Josh McDermott
@joshhmcdermott.bsky.social
Working to understand how humans and machines hear. Prof at MIT; director of Lab for Computational Audition. https://mcdermottlab.mit.edu/
Pinned
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
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 Josh McDermott
I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is
February 17, 2026 at 11:41 AM
I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is
Two more posters from our lab at ARO today:
T152 A Model of Speech Recognition Reproduces Signatures of Human Speech Perception and Reveals Mechanisms of Contextual Integration, by Gasser Elbanna
T171 Hearing-Impaired Deep Neural Networks Predict Real-World Hearing Difficulties, by Mark Saddler
T152 A Model of Speech Recognition Reproduces Signatures of Human Speech Perception and Reveals Mechanisms of Contextual Integration, by Gasser Elbanna
T171 Hearing-Impaired Deep Neural Networks Predict Real-World Hearing Difficulties, by Mark Saddler
February 10, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Two more posters from our lab at ARO today:
T152 A Model of Speech Recognition Reproduces Signatures of Human Speech Perception and Reveals Mechanisms of Contextual Integration, by Gasser Elbanna
T171 Hearing-Impaired Deep Neural Networks Predict Real-World Hearing Difficulties, by Mark Saddler
T152 A Model of Speech Recognition Reproduces Signatures of Human Speech Perception and Reveals Mechanisms of Contextual Integration, by Gasser Elbanna
T171 Hearing-Impaired Deep Neural Networks Predict Real-World Hearing Difficulties, by Mark Saddler
If at ARO today, check out the presentations from our lab:
talk at 3:15pm: Optimized Models of Uncertainty Explain Human Confidence in Auditory Perception, by Lakshmi Govindarajan
poster 28: In-Silico fMRI Experiments Enable Comparisons of Speech Models to Human Auditory Cortex, by Gasser Elbanna
talk at 3:15pm: Optimized Models of Uncertainty Explain Human Confidence in Auditory Perception, by Lakshmi Govindarajan
poster 28: In-Silico fMRI Experiments Enable Comparisons of Speech Models to Human Auditory Cortex, by Gasser Elbanna
February 9, 2026 at 3:33 PM
If at ARO today, check out the presentations from our lab:
talk at 3:15pm: Optimized Models of Uncertainty Explain Human Confidence in Auditory Perception, by Lakshmi Govindarajan
poster 28: In-Silico fMRI Experiments Enable Comparisons of Speech Models to Human Auditory Cortex, by Gasser Elbanna
talk at 3:15pm: Optimized Models of Uncertainty Explain Human Confidence in Auditory Perception, by Lakshmi Govindarajan
poster 28: In-Silico fMRI Experiments Enable Comparisons of Speech Models to Human Auditory Cortex, by Gasser Elbanna
If at ARO, please check out four posters from our lab today:
SA53 A Deep Learning Framework for Understanding Cochlear Implants, by Annesya Banerjee
SA189 Robustness to Noise Reveals Cross-Culturally Consistent Properties of Pitch Perception for Harmonic and Inharmonic Sounds, by Malinda McPherson
SA53 A Deep Learning Framework for Understanding Cochlear Implants, by Annesya Banerjee
SA189 Robustness to Noise Reveals Cross-Culturally Consistent Properties of Pitch Perception for Harmonic and Inharmonic Sounds, by Malinda McPherson
February 7, 2026 at 4:37 PM
If at ARO, please check out four posters from our lab today:
SA53 A Deep Learning Framework for Understanding Cochlear Implants, by Annesya Banerjee
SA189 Robustness to Noise Reveals Cross-Culturally Consistent Properties of Pitch Perception for Harmonic and Inharmonic Sounds, by Malinda McPherson
SA53 A Deep Learning Framework for Understanding Cochlear Implants, by Annesya Banerjee
SA189 Robustness to Noise Reveals Cross-Culturally Consistent Properties of Pitch Perception for Harmonic and Inharmonic Sounds, by Malinda McPherson
Reposted by Josh McDermott
Just published my review of neuroscience in 2025, on The Spike.
The 10th of these, would you believe?
This year we have foundation models, breakthroughs in using light to understand the brain, a gene therapy, and more
Enjoy!
medium.com/the-spike/20...
The 10th of these, would you believe?
This year we have foundation models, breakthroughs in using light to understand the brain, a gene therapy, and more
Enjoy!
medium.com/the-spike/20...
2025: A Review of the Year in Neuroscience
Enlightening the brain
medium.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Just published my review of neuroscience in 2025, on The Spike.
The 10th of these, would you believe?
This year we have foundation models, breakthroughs in using light to understand the brain, a gene therapy, and more
Enjoy!
medium.com/the-spike/20...
The 10th of these, would you believe?
This year we have foundation models, breakthroughs in using light to understand the brain, a gene therapy, and more
Enjoy!
medium.com/the-spike/20...
Reposted by Josh McDermott
This head is spinning continuously, but we see it rotating back and forth...
...presumably because of our strong prior expectation that faces are convex.
