And since we're at CCN, here's a little preview of all the models we tested so far 🚀
Katharina Dobs
@kathadobs.bsky.social
Professor @JLU | cognitive computational neuroscientist | mom of 3 | she/her www.vccnlab.org
1/5 Over a decade of comparing deep neural networks to the human brain—but what have we actually learned? Our new @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social Feature Review synthesizes a decade of brain–DNN comparisons, asking what they reveal about brain function across vision and language.
Excited to share that our paper is now out in #JNeurosci! We propose a multidimensional framework of high-level visual cortex that reconciles a longstanding debate. Thanks to @kathadobs.bsky.social, @martinhebart.bsky.social, and everyone else for the great discussions along the way. More to come 🧠🌈
Multidimensional feature tuning in category-selective areas of human visual cortex
Two prominent accounts describe the functional organization of human high-level visual cortex. A categorical view emphasizes category-selective areas, while a dimensional view highlights continuous fe...
doi.org
#JNeurosci: Using a data-driven analysis of fMRI responses to natural images, @levandyck.bsky.social @martinhebart.bsky.social & @kathadobs.bsky.social identified interpretable dimensions that explain activity in face-, body-, & scene-selective areas https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0038-26.2026
One of my postdoc's visa application to join #CCN2026 in NYC just got denied. Feeling frustrated with the world... 🌎😕
It's #VSS2026 time! We're super excited to be back and presenting some exciting, ongoing projects in the lab. Come by and say hi! 🤗
Really enjoyed the symposium, the great discussions and being back in Tuebingen! Thanks for having me!
⚫️ NeuroAI Symposium 2026 - it was a blast! ⚫️ Groundbreaking talks, lively discussions and inspiring ideas across #NeuroAI topics! 🧠🤖 A huge thank you to all our speakers, organizers, and participants for making #NeuroAISymposium2026 such a success 🙌 📸 Highlights at neuroaisymposium.com
Highly recommended: I really enjoyed NEAT, every time I attended. Great opportunity to catch up on #NeuroAI, especially for those who can't make it to CCN!
Happy to announce the 3rd iteration of NEAT (Neuro-AI-Talks), which will take place in Osnabrück September 14th-15th 2026. NEAT is a (deliberately small scale) NeuroAI workshop that brings together researchers from neuroscience and AI. www.kietzmannlab.org/neat2026/ More information below 👇
Excellent opportunity to join our wonderful vision science / cognitive neuroscience community in Giessen! Application deadline is tomorrow! 🚀
10 PhD positions at JLU Giessen in the new Research Training Group "PIMON"! We will explore how humans perceive and interact with materials and objects in natural environments. More information on the project, the PIs, and how to apply here: www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns... Please share!
postdoc and PhD positions in visual cognitive computational neuroscience in my lab at the University of Cambridge kamilajozwik.com/join_lab.html
Kamila Jozwik - Join lab
kamilajozwik.com
Category selectivity vs. behavioral relevance in visual cortex? 👁️🧠 @levandyck.bsky.social and I really enjoyed diving into this piece and appreciated the authors’ thoughtful response. We're curious to see how the field moves forward from here! ➡️
Our reply to 11 commentaries on our article ("Rethinking category-selectivity in human visual cortex") is out in Cognitive Neuroscience! Thanks to @susanwardle.bsky.social @maryamvaziri.bsky.social Dwight Kravitz @cibaker.bsky.social and all who contributed! 1/x www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
We talk a lot about faces and bodies in cog neuro, but a person is both. So how segregated are face and body representations in human visual cortex? When, and why, do they get integrated? Check out Lenny’s new preprint using DNNs and fMRI encoding models to tackle exactly that question 👇 #NeuroAI
How segregated vs. integrated are face and body representations in human visual cortex? In this new preprint with @kathadobs.bsky.social, we use DNNs and fMRI to find out. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #neuroskyence 🧵 1/n
📢 Workshop announcement. We are super excited to announce the workshop Perceptual Inferences, from philosophy to neuroscience, organized by Alexander Schütz and Daniel Kaiser. 📍 Rauischholzhausen Castle, near Marburg, Germany 🗓️ June 8 to 10, 2026. 1/4
I have a PhD opening for my #VIDI BrainShorts project 📽️🧠🤖! Are you or do you know an ambitious, recent (or almost) MSc graduate with a background in NeuroAI and interest in large-scale data collection and video perception? Check out our vacancy! (deadline Feb 15). werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Vacancy — PhD Position in NeuroAI for Video Perception in the Human Brain
<p><span>Are you interested in using AI to unravel the mysteries of the brain? Do you want to perform cutting-edge NeuroAI research and leverage deep learning to understand human vision? Then check out the vacancy below and apply for a PhD position in this exciting research direction.</span></p>
werkenbij.uva.nl
Dimensionality reduction may be the wrong approach to understanding neural representations. Our new paper shows that across human visual cortex, dimensionality is unbounded and scales with dataset size—we show this across nearly four orders of magnitude. journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
I’m excited to share the first preprint from my PhD project! Together with Daniel Kaiser (@dkaiserlab.bsky.social), we investigated how internal models shape inter-individual differences in the perception and neural processing of natural scenes. Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps... 1/n
Very excited to be part of the new graduate training program "PIMON" by @dfg.de alongside a fantastic team! 🥳 We're looking forward to training a new generation of scientists in perception, cognition and (inter)action! 🧠🤖👀 Stay tuned for upcoming positions! #PIMON #neurojobs #NeuroAI #vision
Super happy to announce that our Research Training Group "PIMON" is funded by the @dfg.de ! Starting in October, we will have exciting opportunities for PhD students that want to explore object and material perception & interaction in Gießen @jlugiessen.bsky.social ! Just look at this amazing team!
