Nikolay Kukushkin
@niko-kukushkin.bsky.social
Neuroscientist, author, teacher. Time patterns in cellular memory ⌛️ Prof NYU Liberal Studies/Neural Science. Book upcoming 2025 (Prometheus US / Swift Press UK). Agent: JP Marshall. https://linktr.ee/nikolaykukushkin
Pinned
Hi! I study how cells form memories. Our lab's most recent study in Nature Commmunications shows that non-neural cells, including kidney cells, can count, detect precise time patterns, and form lasting memories in ways similar to neurons.🧵https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53922-x
It’s incredible that I can now do this. Googling decent graphics for class is over. The prompt is visualizing the predictive coding architecture of the cerebral cortex.
November 26, 2025 at 10:10 AM
It’s incredible that I can now do this. Googling decent graphics for class is over. The prompt is visualizing the predictive coding architecture of the cerebral cortex.
Hello #SfN25, come see our poster about cellular memory and multiple kinds of pattern detection operating in kidney cells. Poster LBP077 1-5pm 🧠🫘
November 16, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Hello #SfN25, come see our poster about cellular memory and multiple kinds of pattern detection operating in kidney cells. Poster LBP077 1-5pm 🧠🫘
“One Hand Clapping reclaims the story of life from a cold, indifferent universe and brings it back into the warmth of the fire circle, where stories make sense of mysteries and offer guidance for how to live.”
Thank you @sadieding.bsky.social and @wsj.com for this amazing review!
Thank you @sadieding.bsky.social and @wsj.com for this amazing review!
November 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
“One Hand Clapping reclaims the story of life from a cold, indifferent universe and brings it back into the warmth of the fire circle, where stories make sense of mysteries and offer guidance for how to live.”
Thank you @sadieding.bsky.social and @wsj.com for this amazing review!
Thank you @sadieding.bsky.social and @wsj.com for this amazing review!
Thank you Harvard Science Talks for a warm welcome!
November 13, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Thank you Harvard Science Talks for a warm welcome!
Boston! Join us this Wednesday at 6pm at the Harvard Science Center for my book talk! Get your free ticket here: www.eventbrite.com/e/nikolay-ku...
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Boston! Join us this Wednesday at 6pm at the Harvard Science Center for my book talk! Get your free ticket here: www.eventbrite.com/e/nikolay-ku...
Does a Roomba have agency? Explain pls.
November 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Does a Roomba have agency? Explain pls.
One Hand Clapping is currently #1 top new release in evolutionary psychology on US Amazon! 😲🤩
November 8, 2025 at 11:57 PM
One Hand Clapping is currently #1 top new release in evolutionary psychology on US Amazon! 😲🤩
Evan and I share an appreciation for the beauty of life’s building blocks — check out this discussion of One Hand Clapping, and my work on cellular memory
youtu.be/pyg6MkM8kz0
youtu.be/pyg6MkM8kz0
Meet the Neuroscientist Who Proved Every Cell in Your Body Has a Memory!
YouTube video by Giant's Shoulder
youtu.be
November 2, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Evan and I share an appreciation for the beauty of life’s building blocks — check out this discussion of One Hand Clapping, and my work on cellular memory
youtu.be/pyg6MkM8kz0
youtu.be/pyg6MkM8kz0
Fantastic review of One Hand Clapping in New Scientist!
Can sea slugs form abstract thoughts? Do we dare to see any "purpose" in evolution? Is the subjective just a complicated form of the objective? Nikolay Kukushkin's One Hand Clapping is a bold voyage around the mysteries of the human mind, finds Thomas Lewton
Provocative book sets out to solve the hard problem of consciousness
Can sea slugs form abstract thoughts? Do we dare to see any "purpose" in evolution? Is the subjective just a complicated form of the objective? Nikolay Kukushkin's One Hand Clapping is a bold voyage around the mysteries of the human mind, finds Thomas Lewton
www.newscientist.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Fantastic review of One Hand Clapping in New Scientist!
Great discussion of my upcoming book, One Hand Clapping, on the BBC Instant Genius pod. How do you get from nature’s ideas, to sea slug’s ideas, to human ideas? Where do you draw the line? And what will the next thing be? Get a good sense of the book in 30 min.
podscan.fm/podcasts/ins...
podscan.fm/podcasts/ins...
October 20, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Great discussion of my upcoming book, One Hand Clapping, on the BBC Instant Genius pod. How do you get from nature’s ideas, to sea slug’s ideas, to human ideas? Where do you draw the line? And what will the next thing be? Get a good sense of the book in 30 min.
podscan.fm/podcasts/ins...
podscan.fm/podcasts/ins...
One Hand Clapping is out Oct 21 in North America and Oct 28 everywhere else. Preorder now! www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1493...
