Rebecca Jordan
@beckyjordan.bsky.social
Neuroscientist and painter | group leader at SIDB, University of Edinburgh | SCGB BTI Fellow | Prediction and Plasticity lab
Postdoc opportunity (4 years, full-time) Join the Ian Duguid lab to study how neural circuits enable flexible motor behaviour. Great fit for systems neuroscientists interested in circuits, behaviour & computation. 📅 Apply by 21 May Check out the SIDB vacancies page for more
Inferring norepinephrine dynamics from partial observations reveals the temporal structure of elevations during arousal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.29.715097v1
Sadly, not an April Fool & also not surprising. “An analysis conducted by @nature.com in collaboration with Grounded AI suggests that at least tens of thousands of 2025 publications, including journal papers, books, & conference proceedings, probably contain invalid references generated by AI.” 🧪
Hallucinated citations are polluting the scientific literature. What can be done?
Tens of thousands of publications from 2025 might include invalid references generated by AI, a Nature analysis suggests.
nature.com
Wait… localized norepinephrine transients in the awake visual cortex?! Who would have guessed this neuromodulatory signal is that spatially precise, right where visual processing is happening. Brain state control just got a lot more local. @ruedigersarah.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
First preprint from the lab! Using intracellular recordings & analysis of 2-photon imaging data, we show that spiking & neuromodulatory input during experience drive a reorganization of visuomotor inputs in V1 layer 2/3 neurons, consistent with enhanced visuomotor cancellation - bioRxiv link below.
Peer review would be easier if we stopped treating it like combat with the authors. Results want to be free, and perfect is the enemy of good. Do the data support the conclusions? If so, that’s enough. A paper isn’t a blank slate for projecting your own ideas.
Orbitofrontal cortex drives predictive filtering of sensory responses www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroskyence
Orbitofrontal cortex drives predictive filtering of sensory responses - Nature Neuroscience
Top-down projections from the orbitofrontal cortex carry predictive signals that grow with sound experience and suppress the auditory cortex via inhibitory circuits, revealing a predictive mechanism f...
nature.com
Our work with @georgkeller.bsky.social on testing predictive processing (PP) models in cortex is out on biorvix now! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... A short thread on our findings and thoughts on where we should move on from PP below.
A functional influence based circuit motif that constrains the set of plausible algorithms of cortical function
There are several plausible algorithms for cortical function that are specific enough to make testable predictions of the interactions between functionally identified cell types. Many of these algorithms are based on some variant of predictive processing. Here we set out to experimentally distinguish between two such predictive processing variants. A central point of variability between them lies in the proposed vertical communication between layer 2/3 and layer 5, which stems from the diverging assumptions about the computational role of layer 5. One assumes a hierarchically organized architecture and proposes that, within a given node of the network, layer 5 conveys unexplained bottom-up input to prediction error neurons of layer 2/3. The other proposes a non-hierarchical architecture in which internal representation neurons of layer 5 provide predictions for the local prediction error neurons of layer 2/3. We show that the functional influence of layer 2/3 cell types on layer 5 is incompatible with the hierarchical variant, while the functional influence of layer 5 cell types on prediction error neurons of layer 2/3 is incompatible with the non-hierarchical variant. Given these data, we can constrain the space of plausible algorithms of cortical function. We propose a model for cortical function based on a combination of a joint embedding predictive architecture (JEPA) and predictive processing that makes experimentally testable predictions. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Swiss National Science Foundation, https://ror.org/00yjd3n13 Novartis Foundation, https://ror.org/04f9t1x17 European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, 865617
biorxiv.org
Please share: Postdoc position available in a new collaborative SNSF project with @georgkeller.bsky.social at @fmiscience.bsky.social using a cross-species approach in humans and mice to investigate the cortical circuit mechanisms underlying schizophrenia. Apply at karriere.upk.ch/Postdoctoral...
Stellenangebot Postdoctoral Researcher (PostDoc m/f) 100% Translational Psychiatry Lab for 2 Years bei Universitäre Psychiatrische Kliniken Basel UPK
Forschung in Klinik für Erwachsene (UPKE)
karriere.upk.ch
A new preprint from our lab with @zelechowski.bsky.social & @georgkeller.bsky.social ! Using wireless EEG + VR, we recorded visuomotor mismatch responses in freely moving humans. Huge thanks to all participants, Keller Lab members and FMI facilities! Read more: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thrilled to share our new Adesnik lab paper!! Using holography in excitatory & inhibitory neurons, we reveal how a single cortical circuit can both complete and cancel predictable sensory activity, sharpening representations 📄https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.02.668307v1 🧵
Ditching months-long delays for fast, constructive feedback. This interview with @solygamagda.bsky.social dives into the experience of publishing with eLife and what it could mean for a more open and efficient future in science.
Publishing with eLife: “the future of science lies in greater transparency”
Neuroscientist Magdalena Solyga shares her latest study and her experience publishing with eLife.
buff.ly
Defending science in public we often talk about 'peer reviewed science'. But could this framing contribute to undermining trust in science and holding us back from improving the scientific process? Instead, let's talk about the work that has received the most thorough and transparent scrutiny? 🧪
Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention @iansample.bsky.social writes @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published
Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention
theguardian.com
The construction of the interpretation, however, appears to be built on the assumption that if something is predictable in principle it will be predicted by the brain. I would look to behavioral relevance to make guesses about what the brain predicts.
