Jacob Zavatone-Veth
@jzv.bsky.social
Theoretical neuroscientist; currently a Harvard Junior Fellow. jzv.io
Pinned
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
Happy to see this long-in-the-making collaboration with @paulmasset.bsky.social out on bioRxiv!
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
November 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
Happy to see this long-in-the-making collaboration with @paulmasset.bsky.social out on bioRxiv!
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
November 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Happy to see this long-in-the-making collaboration with @paulmasset.bsky.social out on bioRxiv!
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
November 3, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Simultaneous detection and estimation in olfactory sensing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.686013v1
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Now in PRX: Theory linking connectivity structure to collective activity in nonlinear RNNs!
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
Connectivity Structure and Dynamics of Nonlinear Recurrent Neural Networks
The structure of brain connectivity predicts collective neural activity, with a small number of connectivity features determining activity dimensionality, linking circuit architecture to network-level...
journals.aps.org
November 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Now in PRX: Theory linking connectivity structure to collective activity in nonlinear RNNs!
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
This week's sensorimotor superlab reading list is out https://superlab.ca/posts/2025-09-05-list302.html @andpru.bsky.social @diedrichsenjorn.bsky.social @gribblelab.org #neuroskyence #psychscisky #Sensorimotor
September 5, 2025 at 10:00 AM
This week's sensorimotor superlab reading list is out https://superlab.ca/posts/2025-09-05-list302.html @andpru.bsky.social @diedrichsenjorn.bsky.social @gribblelab.org #neuroskyence #psychscisky #Sensorimotor
Since I'm back on BlueSky - with @frostedblakess.bsky.social and @cpehlevan.bsky.social we wrote a brief perspective on how ideas about summary statistics from the statistical physics of learning could potentially help inform neural data analysis... (1/2)
Frontiers | Summary statistics of learning link changing neural representations to behavior
How can we make sense of large-scale recordings of neural activity across learning? Theories of neural network learning with their origins in statistical phy...
www.frontiersin.org
September 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Since I'm back on BlueSky - with @frostedblakess.bsky.social and @cpehlevan.bsky.social we wrote a brief perspective on how ideas about summary statistics from the statistical physics of learning could potentially help inform neural data analysis... (1/2)
Happy to see this collaboration with @neurovenki.bsky.social out - featuring great work by Juan Carlos!
Excited to share new computational work, led by @jzv.bsky.social, driven by Juan Carlos Fernandez del Castillo + contribution from Farhad Pashakanloo. We recover 3 core motifs in the olfactory system of evolutionarily distant animals using a biophysically-grounded model + efficient coding ideas!
Convergent motifs of early olfactory processing are recapitulated by layer-wise efficient coding
The architecture of early olfactory processing is a striking example of convergent evolution. Typically, a panel of broadly tuned receptors is selectively expressed in sensory neurons (each neuron exp...
www.biorxiv.org
September 4, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Happy to see this collaboration with @neurovenki.bsky.social out - featuring great work by Juan Carlos!
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Excited to share new computational work, led by @jzv.bsky.social, driven by Juan Carlos Fernandez del Castillo + contribution from Farhad Pashakanloo. We recover 3 core motifs in the olfactory system of evolutionarily distant animals using a biophysically-grounded model + efficient coding ideas!
Convergent motifs of early olfactory processing are recapitulated by layer-wise efficient coding
The architecture of early olfactory processing is a striking example of convergent evolution. Typically, a panel of broadly tuned receptors is selectively expressed in sensory neurons (each neuron exp...
www.biorxiv.org
September 4, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Excited to share new computational work, led by @jzv.bsky.social, driven by Juan Carlos Fernandez del Castillo + contribution from Farhad Pashakanloo. We recover 3 core motifs in the olfactory system of evolutionarily distant animals using a biophysically-grounded model + efficient coding ideas!
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Excited to share our latest!! Thanks to everyone involved especially @neurovenki.bsky.social!
Thrilled to share this work, long time in the making! Carried through creatively by @siddjakes.bsky.social after initial design & piloting by @trackingskills.bsky.social, with help from @trackingactions.bsky.social. Modeling in collaboration with Massimo Vergassola & Nicola Rigolli.
Mice navigate scent trails using predictive policies
Animals actively sense their environment to extract features of interest to guide behaviors. For mammals, odors are prominent environmental features which are sampled by active modulation of sniffing ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 2, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Excited to share our latest!! Thanks to everyone involved especially @neurovenki.bsky.social!
