Jeffrey C. Erlich
@jerlich.com
https://qoto.org/@jerlich Behavioral and Computational Neuroscientist Group Leader at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL
I visited the newly opened Quentin Blake center for illustration. tickets.qbcentre.org.uk. It’s small but there is a lot of great stuff on and a library! You could spend the whole day there reading and drawing. I especially liked the @murugiah-art.bsky.social @murugiah.bsky.social
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
tickets.qbcentre.org.uk
SWC & @gatsbyucl.bsky.social are looking to sponsor early career researchers in mechanistic theories of neural computation for external fellowships. Join a collaborative, world-class community at the interface of theory and experiment. Apply by 16 July www.sainsburywellcome.org/content/fell...
www.thetransmitter.org/machine-lear... @tonyzador.bsky.social says "AI can do prediction without understanding, but we lose something". The hope is that #JEPA gives us AI _with_ understanding. @yann-lecun.bsky.social
Can AI do neuroscience without understanding?
Prediction without understanding sustained astronomy through a thousand years of epicycles. Artificial intelligence is now offering neuroscience the same deal.
thetransmitter.org
Been hearing a lot about #JEPA lately @yann-lecun.bsky.social . Had a chat with Claude about what #JEPA is and why AI needs world models. One prediction: JEPA needs attention, since the correct level of abstraction is task dependent. 🧪 jerlich.substack.com/p/beyond-llm...
Beyond LLMs: JEPA and World Models
Exploring the landscape of the next-generation of informatic life.
jerlich.substack.com
drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/05/22/n... 🧪
New NIH policy demands advance approval of any foreign co-authors
New reporting in Science from Jeffrey Brainard and Jocelyn Kaiser informs us of new policy that is apparently being communicated by POs in relationship to progress reports. The takeaway message is …
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
www.bioniclab.org/news/request... 🧪
B.I.O.N.I.C. Lab - Request for Information NIH
Subject: NIH Strategic Plan RFI (NOT-OD-26-047), deadline May 16. 5 minutes of your time matters. Colleagues, NIH is developing its Strategic Plan for FY 2027-2031 and has issued an RFI (NOT-OD-26-047) requesting public comment on the framework. The submission form is short: three text boxes (500
bioniclab.org
Language, Understanding, and the Gap Between Designed and Evolved Minds Is derived intentionality the key difference between biological and informatic life? open.substack.com/pub/jerlich/... #AI @anthropic.com #Language #philosophy @rdawkins.bsky.social
Language, Understanding, and the Gap Between Designed and Evolved Minds
Is derived intentionality the key difference between biological and informatic life?
open.substack.com
Calling all neuroscience postdocs! Come and share your work with the London neuroscience community. No CVs, publication records or recommendation letters needed. Learn more about SWC’s Emerging Neuroscientists Seminar Series and apply by 30 June: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...
Abstracts closing May 15th!
Steve Fleming@smfleming.bsky.social · 5mo ago🚨 Announcing another edition of the Metacognitive Science satellite in NYC, August 2nd 2026 (day before CCN) 🧠 🧪 Abstract submission is now open and closes May 15th! metacognitivescience.org Co-organised with @meganakpeters.bsky.social @luciecharlesneuro.bsky.social @dobyrahnev.bsky.social
I showed this graph in class yesterday on how measles cases in the United States plummeted dramatically after the vaccine was licensed in 1963. It’s not subtle and I could not resist observing: “This stunning design in measles cases was not thanks to vitamin A. It was not due to beef tallow.”
Lots of work from the lab (and collaborations) this year at #COSYNE26 Main Meeting Talk: Saturday Mar 14 18:45 Context dependent localisation of short term memory, Jingjie Li 🧪 #neuroscience, @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social , @ucl.ac.uk
Just as the dominance of google led to the industry of SEO, consumer AI agents will lead to AI driven CAO (consumer agent optimisation) with seller AI trying to manipulate consumer AI in an endless cat and mouse game.
I just tried out Q.E.D. @qedscience.bsky.social on our recent preprint. I'm impressed. It's a little bit pedantic, but overall it identified the keys advances and limitations of the work and pointed me to some missed citations. I'm impressed!
Marseille folks: I’m organizing a one-day workshop on Distributed Computations for Flexible Behavior (Apr 16, Timone Campus) with a great line-up of speakers bridging theory, circuits & whole-brain dynamics! 🧠 Free registration (mandatory, incl. lunch): fannycazettes.limesurvey.net/172448?lang=...
Following an open letter on 1 February, our Chief Executive Professor Sir Ian Chapman has responded to feedback and provides an update on the changes to UKRI investment approach. Read his letter here: www.ukri.org/news/ukri-ce...
Thrilled to finally share this work! 🧠🔊 Using a new reinforcement-free task we show mice (like humans) extract abstract structure from sound (unsupervised) & dCA1 is causally required by building factorised, orthogonal subspaces of abstract rules. Led by Dammy Onih! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
I'm grateful for the opportunity to sit down with @davideagleman.bsky.social to spread optimism about the next steps in brain research & their impact on understanding brain and mental disorders. For a bolus of that excitement, start at 32:50, where David nails a summary of it (in 3.5 minutes).
David Eagleman@davideagleman.bsky.social · 7mo agoHow often do drugs result from accident rather than understanding? Join Inner Cosmos this week with neuroscientist Nicole Rust (nicolecrust.bsky.social), author of "Elusive Cures", as we discover how brain science might require a new grand plan. eagleman.com/podcast/141
We’re hiring a Group Leader! Join us to lead a transformative initiative in human systems neuroscience. Find out more and apply ⤵️ www.sainsburywellcome.org/content/curr...
I've just signed @londoncycling.bsky.social's petition calling for action on cycle theft... 40,000 bikes are stolen every year in London. This has to change. Join me in calling for action: action.lcc.org.uk/theft
Action on Cycle Theft Petition
London Cycling Campaign are calling for action to be taken on cycle theft. Sign the petition to pledge your support.
action.lcc.org.uk
I've just signed @londoncycling.bsky.social's petition calling for action on cycle theft... 40,000 bikes are stolen every year in London. This has to change. Join me in calling for action: action.lcc.org.uk/theft
Action on Cycle Theft Petition
London Cycling Campaign are calling for action to be taken on cycle theft. Sign the petition to pledge your support.
action.lcc.org.uk
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
Nothing could be healthier for Americans… and the world.
Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 7mo agoBREAKING: Over 680 members of the National Academy of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering have endorsed articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. (1/2 🧵)
So excited that this textbook, edited by @dfareri.bsky.social @dvsmith.bsky.social & @thepsychologist.bsky.social is out now! And so happy to have been invited to contribute. Here’s my chapter on the role of memory, esp. semantic memory, in temporal discounting: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
The Role of Memory in Temporal Discounting
A widely observed phenomenon in intertemporal choice is temporal discounting; people prefer to have rewards sooner rather than later, even if the delayed rewards are larger. Despite the universality o...
link.springer.com
Across seven incentivized experiments and a large reanalysis, we systematically manipulated the presence and type of post-choice feedback in repeated risky decisions to test whether feedback shapes behavior through learning mechanisms or through anticipatory changes in preferences.
We invite applications for postdoctoral researchers with strong expertise in in vivo electrophysiology and circuit neuroscience to join our team at the Paris Brain Institute (ICM).
Good luck!
Sam Wang@samwang.bsky.social · 7mo agoNews from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District. By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come! samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
