Gasser Elbanna
@gelbanna.bsky.social
PhD student in Speech and Hearing at Harvard/MIT. Building ANNs to study how humans perceive/produce speech and voice.
Working with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social
https://gasserelbanna.github.io/
MSc. at EPFL
BSc. at Cairo University
ex Logitech and IDIAP
Working with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social
https://gasserelbanna.github.io/
MSc. at EPFL
BSc. at Cairo University
ex Logitech and IDIAP
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
New pre-print from our lab, by Lakshmi Govindarajan with help from Sagarika Alavilli, introducing a new type of model for studying sensory uncertainty. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here is a summary. (1/n)
Here is a summary. (1/n)
Task-optimized models of sensory uncertainty reproduce human confidence judgments
Sensory input is often ambiguous, leading to uncertain interpretations of the external world. Estimates of perceptual uncertainty might be useful in guiding behavior, but it remains unclear whether hu...
www.biorxiv.org
November 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
New pre-print from our lab, by Lakshmi Govindarajan with help from Sagarika Alavilli, introducing a new type of model for studying sensory uncertainty. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here is a summary. (1/n)
Here is a summary. (1/n)
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Looking for a PhD program where you can study computational neuroscience? NYU has a fantastic array of researchers covering the field:
groups.google.com/g/systems-ne...
groups.google.com/g/systems-ne...
Doctoral studies in Computational/Theoretical Neuroscience at NYU
groups.google.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Looking for a PhD program where you can study computational neuroscience? NYU has a fantastic array of researchers covering the field:
groups.google.com/g/systems-ne...
groups.google.com/g/systems-ne...
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
I'm recruiting PhD students to join my new lab in Fall 2026! The Shared Minds Lab at @usc.edu will combine deep learning and ecological human neuroscience to better understand how we communicate our thoughts from one brain to another.
October 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I'm recruiting PhD students to join my new lab in Fall 2026! The Shared Minds Lab at @usc.edu will combine deep learning and ecological human neuroscience to better understand how we communicate our thoughts from one brain to another.
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Excited to share that I'm joining WashU in January as an Assistant Prof in Psych & Brain Sciences! 🧠✨!
I'm also recruiting grad students to start next September - come hang out with us! Details about our lab here: www.deckerlab.com
Reposts are very welcome! 🙌 Please help spread the word!
I'm also recruiting grad students to start next September - come hang out with us! Details about our lab here: www.deckerlab.com
Reposts are very welcome! 🙌 Please help spread the word!
DeckerLab
www.deckerlab.com
October 1, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Excited to share that I'm joining WashU in January as an Assistant Prof in Psych & Brain Sciences! 🧠✨!
I'm also recruiting grad students to start next September - come hang out with us! Details about our lab here: www.deckerlab.com
Reposts are very welcome! 🙌 Please help spread the word!
I'm also recruiting grad students to start next September - come hang out with us! Details about our lab here: www.deckerlab.com
Reposts are very welcome! 🙌 Please help spread the word!
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
It has been "known" that musical experience improves auditory coding in the brainstem. But...a new multilab study concludes
"Our findings provide no evidence for associations between early auditory neural responses and either musical training or musical ability."
👀
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Our findings provide no evidence for associations between early auditory neural responses and either musical training or musical ability."
👀
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Large-scale multi-site study shows no association between musical training and early auditory neural sound encoding - Nature Communications
Widely cited studies have claimed that musical training is associated with enhanced neural encoding for sound at early stages of the auditory system. Results from this large-scale multisite study do n...
www.nature.com
August 19, 2025 at 3:36 PM
It has been "known" that musical experience improves auditory coding in the brainstem. But...a new multilab study concludes
"Our findings provide no evidence for associations between early auditory neural responses and either musical training or musical ability."
👀
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Our findings provide no evidence for associations between early auditory neural responses and either musical training or musical ability."
👀
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
My first paper with @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social is finally out in @natcomms.nature.com ! rdcu.be/eACGf
TL;DR: asymmetric learning rates can be induced by shifts in tonic dopamine giving rise to pessimistic/optimistic biases in agents or animals undergoing reinforcement learning .
