Andrew Saxe
@saxelab.bsky.social
Professor at the Gatsby Unit and Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL, trying to figure out how we learn
Pinned
Andrew Saxe
@saxelab.bsky.social
· Jul 14
ICML Poster Algorithm Development in Neural Networks: Insights from the Streaming Parity TaskICML 2025
icml.cc
Excited to share new work @icmlconf.bsky.social by Loek van Rossem exploring the development of computational algorithms in recurrent neural networks.
Hear it live tomorrow, Oral 1D, Tues 15 Jul West Exhibition Hall C: icml.cc/virtual/2025...
Paper: openreview.net/forum?id=3go...
(1/11)
Hear it live tomorrow, Oral 1D, Tues 15 Jul West Exhibition Hall C: icml.cc/virtual/2025...
Paper: openreview.net/forum?id=3go...
(1/11)
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
When does new learning interfere with existing knowledge in people and ANNs? Great to have this out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com
Work with @summerfieldlab.bsky.social, @tsonj.bsky.social, Lukas Braun and Jan Grohn
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Work with @summerfieldlab.bsky.social, @tsonj.bsky.social, Lukas Braun and Jan Grohn
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 31, 2025 at 2:47 PM
When does new learning interfere with existing knowledge in people and ANNs? Great to have this out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com
Work with @summerfieldlab.bsky.social, @tsonj.bsky.social, Lukas Braun and Jan Grohn
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Work with @summerfieldlab.bsky.social, @tsonj.bsky.social, Lukas Braun and Jan Grohn
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Could SWC be the place where you launch your career in #neuroscience? 🧠
Don’t miss your chance! Apply to our PhD Programme before 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
#Career #PhD #London
Don’t miss your chance! Apply to our PhD Programme before 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
#Career #PhD #London
October 27, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Could SWC be the place where you launch your career in #neuroscience? 🧠
Don’t miss your chance! Apply to our PhD Programme before 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
#Career #PhD #London
Don’t miss your chance! Apply to our PhD Programme before 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
#Career #PhD #London
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Want the freedom of a fancy fellowship, but not the year-long wait or arduous application?
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
October 23, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Want the freedom of a fancy fellowship, but not the year-long wait or arduous application?
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun!
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
How does our brain excel at complex object recognition, yet get fooled by simple illusory contours? What unifying principle governs all Gestalt laws of perceptual organization?
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
October 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
How does our brain excel at complex object recognition, yet get fooled by simple illusory contours? What unifying principle governs all Gestalt laws of perceptual organization?
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
posted on October 16, 2025
We are currently seeking a highly motivated individual for a ful...
hmc-lab.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
📣 BIG NEWS EVERYONE. I am so excited to announce…
🎉 I’m moving to University College London @ucl.ac.uk to join the Experimental Psychology department in @uclpals.bsky.social! 🎉
The big move happens in spring/summer. So I’m already exploring recruiting staff & students at UCL for fall 2026!
🎉 I’m moving to University College London @ucl.ac.uk to join the Experimental Psychology department in @uclpals.bsky.social! 🎉
The big move happens in spring/summer. So I’m already exploring recruiting staff & students at UCL for fall 2026!
October 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
📣 BIG NEWS EVERYONE. I am so excited to announce…
🎉 I’m moving to University College London @ucl.ac.uk to join the Experimental Psychology department in @uclpals.bsky.social! 🎉
The big move happens in spring/summer. So I’m already exploring recruiting staff & students at UCL for fall 2026!
🎉 I’m moving to University College London @ucl.ac.uk to join the Experimental Psychology department in @uclpals.bsky.social! 🎉
The big move happens in spring/summer. So I’m already exploring recruiting staff & students at UCL for fall 2026!
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
🚨 New preprint alert!
🧠🤖
We propose a theory of how learning curriculum affects generalization through neural population dimensionality. Learning curriculum is a determining factor of neural dimensionality - where you start from determines where you end up.
🧠📈
A 🧵:
tinyurl.com/yr8tawj3
🧠🤖
We propose a theory of how learning curriculum affects generalization through neural population dimensionality. Learning curriculum is a determining factor of neural dimensionality - where you start from determines where you end up.
🧠📈
A 🧵:
tinyurl.com/yr8tawj3
The curriculum effect in visual learning: the role of readout dimensionality
Generalization of visual perceptual learning (VPL) to unseen conditions varies across tasks. Previous work suggests that training curriculum may be integral to generalization, yet a theoretical explan...
tinyurl.com
September 30, 2025 at 2:26 PM
🚨 New preprint alert!
🧠🤖
We propose a theory of how learning curriculum affects generalization through neural population dimensionality. Learning curriculum is a determining factor of neural dimensionality - where you start from determines where you end up.
🧠📈
A 🧵:
tinyurl.com/yr8tawj3
🧠🤖
We propose a theory of how learning curriculum affects generalization through neural population dimensionality. Learning curriculum is a determining factor of neural dimensionality - where you start from determines where you end up.
🧠📈
A 🧵:
tinyurl.com/yr8tawj3
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
🙋Are you interested in bridging theory & experiments?
