iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Jenelle Feather

CogCompNeuro @cogcompneuro.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

🚨 #CCN2026 Proceedings submissions are open! CCN 2026 again features an 8-page Proceedings track (alongside extended abstracts). Accepted papers will appear in CCN-Proceedings (CCN‑P) with DOIs on OpenReview.

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CMU Mellon College of Science @cmuscience.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Elizabeth Lee, a first-year Ph.D. student in Neural Computation, has been awarded CMU’s 2025 Sutherland-Merlino Fellowship. Her work bridges neuroscience and machine learning, and she’s passionate about advancing STEM access for underrepresented groups. www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...

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Data on the Brain & Mind @NeurIPS2025 @dataonbrainmind.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

📢 10 days left to submit to the Data on the Brain & Mind Workshop at #NeurIPS2025! 📝 Call for: • Findings (4 or 8 pages) • Tutorials If you’re submitting to ICLR or NeurIPS, consider submitting here too—and highlight how to use a cog neuro dataset in our tutorial track! 🔗 data-brain-mind.github.io

data-brain-mind.github.io

Data on the Brain & Mind

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

So excited for CCN2026!!! 🧠🤔🤖🗽

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Richard Gao @rdgao.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

arguably the most important component of AI for neuroscience: data, and its usability

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Join us at #NeurIPS2025 for our Data on the Brain & Mind workshop! We aim to connect machine learning researchers and neuroscientists/cognitive scientists, with a focus on emerging datasets. More info: data-brain-mind.github.io

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Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

New preprint!   tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵 w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats

Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...

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Hadi Vafaii @hadivafaii.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Announcing the new "Sensorimotor AI" Journal Club — please share/repost! w/ Kaylene Stocking, Tommaso Salvatori, and @elisennesh.bsky.social Sign up link: forms.gle/o5DXD4WMdhTg... More details below 🧵[1/5] 🧠🤖🧠📈

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Sonica Saraf @sonicasaraf.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

In many brain areas, neuronal tuning is heterogeneous. But how does this diversity help behavior? We show how tuning diversity shapes representational geometry and boosts coding efficiency for perception in our new preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (w/ @sueyeonchung.bsky.social&Tony Movshon)

biorxiv.org

Variations in neuronal selectivity create efficient representational geometries for perception

Our visual capabilities depend on neural response properties in visual areas of our brains. Neurons exhibit a wide variety of selective response properties, but the reasons for this diversity are unkn...

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Topics include but are not limited to: •Optimal and adaptive stimulus selection for fitting, developing, testing or validating models •Stimulus ensembles for model comparison •Methods to generate stimuli with “naturalistic” properties •Experimental paradigms and results using model-optimized stimuli

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Consider submitting your recent work on stimulus synthesis and selection to our special issue at JOV!

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Florentin Guth @florentinguth.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

What is the probability of an image? What do the highest and lowest probability images look like? Do natural images lie on a low-dimensional manifold? In a new preprint with Zahra Kadkhodaie and @eerosim.bsky.social, we develop a novel energy-based model in order to answer these questions: 🧵

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Iris Groen @irisgroen.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Just a few months until Cognitive Computational Neuroscience comes to Amsterdam! Check out our now-complete schedule for #CCN2025, with descriptions of each of the Generative Adversarial Collaborations (GACs), Keynotes-and-Tutorials (K&Ts), Community Events, Keynote Speakers, and social activities!