October 17, 2025 at 11:39 PM
One Hand Clapping is out Oct 21 in North America and Oct 28 everywhere else. Preorder now! www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1493...
Nothing feels as sci fi as shipping genes on a piece of paper. This DNA came from Australia, got lost in Singapore but made it to NYC. We’ll put these genes that someone designed halfway around the world into a drop of water and then into our cells, and they will express them. How insane is that.
October 17, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Nothing feels as sci fi as shipping genes on a piece of paper. This DNA came from Australia, got lost in Singapore but made it to NYC. We’ll put these genes that someone designed halfway around the world into a drop of water and then into our cells, and they will express them. How insane is that.
I’m sorry but what is contextual reasoning and normative criteria if not statistical priors and lexical associations?
Evidence that even when LLMs produce similar results to humans, they “rely on lexical associations and statistical priors rather than contextual reasoning or normative criteria. We term this divergence epistemia: the illusion of knowledge emerging when surface plausibility replaces verification”
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 17, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I’m sorry but what is contextual reasoning and normative criteria if not statistical priors and lexical associations?
Super interesting. Seen these beautiful flowers in the Adirondacks. So, are they just parasites on fungi? Seems so hard to imagine the hosts can’t knock them off with some enzyme if all they do is leech nutrients. Is there still something in it for the fungus? Do the flowers also disperse spores? 🤔
nerds freely nerding in their nerd field is really lovely www.science.org/content/arti...
These ‘ghost flowers’ thrive without photosynthesis. One scientist is learning how
Japanese botanist Kenji Suetsugu studies plants that steal carbon and nutrients from soil fungi
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Super interesting. Seen these beautiful flowers in the Adirondacks. So, are they just parasites on fungi? Seems so hard to imagine the hosts can’t knock them off with some enzyme if all they do is leech nutrients. Is there still something in it for the fungus? Do the flowers also disperse spores? 🤔
The big q is what exactly do you get with neuron+astro plasticity that you can’t get with neurons alone. My bet is that astros act like spatial buffers of plasticity. They retain less specific information than neurons but integrate the average state of the neighborhood and broadcast it locally.
Astrocytes get less attention than their neuronal neighbors, partly because they’re harder to study. But the glial cells could help explain how memories take a more stable form after recall.
By @lauren-schneider.com
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/memory/engra...
By @lauren-schneider.com
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/memory/engra...
Engrams in amygdala lean on astrocytes to solidify memories
Disrupting the astrocyte-neuronal dynamic in mice destabilizes their memory of fear conditioning.
www.thetransmitter.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The big q is what exactly do you get with neuron+astro plasticity that you can’t get with neurons alone. My bet is that astros act like spatial buffers of plasticity. They retain less specific information than neurons but integrate the average state of the neighborhood and broadcast it locally.
Reposted by Nikolay Kukushkin
In this episode, @braininspired.bsky.social talks with @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social about his new book, ‘One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind.’
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...
Nikolay Kukushkin discusses his book, ‘One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind’
He explains how meaning arises in the interactions found throughout nature and evolution, from molecules to minds.
www.thetransmitter.org
October 8, 2025 at 2:02 PM
In this episode, @braininspired.bsky.social talks with @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social about his new book, ‘One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind.’
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...
My book, One Hand Clapping, landed in the NYU bookstore! Preorder yours today! Out everywhere Oct 21
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-hand-c...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-hand-c...
October 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
My book, One Hand Clapping, landed in the NYU bookstore! Preorder yours today! Out everywhere Oct 21
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-hand-c...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-hand-c...
Describing this as a “break” on the immune system is the wrong metaphor. It implies that the immune system is static at rest, gets going upon infection, and then needs to be stopped, like a car. NOTHING in biology is static. Everything is an equilibrium. It’s not a break, it’s a counterweight.
To hold something steady on an outstretched hand, you press down on your wrist with your second hand (e.g. cops holding guns in movies). That, in a nutshell, is why we need these T-regulatory cells that work against actual antiviral T-cell fighters. Congratulations!
A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine
October 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Describing this as a “break” on the immune system is the wrong metaphor. It implies that the immune system is static at rest, gets going upon infection, and then needs to be stopped, like a car. NOTHING in biology is static. Everything is an equilibrium. It’s not a break, it’s a counterweight.
To hold something steady on an outstretched hand, you press down on your wrist with your second hand (e.g. cops holding guns in movies). That, in a nutshell, is why we need these T-regulatory cells that work against actual antiviral T-cell fighters. Congratulations!
A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine
October 6, 2025 at 12:32 PM
To hold something steady on an outstretched hand, you press down on your wrist with your second hand (e.g. cops holding guns in movies). That, in a nutshell, is why we need these T-regulatory cells that work against actual antiviral T-cell fighters. Congratulations!