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Thrilled to share this work, long time in the making! Carried through creatively by @siddjakes.bsky.social after initial design & piloting by @trackingskills.bsky.social, with help from @trackingactions.bsky.social. Modeling in collaboration with Massimo Vergassola & Nicola Rigolli.
Mice navigate scent trails using predictive policies
Animals actively sense their environment to extract features of interest to guide behaviors. For mammals, odors are prominent environmental features which are sampled by active modulation of sniffing ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 1, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Thrilled to share this work, long time in the making! Carried through creatively by @siddjakes.bsky.social after initial design & piloting by @trackingskills.bsky.social, with help from @trackingactions.bsky.social. Modeling in collaboration with Massimo Vergassola & Nicola Rigolli.
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Our work with Pablo Tano, @hyunggoo-kim.bsky.social Athar Malik, Alexandre Pouget and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social exploring how dopamine neurons could enable multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain is out in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain - Nature
Individual dopaminergic neurons encode future rewards over distinct temporal horizons.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Our work with Pablo Tano, @hyunggoo-kim.bsky.social Athar Malik, Alexandre Pouget and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social exploring how dopamine neurons could enable multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain is out in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Don't miss our #Cosyne2025 poster (3-128) 'Simultaneous detection and mapping in the olfactory bulb' proposing a new computational role for mitral and tufted cells in the olfactory bulb
with Matthew He, @chenjiang01.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social @jzv.bsky.social
with Matthew He, @chenjiang01.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social @jzv.bsky.social
March 29, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Don't miss our #Cosyne2025 poster (3-128) 'Simultaneous detection and mapping in the olfactory bulb' proposing a new computational role for mitral and tufted cells in the olfactory bulb
with Matthew He, @chenjiang01.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social @jzv.bsky.social
with Matthew He, @chenjiang01.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social @jzv.bsky.social
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
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 Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Science Matters. 🔬
For 80 years, science has been a north star for the U.S. In 1945, Vannevar Bush’s report Science, The Endless Frontier called for bold government investment in research transforming our health, economy, quality of life. Science is not zero-sum—it creates value and better lives.
For 80 years, science has been a north star for the U.S. In 1945, Vannevar Bush’s report Science, The Endless Frontier called for bold government investment in research transforming our health, economy, quality of life. Science is not zero-sum—it creates value and better lives.
March 7, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Science Matters. 🔬
For 80 years, science has been a north star for the U.S. In 1945, Vannevar Bush’s report Science, The Endless Frontier called for bold government investment in research transforming our health, economy, quality of life. Science is not zero-sum—it creates value and better lives.
For 80 years, science has been a north star for the U.S. In 1945, Vannevar Bush’s report Science, The Endless Frontier called for bold government investment in research transforming our health, economy, quality of life. Science is not zero-sum—it creates value and better lives.
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
In our new paper @dulaclab.bsky.social, we investigated a fundamental question in social neuroscience: the origin of "sociality" (the need of being together) at the levels of behavior, neuron type, neural circuit and sensory modulation. (Detailed digest below) (1/7)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 27, 2025 at 4:05 PM
In our new paper @dulaclab.bsky.social, we investigated a fundamental question in social neuroscience: the origin of "sociality" (the need of being together) at the levels of behavior, neuron type, neural circuit and sensory modulation. (Detailed digest below) (1/7)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Honoured to have been selected as a #SloanFellow
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Professors Paul Masset and David Rolnick awarded 2025 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships ✨ Their work ‘exemplifies McGill’s leadership in AI research and innovation.’ Since 1955, 33 McGill faculty members have received this honour.
Read more: mcgill.ca/x/iZ4
Read more: mcgill.ca/x/iZ4
February 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Honoured to have been selected as a #SloanFellow
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Thankful for all the support from family, mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students along the way!
@sloanfoundation.bsky.social
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Yes, many worrying things happening in science that should take priority in grabbing our attention - but we are worried precisely because scientific knowledge is worth creating. In that spirit, I am proud to highlight our latest @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint! #neuroscience 🧪
Perception and neural representation of intermittent odor stimuli in mice
Odor cues in nature are sparse and highly fluctuating due to turbulent transport. To investigate how animals perceive these intermittent cues, we developed a behavioral task in which head-restrained m...
