Alina Studenova
@studenova.bsky.social
PhD candidate, MPI CBS, MPSCog,
brain oscillations, cortical microstructure
https://alinastudenova.com/
brain oscillations, cortical microstructure
https://alinastudenova.com/
Arousal influences many behavioral outcomes. This paper suggests that arousal is more. It is a latent dynamical process, which is possible to observe "propagating" in time and space and interacting with other systems. Good!💯 Note to self: record pupil diameter in the next experiment.
Nature research paper: Arousal as a universal embedding for spatiotemporal brain dynamics
go.nature.com/4nMUgYz
go.nature.com/4nMUgYz
Arousal as a universal embedding for spatiotemporal brain dynamics - Nature
Reframing of arousal as a latent dynamical system can reconstruct multidimensional measurements of large-scale spatiotemporal brain dynamics on the timescale of seconds in mice.
go.nature.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Arousal influences many behavioral outcomes. This paper suggests that arousal is more. It is a latent dynamical process, which is possible to observe "propagating" in time and space and interacting with other systems. Good!💯 Note to self: record pupil diameter in the next experiment.
I continue to read about freedom and determinism🤔🫠.
This time, I read “A Metaphysics for Freedom” by Helen Steward. My opinion here
www.alinastudenova.com/home/blog/bo...
This time, I read “A Metaphysics for Freedom” by Helen Steward. My opinion here
www.alinastudenova.com/home/blog/bo...
Alina Studenova - a-metaphysics-for-freedom
It feels like I have the freedom to act. I chose today to sit in front of my computer and type these words. However, freedom cannot survive in a deterministic universe, and physicists tell us that the...
www.alinastudenova.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I continue to read about freedom and determinism🤔🫠.
This time, I read “A Metaphysics for Freedom” by Helen Steward. My opinion here
www.alinastudenova.com/home/blog/bo...
This time, I read “A Metaphysics for Freedom” by Helen Steward. My opinion here
www.alinastudenova.com/home/blog/bo...
Evoked response is how the brain responds to finger tap,
Presented when someone's awake or in the midst of nap,
Or to the picture or the face, that’s shown to the eyes,
Or to the auditory tone, or to the smell of fries.
Presented when someone's awake or in the midst of nap,
Or to the picture or the face, that’s shown to the eyes,
Or to the auditory tone, or to the smell of fries.
December 26, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Evoked response is how the brain responds to finger tap,
Presented when someone's awake or in the midst of nap,
Or to the picture or the face, that’s shown to the eyes,
Or to the auditory tone, or to the smell of fries.
Presented when someone's awake or in the midst of nap,
Or to the picture or the face, that’s shown to the eyes,
Or to the auditory tone, or to the smell of fries.
Homeostasis is often described as maintaining a stable 'set-point'; allostasis is adjusting some quantities to meet demands. Both involve feedback control. The author sells the idea that dynamical causal models can be used to analyze homeo- and allostatic mechanisms. Helpful!👍 Where do I start...
New on the Archive:
Weinberger, Naftali (2025) Homeostasis and Causal Control. [Preprint]
https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27481/
Weinberger, Naftali (2025) Homeostasis and Causal Control. [Preprint]
https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27481/
December 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Homeostasis is often described as maintaining a stable 'set-point'; allostasis is adjusting some quantities to meet demands. Both involve feedback control. The author sells the idea that dynamical causal models can be used to analyze homeo- and allostatic mechanisms. Helpful!👍 Where do I start...
Reposted by Alina Studenova
📆 updated for 2026!
list of summer schools & short courses in the realm of (computational) neuroscience or data analysis of EEG / MEG / LFP: 🔗 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
list of summer schools & short courses in the realm of (computational) neuroscience or data analysis of EEG / MEG / LFP: 🔗 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
various computational neuroscience / MEEG / LFP short courses and summer schools
docs.google.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
📆 updated for 2026!
list of summer schools & short courses in the realm of (computational) neuroscience or data analysis of EEG / MEG / LFP: 🔗 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
list of summer schools & short courses in the realm of (computational) neuroscience or data analysis of EEG / MEG / LFP: 🔗 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Intracranial recordings during auditory oddball showed 2 types of high-frequency responses (more pronounced for target tones): phasic and sustained. Phasic occurred in sensory-motor Yeo network, while sustained - in salience network. Nice!👍 Notably, only 22% of recorded sites showed the effect.
Salient auditory stimuli evoke spatially segregated phasic and sustained neural responses in the human brain https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.18.695315v1
December 20, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Intracranial recordings during auditory oddball showed 2 types of high-frequency responses (more pronounced for target tones): phasic and sustained. Phasic occurred in sensory-motor Yeo network, while sustained - in salience network. Nice!👍 Notably, only 22% of recorded sites showed the effect.
