Susan Wardle
@susanwardle.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist interested in vision & the brain. All views my own. she/her
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TvNa77oAAAAJ&hl=en
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TvNa77oAAAAJ&hl=en
Pinned
Susan Wardle
@susanwardle.bsky.social
· Feb 24
Today’s CrowdScience is a corker - from bathroom design to the fundamental mysteries of the universe. Fave quote: “there is no magique, only probability” By @benmotley.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
CrowdScience - Is anything truly random? - BBC Sounds
A question about bathroom tiles has us wondering whether everything is pre-determined
www.bbc.co.uk
Why is it hard to make bathroom tiles look random? I really enjoyed discussing how our pattern-seeking visual brains make it tricky to perceive randomness with the BBC CrowdScience team.
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Announcing the next AFNI Bootcamp: Sep 23-25, 2025.
Free, open & virtual.
This "Part 1" will focus on basic visualization and single subject FMRI processing, including discussions of alignment, templates, regression, ROIs and quality control.
Details & registration: afni.nimh.nih.gov/bootcamp
Free, open & virtual.
This "Part 1" will focus on basic visualization and single subject FMRI processing, including discussions of alignment, templates, regression, ROIs and quality control.
Details & registration: afni.nimh.nih.gov/bootcamp
AFNI Bootcamp: Sep. 23-25, 2025 | afni.nimh.nih.gov
afni.nimh.nih.gov
September 2, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Announcing the next AFNI Bootcamp: Sep 23-25, 2025.
Free, open & virtual.
This "Part 1" will focus on basic visualization and single subject FMRI processing, including discussions of alignment, templates, regression, ROIs and quality control.
Details & registration: afni.nimh.nih.gov/bootcamp
Free, open & virtual.
This "Part 1" will focus on basic visualization and single subject FMRI processing, including discussions of alignment, templates, regression, ROIs and quality control.
Details & registration: afni.nimh.nih.gov/bootcamp
If you’d like to write a commentary to accompany our new article arguing for a rethinking of how we approach understanding visual function in occipitotemporal cortex, now is your chance!
Our target discussion article out in Cognitive Neuroscience! It will be followed by peer commentary and our responses. If you would like to write a commentary, please reach out to the journal! 1/18 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @cibaker.bsky.social @susanwardle.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 7:38 PM
If you’d like to write a commentary to accompany our new article arguing for a rethinking of how we approach understanding visual function in occipitotemporal cortex, now is your chance!
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Now out in @natneuro.nature.com
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
August 21, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Now out in @natneuro.nature.com
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
Reposted by Susan Wardle
High-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (hf-tRNS) targeted at motion processing region hMT+ does not improve visual motion discrimination. Failed #replication in #registeredreport
@ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll @cibaker.bsky.social
#trns #nibs #NIMH
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
1/6
@ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll @cibaker.bsky.social
#trns #nibs #NIMH
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
1/6
July 21, 2025 at 2:20 PM
High-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (hf-tRNS) targeted at motion processing region hMT+ does not improve visual motion discrimination. Failed #replication in #registeredreport
@ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll @cibaker.bsky.social
#trns #nibs #NIMH
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
1/6
@ryanruhde.bsky.social Mica Carroll @cibaker.bsky.social
#trns #nibs #NIMH
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
1/6
Reposted by Susan Wardle
In these tumultuous times, still happy to report a scientific achievement: our preprint on affordance perception was just published in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
Representation of locomotive action affordances in human behavior, brains, and deep neural networks | PNAS
To decide how to move around the world, we must determine which locomotive actions
(e.g., walking, swimming, or climbing) are afforded by the immed...
www.pnas.org
June 16, 2025 at 11:34 AM
In these tumultuous times, still happy to report a scientific achievement: our preprint on affordance perception was just published in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using behavior, fMRI and deep network analyses, we report two key findings. To recapitulate (preprint 🧵lost on other place):
Reposted by Susan Wardle
The result of a large (42 authors!) collaboration:
"Go Figure: Transparency in neuroscience images preserves context and clarifies interpretation"
arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824
TL;DR: The FMRI world can (and should) improve results interpretation and reproducibility *today*, via transparent thresholding.
"Go Figure: Transparency in neuroscience images preserves context and clarifies interpretation"
arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824
TL;DR: The FMRI world can (and should) improve results interpretation and reproducibility *today*, via transparent thresholding.
April 11, 2025 at 12:35 PM
The result of a large (42 authors!) collaboration:
"Go Figure: Transparency in neuroscience images preserves context and clarifies interpretation"
arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824
TL;DR: The FMRI world can (and should) improve results interpretation and reproducibility *today*, via transparent thresholding.
