The hottest Neuroscience Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Science Topics

Sonia Gandhi's mission to change Parkinson's trials

Rory’s Always On Newsletter • 734 implied HN points • 05 Sep 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Clinical Trials Neuroscience
  1. Professor Sonia Gandhi leads a mission to improve Parkinson's trials by implementing ACT PD initiative for more efficient drug testing.
  2. The UK aims to become a hub for clinical trials like the multi-arm system to find disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's faster.
  3. Funding is crucial for scientists like Professor Gandhi to advance technology and trial designs for breakthroughs in Parkinson's research.

Experience More Epiphanies in 2024

The Recovering Academic • 376 implied HN points • 19 Dec 23
🔬 Science Neuroscience Literature Creativity Brain
  1. Epiphanies can come suddenly, triggered by external stimuli and internal processing, leading to a unique pleasure and breakthrough.
  2. Creating optimal conditions for epiphanies involves changing surroundings, allowing for diversion, and being open to different experiences.
  3. Distinguishing between pseudo-insight and real epiphanies is important; genuine epiphanies offer practical solutions or profound impacts on an individual's life.

July Readings

Brain Pizza • 1191 implied HN points • 11 Jul 23
🔬 Science Neuroscience Psychology Research
  1. The post discusses various July readings on topics like anger, self-promotion, sleep, loneliness, and more.
  2. The author, Shane O'Mara, is a neuroscientist, psychologist, and writer who provides regular content on Brain Pizza.
  3. Readers can sign up for a 7-day free trial to access more content from Shane O'Mara.
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The dangers of Andrew Huberman

Trickle-Down Wellness • 216 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Neuroscience Health Misinformation Immunology Podcasts
  1. Andrew Huberman has faced criticism for sharing misinformation regarding sunscreen and flu prevention.
  2. Huberman's avoidance of common health interventions like sunscreen and vaccines while promoting cold plunges and supplements is concerning.
  3. Critics have pointed out multiple inaccuracies in Huberman's claims about immunity, cold, and flu transmission, highlighting the importance of consulting credible experts.

Why wasn't preservation with the goal of potential future revival started earlier in history?

Neurobiology Notes • 176 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🔬 Science Biology Technology History Neuroscience Cryonics
  1. Despite preservation with the goal of future revival not being proposed for most of human history, in 1962, Evan Cooper and Robert Ettinger independently introduced the concept of cryonics.
  2. Factors influencing the delay in proposing preservation with future revival include a need for optimism in technological progress, willingness to take risks, and advances in preservation technology.
  3. Other possible reasons for the delayed start include societal restrictions, advancements in information theory, and the idea that preservation does not need to be perfect to be pursued.

"Cheap tricks" in human language comprehension

The Counterfactual • 119 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
🔬 Science Cognition Linguistics Psychology Neuroscience Language processing
  1. People often don’t notice mistakes in language and just assume they are reading correctly. This happens because our brains are quick to fill in the gaps and make sense of sentences, even if they are wrong.
  2. Traditionally, understanding language was thought to involve deep processing, but new ideas suggest we often use simple, fast tricks instead. This is called 'good-enough' comprehension and helps us keep up in fast conversations.
  3. Just like humans, language models also use shortcuts. While some criticize AI for not truly understanding language, humans rely on similar cognitive tricks to quickly navigate and understand communication.

New Record(ings)!

Brain Blast • 39 implied HN points • 12 Jun 24
🔬 Science Neuroscience Research Technology
  1. Intra-cranial electroencephalography (iEEG) is a technology using tiny electrodes in the brain to record signals, and Precision Neuroscience set a world record with 4,096 electrodes.
  2. Wilder Penfield pioneered important techniques in brain surgery and epilepsy treatment, including the Montreal Procedure and temporal lobectomy, affecting both surgical outcomes and scientific understanding of the brain.
  3. Stereo EEG, a variant of iEEG, allows for deep brain signal recording, and using iEEG in a Stroop task helped identify brain regions involved in attentional control processes in the prefrontal cortex.

Intrinsic Primacy: Consciousness, the Impetus of Man

Holodoxa • 259 implied HN points • 18 Jul 23
🔬 Science Consciousness Neuroscience Philosophy Emergence
  1. Our consciousness and internal thoughts are essential to our human experience, leading to the question of where they originate in the brain.
  2. Neuroscience faces challenges in understanding consciousness, with the field needing a new paradigm to address the relationship between brain function and conscious experience.
  3. Different perspectives, such as intrinsic introspection and extrinsic scientific observation, have evolved through history, shaping how we view the world and ourselves.

Blasting off soon...