I'm interested in individual differences. Regarding resting-state alpha power, it is usually said that the power is high in occipital areas. However, not for everybody.
Here, resting-state alpha power with eyes closed from participants of the LEMON dataset doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.308
#brainmovies
Here, resting-state alpha power with eyes closed from participants of the LEMON dataset doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.308
#brainmovies
December 19, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I'm interested in individual differences. Regarding resting-state alpha power, it is usually said that the power is high in occipital areas. However, not for everybody.
Here, resting-state alpha power with eyes closed from participants of the LEMON dataset doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.308
#brainmovies
Here, resting-state alpha power with eyes closed from participants of the LEMON dataset doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.308
#brainmovies
Reposted by Alina Studenova
This week is ideal to draft your submission for the #MindBrainBody Symposium 2026 so that you can let it rest over the (potential) holidays and finalise it first thing in 2026 (deadline: January 8, 2026). 😉
Looking forward to seeing you there and - in case - happy holidays! 🎄🧠🫀🫁
Looking forward to seeing you there and - in case - happy holidays! 🎄🧠🫀🫁
*13th MindBrainBody Symposium*
📆 Mar 9-11, 2026
🏠 #Berlin & virtual
(deadline: Jan 8, 2026)
Keynotes:
- @ulrikebingel.bsky.social
- Karl Friston (online)
- @tinalonsdorf.bsky.social
- Sonja Kotz
- Julian Thayer
...& so much more: prizes, posters, talks, food, drinks, encounters.
Let's meet!
📆 Mar 9-11, 2026
🏠 #Berlin & virtual
(deadline: Jan 8, 2026)
Keynotes:
- @ulrikebingel.bsky.social
- Karl Friston (online)
- @tinalonsdorf.bsky.social
- Sonja Kotz
- Julian Thayer
...& so much more: prizes, posters, talks, food, drinks, encounters.
Let's meet!
December 18, 2025 at 7:55 AM
This week is ideal to draft your submission for the #MindBrainBody Symposium 2026 so that you can let it rest over the (potential) holidays and finalise it first thing in 2026 (deadline: January 8, 2026). 😉
Looking forward to seeing you there and - in case - happy holidays! 🎄🧠🫀🫁
Looking forward to seeing you there and - in case - happy holidays! 🎄🧠🫀🫁
fMRI can be measured quantitatively to estimate oxygen metabolism. This study compares classical BOLD with quantitative BOLD. And they are different, and the difference is both region and task specific. Negative BOLD not🟰 reduced metabolism. Cool!👏
High alpha power was associated with negative BOLD😬
High alpha power was associated with negative BOLD😬
fMRI signals “up,” but neural metabolism might be going “down.”
In our @natneuro.nature.com paper, we demonstrate that about 40% of voxels with robust BOLD responses exhibit opposite oxygen metabolism, revealing two distinct hemodynamic modes.
rdcu.be/eUPO8
funds @erc.europa.eu
#neuroskyence 🧵:
In our @natneuro.nature.com paper, we demonstrate that about 40% of voxels with robust BOLD responses exhibit opposite oxygen metabolism, revealing two distinct hemodynamic modes.
rdcu.be/eUPO8
funds @erc.europa.eu
#neuroskyence 🧵:
December 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM
fMRI can be measured quantitatively to estimate oxygen metabolism. This study compares classical BOLD with quantitative BOLD. And they are different, and the difference is both region and task specific. Negative BOLD not🟰 reduced metabolism. Cool!👏
High alpha power was associated with negative BOLD😬
High alpha power was associated with negative BOLD😬
Reposted by Alina Studenova
Ok, this is nuts. Once you see it you cannot unsee it. Do you see it?
(OP @drgbuckingham.bsky.social )
(OP @drgbuckingham.bsky.social )
December 16, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Ok, this is nuts. Once you see it you cannot unsee it. Do you see it?
(OP @drgbuckingham.bsky.social )
(OP @drgbuckingham.bsky.social )
It is possible to differentiate left and right hemispheres using resting-state fMRI. Not surprising. Surprising is that classificator used not only language network but also default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network. Cool!👍 I wonder whether lateralization of DMN matters for cognition.
Identifying left and right hemispheres using functional connectivity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.694044v1
December 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM
It is possible to differentiate left and right hemispheres using resting-state fMRI. Not surprising. Surprising is that classificator used not only language network but also default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network. Cool!👍 I wonder whether lateralization of DMN matters for cognition.