"Go Figure: Transparency in neuroscience images preserves context and clarifies interpretation"
arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824
TL;DR: The FMRI world can (and should) improve results interpretation and reproducibility *today*, via transparent thresholding.
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Two more days until our workshop 🥳@cosynemeeting.bsky.social #Cosyne2025
Object-centric neural representations across species 🐒🐁🕷️🐝🖥️
Check out our homepage: toliaslab.org/workshop/cos...
Excellent speakers include @dyamins.bsky.social @hansopdebeeck.bsky.social & many more 🙌
Object-centric neural representations across species 🐒🐁🕷️🐝🖥️
Check out our homepage: toliaslab.org/workshop/cos...
Excellent speakers include @dyamins.bsky.social @hansopdebeeck.bsky.social & many more 🙌
Cosyne 2025 Object Centric Workshop
Website for the object centric workshop at 2025 COSYNE
toliaslab.org
March 30, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Two more days until our workshop 🥳@cosynemeeting.bsky.social #Cosyne2025
Object-centric neural representations across species 🐒🐁🕷️🐝🖥️
Check out our homepage: toliaslab.org/workshop/cos...
Excellent speakers include @dyamins.bsky.social @hansopdebeeck.bsky.social & many more 🙌
Object-centric neural representations across species 🐒🐁🕷️🐝🖥️
Check out our homepage: toliaslab.org/workshop/cos...
Excellent speakers include @dyamins.bsky.social @hansopdebeeck.bsky.social & many more 🙌
Reposted by Susan Wardle
I'll be giving a talk at the foundation model workshop #Cosyne2025 tomorrow: neurofm-workshop.github.io
In response to @thetransmitter.bsky.social article by @tyrellturing.bsky.social & Eva Dyer I'll be talking about:
How do "foundation"/AI models help us (experimenters) study the brain?
In response to @thetransmitter.bsky.social article by @tyrellturing.bsky.social & Eva Dyer I'll be talking about:
How do "foundation"/AI models help us (experimenters) study the brain?
COSYNE 2025 Workshop - Building a foundation model for the brain
Join us to explore neuro-foundation models. March 31-April 1, 2025 in Mont Tremblant, Canada.
neurofm-workshop.github.io
March 30, 2025 at 7:22 PM
I'll be giving a talk at the foundation model workshop #Cosyne2025 tomorrow: neurofm-workshop.github.io
In response to @thetransmitter.bsky.social article by @tyrellturing.bsky.social & Eva Dyer I'll be talking about:
How do "foundation"/AI models help us (experimenters) study the brain?
In response to @thetransmitter.bsky.social article by @tyrellturing.bsky.social & Eva Dyer I'll be talking about:
How do "foundation"/AI models help us (experimenters) study the brain?
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Why do we not remember being a baby? One idea is that the hippocampus, which is essential for episodic memory in adults, is too immature to form individual memories in infancy. We tested this using awake infant fMRI, new in @science.org #ScienceResearch www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Hippocampal encoding of memories in human infants
Humans lack memories for specific events from the first few years of life. We investigated the mechanistic basis of this infantile amnesia by scanning the brains of awake infants with functional magne...
www.science.org
March 20, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Why do we not remember being a baby? One idea is that the hippocampus, which is essential for episodic memory in adults, is too immature to form individual memories in infancy. We tested this using awake infant fMRI, new in @science.org #ScienceResearch www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Susan Wardle
I wrote a commentary on a very nice paper that just appeared in @brain1878.bsky.social by @selmalugtmeijer.bsky.social, Sobolewska, de Haan & @neurosteven.bsky.social.
Spoiler: It's about modularity in mid-level vision. 🤓
Original paper:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Commentary:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Spoiler: It's about modularity in mid-level vision. 🤓
Original paper:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Commentary:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
How modular are modules in visual cortex?
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Visual feature processing in a large stroke cohort: evidence against modular organization’ by Lugtmeijer, Sobolewska
doi.org
March 14, 2025 at 9:19 AM
I wrote a commentary on a very nice paper that just appeared in @brain1878.bsky.social by @selmalugtmeijer.bsky.social, Sobolewska, de Haan & @neurosteven.bsky.social.
Spoiler: It's about modularity in mid-level vision. 🤓
Original paper:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Commentary:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Spoiler: It's about modularity in mid-level vision. 🤓
Original paper:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Commentary:
doi.org/10.1093/brai...
Reposted by Susan Wardle
The dynamic version is even more disturbing...
March 12, 2025 at 2:29 PM
The dynamic version is even more disturbing...