Brain Blast • 39 implied HN points • 30 May 24
🔬 Science Neuroscience Psychology
  1. Brain Blast is a newsletter that covers brain-related news, research papers, and deep dives into various brain and mind topics.
  2. The newsletter is authored by a veteran brain research academic.
  3. Subscribing to Brain Blast gives access to weekly updates on the latest in neuroscience and psychology.

Evolving Beyond Determinism

Holodoxa • 199 implied HN points • 31 Oct 23
🔬 Science Consciousness Evolution Free will Neuroscience Philosophy
  1. Consciousness and free will are gaining scholarly attention, moving beyond being considered intellectual backwaters.
  2. There is a growing interest in naturalistic explanations of the human mind, relying on science rather than mystical or religious beliefs.
  3. The book 'Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will' by Kevin J. Mitchell offers a scientific defense of free will against determinism, emphasizing the role of conscious experience in guiding human behavior.

How To See Impossible Colours

Everything Is Amazing • 733 implied HN points • 21 Feb 23
🔬 Science Optics Perception Color Theory Vision Neuroscience
  1. By focusing your eyes in a certain way, you can see impossible colors like red-green or blue-yellow.
  2. Seeing colors like Stygian Blue or Hyperbolic Orange challenges our understanding, as they seem darker or brighter than physically possible.
  3. Experimenting with how you view colors can lead to unique perceptual experiences, expanding the boundaries of human vision.

A History of Intelligence

Holodoxa • 199 implied HN points • 19 Sep 23
🔬 Science Evolution Neuroscience Intelligence Artificial Intelligence Cognitive abilities
  1. Animals like primates and octopus exhibit intelligent behavior through learning powerful "world models" which is missing in AI systems today.
  2. The book 'A Brief History of Intelligence' outlines five key evolutionary breakthroughs that led to human intelligence: steering, reinforcement, simulating, mentalizing, and language.
  3. Human intelligence has evolved through the ability to navigate environments, learn through trial-and-error, simulate future events, understand others' minds, and develop spoken/written language.

How can you increase your odds of experiencing epiphany?

The Recovering Academic • 257 implied HN points • 13 Dec 22
📚 Literature Neuroscience Creativity Fiction Nature
  1. Epiphanies can be triggered by sudden insight, which is distinct from gradual problem-solving.
  2. Creating the right environment, like changing scenery or engaging in diversion, can aid in experiencing epiphanies.
  3. Epiphany is a complex concept, often arising from a combination of external stimuli and internal mental processes.

Vision Reasoning, Brain-Inspired Pruning, and Behavioral Simulations

HackerPulse Dispatch • 16 implied HN points • 22 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Neuroscience Chip Design Social Science
  1. LLaVA-o1 helps vision-language models improve their reasoning skills with clear steps, making them better at understanding complex tasks.
  2. Brain-inspired pruning makes spiking neural networks much more efficient by keeping only the important parts, leading to significant cost savings.
  3. Generative agents can simulate thousands of people's behavior accurately, which can help in studying social science and creating better policies.

The Tale of the Shaman: Science, Magic, and Super Placebo (v2)

Secretum Secretorum • 555 implied HN points • 27 Feb 23
🔬 Science Psychology Neuroscience Magic Research
  1. Magical healing techniques are psychosocial technologies for eliciting superordinary placebo responses.
  2. In a disenchanted world, achieving magical effects is challenging due to shifts in belief and worldview.
  3. The placebo effect may be rooted in evolutionary processes related to immune system activation and resource allocation.

Neuroscience/AI - Can rats ‘think’? A paper by Chongxi Lai and colleagues on cognitive teleportation in rats [8 min read]

James W. Phillips' Newsletter • 157 implied HN points • 10 Apr 23
🔬 Science Neuroscience AI Cognition Experiment
  1. There is a paper on cognitive teleportation in rats, pushing the boundaries of what we understand about rodent cognition.
  2. The research involves tasks where rats navigate in virtual reality based on their brain signals, not physical movements.
  3. The study successfully shows rats 'thinking' by rewarding them for imagining being in a particular location, showcasing impressive advancements in neuroscience and AI.

Using neuro-imaging and language models to decode thoughts

The Counterfactual • 139 implied HN points • 31 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Neuroscience Machine Learning Language processing Cognitive Science
  1. Researchers are using brain scans, like fMRI, along with language models to decode what people are thinking about or listening to. This could help understand brain activity better.
  2. The technology could support people who can't speak, like stroke patients, by interpreting their thoughts into language. However, it's not perfect and needs more development.
  3. There are concerns about privacy, as this technology might one day read thoughts against a person’s will. But for now, people can consciously resist the decoding to some extent.

