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
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.
“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! 😲🤩
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.
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...
Here's a biological mystery that stumps me. What's the deal with iodine in thyroid hormones? OK, it helps the hormone pass through the membrane and bind to the receptor. But steroids do that without any exotic atoms. Why iodine, and why thyroid? Any experts?
February 3, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Here's a biological mystery that stumps me. What's the deal with iodine in thyroid hormones? OK, it helps the hormone pass through the membrane and bind to the receptor. But steroids do that without any exotic atoms. Why iodine, and why thyroid? Any experts?
As we uncover more rules of cellular memory, we might develop bizarre health protocols: “cardio only during full moons; coffee must be exactly 6 hours after magnesium; alternate nostril breathing synced to gut bacteria cycles...” /7
January 17, 2025 at 10:57 PM
As we uncover more rules of cellular memory, we might develop bizarre health protocols: “cardio only during full moons; coffee must be exactly 6 hours after magnesium; alternate nostril breathing synced to gut bacteria cycles...” /7
Two things are clear about cellular memory:
1) It exists
2) It can depend on precise timing, down to seconds. /6
1) It exists
2) It can depend on precise timing, down to seconds. /6
January 17, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Two things are clear about cellular memory:
1) It exists
2) It can depend on precise timing, down to seconds. /6
1) It exists
2) It can depend on precise timing, down to seconds. /6
These cellular memories form within minutes and can last for days or longer. This *could* mean our conscious memories — including trauma — partly reside outside the brain, as suggested in "The Body Keeps the Score" by van der Kolk. /3
January 17, 2025 at 10:57 PM
These cellular memories form within minutes and can last for days or longer. This *could* mean our conscious memories — including trauma — partly reside outside the brain, as suggested in "The Body Keeps the Score" by van der Kolk. /3
Time travelers would be amazed by how much we plan for future health. We take vitamins, count fiber, exercise, and do Dry January — all for benefits we won't see for years. But it might be that even shorter-term patterns leave lasting imprints on our body. 🧵
January 17, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Time travelers would be amazed by how much we plan for future health. We take vitamins, count fiber, exercise, and do Dry January — all for benefits we won't see for years. But it might be that even shorter-term patterns leave lasting imprints on our body. 🧵
In another study, we showed that a sequence of two training shocks — a weak one and a strong one — induces memory in Aplysia neurons if the weak shock comes before the strong shock, but not vice versa. Why? Because escalation is more relevant. You have to prioritize./9 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
December 10, 2024 at 7:49 PM
In another study, we showed that a sequence of two training shocks — a weak one and a strong one — induces memory in Aplysia neurons if the weak shock comes before the strong shock, but not vice versa. Why? Because escalation is more relevant. You have to prioritize./9 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The debate has really affected how I think of memory. If memory is expensive, then the biological goal of learning is not to memorize as much as possible, but to select the most relevant information. I think we forget about it because we don’t perceive that memory is limited./8
December 10, 2024 at 7:49 PM
The debate has really affected how I think of memory. If memory is expensive, then the biological goal of learning is not to memorize as much as possible, but to select the most relevant information. I think we forget about it because we don’t perceive that memory is limited./8
Back then, when we were working on the paper, we had a debate with my boss, Tom Carew, about this "expensive memory" explanation. He questioned the idea that learning needs so much energy that you actually have to take it away from behavior. I see his point. /6
December 10, 2024 at 7:49 PM
Back then, when we were working on the paper, we had a debate with my boss, Tom Carew, about this "expensive memory" explanation. He questioned the idea that learning needs so much energy that you actually have to take it away from behavior. I see his point. /6
This was 2019, when we didn’t yet know about GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic—also hormones related to insulin, also causing a food coma, and also promoting neuroplasticity and memory. I wonder if it all would have made sense right away if we did the study today. /5
December 10, 2024 at 7:49 PM
This was 2019, when we didn’t yet know about GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic—also hormones related to insulin, also causing a food coma, and also promoting neuroplasticity and memory. I wonder if it all would have made sense right away if we did the study today. /5
We think of our own, biological memory the way we think of computer memory: the more, the better. But that’s not what evolution intended when it created learning. Learning is not just about storing information: it is about choosing what to store and what to discard. 🧵/1
December 10, 2024 at 7:49 PM
We think of our own, biological memory the way we think of computer memory: the more, the better. But that’s not what evolution intended when it created learning. Learning is not just about storing information: it is about choosing what to store and what to discard. 🧵/1
St. Petersburg (my hometown), taking pride in its “cultural capital of Russia” status, used to put up billboards showing the “correct” way to pronounce words. Unthinkable in America, just as spelling bees are unthinkable in Russia. These differences reflect deeper cultural patterns. /10
December 1, 2024 at 5:34 PM
St. Petersburg (my hometown), taking pride in its “cultural capital of Russia” status, used to put up billboards showing the “correct” way to pronounce words. Unthinkable in America, just as spelling bees are unthinkable in Russia. These differences reflect deeper cultural patterns. /10
But Russian spelling is also *testable*: you can check it by thinking of a similar word with a different stress. We are taught to deconstruct and recombine words, derive spellings logically.
Orthography, grammar, and semantics are linked into a rule-based and normative system—as is Russia. /9
Orthography, grammar, and semantics are linked into a rule-based and normative system—as is Russia. /9
December 1, 2024 at 5:34 PM
But Russian spelling is also *testable*: you can check it by thinking of a similar word with a different stress. We are taught to deconstruct and recombine words, derive spellings logically.
Orthography, grammar, and semantics are linked into a rule-based and normative system—as is Russia. /9
Orthography, grammar, and semantics are linked into a rule-based and normative system—as is Russia. /9
Consider this: we know more English scientists than composers, and more Italian composers than scientists. Correlation isn't causation, and we may never know for sure that spelling is to blame. But could there be a connection between spelling and culture that extends beyond language? /7
December 1, 2024 at 5:34 PM
Consider this: we know more English scientists than composers, and more Italian composers than scientists. Correlation isn't causation, and we may never know for sure that spelling is to blame. But could there be a connection between spelling and culture that extends beyond language? /7
I’m such a city boy I’ve ever actually seen a tractor plough IRL. Nothing lays bare the raw power of machine age quite like it. In Brazil, I read about the reaction of Amazonians to seeing a metal axe cut down a tree for the first time — I imagine this, to a farmer, was similar.
November 28, 2024 at 5:15 PM
I’m such a city boy I’ve ever actually seen a tractor plough IRL. Nothing lays bare the raw power of machine age quite like it. In Brazil, I read about the reaction of Amazonians to seeing a metal axe cut down a tree for the first time — I imagine this, to a farmer, was similar.
Was checking #H5N1 NextStrain to see if I should wear a mask flying to the West Coast for Thanksgiving today. Red is human. Sooo yeah I’m wearing a mask.
November 26, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Was checking #H5N1 NextStrain to see if I should wear a mask flying to the West Coast for Thanksgiving today. Red is human. Sooo yeah I’m wearing a mask.