This is a very nice example of the Hollow-Face illusion promoted by Richard Gregory:
www.richardgregory.org/experiments/
...presumably because of our strong prior expectation that faces are convex.
This is a very nice example of the Hollow-Face illusion promoted by Richard Gregory:
www.richardgregory.org/experiments/
December 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
This head is spinning continuously, but we see it rotating back and forth...
...presumably because of our strong prior expectation that faces are convex.
This is a very nice example of the Hollow-Face illusion promoted by Richard Gregory:
www.richardgregory.org/experiments/
...presumably because of our strong prior expectation that faces are convex.
This is a very nice example of the Hollow-Face illusion promoted by Richard Gregory:
www.richardgregory.org/experiments/
If you are at NeurIPS I encourage you to check out Gasser's poster showing his ongoing work on models of speech perception.
If you’re still at #NeurIPS2025, come say hi at our poster at @unireps.bsky.social in Ballroom 20D!
I'm presenting work co-led by Ivy Brundege and me, with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social, showing that in silico fMRI experiments of speech models reveal notable discrepancies with human auditory cortex.
I'm presenting work co-led by Ivy Brundege and me, with @joshhmcdermott.bsky.social, showing that in silico fMRI experiments of speech models reveal notable discrepancies with human auditory cortex.
December 6, 2025 at 7:45 PM
If you are at NeurIPS I encourage you to check out Gasser's poster showing his ongoing work on models of speech perception.
Reposted by Josh McDermott
Excited to announce that our latest paper is now out: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Cortical PV interneurons regulate loudness perception and sustainably reverse loudness hypersensitivity
Noise damages the cochlea, triggering maladaptive plasticity in the auditory cortex
(ACtx) that makes moderate-intensity sounds seem uncomfortably loud. Clayton, Awwad,
McGill, et al. show that brief ...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Excited to announce that our latest paper is now out: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Two weeks left to apply! MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences is seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor, working with nonhuman animals in some way. Application deadline is Dec. 1. Full posting: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30586
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences
Job #AJO30586, Assistant Professor level or higher, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
academicjobsonline.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Two weeks left to apply! MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences is seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor, working with nonhuman animals in some way. Application deadline is Dec. 1. Full posting: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30586
Reposted by Josh McDermott
🚨I am looking for a POSTDOC, LAB MANAGER/TECH and GRAD STUDENTS to join my new lab in beautiful Madison, WI.
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
November 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
🚨I am looking for a POSTDOC, LAB MANAGER/TECH and GRAD STUDENTS to join my new lab in beautiful Madison, WI.
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
If you are at APAN today, check out these posters from members of our lab:
1. Cross-culturally shared sensitivity to harmonic structure underlies some aspects of pitch perception - Malinda McPherson-McNato
1. Cross-culturally shared sensitivity to harmonic structure underlies some aspects of pitch perception - Malinda McPherson-McNato
November 14, 2025 at 3:27 PM
If you are at APAN today, check out these posters from members of our lab:
1. Cross-culturally shared sensitivity to harmonic structure underlies some aspects of pitch perception - Malinda McPherson-McNato
1. Cross-culturally shared sensitivity to harmonic structure underlies some aspects of pitch perception - Malinda McPherson-McNato
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 Josh McDermott
if you see this post, your actions are:
- if you have a spare buck, give it to Wikipedia, then repost this
- if you don't have a spare buck, just repost
your action is mandatory for the world's best source of information to survive
- if you have a spare buck, give it to Wikipedia, then repost this
- if you don't have a spare buck, just repost
your action is mandatory for the world's best source of information to survive
I’ve never donated to Wikipedia before but I set up a small monthly donation as a fuck you to the world’s richest psychopath.
Elon Musk takes aim at Wikipedia
Musk has denounced Wikipedia as "Wokepedia" on X and urged people not to donate to the platform.
www.newsweek.com
December 26, 2024 at 12:03 PM
if you see this post, your actions are:
- if you have a spare buck, give it to Wikipedia, then repost this
- if you don't have a spare buck, just repost
your action is mandatory for the world's best source of information to survive
- if you have a spare buck, give it to Wikipedia, then repost this
- if you don't have a spare buck, just repost
your action is mandatory for the world's best source of information to survive
Reposted by Josh McDermott
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
October 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh McDermott
Want to make publication-ready figures come straight from Python without having to do any manual editing? Are you fed up with axes labels being unreadable during your presentations? Follow this short tutorial including code examples! 👇🧵
October 16, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Want to make publication-ready figures come straight from Python without having to do any manual editing? Are you fed up with axes labels being unreadable during your presentations? Follow this short tutorial including code examples! 👇🧵
Reposted by Josh McDermott
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 Josh McDermott
Brown’s Department of Cognitive & Psychological Sciences is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor, working in the area of AI and the Mind (start July 1, 2026). Apply by Nov 8, 2025 👉 apply.interfolio.com/173939
#AI #CognitiveScience #AcademicJobs #BrownUniversity
#AI #CognitiveScience #AcademicJobs #BrownUniversity
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Brown’s Department of Cognitive & Psychological Sciences is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor, working in the area of AI and the Mind (start July 1, 2026). Apply by Nov 8, 2025 👉 apply.interfolio.com/173939
#AI #CognitiveScience #AcademicJobs #BrownUniversity
#AI #CognitiveScience #AcademicJobs #BrownUniversity
Reposted by Josh McDermott
Variance partitioning is used to quantify the overlap of two models. Over the years, I have found that this can be a very confusing and misleading concept. So we finally we decided to write a short blog to explain why.
