Neuroskeptic
@neuroskeptic.bsky.social
Reposted by Neuroskeptic
After 20 years studying neuroscience, I can confidently say that the brain is up to something.
January 3, 2026 at 3:21 PM
After 20 years studying neuroscience, I can confidently say that the brain is up to something.
Reposted by Neuroskeptic
cause cortex is just a blanket to keep the basal ganglia warm
January 2, 2026 at 11:55 AM
cause cortex is just a blanket to keep the basal ganglia warm
Way back in 1999, Kenji Doya sketched a big picture theory of the brain:
1️⃣The cerebellum is specialized for supervised learning
2️⃣The basal ganglia are for reinforcement learning
3️⃣The cerebral cortex is for unsupervised learning
How does this hold up in 2026? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
1️⃣The cerebellum is specialized for supervised learning
2️⃣The basal ganglia are for reinforcement learning
3️⃣The cerebral cortex is for unsupervised learning
How does this hold up in 2026? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 1, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Way back in 1999, Kenji Doya sketched a big picture theory of the brain:
1️⃣The cerebellum is specialized for supervised learning
2️⃣The basal ganglia are for reinforcement learning
3️⃣The cerebral cortex is for unsupervised learning
How does this hold up in 2026? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
1️⃣The cerebellum is specialized for supervised learning
2️⃣The basal ganglia are for reinforcement learning
3️⃣The cerebral cortex is for unsupervised learning
How does this hold up in 2026? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn" theconversation.com/why-procrast... My brain will start unlearning the procrastination habit soon
Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn
Why we procrastinate has less to do with willpower than with how flexibly our brains handle stress and discomfort - and the good news is, flexibility is trainable.
theconversation.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:13 AM
"Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn" theconversation.com/why-procrast... My brain will start unlearning the procrastination habit soon
"I have never seen a journal publish a paper that was retracted from another journal. Yet here we are..." - @neurocritic.bsky.social neurocritic.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-... @retractionwatch.com
The Neurocritic: The Guru Republishes Retracted Paper in Another Exploitable Journal
neurocritic.blogspot.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM
"I have never seen a journal publish a paper that was retracted from another journal. Yet here we are..." - @neurocritic.bsky.social neurocritic.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-... @retractionwatch.com
This is quite funny:
Remember how Springer Nature decided to retract nearly 40 publications based on a ‘bonkers’ and unethical autism dataset? www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e...
Well, they just today published a new paper using the same dataset! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Remember how Springer Nature decided to retract nearly 40 publications based on a ‘bonkers’ and unethical autism dataset? www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e...
Well, they just today published a new paper using the same dataset! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Hybrid deep learning model for autism spectrum disorder diagnosis - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Hybrid deep learning model for autism spectrum disorder diagnosis
www.nature.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:31 PM
This is quite funny:
Remember how Springer Nature decided to retract nearly 40 publications based on a ‘bonkers’ and unethical autism dataset? www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e...
Well, they just today published a new paper using the same dataset! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Remember how Springer Nature decided to retract nearly 40 publications based on a ‘bonkers’ and unethical autism dataset? www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e...
Well, they just today published a new paper using the same dataset! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Given that the cerebral cortex seems to be capable of flexibly learning so many tasks, why is it that we need so many other brain regions?
What are the hippocampus, cerebellum and striatum doing that the cortex can't do?
Maybe the cortex is less flexible than we think?
What are the hippocampus, cerebellum and striatum doing that the cortex can't do?
Maybe the cortex is less flexible than we think?
December 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Given that the cerebral cortex seems to be capable of flexibly learning so many tasks, why is it that we need so many other brain regions?
What are the hippocampus, cerebellum and striatum doing that the cortex can't do?
Maybe the cortex is less flexible than we think?
What are the hippocampus, cerebellum and striatum doing that the cortex can't do?
Maybe the cortex is less flexible than we think?
Physiological Arousal as a Predominant Source of Individual Differences in Functional Brain Networks www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 27, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Physiological Arousal as a Predominant Source of Individual Differences in Functional Brain Networks www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
"A non-significant, yet consistent pattern emerged" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41453841/ 🙁
December 27, 2025 at 10:41 AM
"A non-significant, yet consistent pattern emerged" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41453841/ 🙁
Why do we experience vision and hearing as distinct senses?
The obvious answer is that they have different sensory organs (eye vs. ear), and their signals arrive at different points in the cortex (primary visual cortex vs. primary auditory cortex).
But does that really explain it?
The obvious answer is that they have different sensory organs (eye vs. ear), and their signals arrive at different points in the cortex (primary visual cortex vs. primary auditory cortex).
But does that really explain it?
December 26, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Why do we experience vision and hearing as distinct senses?
The obvious answer is that they have different sensory organs (eye vs. ear), and their signals arrive at different points in the cortex (primary visual cortex vs. primary auditory cortex).
But does that really explain it?
The obvious answer is that they have different sensory organs (eye vs. ear), and their signals arrive at different points in the cortex (primary visual cortex vs. primary auditory cortex).
But does that really explain it?
"During smartphone use, the probability of waking cortical slow wave bursts increased" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 26, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"During smartphone use, the probability of waking cortical slow wave bursts increased" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your brain!
December 25, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your brain!
Would you intuitively agree with this statement: If we are conscious of something, it can affect our decisions?
(Note - don't confuse this with the contrary statement that 'something can only affect our decisions if we are conscious of it', which is clearly false)
(Note - don't confuse this with the contrary statement that 'something can only affect our decisions if we are conscious of it', which is clearly false)
December 24, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Would you intuitively agree with this statement: If we are conscious of something, it can affect our decisions?
