Across two experiments plus a computational model, we show the visual system compresses complex scenes into summary statistics that can guide behavior without conscious access to the task-defining features. We term this the Ensemble Blindsight effect.
Reposted by David Soto
BBS just issued the call for commentaries, and we would LOVE to get yours!! The deadline is October 15th, and the reference number is BBS-D-24-00489R2. Looking forward to hearing what you think about our suggestions for how to study unconscious processes!
📢Excited to share our paper, "Studying unconscious processing: Contention and consensus", published in BBS.
The paper is the result of a collaborative effort of 32 leading researchers in the field, from 10 different countries🌏
Check out the full ms👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The paper is the result of a collaborative effort of 32 leading researchers in the field, from 10 different countries🌏
Check out the full ms👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Studying unconscious processing: Contention and consensus | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Studying unconscious processing: Contention and consensus
www.cambridge.org
September 25, 2025 at 3:53 PM
BBS just issued the call for commentaries, and we would LOVE to get yours!! The deadline is October 15th, and the reference number is BBS-D-24-00489R2. Looking forward to hearing what you think about our suggestions for how to study unconscious processes!
Reposted by David Soto
Unconscious perception of ensembles, assessed with a bias-discouraging 2IFC task: osf.io/preprints/ps.... Great work by @patxelos.bsky.social, @dsotob.bsky.social et al.!
OSF
osf.io
September 13, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Unconscious perception of ensembles, assessed with a bias-discouraging 2IFC task: osf.io/preprints/ps.... Great work by @patxelos.bsky.social, @dsotob.bsky.social et al.!
Reposted by David Soto
New Open dataset alert:
🧠 Introducing "Spacetop" – a massive multimodal fMRI dataset that bridges naturalistic and experimental neuroscience!
N = 101 x 6 hours each = 606 functional iso-hours combining movies, pain, faces, theory-of-mind and other cognitive tasks!
🧵below
🧠 Introducing "Spacetop" – a massive multimodal fMRI dataset that bridges naturalistic and experimental neuroscience!
N = 101 x 6 hours each = 606 functional iso-hours combining movies, pain, faces, theory-of-mind and other cognitive tasks!
🧵below
September 4, 2025 at 7:21 PM
New Open dataset alert:
🧠 Introducing "Spacetop" – a massive multimodal fMRI dataset that bridges naturalistic and experimental neuroscience!
N = 101 x 6 hours each = 606 functional iso-hours combining movies, pain, faces, theory-of-mind and other cognitive tasks!
🧵below
🧠 Introducing "Spacetop" – a massive multimodal fMRI dataset that bridges naturalistic and experimental neuroscience!
N = 101 x 6 hours each = 606 functional iso-hours combining movies, pain, faces, theory-of-mind and other cognitive tasks!
🧵below
Reposted by David Soto
A transformation from vision to imagery in the human brain. Intriguing new preprint by Roy & Naselaris et al for anyone interested in mental imagery!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A transformation from vision to imagery in the human brain
Extensive work has shown that the visual cortex is reactivated during mental imagery, and that models trained on visual data can predict imagery activity and decode imagined stimuli. These findings ma...
www.biorxiv.org
September 4, 2025 at 9:28 AM
A transformation from vision to imagery in the human brain. Intriguing new preprint by Roy & Naselaris et al for anyone interested in mental imagery!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by David Soto
does someone good at coding & analysis want to work remotely w/ us in the coming few months (before end of 2025), as a paid consultant? project will be on neurofeedback (fMRI, ECoG, calcium imaging). we'll work towards developing the experiments & analysis pipelines together. if so pls DM me ur CV🧠📈
September 1, 2025 at 1:06 PM
does someone good at coding & analysis want to work remotely w/ us in the coming few months (before end of 2025), as a paid consultant? project will be on neurofeedback (fMRI, ECoG, calcium imaging). we'll work towards developing the experiments & analysis pipelines together. if so pls DM me ur CV🧠📈
Invariant inter-subject relational structures in high order human visual cortex
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Invariant inter-subject relational structures in high order human visual cortex - Nature Communications
The neuronal coding principles that underlie inter-individual perceptual similarities remains unclear. Here, the authors compared the stability of relational similarity versus activation patterns acro...
www.nature.com
August 31, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Invariant inter-subject relational structures in high order human visual cortex
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by David Soto
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"... observers perceive scene images achromatized in the peripheral region (chimera images) as full-color images... inattentional noise increases the occurrence of strong color signals that exceed the internal color detection criterion..."
Nishida lab
🧠📈
"... observers perceive scene images achromatized in the peripheral region (chimera images) as full-color images... inattentional noise increases the occurrence of strong color signals that exceed the internal color detection criterion..."
Nishida lab
🧠📈
Inattentional noise leads to subjective color uniformity across the visual field
Humans perceive a vividly colored world coherently across the visual field, even though our peripheral vision has limited color sensitivity compared t…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 29, 2025 at 3:37 AM
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"... observers perceive scene images achromatized in the peripheral region (chimera images) as full-color images... inattentional noise increases the occurrence of strong color signals that exceed the internal color detection criterion..."
Nishida lab
🧠📈
"... observers perceive scene images achromatized in the peripheral region (chimera images) as full-color images... inattentional noise increases the occurrence of strong color signals that exceed the internal color detection criterion..."
Nishida lab
🧠📈
Reposted by David Soto
Here's the schedule for the MIT Consciousness Club this year: sites.google.com/view/mit-con.... I'm looking forward to it! (Rooms will be announced soon; and we're currently working on a zoom option for those who would like to join online)
MIT Consciousness Club
The MIT Consciousness Club aims to foster interdisciplinary research on consciousness at MIT and in the broader Boston area by organizing a monthly event featuring an expert talk on consciousness foll...
sites.google.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Here's the schedule for the MIT Consciousness Club this year: sites.google.com/view/mit-con.... I'm looking forward to it! (Rooms will be announced soon; and we're currently working on a zoom option for those who would like to join online)
Reposted by David Soto
On the left is a rabbit. On the right is an elephant. But guess what: They’re the *same image*, rotated 90°!
In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ
In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ
August 19, 2025 at 4:32 PM
On the left is a rabbit. On the right is an elephant. But guess what: They’re the *same image*, rotated 90°!
In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ
In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ
Reposted by David Soto
Representational drift gates critical-period plasticity in mouse visual cortex www.cell.com/current-biol...
Representational drift gates critical-period plasticity in mouse visual cortex
Brown and McGee employ in vivo calcium imaging to measure representational drift during
and after visual circuit maturation. The instability of neuronal tuning is greater
during the developmental crit...
www.cell.com
August 6, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Representational drift gates critical-period plasticity in mouse visual cortex www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by David Soto
This paper is making the rounds: arxiv.org/abs/2506.21734
A tiny (27M) brain-inspired model trained just on 1000 samples outperforming o3-mini-high on reasoning tasks.
#MLSky 🧠🤖
A tiny (27M) brain-inspired model trained just on 1000 samples outperforming o3-mini-high on reasoning tasks.
#MLSky 🧠🤖
August 3, 2025 at 2:01 AM
This paper is making the rounds: arxiv.org/abs/2506.21734
A tiny (27M) brain-inspired model trained just on 1000 samples outperforming o3-mini-high on reasoning tasks.
#MLSky 🧠🤖
A tiny (27M) brain-inspired model trained just on 1000 samples outperforming o3-mini-high on reasoning tasks.