Investigating individual-specific topographic organization has traditionally been a resource-intensive and time-consuming process. But what if we could map visual cortex organization in thousands of brains? Here we offer the community with a toolbox that can do just that! tinyurl.com/deepretinotopy
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026. The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social. Please apply here until Nov 25: www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
Find me at the poster session tomorrow! I’ll be standing in for Saskia who unfortunately couldn’t make it. Will presenting joint work with @kathadobs.bsky.social on MEG decoding during object permanence #CCN2025
Tuesday (1:30–4:30 pm) - Elah (A60): holistic face processing in humans & DNNs - @levandyck.bsky.social (A64): face–body integration in DNNs & brains - Sule (A63): top-down effects on neural face representations - Saskia & @apurvaratan.bsky.social: neural decoding during object permanence
Really looking forward to #CCN2025! On Tuesday, I'm presenting new work with @kathadobs.bsky.social on segregated vs. integrated face & body processing in visual cortex 😊🧍🧠 Using DNNs & fMRI, we test competing hypotheses, finding both distinct & shared selectivity. Come by Poster A64 for more.
So sad (and definitely feeling the FOMO) that I can’t attend #CCN2025 this year 😢, but very proud that our lab will present 6 projects! 🥳 Here's a quick rundown:
In this world on fire, with misinformation, science and democracy under threat, how can scientists be a force for social good? This Monday in Amsterdam, join @weijima.bsky.social @tsonj.bsky.social Ili Ma + me for an interactive workshop as part of #CCN2025 anneurai.net/2025/05/05/c...
Scientists for social good: 2025 satellite event
We live in times when public trust in science is under threat, misinformation is rife, AI ethics are of increasing concern and climate change is increasingly affecting communities worldwide. How do…
anneurai.net
Are you planning to attend #CCN2025? Do you want to reflect on how to direct your skills and aptitudes to tackle today's most pressing social problems? Make sure you come to Amsterdam a day early to attend our satellite event on Science for Social Good. Register here: forms.gle/TFRCZYX2qfwD...
Ever wondered whether it's categorical specialization or distributed representation in the human visual cortex? Check out how the brilliant @levandyck.bsky.social tackles this long-standing question in his first PhD project. Spoiler alert: no need to choose anymore! 🤝🔄🧠
How is high-level visual cortex organized? In a new preprint with @martinhebart.bsky.social & @kathadobs.bsky.social, we show that category-selective areas encode a rich, multidimensional feature space 🌈 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #neuroskyence 🧵 1/n
Sounds like a fantastic PhD opportunity at the intersection of visual neuroscience, AI and developmental psychology! 🧠👁️🤖👶 'lees meer' here 👇
There are 2 PhD positions in my lab in Amsterdam (collaboration with Sander Bohte, @tessamdekker.bsky.social and Ingmar Visser) on NeuroAI of developmental vision. academicpositions.nl/ad/centrum-w...
Looks like a super cool summer school and a great way to enhance your coding skills! 👩💻🐍😎
Are you a scientist who codes? 🐍 Fearing that your public repo might implode the moment someone looks at it? Then ASPP 2025 this is *the* summer school for you! Hands-on tutorials on collaborative code dev, code orga & sharing, testing, debugging, computer architecture.. aspp.school
So excited that our excellence cluster 'The Adaptive Mind' got funded! 🥳 Looking forward to lots of great science and projects! #TheAdaptiveMind #ExcellenceInitiative 👁️🧠🤖
Herausragender Erfolg in der #Exzellenzstrategie: Gleich drei #Exzellenzcluster für die #JLUGiessen – #Herz-#Lungen-, #Batterie- und #Wahrnehmungsforschung konnten im Wettbewerb überzeugen @cpi-exstra.bsky.social @heroldlab.bsky.social @dfg.de @wissrat.bsky.social www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
Good morning, Bsky'ers! Some people have asked for a life update, here it is: I finished my last chemotherapy yesterday! 🥳 It’s been a long ride, but I’m feeling happy, relieved, and incredibly grateful. I sort of always knew, but now more than ever: #cancersucks #sciencematters #sciencesaveslives
Top-down feedback is ubiquitous in the brain and computationally distinct, but rarely modeled in deep neural networks. What happens when a DNN has biologically-inspired top-down feedback? 🧠📈 Our new paper explores this: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Top-down feedback matters: Functional impact of brainlike connectivity motifs on audiovisual integration
elifesciences.org