iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I had never seen this tweet before today and I was dumbfounded by how desperate it seems, and how bigoted.

Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Only the unsatisfied focus on wealth. Only cowards feel the need to be feared. Only the insecure worry about disagreement. You're whole life is built around weakness, insecurity, and fear. I pity you.

Infamous tweet by Andrew Tate that says:

You are poor.
You are unimportant.
Men do not fear you.
Your woman disagrees with you.

Your lives are shit.

Posted in Dec 25, 2022

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Thank you for the interesting discussion and such a powerful perspective. I completely agree, there were huge social and "official" biases against individuals and families facing these challenges, and in many ways there still are. Its amazing you worked and helped them, what a great endeavor.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Autism may be the price of human intelligence. Researchers discovered that autism’s prevalence may be linked to human brain evolution. The findings comparing the brains of primates suggest autism is part of the trade-off that made humans so cognitively advanced.

A conceptual artist rendition of a brain and neural connections

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Absolutely these could be related. The old adage "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" proves slightly true, in that is is HARDER to teach an old dog new tricks than learning it when young, but its also easier to stay in well-established patterns (for good or ill) when older.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

BCIs is an interesting consideration! Generally, BCIs don’t rely on single-synapse plasticity but population-level cortical activity. Also, this doesn’t show adults have no plasticity, only that they have less. This would suggest BCIs may be easier for children to adapt to, not impossible for adults

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

For this study we used #morphine and #opioid exposure to examine how the age of the animal when exposed modified neuron activity changes, with adults resisting change and adolescents being vulnerable to it. It mirrors the results of my #THC #marijuana study that showed the same thing!

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

My new paper is out and its free! Adult neurons resist influence more than neurons of younger animals, but once the system is altered, recovery in adults takes longer or never happens at all! This could be why adults resist emotions, drugs, and even learning when compared to children!

A silhouette of a woman and child with their brains highlighted showing rigid, straight connections in the adult and bending, flexible connections in the child.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

This is a piece of art done by Sean Keating in 2022, then a PhD student at the University of Queensland. Neurons and stars, my two favorite things. #neuro #art #neuroscience #science #astronomy

Van Gogh's Starry Night with the stars and landscape formed by neurons and hippocampal neuron staining to look like stars.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

As a viewer and not a player, I dont really have any experience or dog in this fight. But this is the internet. Balltops or you're trash. #FGC #gaming

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Cold Horizons This is a #SciFi #digitalart #landscape I did. I've noticed a lot of my more recent work is aimed at a hopeful future, but also feels sort of lonely. #art #oc

A white and gray landscape of cold ice, snow, and stone stretches into a horizon under a sea of stars on a clear night. A lone explorer sets up camp near his ship while a red planet orbits the alien world in the dark sky.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Research reveals that the energy sector is creating a myth that individual action is enough to address #climatechange. This shifts "responsibility" to consumers by casting the individuals as 'net-zero heroes', which reduces pressure on industry and government to take action. #climate #science

sydney.edu.au

Energy sector shifts climate crisis responsibility to consumers

The energy sector is creating a myth that individual action is enough to address climate change, University of Sydney research claims. Read more.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Research found that people on the #autism spectrum with low intellectual disability were over 3 times more likely to die by #suicide compared to people not on the autism spectrum. These are people facing loneliness and invisible hardship that deserve more personal and systemic compassion

uq.edu.au

Suicide rate higher for people with autism

UQ-led research has found people on the autism spectrum are almost 3 times more likely to die by suicide compared to non-autistic people.