Ubiquitin is made in a five-pack. The last monomer has a tail. Apparently this last tailed ubiquitin is a special "fast ubiquitin" for stress. An E4 ligase (which extends already existing Ub chains and so forces them into the proteasome) grabs it under stress. Tell me AI could have predicted this
Ubiquitin precursor with C-terminal extension promotes proteostasis and longevity
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Ubiquitin precursor with C-terminal extension promotes proteostasis and longevity
Ubiquitin is a conserved modifier regulating the stability and function of numerous target proteins. In all eukaryotes, polyubiquitin precursors are g…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Ubiquitin is made in a five-pack. The last monomer has a tail. Apparently this last tailed ubiquitin is a special "fast ubiquitin" for stress. An E4 ligase (which extends already existing Ub chains and so forces them into the proteasome) grabs it under stress. Tell me AI could have predicted this
If you are in NYC, join us for my book launch party! Tuesday October 7th 5:30pm, NYU, Liberal Studies lobby, 726 Broadway, 6th floor (non-NYU: dm me to register). Conversation between myself and Prof. Jared Simard, our resident classicist! Books available! Slavic food! events.nyu.edu/event/onehan...
ONE HAND CLAPPING: Consciousness, Evolution, and the Meaning of Life.
Science says that you are nothing but a chemical reaction — a collection of atoms and molecules, like rocks, paperclips, and everything else in t...
events.nyu.edu
September 30, 2025 at 10:18 PM
If you are in NYC, join us for my book launch party! Tuesday October 7th 5:30pm, NYU, Liberal Studies lobby, 726 Broadway, 6th floor (non-NYU: dm me to register). Conversation between myself and Prof. Jared Simard, our resident classicist! Books available! Slavic food! events.nyu.edu/event/onehan...
Reposted by Nikolay Kukushkin
What can a cell remember? A lot more than you think. My latest, for @quantamagazine.bsky.social, is on memory beyond the brain—in tiny unicellular creatures and the smallest, most ancient parts of ourselves:
www.quantamagazine.org/what-can-a-c...
www.quantamagazine.org/what-can-a-c...
What Can a Cell Remember? | Quanta Magazine
A small but enthusiastic group of neuroscientists is exhuming overlooked experiments and performing new ones to explore whether cells record past experiences — fundamentally challenging what memory is...
www.quantamagazine.org
July 30, 2025 at 4:22 PM
What can a cell remember? A lot more than you think. My latest, for @quantamagazine.bsky.social, is on memory beyond the brain—in tiny unicellular creatures and the smallest, most ancient parts of ourselves:
www.quantamagazine.org/what-can-a-c...
www.quantamagazine.org/what-can-a-c...
Reposted by Nikolay Kukushkin
Ever wondered where memory truly lives? 🧠 In our latest episode, we welcome Prof. Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social (NYU), to discuss the biology of memory and consciousness.
▶️ Watch the full clip here: youtu.be/VY9gqT7rs_A
🔗 More: linktr.ee/neuroscience...
▶️ Watch the full clip here: youtu.be/VY9gqT7rs_A
🔗 More: linktr.ee/neuroscience...
Where Is Our Memory Stored? Everywhere and Nowhere
YouTube video by Neuroscience and Beyond
youtu.be
September 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Ever wondered where memory truly lives? 🧠 In our latest episode, we welcome Prof. Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social (NYU), to discuss the biology of memory and consciousness.
▶️ Watch the full clip here: youtu.be/VY9gqT7rs_A
🔗 More: linktr.ee/neuroscience...
▶️ Watch the full clip here: youtu.be/VY9gqT7rs_A
🔗 More: linktr.ee/neuroscience...
We may not sense the progress bar, but human beings are running low on memory. Here’s what we can do.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smal...
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smal...
Are Humans Running Out of Memory?
Human memory has a limit. As a civilization, we may have reached it. What happens now?
www.psychologytoday.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
We may not sense the progress bar, but human beings are running low on memory. Here’s what we can do.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smal...
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smal...
Had a great time talking about sea slugs, cellular memory, and my upcoming book with Shekerah and Fatu of We Love Science. Listen here: "Ep 66: Memory and the Human Mind - The Work" at www.buzzsprout.com/1720419/epis...
Ep 66: Memory and the Human Mind - The Work - We Love Science
Our special guest for today is Nikolay Kukushkin, a clinical associate professor and neuroscientist at NYU, and author, who also considers himself a molecular philosopher. His research answers the que...
www.buzzsprout.com
February 4, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Had a great time talking about sea slugs, cellular memory, and my upcoming book with Shekerah and Fatu of We Love Science. Listen here: "Ep 66: Memory and the Human Mind - The Work" at www.buzzsprout.com/1720419/epis...