Katharina Dobs

@kathadobs.bsky.social

Professor @JLU | cognitive computational neuroscientist | mom of 3 | she/her www.vccnlab.org

While I'm sad to miss #CCN2026, you don't have to miss out on the cool work coming out of the lab. 😊 Super proud of the diversity of projects this year—from category and unit specialization to inversion effects, shape bias, and memorability in brains and DNNs! Stop by and check them out! #NeuroAI

Graphic showing the VCCN Lab’s contributions to CCN 2026. The design features the VCCN Lab logo on the left, a stylized neural network icon in the center, and “CCN 2026” on the right. Five posters are listed, each accompanied by a headshot of the presenting researcher and the scheduled poster session.
Jakob Winkler: Rethinking the inversion effect as a graded phenomenon across object categories (Poster Session A, Tuesday, August 4, 9:30–11:15 am).
Sule Tasliyurt-Celebi: Memorability varies with how visual information is sampled by humans and models (Poster Session C, Wednesday, August 5, 9:30–11:15 am).
Alban Flachot: More shape bias does not mean more human-like visual representations (Poster Session C, Wednesday, August 5, 9:30–11:15 am).
Lenny van Dyck: Different features shape category selectivity in human visual cortex and DNNs (Poster Session F, Thursday, August 6, 1:45–3:30 pm).
Zhengqing Miao: Functionally specialized units reflect readout pathways rather than distinct feature encoding in artificial neural networks (Poster Session F, Thursday, August 6, 1:45–3:30 pm).

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

SfN Journals@sfnjournals.bsky.social · 3w ago

#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

Diagram of brain activation patterns with labels for different stimuli.

Really enjoyed the symposium, the great discussions and being back in Tuebingen! Thanks for having me!

Antonino Greco@agreco.bsky.social · 3mo ago

⚫️ 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

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! ➡️

J. Brendan Ritchie@jbrendanritchie.bsky.social · 5mo ago

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

Lenny van Dyck@levandyck.bsky.social · 5mo ago

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

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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

Kaiser Lab@dkaiserlab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

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!

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

Katharina Dobs@kathadobs.bsky.social · 12mo ago

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

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

Jess Thompson@tsonj.bsky.social · last yr.

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! 🤝🔄🧠

Lenny van Dyck@levandyck.bsky.social · last yr.

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

So excited that our excellence cluster 'The Adaptive Mind' got funded! 🥳 Looking forward to lots of great science and projects! #TheAdaptiveMind #ExcellenceInitiative 👁️🧠🤖

Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (JLU)@jlugiessen.bsky.social · last yr.

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...

Hauptgebäude der Universität Gießen im Konfettiregen