PessoaBrain
pessoabrain.bsky.social
PessoaBrain
@pessoabrain.bsky.social
Luiz Pessoa, University of Maryland, College Park
Neuroscientist interested in cognitive-emotional brain
Author of The Entangled Brain, MIT Press, 2022
Author of The Cogitive-Emotional Brain, MIT Press, 2013
Neuroscience & Philosophy Salon (YouTube)
Pinned
Reintroduction...
I'm a neuroscientist interested in emotion-motivation-cognition interactions.
Interested in conceptual/foundational issues.
I also wrote a book for general audience readers called The Entangled Brain that is open access at MIT Press.
mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460...
#neuroscience
The Entangled Brain
A new vision of the brain as a fully integrated, networked organ.Popular neuroscience accounts often focus on specific mind-brain aspects like addiction, cog...
mitpress.mit.edu
𝗦𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻
If we leave aside the more extreme discussions about "everything everywhere" and modularity this is a very cool paper.
So much can be done with data from 260 regions and 60K neurons.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#neuroskyence
January 3, 2026 at 5:30 PM
NSF guidance, please please:
For the many tables that NSF requires, does NOT providing the organization of the individual get one's project rejected by the system?? Not an easy (or at times possible) task.
December 30, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
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...
2025: A Review of the Year in Neuroscience
Enlightening the brain
medium.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻
Annual reminder that the book is open access.
How do we think of the brain as a deeply interconnected system with highly distributed, non hierarchical processing.
Want to learn about the brain from a fresh perspective?
#neuroskyence
mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460...
The Entangled Brain
Popular neuroscience accounts often focus on specific mind-brain aspects like addiction, cognition, or memory, but The Entangled Brain tackles a much bigger ...
mitpress.mit.edu
December 28, 2025 at 5:56 PM
𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
Great book about what understanding means in science. Highly recommend it.
Amazing historical account of cases studies in physics but applies to physical sciences more broadly.
Slow/repetitive at times but lots of gems if you stick with it.
December 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
**Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization**
New paper I anticipate will become a classic in neuroscience and a must-read for students at all levels.
Understanding brain function beyond brain areas.
#neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
Telling good science from bad – a user’s guide to navigating the scientific literature www.wiringthebrain.com/2021/08/tell...
Telling good science from bad – a user’s guide to navigating the scientific literature
“Did you find it convincing?” That’s what one of my genetics professors used to ask us, a small group of undergraduates who blinked in respo...
www.wiringthebrain.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
𝗳𝗠𝗥𝗜 (𝗕𝗢𝗟𝗗) 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻?
Something that everyone using fMRI will be hoping is not very solid, please please...
Please BOLD don't go down if oxygen metabolism (neurons?) goes up...
And it had to affect "default" regions???
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#neuroskyence
December 22, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
I really liked this paper - data supporting super interesting idea that Alzheimer's disease pathology may have evolved as part of an innate immune defense response to microbial infection.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Phosphorylated tau exhibits antimicrobial activity capable of neutralizing herpes simplex virus 1 infectivity in human neurons - Nature Neuroscience
The authors found that the Alzheimer’s disease-associated protein tau, widely considered pathogenic when hyperphosphorylated, has a natural function as part of the innate immune system in the brain an...
www.nature.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
𝗢𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝗔 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺
Excellent paper discussing how considering biology is important to understand consciousness.
Really enjoyed this one.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroskyence
December 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
*The architecture of living systems*
Ambitious treatment of the physics of living systems
Some quibbles but impressive!
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
#complexsystems
December 20, 2025 at 6:08 PM
𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲
More on dynamics, this time by the pros, Athanasiadis/Jirsa et al.
Evidence for sharp and smoother transitions.
And switching dynamical systems again!
Forget about canonical static networks???
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#neuroskyence
December 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗠𝗥𝗜?
We employed Switching Linear Dynamical Systems to investigate the dynamics of resting-state networks
They are dynamic, not static!
Work with Xiaoyu Zhao with lots of new methods.
Thread.
#neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
international.au.dk/about/profil...

Aarhus University is looking for a director to establish and lead a centre working at the circuit level to tackle brain disorders. Please circulate if you know people who may be interested
Director of new research centre in biological psychiatry with focus on brain circuit dysfunction - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University
international.au.dk
December 16, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
Save the date!📅🧠👇

Fantastic lineup of speakers: @clbockting.bsky.social, Ioannis Bakogiannis, Eero Castrén, @francescacirulli.bsky.social, Ashley Cooper, @marilyngatica.bsky.social, Agustin Ibanez,
@satupalva.bsky.social, @pessoabrain.bsky.social, @ribeirocarlitos.bsky.social, Marten Scheffer‪
Happy to share that IBRO @ibroorg.bsky.social supports the school 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛 🧠
📌 Erice, Sicily, Italy
📅 26 April–1 May 2026

IBRO TRAVEL GRANTS avaiable for early career researchers interested in the #complexity of #brain and #mind

Registration
www.complexitymentalhealth.com
December 16, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
📣We have 2 open faculty positions for senior researchers in Neuroscience at Queen's University!

healthsci.queensu.ca/administrati...

1. a new Director for our Centre for Neuroscience Studies
2. a non-human primate NeuroAI researcher

Please share widely and reach out for questions!
Administrative Opportunities
healthsci.queensu.ca
December 9, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
I have read, blurbed, reviewed quite a lot of science books this year. Here are some I have particularly enjoyed, in no particular order.
@matthewcobb.bsky.social's long awaited biography of Francis Crick did not disappoint. Authoritative and highly readable. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Sex, drugs and the conscious brain: Francis Crick beyond the double helix
A thoroughly researched account of the history and relationships that shaped the scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA.
www.nature.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:37 PM
**How do we make long-lasting emotional memories**
Looks very interesting.
#neuroskyence
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
December 13, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
New study challenges the idea of a unified decision network: Neuropixel recordings in primate OFC showed robust encoding during value-based choices but near-silence during perceptual decisions, even when rewards are at stake. #RewardSignals #neuroskyence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Selective engagement of the primate orbitofrontal cortex during value-based but not perceptual decisions
A fundamental question in neuroscience is whether the brain uses specialized sub-systems for different types of decisions or relies on a unified decision-making network. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)...
www.biorxiv.org
December 12, 2025 at 9:12 PM
What a massive disappointment, so many embellishments by Sacks, even the man who mistook his wife for a hat... 😞
December 12, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
Calling all Affective Neurosci, basic, clinical, animal, mineral & otherwise: SFN's accepting proposals for symposia @ the 2026 DC meeting. Please consider reaching out to your pals &, maybe even dropping a line to someone you admire from afar, & organizing a submission. www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Call for Proposals
www.sfn.org
December 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Nice to be an incremental researcher:
December 12, 2025 at 12:58 PM
𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺
Looks quite interesting.
"Collective coordination" as state where unspecialized cells coordinate behavior through distributed signaling before specialized tissues like the brain can emerge.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#neuroskyence
December 11, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by PessoaBrain
Yes. It's all motor cortex. Brains didn't evolve so we could sit in the corner and think.
December 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The only font for math is Computer Modern Math
Just thought I'd add given controversies about fonts...
December 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM