iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Would Hegel get along with AI "agents"? Would he use their agency to explain their abilities? He would for humans and brains, qua the enactivist approach. Andrea Gambarotto explains. @dialecticalsys.bsky.social braininspired.co/podcast/246/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I don't know if the Neuro-AI hype train is accelerating or calming down, but I do know it's in good hands with people like @dlevenstein.bsky.social. Looking forward to those sleeping AI models he's making, too. braininspired.co/podcast/245/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I kept trying to pin @marcofacchin.bsky.social down, but he scores high for openness on the big 5 philosopher personality traits. Should've known... he did write the paper "Why can’t we say what cognition is (at least for the time being)" braininspired.co/podcast/244/

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Reposted by Paul Middlebrooks

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

@braininspired.bsky.social talks with Alison Barth about why she thinks learning and memory could be effective tools to better explain the overall function of the cortex. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...

thetransmitter.org

Alison Barth on different neuron types’ roles in cortex

Barth uses learning tasks in mice to drive synaptic plasticity in the sensory cortex, hoping to unlock general principles of how the cortex works.

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

One of us, @kathrynnave.eurosky.social, has a gift for communicating thorny ideas, like active inference and the free energy principle. The question is, how do we tell the story from single cell metabolism to multicellular organism extraordinaire Kate Nave? braininspired.co/podcast/242/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Before going full cyborg and replacing all your actual neurons with artificial "neurons", it's good to think about the consequences. Yogi Jaeger @yoginho.spore.social.ap.brid.gy on AI, life, and mind. braininspired.co/podcast/241/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

What if anything does computational complexity have to say about how brains and minds work (or vice versa)? Cris made this discussion NP easy braininspired.co/podcast/240/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Neuroscience is all into naturalistic behavior now. What is a "naturalistic" behavior, anyway? Also how do our experiences and the way we define things change our science? E.g. what counts as "sleep" is different than 100 yrs ago... Nedah Nemati brings the philosophy braininspired.co/podcast/239/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Ehud @ehudahissar.bsky.social didn't set out to offer a new kind of dualism, but, studying active perception, plus some thinking while driving, and here we are... Opposing hierarchical (strange) brain loops, interfacing analog & digital signals within & between us. braininspired.co/podcast/237/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Different neuron types make different ripples through different manifolds. That sounds cool, and Jorge Luis Borges probably already said it... Liset's @lmprida.bsky.social work actually is cool, and I'll let her actually say it (sort of)... braininspired.co/podcast/236/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

In theory, the brain is a prediction computation representation information machine. In reality, the brain is an anticipatory collective of dynamic living cells. Do our metaphors matter for understanding brains? Romain @romainbrette.bsky.social says yes... braininspired.co/podcast/235/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

All we are is manifolds in the wind... That's not quite what Juan @juangallego.bsky.social says, but I do wish he sang it to me. We discuss all things neural manifolds, and a little motor control and BCI for spinal injury prosthetics braininspired.co/podcast/234/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Are the laws of thought woven from three golden threads? Tom @cocoscilab.bsky.social and I discuss some of the history and themes in logic, probability, and neural nets, in his new book The Laws of Thought. braininspired.co/podcast/233/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Do neuroscientists know what "affordance" actually means? (it seems perhaps not) Luis, Vicente, and Matthieu @dewitmm.bsky.social on neuroscience trying to adopt ecological psychology for an "ecological neuroscience" braininspired.co/podcast/232/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Wild and free in Estonia, Jaan @jaanaru.bsky.social connects the details with the big picture... like dendrites, thalamocortical loops, consciousness, and insight. AI has none of the above (including being wild and free). braininspired.co/podcast/231/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

You're always thinking, unconsciously interrogating the world. When an affordance is available to report answers to your brain's questions - to yourself or others - you become conscious of those thoughts. Rough summary of @michaelshadlen.bsky.social on consciousness... braininspired.co/podcast/230/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Alex seeks the mathematical structure of consciousness, not metaphorical accounts. I suggested a catchphrase for him: Put your math where your metaphor is. He's already putting his money where his mouth is. Currency: math, philosophy, rigor, and vigor (and neuro!). braininspired.co/podcast/228/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

5 connectomics experts walked into a bar... the panel host ducked. Fun memory decoding discussion at @aspirationalneuro.bsky.social @michalwj.bsky.social @sdorkenw.bsky.social @helenelab.bsky.social @andrewcpayne.bsky.social Ranal Koene @kennethhayworth.bsky.social braininspired.co/podcast/227/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Are manifolds real? Are latent circuits real? Tatiana @engeltatiana.bsky.social uses one, infers the other, and says yes to both. Also, how timescales are different and the same across the entire brain... braininspired.co/podcast/226/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Henk's @henkderegt.bsky.social book Understanding Scientific Understanding (2017) helped elevate understanding in phil of sci, distinct from what it means to explain something. We discuss where his ideas have taken him since, like how to assess machine understanding. braininspired.co/podcast/225/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Come hear about cool connectomics work at the @aspirationalneuro.bsky.social Connectome & Memory Decoding Meetup Hilton San Diego Bayfront: Cobalt 500 7pm @michalwj.bsky.social @sdorkenw.bsky.social @helenelab.bsky.social @andrewcpayne.bsky.social Randal Koene

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

If you're at SfN, stop by my teeny tiny nano talk Sunday at 1: "Neural population dynamics during naturalistic versus task-related behavior" w/ @yttrilab.bsky.social @markolas.bsky.social @adeneagle.bsky.social NANO017.01

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Dan made it easy... check out his book

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

What Is Life? A misleading title for Schrödinger's book. What is Life? Revisited. A spot-on title for Dan's @djnicholson.bsky.social book, which happens to be a gem. After reading it and discussing with Dan, I can only picture Schrödinger as a cartoon villain now. braininspired.co/podcast/224/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

What is plant nutation? What is a motif in science? What lessons does ecological psychology have for neuroscience? How does Vicente @diovicen.bsky.social enjoy the band Judas Priest yet still do good philosophy and science? Here are the answers: braininspired.co/podcast/223/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Niko @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social takes us on an evolutionary tour from molecules to minds. Nature is rife with meaning at all scales, to be found in the essences of interacting atoms, cells, species, and societies. braininspired.co/podcast/222/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

The road less traveled (with a big bag of tools from central station) has taken Ann @antihebbiann.bsky.social to fertile subcortical fields. braininspired.co/podcast/221/

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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

What changes and what stays the same as you scale from single neurons up to local populations of neurons up to whole brains? Michael and Mac @macshine.bsky.social on the systems approach to study brains across scales. braininspired.co/podcast/220/

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