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Reposted by Isaac Ostlund

Sam Golden @goldenneuron.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

#flourescent(almost)friday (make sure to full screen this!) Some hippocampal neurons and dendritic arbors visualized from mCherry with a 3.6x objective in a SmartSPIM using iDisco.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Some of my prior #research shows how certain adult neurons tied to reward resist change! It is free access! doi.org/10.3389/fnin... On a macro level, this could provide a new hypothesis for why adults exhibit resistance to #learning, #anxiety, and #addiction. #neuroscience #science 🧠🧪

Neurons in adults are more "rigid" and require more stimulus to change. This is represented by a cartoon of neurons within an adult silhouette having straight and firm connections, opposed to the neurons within a child that have more flexible and adaptable connections.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

I have accepted an offer to work for the #NIH at the #BRAIN initiative! The BRAIN Initiative has been a key inspiration for my progression as a neuroscientist and I am honored and excited to be a part of it! #neuroscience 🧠🧪

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

My apologies. It's a definition clarity error. When examining electrophysiology properties, especially plasticity, long term means timescales of minutes to hours. Thus "long-term depression" means a neuron's activity has been depressed for a few hours, which is a long time for a neuron.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

The paper is linked in the post, and its free open access! GABA usually regulates dopamine. THC gets GABA #neurons stuck in an "off" position which then lets dopamine release more easily. If this goes on too long, the brain adjusts to higher dopamine and feels bad without it. #neuroscience 🧠

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Great question. We did not examine the long-term outcomes of the animals. I did determine that a single exposure was insufficient to induce a long-lasting change. Young animals all exhibited long-term changes after a week of daily exposure, but only 50% of adults.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

We also found that the younger the age of exposure to marijuana (THC), the greater the effect and the faster the onset of long-term changes! 🧠 #neuroscience #brain

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

We recently discovered that #marijuana (THC specifically) reduces GABA #neuron activity. This explains some of the rewarding effects of THC because the depression of GABA #neurons can lead to increased dopamine release, which can make us feel pretty good. #science #EduSky doi.org/10.3389/fnin...

A five progren green leaf. Very pretty! Waaait... Is that marijuana??

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Untapped Potential This is a #scifi #digitalart piece I did a few years ago. We have the potential to reach into the stars, find new technologies, save the planet, and so much more. But right now, it's unrealized. Will we make it? I want to feel hope, space exploration gives me that. #art #future

Two futuristic spacecraft soar over a blue ocean in a canyon lined with majestic green cliffs. A sweeping misty and verdant landscape is touched with the clean and careful advancement of humankind as they explore new horizons.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Core memory unlocked. I forgot this book was everything to me for a few months when i was a child

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Thank you! Yes, how do starter packs work? And if I want to post into a group I use an emoji, did I see something about that?

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I'm a neuroscientist, about to leave research and academia and enter the NIH to spread awareness of new biotech and neuroscience developments. How do I get added?

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Haha, yes! This describes my whole thesis from a few years back. I spent five years proving cocaine is addictive and more dangerous when you are a teen than when adult. Same for marijuana and certain other drugs. Some things we already know, but need to be tested and proven anyway. #science !

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Yes I have! But it has been a few years. I noticed his writing improved dramatically over the series. I bet his newer works continue that trend.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Haha, thank you for the recommendation! I will have to give it a read

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

"On a macro level, our research could provide a new hypothesis for why adults exhibit greater resistance to learning, anxiety, and addiction compared to children and adolescents." I made this image for a summary presentation I did a while back. #neuroscience #plasticity #science #digitalart #age

Two silhouettes stare at each other, an adult and a child. The brains of the two show inside as blue/white diagrams. The adult neurons have straight and rigid connections, while the child's brain has arcing and bending connections to illustrate flexibility and adaptability.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

So i just click the art link on the right and can follow the whole thing there?

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I'm a new user of #bluesky trying to get my feet under me. Does anyone have suggestions for scientists, #writers, and artist to follow or communities to join? Maybe the #writingcommunity can help. Really any kind of science, fantasy or sci-fi, and also any sort of #art, #digitalart, or otherwise.

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Isaac Ostlund @isaacostlund.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Hello Dr. Monica, could you add me to the feed? I am brand new to bluesky and trying to figure it all out. Here is my orcid: orcid.org/0000-0002-15...

orcid.org

ORCID

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