Ling-Qi Zhang
@lingqiz.bsky.social
🧠 Comp Neuro, Behavior, Theory and Machine Learning | Theory Fellow @HHMI Janelia | 💻 https://lingqiz.github.io/
@fluketc.bsky.social and @dudman.bsky.social have hit it out the park again. In my (perhaps biased) opinion this - along with their previous papers - is field-defining work. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reward magnitude determines reinforcement learning efficiency
Standard animal learning studies minimize individual reward magnitudes to maximize the repetitions of reinforced behaviors. We investigated how reward magnitude influences initial learning across five...
science.org
Story time friends... Ring attractor networks rely on fine-tuned symmetric connectivity. The fly head direction network has ring attractor dynamics but heterogeneous connectivity. How is this possible? 1/🧵 Link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
It’s very fun to analyze other people’s data for your favorite model and theory, but data reuse actually takes a huge amount of effort. We tested if current agentic AI can help with data reuse. Conclusion: it definitely can, but requires careful human supervision. #AIforScience #compneuro #neuroAI
Kristin Branson @kristinmbranson.bsky.social · 3mo agoNew preprint with @lingqiz.bsky.social: Neurodata Without Boredom: Benchmarking Agentic AI for Data Reuse arxiv.org/abs/2605.12808 1/10
After three years of working on this review with my collaborator Emily Dennis (Janelia Farm), it is finally in press. The review provides an overview and our personal reflections on what constitutes an integrative approach to neurobiology of foraging. Enjoy www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Neurobiology of Foraging: An Integrative Approach
Foraging, defined as the search for food to sustain one's energetic needs, is a fundamental behavior performed by almost all animals to survive in their environment. Foraging involves a variety o...
annualreviews.org
After three years , this joint review with my dear friend Emily Jane Dennis is finally in press. The review provides a glimpse on what constitutes an integrative approach to neurobiology of foraging. Out in the next issue of Annual Reviews of Neuroscience. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Neurobiology of Foraging: An Integrative Approach
Foraging, defined as the search for food to sustain one's energetic needs, is a fundamental behavior performed by almost all animals to survive in their environment. Foraging involves a variety o...
annualreviews.org
These workshops are amazing opportunities for deep discussions on how cognition is implemented in the brain, from theory to behavior and circuits. Apply by May 7 & spread the word!
Janelia Conferences@janeliaconf.bsky.social · 6mo agoApply by May 7 for two early-career #neuro workshops at Janelia! Featuring joint sessions to foster collaboration between theory & experiment. 🧠 🤝 Theoretical Neuroscience→ janelia.news/THE26 Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience→ janelia.news/CNW26 @ratecoding.bsky.social @jvoigts.bsky.social
Applications are open for the most fun neuroscience summer school on this planet. 9/10 attendees end up with a fresh perspective on their work and being able to do previously impossible experiments. Apply & spread the word!
International Brain Research Organization@ibroorg.bsky.social · 6mo agoBuild hands-on skills in optical & electrophysiological methods at the TENSS 2026 course & advance your skills in modern systems #neuroscience 🔗 Apply by 1 Mar: https://ibro.org/training-opportunity/perc4_romania/ #IBROinAsiaPacific #IBROinUSCanada #IBROinAfrica #IBROinLatAm #IBROinEurope #training
We are organizing again with @allysonsgro.bsky.social Junior Scientist workshop for theoretical biophysics at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social ,September 13 - 18, 2026. Deadline: April 16, 2026 All details here: tinyurl.com/yc66fawc
Apply by Feb. 3 to become a Janelia Group Leader! Group Leaders drive breakthroughs & experimental approaches in imaging, molecular engineering, protein chemistry, mass spectrometry, & methods that don't yet exist. Learn more: janelia.org/groupleader 🧪
Konstanz school of Collective Behavior will take place again from 20th July to 7th August , 2026. We have an amazing line up of speakers covering state of the art research on collective behavior across systems. Application deadline : March 15th Details here: www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/kscb/applica...
🪰 A new ‘Eyemap’ developed by a team led by Arthur Zhao & @michaelreiser.bsky.social reveals how visual information detected by the fly’s eye shows up in neurons deep in the brain. Remarkably, the eye’s shape determines how flies see motion.👁️ 🔗 hhmi.news/4kSZjou
Seeking applications from recent PhDs in neuro, psych, ling, philo, comp sci, or other cog sci discipline, for our MindCORE Fellowship. MindCORE is an interdisciplinary effort at Penn to understand human intelligence and behavior. Apply by Dec 1: mindcore.sas.upenn.edu/post-doctora...