New @plosbiology.org paper: doi.org/10.1371/jour... We found neurons in rat auditory cortex that signal narrow predictions for specific tones. Using omissions as a probe, we show that some neurons show frequency-specific expectations despite responding broadly to actual sounds. 🧵
Auditory cortex neurons that encode negative prediction errors respond to omissions of sounds in a predictable sequence
Neurons encoding positive or negative prediction errors signal a mismatch between the expected and the experienced input. This study shows how neurons encoding negative prediction errors in the audito...
doi.org
A statistical error known as pseudoreplication appears in more than half of recent mouse studies on neurological disorders, according to a new study. Peter Kind and Constantino Elfetheriou tell Lauren Schenkman why researchers should pay attention. www.thetransmitter.org/pseudoreplic...
Sounding the alarm on pseudoreplication: Q&A with Constantinos Eleftheriou and Peter Kind
Most studies of neurological disorders in mice erroneously treat multiple samples from a single animal as independent replicates, according to a new analysis. But scientists and journals can take…
thetransmitter.org
Mice harboring mutations in Fmr1, Cntnap2 or Shank3B show a blunted update of priors during decision-making, suggesting that distinct genetic instantiations of ASD may yield common neurophysiological and behavioral phenotypes www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A common computational and neural anomaly across mouse models of autism - Nature Neuroscience
Noel et al. show aberrant updating of expectations in three distinct mouse models of autism spectrum disorder. Brain-wide neurophysiology data suggest this stems from excess units encoding deviations ...
nature.com
New preprint, w/ @predictivebrain.bsky.social ! we've found that visual cortex, even when just viewing natural scenes, predicts *higher-level* visual features The aligns with developments in ML, but challenges some assumptions about early sensory cortex www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Higher-level spatial prediction in natural vision across mouse visual cortex
Theories of predictive processing propose that sensory systems constantly predict incoming signals, based on spatial and temporal context. However, evidence for prediction in sensory cortex largely co...
biorxiv.org
📣 Save the date for the 11th PCI webinar on June 18, 2025, at 4 PM CET!! Brandon Stell (CNRS, Paris) will present "Elevating Scientific Standards: Community-Driven Assessment on PubPeer ". For more details and registration, visit: buff.ly/XuownT0
In the battle against brain disease, researchers can now rely on a new arsenal of genetic tools – The Armamentarium. Together with scientists from across the NIH BRAIN Initiative, we’ve created and published over 1000 new enhancer AAV vectors. 🧠📈
So the tired "preprints shouldn't be cited because they're not peer reviewed" meme is back. Reminder these frequently cited items aren't peer reviewed either: Editorials Books Reviews [some not all] News reports Data Code Websites Social media posts Citations are just links...intent varies 1/2
And that’s a wrap! What an amazing #neuroday2025 we’ve had. Thank you to all participants inc speakers, posters & exhibitors for showcasing the fantastically broad range of research taking place across our vast @edinunineuro.bsky.social community. 🧠🧠🧠
THIS IS ONE NEURON! Jaw dropping. It distributes a particular neurotransmitter (norepinephrine) across the mouse brain; it’s a locus coeruleus neuron. @jeremiahycohen.bsky.social and colleagues at the @alleninstitute.bsky.social are using new biotech to see things never seen before.
1. Project on Computational Neuroscience / NeuroAI PhD, supervised jointly with Caswell Barry @caswell.bsky.social Here we want to build NeuroAI models that transform visual information to spatial navigation information. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Computational Neuroscience, NeuroAI PhD at UCL at University College London on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Computational Neuroscience, NeuroAI PhD at UCL at University College London, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Top-down prediction signals from the medial prefrontal cortex govern auditory cortex prediction errors doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #neuroscience
Redirecting
doi.org
This week's sensorimotor superlab reading list is out @andpru.bsky.social @diedrichsenjorn.bsky.social @paulgribble.bsky.social #neuroskyence #psychscisky #Sensorimotor https://superlab.ca/posts/2025-04-04-list289.html
Just in case you - as we did - were wondering whether humans would have any of these pesky visuomotor mismatch responses certain people have seen in mice...
If only we had a system like @elife.bsky.social where peer review was public and accountable, we wouldn’t have to “rely” on peer review to “validate” papers!
Retraction Watch@retractionwatch.com · 2y ago"The scientific literature is an essential ocean of knowledge, in which floats an alarming amount of junk." Reflecting on RFK Jr.'s use of scholarly papers in his confirmation hearings.
Elife has a new editor-in-chief. An opportunity to remember that Elife proposes a modern peer review system fostering transparency, fairness, and immediacy. Elife has contributed to move the entire system in these important directions, and hopefully will continue doing so.
Tim Behrens@behrenstimb.bsky.social · 2y agoHope you'll forgive a quick thread as I take over as the new EiC of @elife.bsky.social