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
🙋Are you interested in bridging theory & experiments?
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.
Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...
@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Interested in doing a Ph.D. to work on building models of the brain/behavior? Consider applying to graduate schools at CU Anschutz:
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
September 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Interested in doing a Ph.D. to work on building models of the brain/behavior? Consider applying to graduate schools at CU Anschutz:
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Interested in a #PhD in machine learning & theoretical neuroscience?
Applications for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit PhD programme are open!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🤝 Close links to @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-sciences/gatsby/study-and-work/gatsby-unit-phd-programme
Applications for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit PhD programme are open!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🤝 Close links to @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-sciences/gatsby/study-and-work/gatsby-unit-phd-programme
September 23, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Interested in a #PhD in machine learning & theoretical neuroscience?
Applications for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit PhD programme are open!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🤝 Close links to @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-sciences/gatsby/study-and-work/gatsby-unit-phd-programme
Applications for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit PhD programme are open!
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🤝 Close links to @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-sciences/gatsby/study-and-work/gatsby-unit-phd-programme
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Structure transfer and consolidation in visual implicit learning
🧠🟦 🧠🤖
elifesciences.org/articles/100...
🧠🟦 🧠🤖
elifesciences.org/articles/100...
Structure transfer and consolidation in visual implicit learning
Sleep is essential for consolidating implicitly acquired perceptual knowledge that enables the knowledge transfer effect via newly learned structured information observed in prior studies of explicit ...
elifesciences.org
September 22, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Structure transfer and consolidation in visual implicit learning
🧠🟦 🧠🤖
elifesciences.org/articles/100...
🧠🟦 🧠🤖
elifesciences.org/articles/100...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
1/
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
September 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
1/
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
🚨 New preprint! 🚨
Excited and proud (& a little nervous 😅) to share our latest work on the importance of #theta-timescale spiking during #locomotion in #learning. If you care about how organisms learn, buckle up. 🧵👇
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
💻 code + data 🔗 below 🤩
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
What happens when we learn a new shortcut between places we thought were unconnected? Hannah found that the hippocampus rapidly adjusts its representations of environments to join them into a connected map - excited to share this final paper from her PhD work with me and @mariamaly.bsky.social !
How do we update our predictions when our environment changes?
The hippocampus rapidly integrates previously distinct sequences to support updated predictions.
Proud of this work with Hannah Tarder-Stoll & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The hippocampus rapidly integrates previously distinct sequences to support updated predictions.
Proud of this work with Hannah Tarder-Stoll & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The Hippocampus Rapidly Integrates Sequence Representations During Novel Multistep Predictions
Memories for temporally extended sequences can be used adaptively to predict future events on multiple timescales, a function that relies on the hippocampus. For such predictions to be useful, they sh...
www.biorxiv.org
September 16, 2025 at 7:42 PM
What happens when we learn a new shortcut between places we thought were unconnected? Hannah found that the hippocampus rapidly adjusts its representations of environments to join them into a connected map - excited to share this final paper from her PhD work with me and @mariamaly.bsky.social !
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Here is our best thinking about how to make world models. I would apologize for it being a massive 40-page behemoth, but it's worth reading. arxiv.org/pdf/2509.09737
arxiv.org
September 15, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Here is our best thinking about how to make world models. I would apologize for it being a massive 40-page behemoth, but it's worth reading. arxiv.org/pdf/2509.09737
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Just spent two wonderful weeks in London for the Analytical Connectionism Summer School (hosted at Gatsby/UCL this year). Met lots of wonderful scientists at the intersection of cog neuro and machine learning. Learned a lot and can’t recommend more highly! Small meetings rule
September 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Just spent two wonderful weeks in London for the Analytical Connectionism Summer School (hosted at Gatsby/UCL this year). Met lots of wonderful scientists at the intersection of cog neuro and machine learning. Learned a lot and can’t recommend more highly! Small meetings rule
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
I recently learned: w/ lesioned 8A, you can do many WM tasks but not one👇
Guess what happens when you decoding from 8A during each of these tasks? They are all the same.
Decoding is like a quality check, it provides almost no info about function
scholar.google.com/citations?vi...
Guess what happens when you decoding from 8A during each of these tasks? They are all the same.
Decoding is like a quality check, it provides almost no info about function
scholar.google.com/citations?vi...
September 6, 2025 at 3:03 AM
I recently learned: w/ lesioned 8A, you can do many WM tasks but not one👇
Guess what happens when you decoding from 8A during each of these tasks? They are all the same.
Decoding is like a quality check, it provides almost no info about function
scholar.google.com/citations?vi...
Guess what happens when you decoding from 8A during each of these tasks? They are all the same.
