(1/8) Our approach for untangling brain-wide interactions is out today in @cp-neuron.bsky.social! Current-Based Decomposition (CURBD) uses RNNs constrained by real neural data to reveal the input driving neurons, uncovering how brain regions talk to each other. doi.org/10.1016/j.ne... 🧵👇

1/ New paper out today from my group, in @natneuro.nature.com, in which we review the anatomical & functional data on insula structure across species. This was a "whole lab" project led by @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social. It's been a 5 year in the making (a full 3 years in review)! rdcu.be/fyd7T

Comparative insights into insula structure and function

Nature Neuroscience - Charbonneau et al. compare how the insula is structured and functions in humans, monkeys and rodents, revealing similarities and differences across species that are likely to...

rdcu.be

Today's AI systems learn mostly by passively absorbing data, but the brain builds intelligence in the reverse order. Grounded world models in biological organisms and future embodied AI arxiv.org/abs/2607.13560 #neuroscience

Grounded world models in biological organisms and future embodied AI

Recent advances in generative and embodied AI have been driven by large-scale predictive learning over multimodal data. However, the resulting systems remain largely based on passive training regimes ...

arxiv.org

The Neuroscience Department at UC Berkeley is hiring an Asst Professor in Computational Neuro. All areas of computational/theoretical neuro are welcome. Deadline Oct 30. Join our neuroscience community! aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05446 #AcademicJobs #Neuroscience #NeuroJobs

Assistant Professor - Computational Neuroscience - Department of Neuroscience

University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

aprecruit.berkeley.edu

#Neuroeconomics has long focused on reward values, ignoring their identity. @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social & @erinlrich.bsky.social explore a new @PLOSBiology.org fMRI study showing how identity-specific expectations steer choice selection. 🧪 Paper: plos.io/3R9rIxZ Primer: bit.ly/4vWIn6W

If you think sophisticated behavioural design > cutting edge techniques for understanding the brain, you might enjoy my journal club article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Here I discuss Clayton & Dickinson's demonstration of episodic-like memories in scrub jays: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Battle over the Constitution Has Spread to American Science. I'm out in the @theatlantic.com today about the new OMB proposed rule. It's just the longtime agenda of the the Supreme Court. US science and cancer cures now all depend on us picking up a fight with the Roberts Court.

The Unitary Executive Takes Over New Territory

The Trump administration’s theory of how the federal government should work is a threat to American science.

theatlantic.com

NIH announces the creation of the Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application (ORIVA) to reduce use of animals in research. dpcpsi.nih.gov/oriva

also see: Editors trying to find you to review a manuscript.

BWJones@bwjones.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Science peeps, particularly trainees: When reviewing grants, it really, really helps if you have a Google Scholar page, an ORCID account, or a website that makes getting information about you, easy. Some sort of web presence. I'm begging you. Make it easier for study sections to give you money.

Beautiful work in this paper. I think anatomy is often under-appreciated. I'm glad to see things like this #neurosicence 🧪🧠 An opposing molecular gradient axis underlies primate cortical organization | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An opposing molecular gradient axis underlies primate cortical organization

The principles organizing cellular diversity and connectivity in primate brains remain elusive. By integrating spatial transcriptomics, magnetic resonance imaging, and retrograde labeling in marmosets...

science.org

bump for visibility!

megan peters 🧠@meganakpeters.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🚨🚨JOB ALERT🚨🚨 I'm hiring a cogsci/philosophy/compneuro postdoc at @ucl.ac.uk @uclbrainscience.bsky.social @uclpals.bsky.social! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRH486/p... Come to London & work on frameworks for "testing" for consciousness using Bayesian belief updating & latent variable modeling. Pls share!

Spread the word! We are recruiting for 6 new research professors at UC Davis' California National Primate Research Center. Open rank, open area, but must leverage 🐒 resources. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07561

6 Positions - Assistant, Associate, Full Professional Researcher

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

Wow!

Jerad Walker@jeradwalker.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Incredible footage from a United Airlines flight of the Artemis II launch.

What?!!!!! They are ending continuous submission? grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Thrilled to share our new paper, which shows that the relative timing of cholinergic and dopamine release dynamically gates whether dopamine acts as an RPE for in vivo plasticity and reinforcement learning. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Acetylcholine demixes heterogeneous dopamine signals for learning and moving

Nature Neuroscience - Jang et al. measured dopamine and acetylcholine release in the striatum of rats performing a decision-making task and found that the relative timing of cholinergic and...

nature.com

I'm sure folks have thoughts..... grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

FFS

Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5mo ago

9/25

9/25

A new Department of Cognitive Science is being created at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Here is the call for a cluster hire (for around 10 faculty) in all areas of cognitive science, at both junior and senior levels: www.unibocconi.it/en/faculty-a... Deadline: May 4th, 2026

The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds. New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October. (h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)

Very excited to share a Special Collection at the Journal of Neuroscience (@sfnjournals.bsky.social) - Central Questions for Social Neuroscience Research. This issue includes some of the latest perspectives on social neuroscience research. Please check it out!👇 www.jneurosci.org/content/46/8

The Journal of Neuroscience: 46 (8)

jneurosci.org

NIMH is being “rebranded” to “NIH innovates”

Come be our colleague! The Center for Neural Science at NYU is accepting applications at the Assistant Professor level in computational neuroscience and/or neural engineering apply.interfolio.com/182074

NYU's Center for Neural Science is seeking a faculty candidate that would be jointly appointed with our Tandon School of Engineering. We are looking for post-doc applicants with neuroengineering or computational backgrounds. apply.interfolio.com/182074

Attentional resources vary rhythmically, but what about susceptibility to #distractors?@fiebelkornian.bsky.social &co show that theta & alpha phases modulate sensitivity & distractor impact, revealing rhythm-specific mechanisms shaping #attention & distractability @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4tU0vh4

Our paper is out in @natneuro.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41... We develop a geometric theory of how neural populations support generalization across many tasks. @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social @flatironinstitute.org @kempnerinstitute.bsky.social 1/14

Don’t get me started on the hypocrisy of this organization aligning with the current NIH/HHS “leaders”: kill all the animals you want to eat more and more animal flesh and fat but it is unethical to use animals for life saving medical research

This is a catastrophic unforced error. It was quite something to hear @ohsunews.bsky.social President Shereef Elnahal equate the shambolic lies of fringe groups (“others”) with the heartfelt & credible testimony of the scientists & veterinarians in his employ. “Teammates” don’t support rivals.

Science Magazine@science.org · 6mo ago

Breaking news: One of the largest monkey research centers in the United States has taken the first steps toward converting itself into a primate sanctuary, a seismic change that would affect biomedical research across the country. https://scim.ag/4bH2COV

Take action TODAY. Provide public comment in writing by emailing ohsuboard@ohsu.edu by THIS FRIDAY, Feb. 6 at noon PT. Include “For public comment” in the subject line. The battles are local AND national. All NHP researchers in the USA are at risk next. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

NIH looks to turn primate research center into a sanctuary

The health research agency is offering the Oregon National Primate Research Center federal money to stop testing on primates.

politico.com

Greg Folkers@gregfolkers.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The New World: The slow death of American science by Philip Ball NIH Jay Bhattahcrya bit.ly/4keFysW

Our lab will be boycotting biotech vendors that have contracts with ICE (e.g., Fisher, Agilent), and telling them why. If you google “vendorname usa spending”, you can see purchases for specific depts including ICE on usaspending.gov. Please talk to your labs and email your vendors!