Welcome to the Science of Learning!

The Science of Learning • 179 implied HN points • 06 Jun 23
🚌 Education Learning Science Cognitive Psychology Neuroscience
  1. The newsletter focuses on the latest research in learning science and how it can improve teaching practices. It's a great way for educators to stay informed.
  2. Readers can expect to see summaries of studies and practical tips for applying research findings in the classroom. It’s meant to help enhance teaching effectiveness.
  3. It's free to subscribe and will have new content coming out once or twice a month. This offers a chance for teachers and learners to engage with new ideas together.

Inside The Telepathy Tapes

What's Important? • 26 implied HN points • 11 Jan 25
🔬 Science Neuroscience Consciousness Research Methods
  1. The Telepathy Tapes suggests that some non-speaking autistic children may have psychic abilities like telepathy. This idea challenges traditional views of science and consciousness.
  2. While the podcast may present intriguing cases, it is not a formal scientific study, and the findings need more thorough investigation to be validated.
  3. Many people find the messages from the children in The Telepathy Tapes align with spiritual beliefs, sparking a broader discussion about the nature of consciousness and human connection.

The Love Bug

Eat Shit and Prosper • 319 implied HN points • 17 Jan 23
🔬 Science Microbiology Neuroscience Evolutionary biology Health Immunology
  1. Oxytocin is known as the 'love hormone' and is linked to feelings of bonding and social connection. It plays a role in childbirth and breastfeeding, helping to create strong bonds between parents and children.
  2. A specific gut bacterium, Lactobacillus reuteri, can increase oxytocin levels in animals. This bacterium is important for healing and may influence our social behaviors and immune response.
  3. Oxytocin can also affect how we view others, creating in-groups and out-groups. It can enhance connections within a group but might lead to negative feelings towards those outside the group, highlighting the complexities of human relationships.

On medium-sized questions in neuroscience

NeuroLogos • 58 implied HN points • 11 Apr 23
🔬 Science Neuroscience
  1. Neuroscientists explore a wide variety of interesting questions about brains and behavior beyond just imitating human intelligence or achieving cognitive enhancement.
  2. There is value in focusing on medium-sized scientific questions that are scientifically well-posed, of general interest, and can lead to more specific experimental questions and philosophical speculations.
  3. Topics like sensory substitution, fading percepts, and hyperacuity offer concrete questions for researchers to investigate, such as understanding how signals in the brain enable new senses, how eye movements affect visual experience, and how human vision surpasses the limits of individual retinal cells.

Why We're Not Engineering Probiotics

Eat Shit and Prosper • 139 implied HN points • 31 Jan 23
🔬 Science Microbiology Neuroscience Probiotics Health Research
  1. Natural bacteria like _Bacteroides_ can do important tasks in our bodies better than engineered ones. They have evolved over millions of years and have a complex understanding of their role in our ecosystem.
  2. Engineering probiotics may seem like a safe option, but it often overlooks the richness of existing microbes that might serve our needs without modification.
  3. Working with natural bacteria could lead to breakthroughs in health similar to how domesticated animals have changed human life in the past; there's so much potential waiting to be explored.

From Ego to AI: AI as the path to the Age of Aquarius

Rob Leclerc • 19 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Neuroscience Psychedelics Future of AI
  1. Fear of AI dominance may be influenced by our ego, but future AI-human symbiosis could be positive.
  2. The Default Mode Network in the brain plays a crucial role in shaping our self-identity and consciousness.
  3. As AI technology advances, it may lead to changes in human consciousness, potentially altering our sense of self and cognitive abilities.

Links for 2024-02-10

Axis of Ordinary • 19 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🔬 Science AI Neuroscience Physics
  1. AI advancements are progressing rapidly, with more agents leading to better performance in Language Models.
  2. Neuroscience is evolving with innovations like sensors enhancing sensation in prosthetic limbs and brain control enabled by neural networks.
  3. Physics research reveals insights such as gravity showcasing the strong force in the proton and implications of linearity in quantum mechanics.

What Happens in the Brain While Daydreaming?

Psych • 19 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🔬 Science Neuroscience Memory
  1. Daydreaming may contribute to brain plasticity: Daydreams, especially after viewing images, might assist the brain in learning and adapting by guiding neural patterns.
  2. Neural activity during daydreams: Neurons in the visual cortex of mice fired similarly during daydreaming and when actively looking at images, suggesting a link between daydreams and visual memories.
  3. Predictive nature of early daydreams: Daydreams at the start of the day predicted changes in the brain's response to images, indicating that daydreams could influence the brain's future reactions to visual stimuli.