iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 17h

Good to see that our opinion piece on grand theories of consciousness is out. #consciousness #neuroskyence #philsci #philsky🧠 #neuroscience #brain 🧪

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

My daughter spotted an io moth caterpillar (Automeris io) on the back of my pant leg as we hiked along a trail in the Pinery Provincial Park. It was a good thing we didn't touch it. The spines contain venom that can cause intense burning pain and persistent swelling. She managed to remove it safely.

Photo of bright green io moth caterpillar with lots of spines.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Spotted a Katydid on a daylily in our garden today.

Photo of a green katydid on a deep red daylily.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Waterlily, Pinery Provincial Park.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Check out our recent paper in which we provide a new framework for measuring errors in age estimation in both human observers and AI, separating precision from bias. As we make clear, precision and bias follow different trajectories as people age and their faces change. doi.org/10.1038/s415... 🧠

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Ravi Menon @northernthrux.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Glad I took the bus. Rebooked flight delayed because “need to change the aircraft “. In the meantime the aircraft scheduled on this route yesterday and this morning C-GGOF (FIN 405) is merrily flying around with no “maintenance issues”. Such BS.

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Western University @westernu.ca · 13/05/2026

Building on established strength in neuroscience, #WesternU is partnering with nine European universities as part of NeurotechEU, opening new doors for student training and research collaborations across borders. @westernuresearch.bsky.social

buff.ly

Western partners with NeurotechEU to advance education and research

Building on established strength in neuroscience, Western is expanding international education and research collaborations through NeurotechEU.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Here's a wonderful opportunity for postdocs and senior graduate students to learn more about the science of consciousness and discuss why consciousness matters. Apply for a spot in CIFAR's Winter School, which this year will be held in Nairobi, Kenya. #consciousness 🧠🧪 #CIFAR

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I thoroughly enjoyed talking about our recent work on nested control systems for action, in which ancient subcortical visuomotor pathways are embedded within more recently evolved cortical pathways. A real team effort with @brian-corneil.bsky.social, @davidmekhaiel.bsky.social, and others🧠

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Consciousness Commons @consc-commons.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Something is emerging in Santiago this July. A new kind of scientific gathering. Open data. Interdisciplinary teams. A shared question that's been challenging researchers for decades. Introducing Consciousness Commons: A satellite workshop for early-career researchers @assc2026.bsky.social #ASSC29

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Western Institute for Neuroscience (WIN) @westernuwin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

The #WesternU Centre for Functional & Metabolic Mapping is pushing the boundaries in brain research with Canada's only collection of high- and ultra-high-field MRI systems + leading cutting‑edge work that is transforming how we understand the brain. 🔗 cfmm.uwo.ca

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Doug Crawford @jdcrawford.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The deadline for CSBBCS abstracts has been extended to March 25: www.csbbcs.org/meetings/202... We already received a record # symposium submissions! @yorku-cian.bsky.social @erezfreud.bsky.social @jonathanamichaels.bsky.social @action-brain.bsky.social @canacn.bsky.social

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Ravi Menon @northernthrux.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Hey @rosenlab.bsky.social . Look what was in our local paper this weekend!

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Visited Niagara Falls (Canada) last Saturday. Falls were partly frozen and because it was a bright and sunny day, a rainbow had formed in mist. Stunning.

Photo of Canadian Niagara Falls (Horseshoe Falls) on a bright sunny day midwinter. A rainbow can be seen in the mist.

Another view of Canadian Niagara Falls (Horseshoe Falls) on a bright sunny day midwinter. A rainbow can be seen in the mist.

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Ravi Menon @northernthrux.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Yes, at Western’s Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping @cfmm.bsky.social , we have a lot of Tesla (34.6 T to be exact), but the most important equipment where the best ideas come from is a bit cheaper.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Ice storm in London Ontario on Boxing Day coated the branches of the trees with ice. Beautiful but dangerous. Power was out in various places with trees falling on power lines.

Ice coating the branches of a small tree decorated with Christmas lights outside our dining room window.