www.biorxiv.org
February 13, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Yes, many worrying things happening in science that should take priority in grabbing our attention - but we are worried precisely because scientific knowledge is worth creating. In that spirit, I am proud to highlight our latest @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint! #neuroscience 🧪
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
New preprint: "The geometry of the neural state space of decisions", work by Mauro Monsalve-Mercado, buff.ly/42wVHD5. Surprising results & predictions! (Thread) We analyze neuropixel population recordings in macaque area LIP during a reaction time, random-dot motion 1/
January 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
New preprint: "The geometry of the neural state space of decisions", work by Mauro Monsalve-Mercado, buff.ly/42wVHD5. Surprising results & predictions! (Thread) We analyze neuropixel population recordings in macaque area LIP during a reaction time, random-dot motion 1/
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Theory in neuroscience, you say? How about this preprint by @david-g-clark.bsky.social, with a couple of others you might recognize? :-) #neuroscience
Symmetries and continuous attractors in disordered neural circuits
A major challenge in neuroscience is reconciling idealized theoretical models with complex, heterogeneous experimental data. We address this challenge through the lens of continuous-attractor networks...
www.biorxiv.org
January 27, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Theory in neuroscience, you say? How about this preprint by @david-g-clark.bsky.social, with a couple of others you might recognize? :-) #neuroscience
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
The thing is “cancer research” is *incredibly* popular. Everyone knows people with cancer. This is slam dunk shit.
Heard from inside the National Cancer Institute, part of NIH — travel through April is canceled. Purchasing with government card is frozen. All public comms are off limits. Can’t even submit abstracts to future meetings. Can’t submit *manuscripts* for publication. All hiring activity frozen. Fuck.
January 25, 2025 at 4:48 AM
The thing is “cancer research” is *incredibly* popular. Everyone knows people with cancer. This is slam dunk shit.
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Excited to welcome @sueyeonchung.bsky.social to Harvard!! She will be at the @kempnerinstitute.bsky.social and the Center for Brain Science. We are very lucky!!
Leading Computational Neuroscientist SueYeon Chung to join Harvard’s Kempner Institute and FAS’ Center for Brain Science - Kempner Institute
CAMBRIDGE, MA —The Kempner Institute announced today the appointment of SueYeon Chung (PhD ‘17), who returns to Harvard as a Kempner Institute Investigator and faculty member in the Faculty of […]
kempnerinstitute.harvard.edu
January 22, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Excited to welcome @sueyeonchung.bsky.social to Harvard!! She will be at the @kempnerinstitute.bsky.social and the Center for Brain Science. We are very lucky!!
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Our perspective on designing electronic noses inspired by natural olfaction! #neuroscience #ChemSky 🧪
Design Principles From Natural Olfaction for Electronic Noses
Unlocking “universal smell” requires integrating key principles of natural olfactory systems: modulation of gas transport, utilization of non-selective sensing elements, chemical filters akin to the ...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Our perspective on designing electronic noses inspired by natural olfaction! #neuroscience #ChemSky 🧪
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Recently posted an updated version of arxiv.org/abs/2306.13326
on `Solving systems of Random Equations'
I find this a really useful model to gain intuition into the behavior of optimization algorithms in high-dimensional overparametrized landscapes, as the ones arising in modern machine learning.
on `Solving systems of Random Equations'
I find this a really useful model to gain intuition into the behavior of optimization algorithms in high-dimensional overparametrized landscapes, as the ones arising in modern machine learning.
January 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Recently posted an updated version of arxiv.org/abs/2306.13326
on `Solving systems of Random Equations'
I find this a really useful model to gain intuition into the behavior of optimization algorithms in high-dimensional overparametrized landscapes, as the ones arising in modern machine learning.
on `Solving systems of Random Equations'
I find this a really useful model to gain intuition into the behavior of optimization algorithms in high-dimensional overparametrized landscapes, as the ones arising in modern machine learning.
Reposted by Jacob Zavatone-Veth
Thanks to the yield of U arrays, we were able for the 1st time AFAIK to average across neurons (not trials) and see memory bumps on single trials. Look at this 😍
Not the focus of the work but it taps into an open debate on the neural mech. of WM cf @cconstan.bsky.social @earlkmiller.bsky.social
Not the focus of the work but it taps into an open debate on the neural mech. of WM cf @cconstan.bsky.social @earlkmiller.bsky.social
January 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Thanks to the yield of U arrays, we were able for the 1st time AFAIK to average across neurons (not trials) and see memory bumps on single trials. Look at this 😍
Not the focus of the work but it taps into an open debate on the neural mech. of WM cf @cconstan.bsky.social @earlkmiller.bsky.social
Not the focus of the work but it taps into an open debate on the neural mech. of WM cf @cconstan.bsky.social @earlkmiller.bsky.social