(Note - don't confuse this with the contrary statement that 'something can only affect our decisions if we are conscious of it', which is clearly false)
(Note - don't confuse this with the contrary statement that 'something can only affect our decisions if we are conscious of it', which is clearly false)
"Socioeconomic status (SES) — not IQ or psychopathology — showed the strongest associations with both resting-state functional connectivity and cortical thickness in the ABCD Study." www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
"Socioeconomic status (SES) — not IQ or psychopathology — showed the strongest associations with both resting-state functional connectivity and cortical thickness in the ABCD Study." www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
"Brain areas themselves are just one of several equally important organizing principles" of the brain pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41436651/
December 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
"Brain areas themselves are just one of several equally important organizing principles" of the brain pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41436651/
FDA approves pill form of Wegovy (semaglutide) weight-loss drug www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... This is big, no?
Once these drugs get cheap & convenient enough for mass use, obesity rates will start falling. Will history remember 1990s-2020s as the "age of obesity"?
Once these drugs get cheap & convenient enough for mass use, obesity rates will start falling. Will history remember 1990s-2020s as the "age of obesity"?
Wegovy pill approved by US FDA for weight loss
Wegovy becomes first pill of its kind to be approved, shifting weight-loss drugs beyond injections.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 9:53 AM
FDA approves pill form of Wegovy (semaglutide) weight-loss drug www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... This is big, no?
Once these drugs get cheap & convenient enough for mass use, obesity rates will start falling. Will history remember 1990s-2020s as the "age of obesity"?
Once these drugs get cheap & convenient enough for mass use, obesity rates will start falling. Will history remember 1990s-2020s as the "age of obesity"?
Reposted by Neuroskeptic
The mechanisms of trap closure for the venus flytrap has all the hallmarks of what we call “decision-making” in animals: a stepping accumulation of evidence and a simple go/no-go rule regulating actions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Calcium dynamics during trap closure visualized in transgenic Venus flytrap - Nature Plants
A transgenic Venus flytrap expressing a fluorescent calcium sensor allows real-time live quantification of calcium waves triggered by sensory hair movement. The study suggests that calcium levels repr...
www.nature.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The mechanisms of trap closure for the venus flytrap has all the hallmarks of what we call “decision-making” in animals: a stepping accumulation of evidence and a simple go/no-go rule regulating actions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Among incels reporting therapy experiences, 70.8% reported negative outcomes and 7.9% reported satisfaction." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41414981/ It's a cliche but it's true: you can't help someone who doesn't want to change, and incels are incels because they refuse to change.
December 23, 2025 at 12:13 PM
"Among incels reporting therapy experiences, 70.8% reported negative outcomes and 7.9% reported satisfaction." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41414981/ It's a cliche but it's true: you can't help someone who doesn't want to change, and incels are incels because they refuse to change.
"We have identified a common signature within co-citation networks that accurately predicts the occurrence of breakthroughs in medical research, >5 years in advance" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🤔 Important if true!
December 23, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"We have identified a common signature within co-citation networks that accurately predicts the occurrence of breakthroughs in medical research, >5 years in advance" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🤔 Important if true!
"The 2008 Great Recession shifted Americans toward identifying as a lower class" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41417466/
December 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
"The 2008 Great Recession shifted Americans toward identifying as a lower class" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41417466/
"We introduce a novel effect size measure, termed overlap area (OA)" (Preprint) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Hmm, can this really be new? It's the % of the distributions that overlap. #statistics
December 23, 2025 at 11:47 AM
"We introduce a novel effect size measure, termed overlap area (OA)" (Preprint) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Hmm, can this really be new? It's the % of the distributions that overlap. #statistics
The word "decision" is a key word in cognitive neuroscience. But what does it mean exactly?
People's intuitions seem to differ on what "decision" means.
For example: do animals (say, cats) make decisions? Most people would say yes, but I think some would disagree.
Do plants make decisions?
People's intuitions seem to differ on what "decision" means.
For example: do animals (say, cats) make decisions? Most people would say yes, but I think some would disagree.
Do plants make decisions?
December 23, 2025 at 11:08 AM
The word "decision" is a key word in cognitive neuroscience. But what does it mean exactly?
People's intuitions seem to differ on what "decision" means.
For example: do animals (say, cats) make decisions? Most people would say yes, but I think some would disagree.
Do plants make decisions?
People's intuitions seem to differ on what "decision" means.
For example: do animals (say, cats) make decisions? Most people would say yes, but I think some would disagree.
Do plants make decisions?
"Some people do believe that they are able to perform relatively well on tasks even when there is little reason for that confidence. Our results support the claim that overconfidence might be a trait." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41401360/
December 20, 2025 at 10:07 AM
"Some people do believe that they are able to perform relatively well on tasks even when there is little reason for that confidence. Our results support the claim that overconfidence might be a trait." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41401360/
"About 40% of voxels with significant BOLD signal changes during various tasks showed reversed oxygen metabolism, particularly in the default mode network... Our findings challenge the canonical interpretation of the BOLD signal" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41402521/ A BOLD challenge #fmri
December 20, 2025 at 10:06 AM
"About 40% of voxels with significant BOLD signal changes during various tasks showed reversed oxygen metabolism, particularly in the default mode network... Our findings challenge the canonical interpretation of the BOLD signal" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41402521/ A BOLD challenge #fmri