TL;DR: asymmetric learning rates can be induced by shifts in tonic dopamine giving rise to pessimistic/optimistic biases in agents or animals undergoing reinforcement learning .
Tonic dopamine and biases in value learning linked through a biologically inspired reinforcement learning model
Nature Communications - Accurate future predictions are essential for guiding behavior, and disruptions in this process are associated with psychiatric disorders. Here the authors show that changes...
rdcu.be
August 13, 2025 at 9:55 PM
My first paper with @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social is finally out in @natcomms.nature.com ! rdcu.be/eACGf
TL;DR: asymmetric learning rates can be induced by shifts in tonic dopamine giving rise to pessimistic/optimistic biases in agents or animals undergoing reinforcement learning .
TL;DR: asymmetric learning rates can be induced by shifts in tonic dopamine giving rise to pessimistic/optimistic biases in agents or animals undergoing reinforcement learning .
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
NeurIPS is endorsing EurIPS, an independently-organized meeting which will offer researchers an opportunity to additionally present NeurIPS work in Europe concurrently with NeurIPS.
Read more in our blog post and on the EurIPS website:
blog.neurips.cc/2025/07/16/n...
eurips.cc
Read more in our blog post and on the EurIPS website:
blog.neurips.cc/2025/07/16/n...
eurips.cc
eurips.cc
A NeurIPS-endorsed conference in Europe held in Copenhagen, Denmark
eurips.cc
July 16, 2025 at 10:05 PM
NeurIPS is endorsing EurIPS, an independently-organized meeting which will offer researchers an opportunity to additionally present NeurIPS work in Europe concurrently with NeurIPS.
Read more in our blog post and on the EurIPS website:
blog.neurips.cc/2025/07/16/n...
eurips.cc
Read more in our blog post and on the EurIPS website:
blog.neurips.cc/2025/07/16/n...
eurips.cc
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
What shapes the topography of high-level visual cortex?
Excited to share a new pre-print addressing this question with connectivity-constrained interactive topographic networks, titled "Retinotopic scaffolding of high-level vision", w/ Marlene Behrmann & David Plaut.
🧵 ↓ 1/n
Excited to share a new pre-print addressing this question with connectivity-constrained interactive topographic networks, titled "Retinotopic scaffolding of high-level vision", w/ Marlene Behrmann & David Plaut.
🧵 ↓ 1/n
June 16, 2025 at 3:11 PM
What shapes the topography of high-level visual cortex?
Excited to share a new pre-print addressing this question with connectivity-constrained interactive topographic networks, titled "Retinotopic scaffolding of high-level vision", w/ Marlene Behrmann & David Plaut.
🧵 ↓ 1/n
Excited to share a new pre-print addressing this question with connectivity-constrained interactive topographic networks, titled "Retinotopic scaffolding of high-level vision", w/ Marlene Behrmann & David Plaut.
🧵 ↓ 1/n
At Frontiers in NeuroAI symposium @kempnerinstitute.bsky.social, I will be presenting a poster entitled "A Model of Continuous Phoneme Recognition Reveals the Role of Context in Human Speech Perception" (Poster #17).
Work done with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social.
#NeuroAI2025
🧵1/4
Work done with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social.
#NeuroAI2025
🧵1/4
June 5, 2025 at 12:02 AM
At Frontiers in NeuroAI symposium @kempnerinstitute.bsky.social, I will be presenting a poster entitled "A Model of Continuous Phoneme Recognition Reveals the Role of Context in Human Speech Perception" (Poster #17).
Work done with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social.
#NeuroAI2025
🧵1/4
Work done with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social.
#NeuroAI2025
🧵1/4
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Just posted, “Engineering Serendipity,” a lightly edited (to accommodate the transition from spoken to written form) version of the commencement speech I gave at my high school, the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, May 8, 2025: engineeringx.substack.com/p/engineerin...