Excited to announce our new pre-print (www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...)! This collaborative work (co-led by Adriane Otopalik and Gerry Rubin) examines how neuronal circuits regulate social behaviors, like courtship🫶 and aggression🥊, across sexes. #neuroscience #Drosophila #WomenInSTEM 🧪1/
Join the team at Janelia to use #theory, computation, and modeling to tackle bold questions in #biology. Collaborate across scientific disciplines to drive discovery. Apply by Nov. 3 @ https://janelia.link/theoryfellowprogram #computationalbiology #sciencecareers
Pleased to have this review out in @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social. In it we discuss various aspects of the intersection between foraging behaviors and neuroscience, and offer some future directions: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience
The study of foraging is central to a renewed interest in naturalistic behavior in neuroscience. Applying a foraging framework grounded in behavioral …
sciencedirect.com
The debate of whether the brain is optimal is the wrong one. Quoting one of my favorite writings from Herbert Simon (1992): The predictions of an optimizing theory depend as much on the postulated side conditions as on the optimization assumption. (By side conditions here, he meant constraints).
John Pearson@jmxpearson.bsky.social · 11mo agoI mean, efficient coding and optimal control work *far* better than they have a right to, and they generate predictions. They are not falsifiable hypotheses except in the narrowest sense, but they are programs that can identify parsimonious principles for explaining real observations.
✨ We’re #hiring Theory Fellows!✨ Janelia is recruiting early-career scientists to join our collaborative research environment and use #computation & #theory to tackle bold questions in #biology. 🔗 Apply by Nov. 3 👉 janelia.link/theoryfellow... @hhmi.org
📢We're #hiring Group Leaders! Apply to lead a lab at Janelia & advance biology using theory, computational modeling & machine learning. 🔹5-year renewable appointment 🔹Pioneer new tools & approaches 🔹Collaborate across disciplines Apply by Nov. 4👉 https://janelia.link/groupleader
📢 Students & postdocs in #TheoreticalNeuroscience 👉 Join us this November for a "by the students, for the students" workshop featuring whiteboard-style tutorials, in-depth discussions, and research talks. ✈️ Travel, lodging & registration covered Apply by Aug. 5 @ janelia.news/THE25
What is the probability of an image? What do the highest and lowest probability images look like? Do natural images lie on a low-dimensional manifold? In a new preprint with Zahra Kadkhodaie and @eerosim.bsky.social, we develop a novel energy-based model in order to answer these questions: 🧵
Very excited to be part of this. Huge thank you to the @simonsfoundation.org for their support and vision. www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/04/24/s... Also, job openings in this context! Please apply and forward to anyone who may be interested! hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/367...
Simons Foundation Launches Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience
Simons Foundation Launches Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience on Simons Foundation
simonsfoundation.org
Very happy to see our work finally in print! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... TLDR: Tilt illusion is not a bug, but a feature of a well-designed visual system that maximizes information capacity adaptively based on spatial context. (1/6)
The tilt illusion arises from an efficient reallocation of neural coding resources at the contextual boundary | PNAS
The tilt illusion—a bias in the perceived orientation of a center stimulus induced by an oriented surround—illustrates how context shapes visual pe...
pnas.org
How can AI help you to analyze your microscopy images? Find out at the "Machine Learning for Microscopy Image Analysis" course at the @mblscience.bsky.social in Woods Hole from Aug 22-Sep 6! Applications are due 🚨 April 30 🚨 Read on for more! 👇 www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
AI@MBL: Machine Learning for Microscopy Image Analysis | Marine Biological Laboratory
The goal of this course is to familiarize researchers in the life sciences with state-of-the-art deep learning techniques for microscopy image analysis and to introduce them to tools and frameworks th...
mbl.edu
Here at Princeton, we’re amplifying our university president’s leadership. It’s time for everyone - faculty, students, staff - to speak out. tl;dr: rights can’t be blackmailed. From me and science colleagues: www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025...
To stop intimidation, Eisgruber needs your help
When targeting one institution is a bald attempt to divide and conquer, as is the case with Columbia, it is essential for a coalition or group of institutions and individuals to stand up together.&nbs...
dailyprincetonian.com
Columbia University has failed to defend academic freedom & freedom of speech & allowed a great institution to be bullied & extorted into submission by an administration hellbent on contorting higher education to their will. The AAUP condemns this capitulation. We can & must fight back.
Columbia Concedes to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped
The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.
nytimes.com
"And I think once you make concessions once, it's hard not to make them again." Princeton President Chris Eisgruber's warning to universities applies to law firms, companies, foundations, nonprofits, and more. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Using funding to 'force concessions' threatens institutions, Princeton president says
Columbia University agreed to comply with a series of demands from the Trump administration about how it will handle protests, antisemitism and academic departments. The university faced a deadline to...
pbs.org
Pro-tip for university administrators: when the government illegally cancels your grants, your first response shouldn't be "you kind of have a point."
jon ben-menachem@jbenmenachem.com · last yr.Email from Columbia President Armstrong makes clear that admin still has no idea what it’s dealing with. No amount of “serious action to combat antisemitism” (read: punish Palestine activists) will satisfy the Nazis. They see universities as an enemy institution to crush underfoot.
old Soviet joke for our times: Guy stops by the newsstand every day, scans the front page, doesn’t buy the paper. One day the vendor asks what he’s up to. Guy says: “looking for an obituary.” Vendor says “those are towards the back of the paper, comrade.” Guy says: “not the one I’m looking for.”