@martinhebart.bsky.social @gallantlab.org
diedrichsenlab.org/BrainDataSci...
@martinhebart.bsky.social @gallantlab.org
diedrichsenlab.org/BrainDataSci...
September 10, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Variance partitioning is used to quantify the overlap of two models. Over the years, I have found that this can be a very confusing and misleading concept. So we finally we decided to write a short blog to explain why.
@martinhebart.bsky.social @gallantlab.org
diedrichsenlab.org/BrainDataSci...
@martinhebart.bsky.social @gallantlab.org
diedrichsenlab.org/BrainDataSci...
Reposted by Josh McDermott
🔊New paper! Recomposer allows editing sound events within complex scenes based on textual descriptions and event roll representations. And we discuss the details that matter!
Work by the Sound Understanding folks
@GoogleDeepMind
arxiv.org/abs/2509.05256
Work by the Sound Understanding folks
@GoogleDeepMind
arxiv.org/abs/2509.05256
Recomposer: Event-roll-guided generative audio editing
Editing complex real-world sound scenes is difficult because individual sound sources overlap in time. Generative models can fill-in missing or corrupted details based on their strong prior understand...
arxiv.org
September 11, 2025 at 7:38 PM
🔊New paper! Recomposer allows editing sound events within complex scenes based on textual descriptions and event roll representations. And we discuss the details that matter!
Work by the Sound Understanding folks
@GoogleDeepMind
arxiv.org/abs/2509.05256
Work by the Sound Understanding folks
@GoogleDeepMind
arxiv.org/abs/2509.05256
If you are attending the Kempner symposium I encourage you to check out @gelbanna.bsky.social 's poster on models and benchmarks of continuous speech perception. He has many interesting results.
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 1:30 AM
If you are attending the Kempner symposium I encourage you to check out @gelbanna.bsky.social 's poster on models and benchmarks of continuous speech perception. He has many interesting results.
Reposted by Josh McDermott
How bad will it be? Catastrophic.
Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.
But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.
Speak up now before it is too late.
(inflation adjusted $-s below)
Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.
But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.
Speak up now before it is too late.
(inflation adjusted $-s below)
May 31, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Josh McDermott
We are presenting our work “Discriminating image representations with principal distortions” at #ICLR2025 today (4/24) at 3pm! If you are interested in comparing model representations with other models or human perception, stop by poster #63. Highlights in 🧵
openreview.net/forum?id=ugX...
openreview.net/forum?id=ugX...
Discriminating image representations with principal distortions
Image representations (artificial or biological) are often compared in terms of their global geometric structure; however, representations with similar global structure can have strikingly...
openreview.net
April 24, 2025 at 5:13 AM
We are presenting our work “Discriminating image representations with principal distortions” at #ICLR2025 today (4/24) at 3pm! If you are interested in comparing model representations with other models or human perception, stop by poster #63. Highlights in 🧵
openreview.net/forum?id=ugX...
openreview.net/forum?id=ugX...
Reposted by Josh McDermott
My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...
Opinion | Science Suffers With Trump’s Funding Freeze
America’s scientific enterprise demands reliable stewardship, not destabilizing political intervention.
www.wsj.com
April 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...
Reposted by Josh McDermott
Impressive work to stimulate only the M-cones of the retina and make green appear greener than ever.
Coming (not too) soon to a theater near you!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Coming (not too) soon to a theater near you!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Novel color via stimulation of individual photoreceptors at population scale
Image display by cell-by-cell retina stimulation, enabling colors impossible to see under natural viewing.
www.science.org
April 19, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Impressive work to stimulate only the M-cones of the retina and make green appear greener than ever.
Coming (not too) soon to a theater near you!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Coming (not too) soon to a theater near you!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Josh McDermott
I’m hiring a full-time lab tech for two years starting May/June. Strong coding skills required, ML a plus. Our research on the human brain uses fMRI, ANNs, intracranial recording, and behavior. A great stepping stone to grad school. Apply here:
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
......
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
......
Technical Associate I, Kanwisher Lab
MIT - Technical Associate I, Kanwisher Lab - Cambridge MA 02139
careers.peopleclick.com
March 26, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I’m hiring a full-time lab tech for two years starting May/June. Strong coding skills required, ML a plus. Our research on the human brain uses fMRI, ANNs, intracranial recording, and behavior. A great stepping stone to grad school. Apply here:
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
......
careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
......