Engineering Serendipity
Three Short Stories About How to Increase Luck Through Skill
engineeringx.substack.com
June 2, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Just posted, “Engineering Serendipity,” a lightly edited (to accommodate the transition from spoken to written form) version of the commencement speech I gave at my high school, the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, May 8, 2025: engineeringx.substack.com/p/engineerin...
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
I have been teaching my trainees exactly this for years...
universityaffairs.ca/career-advic...
This is exactly why @kordinglab.bsky.social tells everyone to write abstracts and aims pages first before starting projects / writing grants
universityaffairs.ca/career-advic...
This is exactly why @kordinglab.bsky.social tells everyone to write abstracts and aims pages first before starting projects / writing grants
Teaching students the connection between writing and thinking - University Affairs
Writing is an important skill because of its role in thinking processes. Instruction should be designed to reinforce this.
universityaffairs.ca
May 31, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I have been teaching my trainees exactly this for years...
universityaffairs.ca/career-advic...
This is exactly why @kordinglab.bsky.social tells everyone to write abstracts and aims pages first before starting projects / writing grants
universityaffairs.ca/career-advic...
This is exactly why @kordinglab.bsky.social tells everyone to write abstracts and aims pages first before starting projects / writing grants
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Check out our new work on making robots process touch more like brains!
Surprisingly, ConvRNNs best matched mouse cortex—passing the NeuroAI Turing Test. We also developed tactile-specific SSL augmentations and an Encoder-Attender-Decoder framework unifying ConvRNNs, SSMs & Transformers.
Surprisingly, ConvRNNs best matched mouse cortex—passing the NeuroAI Turing Test. We also developed tactile-specific SSL augmentations and an Encoder-Attender-Decoder framework unifying ConvRNNs, SSMs & Transformers.
1/ What if we make robots that process touch the way our brains do?
We found that Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks (ConvRNNs) pass the NeuroAI Turing Test in currently available mouse somatosensory cortex data.
New paper by @Yuchen @Nathan @anayebi.bsky.social and me!
We found that Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks (ConvRNNs) pass the NeuroAI Turing Test in currently available mouse somatosensory cortex data.
New paper by @Yuchen @Nathan @anayebi.bsky.social and me!
May 28, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Check out our new work on making robots process touch more like brains!
Surprisingly, ConvRNNs best matched mouse cortex—passing the NeuroAI Turing Test. We also developed tactile-specific SSL augmentations and an Encoder-Attender-Decoder framework unifying ConvRNNs, SSMs & Transformers.
Surprisingly, ConvRNNs best matched mouse cortex—passing the NeuroAI Turing Test. We also developed tactile-specific SSL augmentations and an Encoder-Attender-Decoder framework unifying ConvRNNs, SSMs & Transformers.
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
If returns on science investment are shrinking, there are plenty of potential culprits
https://go.nature.com/4k9FVUQ
https://go.nature.com/4k9FVUQ
Are groundbreaking science discoveries becoming harder to find?
Researchers are arguing over whether ‘disruptive’ or ‘novel’ science is waning – and how to remedy the problem.
go.nature.com
May 21, 2025 at 10:31 AM
If returns on science investment are shrinking, there are plenty of potential culprits
https://go.nature.com/4k9FVUQ
https://go.nature.com/4k9FVUQ
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
✨Discovering dynamical laws for speech gestures ✨
➡️ I’m delighted to announce my new article out today in Cognitive Science, where I discover simple mathematical laws that govern articulatory control in speech.
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
➡️ I’m delighted to announce my new article out today in Cognitive Science, where I discover simple mathematical laws that govern articulatory control in speech.
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
May 2, 2025 at 11:52 AM
✨Discovering dynamical laws for speech gestures ✨
➡️ I’m delighted to announce my new article out today in Cognitive Science, where I discover simple mathematical laws that govern articulatory control in speech.
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
➡️ I’m delighted to announce my new article out today in Cognitive Science, where I discover simple mathematical laws that govern articulatory control in speech.