Large ice-covered tree branches fallen across the cycling/walking path along the river in London Ontario.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

If you live in Ontario, particularly in the Lake Simcoe area, send a letter to MPPs telling them that watering down protections for Lake Simcoe is a bad idea! Please please re-post. share.nwmd.social/s/3cxdHHMF

share.nwmd.social

Lake Simcoe needs a local focus

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megan peters 🧠 @meganakpeters.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

breathtaking tour de force presentation from Guillaume Dumas at the #CIFAR Consciousness Winter School just now! Neuro needs philosophy, explanation, and @neuromatch.bsky.social! Thanks for the plug for our #neuroAI course, Guillaum!

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Doug Ford plans to consolidate Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into 7, overseen by a new provincial agency making it easier for development by streamlining decisions at the expense of environmental protection and local accountability. Public comment: ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-1... PLS repost

Photo of Ausable Channel in PInery Provincial Park, part of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Ella Striem-Amit (@striemamit.bsky.social) at Georgetown University is looking for a postdoc interested in brain plasticity and behavior in people born with blindness, deafness, or without hands, using behavioral paradigms, computational methods, and fMRI. Details at: apply.interfolio.com/177838 🧠🧪

Picture showing brain activation in a person with congenital blindness. Although early visual experience is essential for the proper development of visual cortex, Striem-Amit et al. show that the underlying connectivity structure of retinotopic mapping is retained even in congenitally blind individuals. This basic organisational principle emerges independently of visual input and persists despite lifelong experience-dependent plasticity.

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Gavin Buckingham @drgbuckingham.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

wow, massive illusory motion effect here

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Pascal Mamassian @mamassian.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

A nice shift in perceived colour between central and peripheral vision. The fixated disc looks purple while the others look blue. The effect presumably comes from the absence of S-cones in the fovea. From Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.115...

An array of 9 purple discs on a blue background. Figure from Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt.

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Gavin Buckingham @drgbuckingham.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Another lovely effect a bit like the last one (but maybe even more distressing!), for those seeking illusory content. No idea who made this one I'm afraid - if you happen to know, let me know so I can credit them!

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Gavin Buckingham @drgbuckingham.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

For your enjoyment (by @jagarikin)

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

We hiked to the Meeting Tree, a 670 year-old White Oak, located at Westminster Ponds Conservation Area, London Ontario earlier this week. The tree was a safe meeting place for slaves leaving America and traveling up north to Canada via the Underground Railroad. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Old white oak tree in the sunlight. The tree is 10 stories high.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Frost on Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina). Fall is finally here. It's been exceptionally warm for October. 🌿

Small Sumac with drooping red frost-covered leaves.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

This weekend we stayed in a Yurt in Bruce Peninsula National Park parks.canada.ca/pn-np/on/bruce The weather was amazing -- preternaturally warm. The Grotto and Indian Head Cove looked like the Mediterranean.

People enjoying the rocky beach on Bruce Peninsula.

People enjoying the little beach on Bruce Peninsula.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

The Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge has a tenure-track position for a neuroscientist studying brain function across the life span in nonhuman animals. Join a terrific community of researchers in a beautiful part of the country.🧠🧪 Re-post uleth.peopleadmin.ca/postings/8586

The image depicts the University of Lethbridge, located in Southern Alberta, Canada. The prominent building shown in the image is the Science Commons, which is situated on the university campus within the coulee landscape.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

I spotted these berries on trails near London ON: bright red American Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum); white baneberry or doll’s eye (Actaea pachypoda); and dark purple American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). Only the Highbush Cranberry is edible; the other two are poisonous to humans.🌿🌱

Close-up photo of American Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)

White baneberry or doll’s eye (Actaea pachypoda)

American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

How good are we at estimating someone's age from their face and how does that change with the face's chronological age? @tganel.bsky.social et al.'s new framework disentangles bias and error, revealing new insights into how facial age is computed by humans and AIs. 🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Photos of the faces of three women, one young, one middle-aged, and one elderly. Text: Apparent facial age plays an important role in social interactions and is a meaningful marker of biological aging. Although both humans and AIs achieve reasonable accuracy in estimating age from a person’s face, performance remains imprecise. Drawing on principles from classical psychophysics, we show that the conventional measure used to benchmark the accuracy of human and AI performance is fundamentally confounded by response bias. We introduce a new framework based on simulated data, reanalysis of existing data, and new experimental results. Our framework provides novel insights into how facial age is processed by humans and AIs, offering new directions for future research and applications in the study of aging.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I think this is a Peck's Skipper (Polites peckius) gracing our front garden. If you look closely, you can see its long proboscis stretching into the Liatris flower. 🌿

Photo of a Peck's Skipper butterfly feeding on the purple flower of a Liatris.