Reposted by Alina Studenova
Deep brain stimulation can improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms, but selecting the optimal stimulation contact still relies on laborious trial-and-error.
December 15, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Deep brain stimulation can improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms, but selecting the optimal stimulation contact still relies on laborious trial-and-error.
Reposted by Alina Studenova
Thank you for the great work @willenjoy.bsky.social ! An important step towards understanding and correcting bias in source localizations and functional connectivity due to source leakage.
Our new preprint on promises and caveats of the extraction of M/EEG activity from ROIs is out (see more details in the reposted thread): www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Huge thanks to @studenova.bsky.social, Ruben Eguinoa, Guido Nolte, @sparsity.bsky.social, Arno Villringer, and Vadim Nikulin!
Huge thanks to @studenova.bsky.social, Ruben Eguinoa, Guido Nolte, @sparsity.bsky.social, Arno Villringer, and Vadim Nikulin!
December 12, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Thank you for the great work @willenjoy.bsky.social ! An important step towards understanding and correcting bias in source localizations and functional connectivity due to source leakage.
Reposted by Alina Studenova
Our new preprint on promises and caveats of the extraction of M/EEG activity from ROIs is out (see more details in the reposted thread): www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Huge thanks to @studenova.bsky.social, Ruben Eguinoa, Guido Nolte, @sparsity.bsky.social, Arno Villringer, and Vadim Nikulin!
Huge thanks to @studenova.bsky.social, Ruben Eguinoa, Guido Nolte, @sparsity.bsky.social, Arno Villringer, and Vadim Nikulin!
December 12, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Our new preprint on promises and caveats of the extraction of M/EEG activity from ROIs is out (see more details in the reposted thread): www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Huge thanks to @studenova.bsky.social, Ruben Eguinoa, Guido Nolte, @sparsity.bsky.social, Arno Villringer, and Vadim Nikulin!
Huge thanks to @studenova.bsky.social, Ruben Eguinoa, Guido Nolte, @sparsity.bsky.social, Arno Villringer, and Vadim Nikulin!
I use EEG/MEG. When I meet like-minded researchers at conferences, the discussion always circles back to one thing: admitting that results may be confounded by leakage (also known as remaining field spread—RFS). In our new preprint, we quantify RFS in parcellated data using cross-talk function—CTF.🧵
December 12, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I use EEG/MEG. When I meet like-minded researchers at conferences, the discussion always circles back to one thing: admitting that results may be confounded by leakage (also known as remaining field spread—RFS). In our new preprint, we quantify RFS in parcellated data using cross-talk function—CTF.🧵
Mice were exposed to odors, some of them novel. Dopaminergic (DA) neurons were recorded from midbrain. DA neurons were activated when a mouse was sniffing, also without odors. So DA neurons represent behavior that is associated (or not) with novelty. Cool!👏 It would be nice if we could ask the mice.
Behavioral orienting but not novelty activates dopamine neurons https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.05.692548v1
December 10, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Mice were exposed to odors, some of them novel. Dopaminergic (DA) neurons were recorded from midbrain. DA neurons were activated when a mouse was sniffing, also without odors. So DA neurons represent behavior that is associated (or not) with novelty. Cool!👏 It would be nice if we could ask the mice.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) measures glutamate and GABA macromolecules in a living brain. Functional MRS measures macromolecules over time. Exciting!🤩 However, in this study, presentation of checkerboards didn't elicit measurable changes in the occipital cortex. What does it mean?🤔
Examining excitation-inhibition modulation during social processing using functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.03.691778v1
December 9, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) measures glutamate and GABA macromolecules in a living brain. Functional MRS measures macromolecules over time. Exciting!🤩 However, in this study, presentation of checkerboards didn't elicit measurable changes in the occipital cortex. What does it mean?🤔
Reposted by Alina Studenova
Having our annual Cognition Academy @Harnack Haus in Berlin again! Great start today with talks and a Poster Session to get inspired and connect with colleagues! #passionforscience #maxplanckschools 🧠🥂
December 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Having our annual Cognition Academy @Harnack Haus in Berlin again! Great start today with talks and a Poster Session to get inspired and connect with colleagues! #passionforscience #maxplanckschools 🧠🥂
Axon radius measured in vivo with diffusion MRI correlates with tissue microstructure based on histology in the human corpus callosum. There seems to be a coarse low-to-high anatomical pattern in corpus callosum that drives the correlation. It's more variable at the individual level. V.interesting!👍
New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Laurin Mordhorst, Siawoosh Mohammadi, et al:
MRI-scale histology validates spatial sensitivity of in-vivo MRI-based axon radius estimation
doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...