Decoding is like a quality check, it provides almost no info about function
scholar.google.com/citations?vi...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
We all know that correlation doesn't imply causation. So we took some correlations and tested if they were causal. Here's what happened:
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
An optical brain-machine interface reveals a causal role of posterior parietal cortex in goal-directed navigation
Relating neural circuitry to behavior is challenging due to closed loop interactions
between neural activity, actions, and sensations. Sorrell et al. present evidence
for a causal role of mouse PPC in...
www.cell.com
September 6, 2025 at 6:09 AM
We all know that correlation doesn't imply causation. So we took some correlations and tested if they were causal. Here's what happened:
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Our #CCN2025 GAC debate w/ @gretatuckute.bsky.social, Gemma Roig (www.cvai.cs.uni-frankfurt.de), Jacqueline Gottlieb (gottlieblab.com), Klaus Oberauer, @mschrimpf.bsky.social & @brittawestner.bsky.social asks:
📊 What benchmarks are useful for cognitive science? 💭
2025.ccneuro.org/gac
📊 What benchmarks are useful for cognitive science? 💭
2025.ccneuro.org/gac
August 13, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Our #CCN2025 GAC debate w/ @gretatuckute.bsky.social, Gemma Roig (www.cvai.cs.uni-frankfurt.de), Jacqueline Gottlieb (gottlieblab.com), Klaus Oberauer, @mschrimpf.bsky.social & @brittawestner.bsky.social asks:
📊 What benchmarks are useful for cognitive science? 💭
2025.ccneuro.org/gac
📊 What benchmarks are useful for cognitive science? 💭
2025.ccneuro.org/gac
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Are similar representations in neural nets evidence of shared computation? In new theory work w/ Lukas Braun (lukasbraun.com) & @saxelab.bsky.social, we prove that representational comparisons are ill-posed in general, unless networks are efficient.
@icmlconf.bsky.social @cogcompneuro.bsky.social
@icmlconf.bsky.social @cogcompneuro.bsky.social
August 13, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Are similar representations in neural nets evidence of shared computation? In new theory work w/ Lukas Braun (lukasbraun.com) & @saxelab.bsky.social, we prove that representational comparisons are ill-posed in general, unless networks are efficient.
@icmlconf.bsky.social @cogcompneuro.bsky.social
@icmlconf.bsky.social @cogcompneuro.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
My first PhD paper - with @lhuntneuro.bsky.social and @summerfieldlab.bsky.social - is now out in @plosbiology.org! We ask: how do humans (and deep neural networks) navigate flexibly even in unfamiliar environments, such as a new city? Link: plos.io/45uSwNm 🧵 (1/6)
August 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
My first PhD paper - with @lhuntneuro.bsky.social and @summerfieldlab.bsky.social - is now out in @plosbiology.org! We ask: how do humans (and deep neural networks) navigate flexibly even in unfamiliar environments, such as a new city? Link: plos.io/45uSwNm 🧵 (1/6)
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
🚨Pre-print alert🚨
We stimulated serotonin with optogenetics while doing large-scale Neuropixel recordings across the mouse brain. We found strong widespread modulation of neural activity, but no effect on the choices of the mouse 🐭
How is this possible? Strap in! (1/9) 👇🧵
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We stimulated serotonin with optogenetics while doing large-scale Neuropixel recordings across the mouse brain. We found strong widespread modulation of neural activity, but no effect on the choices of the mouse 🐭
How is this possible? Strap in! (1/9) 👇🧵
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Serotonin drives choice-independent reconfiguration of distributed neural activity
Serotonin (5-HT) is a central neuromodulator which is implicated in, amongst other functions, cognitive flexibility. 5-HT is released from the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) throughout nearly the entire f...
doi.org
August 5, 2025 at 12:32 PM
🚨Pre-print alert🚨
We stimulated serotonin with optogenetics while doing large-scale Neuropixel recordings across the mouse brain. We found strong widespread modulation of neural activity, but no effect on the choices of the mouse 🐭
How is this possible? Strap in! (1/9) 👇🧵
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We stimulated serotonin with optogenetics while doing large-scale Neuropixel recordings across the mouse brain. We found strong widespread modulation of neural activity, but no effect on the choices of the mouse 🐭
How is this possible? Strap in! (1/9) 👇🧵
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
Very happy about my former mentor Sara Solla having received the Valentin Braitenberg Award for her lifelong contributions to computational neuroscience!
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Sara A. Solla receives the Valentin Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience 2025 – Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience
bernstein-network.de
August 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Very happy about my former mentor Sara Solla having received the Valentin Braitenberg Award for her lifelong contributions to computational neuroscience!
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Reposted by Andrew Saxe
12 leading neuroscientists tackle a big question: Will we ever understand the brain?
Their reflections span philosophy, complexity, and the limits of scientific explanation.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/wil...
Illustration by @gilcosta.bsky.social & @joanagcc.bsky.social
Their reflections span philosophy, complexity, and the limits of scientific explanation.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/wil...
Illustration by @gilcosta.bsky.social & @joanagcc.bsky.social
August 6, 2025 at 8:41 AM
12 leading neuroscientists tackle a big question: Will we ever understand the brain?
Their reflections span philosophy, complexity, and the limits of scientific explanation.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/wil...
Illustration by @gilcosta.bsky.social & @joanagcc.bsky.social
Their reflections span philosophy, complexity, and the limits of scientific explanation.
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/wil...
Illustration by @gilcosta.bsky.social & @joanagcc.bsky.social