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
New paper! 🧠 **The cerebellar components of the human language network**
with: @hsmall.bsky.social @moshepoliak.bsky.social @gretatuckute.bsky.social @benlipkin.bsky.social @awolna.bsky.social @aniladmello.bsky.social and @evfedorenko.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n 🧵
with: @hsmall.bsky.social @moshepoliak.bsky.social @gretatuckute.bsky.social @benlipkin.bsky.social @awolna.bsky.social @aniladmello.bsky.social and @evfedorenko.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n 🧵
The cerebellar components of the human language network
The cerebellum's capacity for neural computation is arguably unmatched. Yet despite evidence of cerebellar contributions to cognition, including language, its precise role remains debated. Here, we sy...
www.biorxiv.org
April 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
New paper! 🧠 **The cerebellar components of the human language network**
with: @hsmall.bsky.social @moshepoliak.bsky.social @gretatuckute.bsky.social @benlipkin.bsky.social @awolna.bsky.social @aniladmello.bsky.social and @evfedorenko.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n 🧵
with: @hsmall.bsky.social @moshepoliak.bsky.social @gretatuckute.bsky.social @benlipkin.bsky.social @awolna.bsky.social @aniladmello.bsky.social and @evfedorenko.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n 🧵
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Top-down prediction signals from the medial prefrontal cortex govern auditory cortex prediction errors
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
#neuroscience
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
#neuroscience
Redirecting
doi.org
April 11, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Top-down prediction signals from the medial prefrontal cortex govern auditory cortex prediction errors
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
#neuroscience
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
#neuroscience
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Eid Mubarak to all!
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 4th Muslims in Machine Learning (MusIML) Workshop, co-located with ICML 2025, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Vancouver, Canada.
🧵(1/5)
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 4th Muslims in Machine Learning (MusIML) Workshop, co-located with ICML 2025, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Vancouver, Canada.
🧵(1/5)
March 30, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Eid Mubarak to all!
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 4th Muslims in Machine Learning (MusIML) Workshop, co-located with ICML 2025, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Vancouver, Canada.
🧵(1/5)
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 4th Muslims in Machine Learning (MusIML) Workshop, co-located with ICML 2025, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Vancouver, Canada.
🧵(1/5)
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
A growing number of cognitive neuroscientists have taken on the challenge of performing task-based fMRI experiments in awake babies. The method is poised to answer questions about how and when the infant mind takes shape.
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/cognitive-ne...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/cognitive-ne...
What infant fMRI is revealing about the developing mind
Cognitive neuroscientists have finally clocked how to perform task-based fMRI experiments in awake babies. Now they want watch cognition take shape.
www.thetransmitter.org
March 20, 2025 at 6:08 PM
A growing number of cognitive neuroscientists have taken on the challenge of performing task-based fMRI experiments in awake babies. The method is poised to answer questions about how and when the infant mind takes shape.
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/cognitive-ne...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/cognitive-ne...
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Applications are open for the summer school 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.
compneuronrsn.org
Application deadline: March 31, 2025
Located in beautiful Eresfjord, Norway 🇳🇴
#Neuroscience #ComputationalNeuroscience #KavliNeuro
@kavlintnu.bsky.social
compneuronrsn.org
Application deadline: March 31, 2025
Located in beautiful Eresfjord, Norway 🇳🇴
#Neuroscience #ComputationalNeuroscience #KavliNeuro
@kavlintnu.bsky.social
Mathematical Methods in Computational Neuroscience
Summer school in Eresfjord, Norway (July 8th - 26th, 2024)
compneuronrsn.org
March 19, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Applications are open for the summer school 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.
compneuronrsn.org
Application deadline: March 31, 2025
Located in beautiful Eresfjord, Norway 🇳🇴
#Neuroscience #ComputationalNeuroscience #KavliNeuro
@kavlintnu.bsky.social
compneuronrsn.org
Application deadline: March 31, 2025
Located in beautiful Eresfjord, Norway 🇳🇴
#Neuroscience #ComputationalNeuroscience #KavliNeuro
@kavlintnu.bsky.social
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
1. @alisongopnik.bsky.social, Cosma Shalizi, James Evans and myself have a new piece in Science on "AI" Large Models, pushing back against much of the collective wisdom about what they can and can't do. Official below, unpaywalled at henryfarrell.net/large-ai-mod... . So why this now?