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Leyla Isik @lisik.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

I’m happy to be at #VSS2025 and share what our lab has been up to this year! I’m also honored to receive this year’s young investigator award and will give a short talk at the awards ceremony Monday

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

The symposium also serves to kick off a special issue of JOV! "Choose your stimuli wisely: Advances in stimulus synthesis and selection" jov.arvojournals.org/ss/synthetic... Paper Deadline: Dec 12th For those not able to attend tomorrow, I will strive to post some of the highlights here 👀 👀 👀

jov.arvojournals.org

JOV Special Issue - Choose your stimuli wisely: Advances in stimulus synthesis and selection | JOV | ARVO Journals

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Super excited for our #VSS2025 symposium tomorrow, "Model-optimized stimuli: more than just pretty pictures". Join us to talk about designing and using synthetic stimuli for testing properties of visual perception! May 16th @ 1-3PM in Talk Room #2 More info: www.visionsciences.org/symposia/?sy...

visionsciences.org

VSS SymposiaSymposia – Vision Sciences Society

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

These examples demonstrate how our framework can be used to probe for informative differences in local sensitivities between complex models, and suggest how it could be used to compare model representations with human perception.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

In a second example, we apply our method to a set of deep neural network models and reveal differences in the local geometry that arise due to architecture and training types, illustrating the method's potential for revealing interpretable differences between computational models.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

As an example, we use this framework to compare a set of simple models of the early visual system, identifying a novel set of image distortions that allow immediate comparison of the models by visual inspection.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

This provides an efficient method to generate stimulus distortions that discriminate image representations. These distortions can be used to test which model is closest to human perception.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

We then extend this work to show that the metric may be used to optimally differentiate a set of *many* models, by finding a pair of “principal distortions” that maximize the variance of the models under this metric.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

We use the FIM to define a metric on the local geometry of an image representation near a base image. This metric can be related to previous work investigating the sensitivities of one or two models.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

We propose a framework for comparing a set of image representations in terms of their local geometries. We quantify the local geometry of a representation using the Fisher information matrix (FIM), a standard statistical tool for characterizing the sensitivity to local stimulus distortions.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Recent work suggests that many models are converging to representations that are similar to each other and (maybe) to human perception. However, similarity often focuses on stimuli that are far apart in stimulus space. Even if global geometry is similar, the local geometry can be quite different.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

We are presenting our work “Discriminating image representations with principal distortions” at #ICLR2025 today (4/24) at 3pm! If you are interested in comparing model representations with other models or human perception, stop by poster #63. Highlights in 🧵 openreview.net/forum?id=ugX...

openreview.net

Discriminating image representations with principal distortions

Image representations (artificial or biological) are often compared in terms of their global geometric structure; however, representations with similar global structure can have strikingly...

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Applications close TODAY (April 14) for the 2025 Flatiron Institute Junior Theoretical Neuroscience Workshop. All you need to apply is a CV and a 1 page abstract. 🧠🗽

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Reposted by Jenelle Feather

David Lipshutz @lipshutz.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

📣 Grad students and postdocs in computational and theoretical neuroscience: please consider applying for the 2025 Flatiron Institute Junior Theoretical Neuroscience Workshop! All expenses are covered. Apply by April 14. jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org

jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org

JTN - 2025

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Already feeling #cosyne2025 withdrawal? Apply to the Flatiron Institute Junior Theoretical Neuroscience Workshop! Applications due April 14th jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org

jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org

JTN - 2025

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Thinking about Thinking @thoughtchannel.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

We're bringing together leading researchers from top institutions worldwide to Split, Croatia this summer. If you're passionate about brain-inspired AI, computational neuroscience, or fundamental mathematical principles driving intelligence, this conference is the place to be!

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

I would put the linked papers into this pile. Do you know if these changes transfer to the common BrainScore IT datasets? If so, that would be a result I just wasn't aware of but would love to hear about, as we are actively thinking about how our network changes might transfer to other datasets.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Thanks for this chance to clarify and the links! I tried to be specific, but what I mean here is "in commonly used macaque IT electrophysiology datasets". I totally agree that there are cases of model changes resulting in increased prediction performance for other brain regions/datasets (1/2).