#MLSky 🧠🤖
Reposted by David Soto
I want to thank @francoisstock.bsky.social, @liadmudrik.bsky.social, and @nfaivre.bsky.social for leading this project with me!🙏
As well as all of the amazing co-authors: @pietroamerio.bsky.social, David Carmel, @axc.bsky.social, Leon Deouell, Zoltan Dienes, Patxi Elosegi,
[Continued below]
As well as all of the amazing co-authors: @pietroamerio.bsky.social, David Carmel, @axc.bsky.social, Leon Deouell, Zoltan Dienes, Patxi Elosegi,
[Continued below]
July 29, 2025 at 9:32 AM
I want to thank @francoisstock.bsky.social, @liadmudrik.bsky.social, and @nfaivre.bsky.social for leading this project with me!🙏
As well as all of the amazing co-authors: @pietroamerio.bsky.social, David Carmel, @axc.bsky.social, Leon Deouell, Zoltan Dienes, Patxi Elosegi,
[Continued below]
As well as all of the amazing co-authors: @pietroamerio.bsky.social, David Carmel, @axc.bsky.social, Leon Deouell, Zoltan Dienes, Patxi Elosegi,
[Continued below]
Reposted by David Soto
just out in Molecular Psychiatry 😍: spinal & cortical alterations in processing of self-produced sensations in psychosis
including: touch, interoception, fMRI, SEP, HEP, behavior🧠🫀
#neuroskyence
#PsychSciSky
@paulasalamone.bsky.social @adamenmalm.bsky.social @rkaldewaij.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exN0e
including: touch, interoception, fMRI, SEP, HEP, behavior🧠🫀
#neuroskyence
#PsychSciSky
@paulasalamone.bsky.social @adamenmalm.bsky.social @rkaldewaij.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exN0e
Altered processing of self-produced sensations in psychosis at cortical and spinal levels
Molecular Psychiatry - Altered processing of self-produced sensations in psychosis at cortical and spinal levels
rdcu.be
July 25, 2025 at 10:15 AM
just out in Molecular Psychiatry 😍: spinal & cortical alterations in processing of self-produced sensations in psychosis
including: touch, interoception, fMRI, SEP, HEP, behavior🧠🫀
#neuroskyence
#PsychSciSky
@paulasalamone.bsky.social @adamenmalm.bsky.social @rkaldewaij.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exN0e
including: touch, interoception, fMRI, SEP, HEP, behavior🧠🫀
#neuroskyence
#PsychSciSky
@paulasalamone.bsky.social @adamenmalm.bsky.social @rkaldewaij.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exN0e
Reposted by David Soto
🧠 NEW PREPRINT
Many-Two-One: Diverse Representations Across Visual Pathways Emerge from A Single Objective
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Many-Two-One: Diverse Representations Across Visual Pathways Emerge from A Single Objective
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Many-Two-One: Diverse Representations Across Visual Pathways Emerge from A Single Objective
How the human brain supports diverse behaviours has been debated for decades. The canonical view divides visual processing into distinct "what" and "where/how" streams – however, their origin and inde...
www.biorxiv.org
July 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
🧠 NEW PREPRINT
Many-Two-One: Diverse Representations Across Visual Pathways Emerge from A Single Objective
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Many-Two-One: Diverse Representations Across Visual Pathways Emerge from A Single Objective
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
This is now out
"Domain Adaptation-enhanced searchlight: enabling classification of brain states from visual perception to mental imagery"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@nadinedijkstra.bsky.social
"Domain Adaptation-enhanced searchlight: enabling classification of brain states from visual perception to mental imagery"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@nadinedijkstra.bsky.social
Domain Adaptation-enhanced searchlight: enabling classification of brain states from visual perception to mental imagery - Brain Informatics
In cognitive neuroscience and brain-computer interface research, accurately predicting imagined stimuli is crucial. This study investigates the effectiveness of Domain Adaptation (DA) in enhancing ima...
link.springer.com
July 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
This is now out
"Domain Adaptation-enhanced searchlight: enabling classification of brain states from visual perception to mental imagery"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@nadinedijkstra.bsky.social
"Domain Adaptation-enhanced searchlight: enabling classification of brain states from visual perception to mental imagery"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@nadinedijkstra.bsky.social
Reposted by David Soto
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, specially targeting conscious vs. unconscious processing, contact me. We are recruiting 🙏🧠 please RT
July 21, 2025 at 11:50 AM
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, specially targeting conscious vs. unconscious processing, contact me. We are recruiting 🙏🧠 please RT
Reposted by David Soto
Heading to my very first ASSC! Quite excited to present my work, supervised by @dsotob.bsky.social on unconscious working memory in the concurrent session at Studio Theatre on Wednesday at 15:30! Please come drop by! : ) @assc28.bsky.social #ASSC28
July 4, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Heading to my very first ASSC! Quite excited to present my work, supervised by @dsotob.bsky.social on unconscious working memory in the concurrent session at Studio Theatre on Wednesday at 15:30! Please come drop by! : ) @assc28.bsky.social #ASSC28