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Duncan Astle

@duncanastle.bsky.social
3K followers 590 following 70 posts

Professor of Neuroinformatics at the University of Cambridge. Interested in child development, psychology, education and brains. He/him 🏳️‍🌈

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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Second, she used transcription data from the @alleninstitute.org, and found that the genes in the PGS particularly overlap with the regional distribution of the ‘values’ part of the GNM – that is they define the areas the model wants to connect.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Those with *high* polygenic scores (PGS) for cognitive ability had a *softer* ‘distance penalty’ in their GNM. The end result is that networks form slightly more ‘shortest paths’. The end result? Slightly more stochastic, variable and efficient brain networks.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
First, she built connectomes from ~2k 10yr olds from ABCD. To each she fit a generative network model (GNM) – a simple computational model for simulating their topology.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Incredible visit to Wimpole Hall Christmas lights. Genuinely magical. @nationaltrust.bsky.social
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Barbara sends her best regards to the good people of bluesky...
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 14/03/2024
Babs to the max.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 01/01/2024
Barbara is ready to take on 2024. Primed and ready.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 21/12/2023
Oh no we didn't!* *we actually did...
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 02/12/2023
Great way to finish a really busy term - the lab away day at Madingley Hall. Chance to reflect, share big ideas, plan for the year ahead, and have a lot of fun!
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 31/10/2023
Babs...
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 21/10/2023
Babs sends her best regards
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 13/10/2023
Barbara has every sympathy for those caught in the rain on their commute home.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
But do you see these shifts in actual kid's brains?! Yes you do. In the CALM cohort, weaker distance penalties in kids from lower SES envs, produce more stochastic, diverse and robust outcomes. Why? Again, we think it could be because this is *adaptive*.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
Changing these different constraints also shifts how resilient the networks are to noise, at different points in development. This got us thinking that actually these shifts might be *adaptive* in certain environments. (See our earlier work in rodents: shorturl.at/qsDH6)
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
Weaker brain wiring constraints increase multifinality in network outcomes. Specifically, when you weaken the drive to connect neighbours you get more topologically dissimilar networks. Whereas when you weaken the distance penalty, you get connections forming in different places.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
How did we test this? Starting with a neonatal seed network, we simulated the formation of new connections using a computational model. We varied the modelling constraints, and tested whether systematic changes in those constraints shift the properties of the resulting networks
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
*New paper* W/ Sofia Carozza (not a twit) & @danakarca.bsky.social, in PNAS The adaptive stochasticity hypothesis shorturl.at/clz02 Bottom line: heightened stochasticity makes brains robust to random/targeted attacks, but more often results in non-normative phenotypes Mini thread below!
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 09/10/2023
Everybody, meet Babs, who arrived on Saturday.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 02/10/2023
Welcoming a new cohort of undergraduates to Robinson College Cambridge. Such an enjoyable moment in the year.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 30/09/2023
Next time! Some of the tiles are wild.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 30/09/2023
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 30/09/2023
The Lisbon tile museum is way more exciting than it sounds.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 30/09/2023
Morning all, from lovely Lisbon.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 25/09/2023
Greetings from medieval Portugal. Taking that final break before the academic year begins!
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 20/09/2023
Fabulous panel discussion this evening at the live launch of Belonging in School. Great to hear from teachers, policy experts, academics, and practitioners. Find out more about the free resources at inclusion.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 19/09/2023
📣Join us TOMORROW evening in Cambridge or online as we launch Belonging in School, an inclusive policy planning resource! Events free. Please help spread the word. In-person: bitly.ws/RSK3 Online: bitly.ws/RSKL
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 15/09/2023
An evening spent proof reading our new FREE resources for schools. Time consuming but worth it! Still a few spaces for the live launch in the 20th of Sept in Cambridge. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/belonging-...
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 14/09/2023
Exciting Cambridge Neuroscience event on the horizon. This year we are focussing on interdisciplinary insights on the future of dementia research. Super line up, inc. posters / data blitz, covering all aspects of neuroscience research.Open to all neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/events/event...
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 14/09/2023
Thrilled to be giving a keynote address at the British Dyslexia Association Conference #BDA24. You can find a bit of blurb about our research, current projects and interests, along with how you can showcase your own research by submitting an abstract bit.ly/3EgZ3gl
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 14/09/2023
What would be our collective noun?
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 13/09/2023
One of the great joys of science is seeing ECRs speaking so eloquently and enthusiastically about their work, and others coming to listen :)
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 13/09/2023
The one plant in the garden that produces really incredibly blooms.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 13/09/2023
Magical gorge trip
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 13/09/2023
New inclusive education resource "Belonging in School", ideal for working in/with mainstream schools, researchers working on education or neurodiversity topics, or educational organisations. Join us at are launch event (20th Sept) to find out more: shorturl.at/asPW7
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/09/2023
As summer turns to autumn. Lots of very happy memories.
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Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 12/09/2023
First post, and it's our anniversary (roughly). Four very happy years! Feeling incredibly lucky.
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