Large AI models are cultural and social technologies
Implications draw on the history of transformative information systems from the past
www.science.org
March 14, 2025 at 12:57 PM
1. @alisongopnik.bsky.social, Cosma Shalizi, James Evans and myself have a new piece in Science on "AI" Large Models, pushing back against much of the collective wisdom about what they can and can't do. Official below, unpaywalled at henryfarrell.net/large-ai-mod... . So why this now?
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
In the physical world, almost all information is transmitted through traveling waves -- why should it be any different in your neural network?
Super excited to share recent work with the brilliant @mozesjacobs.bsky.social: "Traveling Waves Integrate Spatial Information Through Time"
1/14
Super excited to share recent work with the brilliant @mozesjacobs.bsky.social: "Traveling Waves Integrate Spatial Information Through Time"
1/14
March 10, 2025 at 3:34 PM
In the physical world, almost all information is transmitted through traveling waves -- why should it be any different in your neural network?
Super excited to share recent work with the brilliant @mozesjacobs.bsky.social: "Traveling Waves Integrate Spatial Information Through Time"
1/14
Super excited to share recent work with the brilliant @mozesjacobs.bsky.social: "Traveling Waves Integrate Spatial Information Through Time"
1/14
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Why Statistical Physics Can’t Give Us an ‘Ideal Gas Law’ for the Brain . medium.com/@kording/why...
Why Statistical Physics Can’t Give Us an ‘Ideal Gas Law’ for the Brain
I recall how, as a young physicist, I found statistical physics mesmerizing. Gases, for instance, are mind-bogglingly complicated. Yet…
medium.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Why Statistical Physics Can’t Give Us an ‘Ideal Gas Law’ for the Brain . medium.com/@kording/why...
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
Applications are open for the 2025 Flatiron Institute Junior Theoretical Neuroscience Workshop! A two-day workshop 7/10-7/11 in NYC for PhD students and postdocs. All travel paid. Apply by April 14th.🧠🗽🧑🔬http://jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org/
@flatironinstitute.org @simonsfoundation.org
@flatironinstitute.org @simonsfoundation.org
JTN - 2025
JTN - 2025
jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org
March 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Applications are open for the 2025 Flatiron Institute Junior Theoretical Neuroscience Workshop! A two-day workshop 7/10-7/11 in NYC for PhD students and postdocs. All travel paid. Apply by April 14th.🧠🗽🧑🔬http://jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org/
@flatironinstitute.org @simonsfoundation.org
@flatironinstitute.org @simonsfoundation.org
Reposted by Gasser Elbanna
🚨 Deadline approaching!
Interested in showcasing your #NeuroAI research among leaders in the field? There's still time to submit an abstract for the #KempnerInstitute's Frontiers in NeuroAI symposium! Details: bit.ly/3QKQD6Z
@shamkakade.bsky.social @blsabatini.bsky.social
Interested in showcasing your #NeuroAI research among leaders in the field? There's still time to submit an abstract for the #KempnerInstitute's Frontiers in NeuroAI symposium! Details: bit.ly/3QKQD6Z
@shamkakade.bsky.social @blsabatini.bsky.social
March 5, 2025 at 3:21 PM
🚨 Deadline approaching!
Interested in showcasing your #NeuroAI research among leaders in the field? There's still time to submit an abstract for the #KempnerInstitute's Frontiers in NeuroAI symposium! Details: bit.ly/3QKQD6Z
@shamkakade.bsky.social @blsabatini.bsky.social
Interested in showcasing your #NeuroAI research among leaders in the field? There's still time to submit an abstract for the #KempnerInstitute's Frontiers in NeuroAI symposium! Details: bit.ly/3QKQD6Z
@shamkakade.bsky.social @blsabatini.bsky.social