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Teddy's project is one of the only clear examples we know of (so far) where modifying the *objective function* used for training a deep neural network systematically improves neural prediction of IT responses. Come chat at his poster this afternoon at #cosyne2025! (Poster 2-036)

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David Lipshutz @lipshutz.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Image representations are often compared in terms of their global geometry. I'm excited to present work at #cosyne2025 that proposes a method for comparing image representations based on their *local* geometry. Poster: 8p tonight #1-112

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

We are presenting two exciting projects tonight at #Cosyne2025! 🧠🧑‍🔬 [1-032] Changes in tuning curves, not neural population covariance, improve category separability in the primate ventral visual pathway [1-112] Comparing image representations in terms of sensitivities to local distortions

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Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Hello friends! Applications for the CSHL course on Neural Data Science are now open- I will be lecturing and hanging out at the course for a few days this July. meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...

meetings.cshl.edu

Neural Data Science

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Applications are open for the 2025 Flatiron Institute Junior Theoretical Neuroscience Workshop! A two-day workshop 7/10-7/11 in NYC for PhD students and postdocs. All travel paid. Apply by April 14th.🧠🗽🧑‍🔬http://jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org/ @flatironinstitute.org @simonsfoundation.org

jtnworkshop2025.flatironinstitute.org

JTN - 2025

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Reposted by Jenelle Feather

Teddy Yerxa @tedyerxa.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

TL;DR: Encouraging transformation equivariance in an otherwise standard self-supervised learning setup systematically improves your ability to predict neural responses in area IT. Paper: openreview.net/pdf?id=AiMs8... Poster: Poster Session 3 #2204, East Exhibit Hall

openreview.net

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Teddy Yerxa @tedyerxa.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Excited to present work with @jfeather.bsky.social @eerosim.bsky.social and @sueyeonchung.bsky.social today at Neurips! May do a proper thread later on, but come by or shoot me a message if you are in Vancouver and want to chat :) Brief details in post below

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CogCompNeuro @cogcompneuro.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

After a great conference in Boston, CCN is going to take place in Amsterdam in 2025! To help the exchange of ideas between #neuroscience, cognitive science, and #AI, CCN will for the first time have full length paper submissions (alongside the established 2 pagers)! Info below👇 #NeuroAI #CompNeuro

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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 16/09/2024

The Swartz Prize in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience goes to one of my very favorite researchers: Eero Simoncelli!!! www.sfn.org/publications...

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SueYeon Chung @sueyeonchung.bsky.social · 11/12/2023

Excited to share our results on Efficient Coding of Natural Images using Maximum Manifold Capacity Representations, a collaboration with Teddy Yerxa, Yilun Kuang, Eero Simoncelli to be presented at #NeurIPS2023 🧵1/n @tedyerxa.bsky.social @flatironinstitute.org @simonsfoundation.org

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 11/12/2023

At #NeurIPS2023? Interested in brains, neural networks, and geometry? Come by our **Spotlight Poster** Tuesday @ 5:15PM (#1914) on A Spectral Theory of Neural Prediction and Alignment. paper: openreview.net/forum?id=5B1... w/ Abdul Canatar, Albert Wakhloo & SueYeon Chung @sueyeonchung.bsky.social

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

Finally, a very big *thank you* to our reviewers for this article! Their feedback improved our paper. It also would not have been possible without the support during my PhD from MIT Brain and Cog and DOECSGF. Thanks for reading! Link again: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵25/N

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

Lots more can be found in the paper, including experiments with brain predictions, regularization and “classic” models. We also released code to generate metamers from your favorite PyTorch model and to run the human recognition experiments github.com/jenellefeath... 🧵24/N

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

The main argument against this interpretation is that several model modifications (adversarial training & architectural tweaks to reduce aliasing) reduced the idiosyncratic invariances present in the models, suggesting that they are not unavoidable in a recognition system. 🧵23/N

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Jenelle Feather @jfeather.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

If idiosyncratic invariances were also present in humans, the phenomenon we describe might not represent a human–model discrepancy and could instead be a common property of recognition systems. 🧵22/N

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