Reposted by Susan Wardle
New Paper out in @Cognition with @peelen.bsky.social !🚨📣
In a large-scale (N = 13539!) inattentional blindness experiment ran on naive museum visitors we demonstrate visual sensitivity to the 🚶♀️ upright human form 🚶♂️
@dondersinst.bsky.social
Open access link
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In a large-scale (N = 13539!) inattentional blindness experiment ran on naive museum visitors we demonstrate visual sensitivity to the 🚶♀️ upright human form 🚶♂️
@dondersinst.bsky.social
Open access link
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A body detection inversion effect revealed by a large-scale inattentional blindness experiment
As a social species, humans preferentially attend to the faces and bodies of other people. Previous research revealed specialized cognitive mechanisms…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 12, 2025 at 8:33 AM
New Paper out in @Cognition with @peelen.bsky.social !🚨📣
In a large-scale (N = 13539!) inattentional blindness experiment ran on naive museum visitors we demonstrate visual sensitivity to the 🚶♀️ upright human form 🚶♂️
@dondersinst.bsky.social
Open access link
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In a large-scale (N = 13539!) inattentional blindness experiment ran on naive museum visitors we demonstrate visual sensitivity to the 🚶♀️ upright human form 🚶♂️
@dondersinst.bsky.social
Open access link
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Susan Wardle
People talk a lot about objects, but what about the softness of a cushion, the greenness of an emerald, or the viscosity of oil? In our work just published @pnas.org, we shed light on how we make sense of the hundreds of materials around us.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
March 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
People talk a lot about objects, but what about the softness of a cushion, the greenness of an emerald, or the viscosity of oil? In our work just published @pnas.org, we shed light on how we make sense of the hundreds of materials around us.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Susan Wardle
www.nature.com/articles/s41... awesome new work out today! From the Lee lab in the intramural research program at NIMH!
Brain-wide presynaptic networks of functionally distinct cortical neurons - Nature
Behavioural-state-dependent pyramidal neurons have a distinct pattern of long-range glutamatergic inputs, with a larger proportion of thalamic versus motor cortex inputs compared with non-behavio...
www.nature.com
February 27, 2025 at 12:21 AM
www.nature.com/articles/s41... awesome new work out today! From the Lee lab in the intramural research program at NIMH!
Why is it hard to make bathroom tiles look random? I really enjoyed discussing how our pattern-seeking visual brains make it tricky to perceive randomness with the BBC CrowdScience team.
Today’s CrowdScience is a corker - from bathroom design to the fundamental mysteries of the universe. Fave quote: “there is no magique, only probability” By @benmotley.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
CrowdScience - Is anything truly random? - BBC Sounds
A question about bathroom tiles has us wondering whether everything is pre-determined
www.bbc.co.uk
February 24, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Why is it hard to make bathroom tiles look random? I really enjoyed discussing how our pattern-seeking visual brains make it tricky to perceive randomness with the BBC CrowdScience team.
Reposted by Susan Wardle
🚨PhD opportunity Fall/Winter
2025🚨
Join me in Geneva Switzerland #unige to learn more about colour perception. Using neuroimaging & computational modelling, you'll be working with an international & interdisciplinary team to understand how we transform light into a colourful world!🧠👁️🌈 #neurojobs
2025🚨
Join me in Geneva Switzerland #unige to learn more about colour perception. Using neuroimaging & computational modelling, you'll be working with an international & interdisciplinary team to understand how we transform light into a colourful world!🧠👁️🌈 #neurojobs
January 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
🚨PhD opportunity Fall/Winter
2025🚨
Join me in Geneva Switzerland #unige to learn more about colour perception. Using neuroimaging & computational modelling, you'll be working with an international & interdisciplinary team to understand how we transform light into a colourful world!🧠👁️🌈 #neurojobs
2025🚨
Join me in Geneva Switzerland #unige to learn more about colour perception. Using neuroimaging & computational modelling, you'll be working with an international & interdisciplinary team to understand how we transform light into a colourful world!🧠👁️🌈 #neurojobs
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Embracing the complexity of visual understanding
Chris Baker's talk now at University of Maryland
#neuroscience
Chris Baker's talk now at University of Maryland
#neuroscience
December 6, 2024 at 3:20 PM
Embracing the complexity of visual understanding
Chris Baker's talk now at University of Maryland
#neuroscience
Chris Baker's talk now at University of Maryland
#neuroscience
Reposted by Susan Wardle
New paper story time (now out in PNAS)! We developed a method that caused people to learn new categories of visual objects, not by teaching them what the categories were, but by changing how their brains worked when they looked at individual objects in those categories.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Sculpting new visual categories into the human brain | PNAS
Learning requires changing the brain. This typically occurs through experience, study,
or instruction. We report an alternate route for humans to a...