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Claire O'Callaghan @claireocallaghan.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

OHBM Oz rego + abstracts now open. Get amongst it!

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Marek Pedziwiatr @marekpedziwi.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

End of August means ECVP! This year, I am here (in beautiful Mainz) with a special mission - to find postdocs who will join us in (equally beautiful) Krakow, PL! Drop me a DM if you are interested! @ecvp.bsky.social

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Common Eastern Bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) foraging on new blooms on a Grape-leaf Anemone (Anemone tomentosa) in our front garden on this fine August afternoon. 🌱 🌿

Common Eastern Bumble bee on pink flower of the Grape-leaf Anemone with Oxeye or False Sunflower in the background.

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Ravi Menon @northernthrux.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Animal welfare is important when conducting scientific research that benefits human health. A well thought out essay by Dr. Arthur Brown, Chair of the Animal Care Committee at Western University. torontostarreplica.pressreader.com/article/2816...

torontostarreplica.pressreader.com

Toronto Star ePaper

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Department of History - Western University @westernuhistory.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

RARE BOOK COLLECTIONS IN TODAY’S LIFE - Old books carry the voices of our ancestors—the artistry of centuries. Discover the stories behind the pages—and how they shape the present. FREE public workshop and one is online! Register! www.journal.dsartistrylabs.com/home/collect...

journal.dsartistrylabs.com

DS Artistry Labs Journal - Workshop-Collections

Free Public Workshop

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Upcoming conference will explore the evolving ethical and societal questions posed by human stem cell-derived neural organoid and assembloid research, discussing strategies for the responsible advancement and communication of these technologies. sto.stanfordtickets.org/ethical-and-... 🧪🧠 re-post

Screen shot from conference site: Ethical and Societal Implications of Neural Organoids, Assembloids and their Transplantation, November 10-12, 2025

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Not one, not two, not three, but four Monarch caterpillars on one Milkweed plant in my daughter's front garden. Usually, Monarchs lay only one egg per plant. Was it a confused mother butterfly, or did different females lay their one egg on the same plant?

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Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Now that’s what I call a special issue

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Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Here's the schedule for the MIT Consciousness Club this year: sites.google.com/view/mit-con.... I'm looking forward to it! (Rooms will be announced soon; and we're currently working on a zoom option for those who would like to join online)

sites.google.com

MIT Consciousness Club

The MIT Consciousness Club aims to foster interdisciplinary research on consciousness at MIT and in the broader Boston area by organizing a monthly event featuring an expert talk on consciousness foll...

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Queen Anne's Lace and friends at Komoka Provincial Park this beautiful afternoon. www.ontarioparks.ca/park/komoka

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

A Milkweed Tussock Moth (Euchaetes egle) caterpillar chomping its way through a leaf of the Milkweed growing in our back garden. Like the Monarch butterfly, the adult moths become unpalatable to predators from feeding on the Milkweed when they were caterpillars.

Orange and yellow caterpillar with white and black tufts on a Milkweed leaf.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Busy Carpenter bee foraging on Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) in our front garden. This tall perennial is native to southern Ontario. It attracts a lot of pollinators.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Hope! We have Milkweed growing in our yard, which attracts Monarch butterflies. We were pleased to see a Monarch chrysalis hanging from the top of a basement window a few days ago. Today, a beautiful butterfly emerged.

Recently emerged adult Monarch butterfly hanging from the husk of the chrysalis.

An hour later and the wings are almost fully extended.

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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Revitalizing walk in Pinery Provincial Park. We are lucky to have this wonderful resource so close to where we live. pinerypark.on.ca en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinery_...

View of the Old Ausable Channel in Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario.

Fragrant White Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata) in the Old Ausable Channel in Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario.

Canoeing in the Old Ausable Channel in Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario.

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andrew haun @andrewhaun.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Some arguments for why we should believe that visual experience is the way it seems to be - in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, from myself and Giulio Tononi: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lMzy4sIRv...

authors.elsevier.com

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