MRI-scale histology validates spatial sensitivity of in-vivo MRI-based axon radius estimation
doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...
December 6, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Axon radius measured in vivo with diffusion MRI correlates with tissue microstructure based on histology in the human corpus callosum. There seems to be a coarse low-to-high anatomical pattern in corpus callosum that drives the correlation. It's more variable at the individual level. V.interesting!👍
Dipole fit to somatosensory evoked response. Not ideal at every time point, but around 50 ms lands in the somatosensory cortex, as expected.
#brainmovies
#brainmovies
December 5, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Dipole fit to somatosensory evoked response. Not ideal at every time point, but around 50 ms lands in the somatosensory cortex, as expected.
#brainmovies
#brainmovies
Stimulation of dopamine D1 receptors (and not D2) in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in mice influenced goal-directed behavior. Also, approach behavior was linked to a decrease of dopamine in ACC (less dopamine led to disinhibition of neurons). Cool!👏 Could it be related to EEG readiness potential?
Elucidating an anterior cingulate circuit for self-initiated actions and rescue of Parkinsonian akinesia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.01.691607v1
December 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Stimulation of dopamine D1 receptors (and not D2) in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in mice influenced goal-directed behavior. Also, approach behavior was linked to a decrease of dopamine in ACC (less dopamine led to disinhibition of neurons). Cool!👏 Could it be related to EEG readiness potential?
Functionalism posits that consciousness is a function; the exact realising substrate doesn't matter. But realisers may matter. Ned Block points out that when we approach consciousness, we extrapolate from ourselves. It's easy when both function and realisers match ours and not when one is absent.💯
Interesting new paper by Ned Block, exploring the implications if subcomputational biological mechanisms turn out to be necessary for consciousness (the entertainingly named "meat hypothesis")
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Can only meat machines be conscious?
Computational functionalism claims that executing certain computations is sufficient
for consciousness, regardless of the physical mechanisms implementing those computations.
This view neglects a comp...
www.cell.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Functionalism posits that consciousness is a function; the exact realising substrate doesn't matter. But realisers may matter. Ned Block points out that when we approach consciousness, we extrapolate from ourselves. It's easy when both function and realisers match ours and not when one is absent.💯
I'm a cognitive scientist, but my current research is about mechanisms of brain functioning. However, I really want to have a research project involving actual human behaviour. In preparation, I read a book. It's "IQ and Human Intelligence" by N. Mackintosh. www.alinastudenova.com/home/blog/bo...
Alina Studenova - IQ-Mackintosh
Some research topics are polarizing. It, of course, depends on the time and on the country. One prominent example is the topic of human intelligence. Intelligence research was and is socially and poli...
www.alinastudenova.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM
I'm a cognitive scientist, but my current research is about mechanisms of brain functioning. However, I really want to have a research project involving actual human behaviour. In preparation, I read a book. It's "IQ and Human Intelligence" by N. Mackintosh. www.alinastudenova.com/home/blog/bo...
#brainrhymes
The first analysis wrapped up,
It was an easy one.
The second followed after that,
And when this one was done,
It had appeared to be quite clear,
It’s different outcome.
The first analysis wrapped up,
It was an easy one.
The second followed after that,
And when this one was done,
It had appeared to be quite clear,
It’s different outcome.
November 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
#brainrhymes
The first analysis wrapped up,
It was an easy one.
The second followed after that,
And when this one was done,
It had appeared to be quite clear,
It’s different outcome.
The first analysis wrapped up,
It was an easy one.
The second followed after that,
And when this one was done,
It had appeared to be quite clear,
It’s different outcome.
Take a common pattern of functional connectivity in fMRI and remove it. What is left is the uniqueness of that participant. This paper suggests the "caricaturing" method—obtaining individual activations that are orthogonal to coactivations. Cool!💯 I agree. Individual differences deserve attention.
Connectome caricatures remove large-amplitude coactivation patterns in resting-state fMRI to emphasize individual differences
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Connectome caricatures remove large-amplitude coactivation patterns in resting-state fMRI to emphasize individual differences - Nature Neuroscience
Dominant coactivation patterns are primarily studied in resting-state fMRI. Here, the authors study the rest of the signal, which reveals ‘caricatured’ connectomes with improved behavioral prediction.
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Take a common pattern of functional connectivity in fMRI and remove it. What is left is the uniqueness of that participant. This paper suggests the "caricaturing" method—obtaining individual activations that are orthogonal to coactivations. Cool!💯 I agree. Individual differences deserve attention.