www.pnas.org
December 4, 2024 at 7:59 PM
New paper story time (now out in PNAS)! We developed a method that caused people to learn new categories of visual objects, not by teaching them what the categories were, but by changing how their brains worked when they looked at individual objects in those categories.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Leslie Ungerleider (1946 - 2020) was an extraordinary, pioneering neuroscientist. The latest issue of @jocn.bsky.social honors her legacy with articles authored by former colleagues & trainees that highlight critical aspects of her work and its influence https://buff.ly/4156UKw #cogsci #neuroscience
December 4, 2024 at 12:40 AM
Leslie Ungerleider (1946 - 2020) was an extraordinary, pioneering neuroscientist. The latest issue of @jocn.bsky.social honors her legacy with articles authored by former colleagues & trainees that highlight critical aspects of her work and its influence https://buff.ly/4156UKw #cogsci #neuroscience
Reposted by Susan Wardle
We are editing a Special Issue in JoV #VisionScience following our VSS symposium on 'The Temporal Evolution of Visual Perception'. More details:
arvojournals.org/DocumentLibrar…
@cibaker.bsky.social @dimafic.bsky.social @irisgroen.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social @rdenison @melcherpaclab.bsky.social
arvojournals.org/DocumentLibrar…
@cibaker.bsky.social @dimafic.bsky.social @irisgroen.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social @rdenison @melcherpaclab.bsky.social
November 26, 2024 at 2:09 PM
We are editing a Special Issue in JoV #VisionScience following our VSS symposium on 'The Temporal Evolution of Visual Perception'. More details:
arvojournals.org/DocumentLibrar…
@cibaker.bsky.social @dimafic.bsky.social @irisgroen.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social @rdenison @melcherpaclab.bsky.social
arvojournals.org/DocumentLibrar…
@cibaker.bsky.social @dimafic.bsky.social @irisgroen.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social @rdenison @melcherpaclab.bsky.social
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Excited to share our recent work investigating the temporal dynamics of object space! It’s been wonderful working with @tgro.bsky.social and @drquekles.bsky.social at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social on this fun project😊
New preprint! Work led by Alexis Kidder (@lexkidder.bsky.social) during a visiting scholarship at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social with @drquekles.bsky.social & @tgro.bsky.social
"Mapping object space dimensions: new insights from temporal dynamics"
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2024...
1/ Summary: 🧵👇
"Mapping object space dimensions: new insights from temporal dynamics"
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2024...
1/ Summary: 🧵👇
November 22, 2024 at 3:00 AM
Excited to share our recent work investigating the temporal dynamics of object space! It’s been wonderful working with @tgro.bsky.social and @drquekles.bsky.social at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social on this fun project😊
Reposted by Susan Wardle
How do we segregate objects from the background?
Here, we show that early visual cortex (V1) enhances object borders and rapidly (±50ms) discriminates them, indicating V1 neurons are tuned to perceptually relevant borders in natural images.
Full paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Here, we show that early visual cortex (V1) enhances object borders and rapidly (±50ms) discriminates them, indicating V1 neurons are tuned to perceptually relevant borders in natural images.
Full paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
November 20, 2024 at 9:38 AM
How do we segregate objects from the background?
Here, we show that early visual cortex (V1) enhances object borders and rapidly (±50ms) discriminates them, indicating V1 neurons are tuned to perceptually relevant borders in natural images.
Full paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Here, we show that early visual cortex (V1) enhances object borders and rapidly (±50ms) discriminates them, indicating V1 neurons are tuned to perceptually relevant borders in natural images.
Full paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
November 21, 2024 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Susan Wardle
Super excited to be co-hosting scientist Nancy Hopkins and author Kate Zernike at NIH this Wednesday as part of a event jointly organized by the Porter Book Club, Women Scientists Advisors (WSA) and Women Scientist Fellows (WSF).
Details:
linktr.ee/wsf.nih?utm_...
videocast.nih.gov/watch=55349
Details:
linktr.ee/wsf.nih?utm_...
videocast.nih.gov/watch=55349
November 18, 2024 at 6:39 PM
Super excited to be co-hosting scientist Nancy Hopkins and author Kate Zernike at NIH this Wednesday as part of a event jointly organized by the Porter Book Club, Women Scientists Advisors (WSA) and Women Scientist Fellows (WSF).
Details:
linktr.ee/wsf.nih?utm_...
videocast.nih.gov/watch=55349
Details:
linktr.ee/wsf.nih?utm_...
videocast.nih.gov/watch=55349
In this new perspective piece, we argue for an alternative framework of visual function in occipitotemporal cortex that prioritizes the behavioral relevance of visual properties in real-world environments.
"Rethinking category-selectivity in human visual cortex" with @susanwardle.bsky.social Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam, Dwight Kravitz @cibaker.bsky.social 1/3
November 18, 2024 at 4:42 PM
In this new perspective piece, we argue for an alternative framework of visual function in occipitotemporal cortex that prioritizes the behavioral relevance of visual properties in real-world environments.