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Patxi Elosegi

@patxelos.bsky.social
106 followers 109 following 20 posts

Postdoc at Yale | PhD in Cog Neuro (BCBL) | Interested in visual representations in natural & artificial neural networks, consciousness, & metacognition

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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
Martin Hebart @martinhebart.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
What is the nature of universal representations in AI models, and what determines whether they emerge? Our paper accepted at #neurips2026 led by @florianmahner.bsky.social & @rothj.bsky.social addressed these questions comparing 162 vision models, with intriguing results. arxiv.org/abs/2605.13675 🧵
arxiv.org
Characterizing Universal Object Representations Across Vision Models
Deep neural networks trained with different architectures, objectives, and datasets have been reported to converge on similar visual representations. However, what remains unknown is which visual prop...
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
Igor Utochkin @utochkin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Our new preprint w/ @edvogel.bsky.social presents a neural marker of a competition/interaction taking place in working memory between memory and current goals. We label it r-CDA Check out preprint for details about r-CDA and other interesting neural dynamics osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
Sophie Slaats @sophieslaats.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
new preprint! 🥳 we investigated the encoding of syntax and probability in cortical activity recorded with ECoG 🧠, and, it turns out: high-frequency cortical activity represents both features - side-by-side 🙌, and in interaction 🤝. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (thread to follow soon)
An image depicting the left hemisphere of the fsaverage brain three times; the top row shows the lateral view (three times), the bottom-row shows their medial view (three times). The left-most projection displays the 106 electrodes that encode syntactic information. The electrodes are widely distributed across the left hemisphere, with clusters in the anterior temporal lobe and the posterior temporal lobe/temporo-parietal junction, but also in the prefrontal cortex. The middle projection displays the 185 electrodes that encode lexical probabilistic information. There is a cluster of electrodes along the length of the superior temporal gyrus, and one in the inferior frontal gyrus. There are also electrodes in other areas of the cortex. The rightmost projection shows the 124 electrodes that encode both features. There are clusters in the superior- and middle temporal gyri, and also in the inferior frontal gyrus. There are also electrodes in other areas of the cortex.
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David Soto @dsotob.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
We revisited awareness in Decoded Neurofeedback using meta-analysis + LLM semantic analysis of Ps reports. Ps seemed unable to identify the trained target but their strategies were aligned with it! osf.io/preprints/ps... @hakwan.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @mavadillo.bsky.social
osf.io
OSF
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The key takeaway is that ensemble perception does not appear to rely on a single neural mechanism: its organization depends on both the feature being summarized and the statistic being represented. 3/3
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The results reveal a graded division of labour between ventral and dorsal pathways, with feature-specific and feature-independent ensemble representations coexisting across visual cortex. 2/3
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
We combined whole-brain searchlight and ROI-based MVPA to ask where ensemble mean and variance are represented and whether those representations generalize across visual features. 1/3
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
PREPRINT: We efficiently extract a set’s mean and variance without representing each item. Yet the neural basis remains unclear. Using fMRI-MVPA, we test whether ensemble codes are shared across features—orientation, shape, & animacy—and statistics—mean & variance www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Neural Representations of Ensemble Mean and Variance Across Visual Features
Humans can rapidly extract summary statistics, such as the mean and variance of visual features, to efficiently represent complex visual environments despite limits in attention and working memory. Al...
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
David Soto @dsotob.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
RA position open at @BCBL_eu (San Sebastian, Spain)! Work on decoded neurofeedback, fMRI/fNIRS/EEG, and ML to study how subjective experience can be shaped. 2-yr contract, starts Sept. 2026. Deadline: June 30. Apply here shorturl.at/Xw4pn Please RT! @hakwan.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social
shorturl.at
JOB OFFER RESEARCH ASSISTANT - CONSCIOUSNESS Research group (D.S.)
at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL) in San Sebastian (Basque Country,...
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
Max Levinson @maxlevinson.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
NEW PAPER🚨👀 in Science Advances with a wonderful transatlantic team. (incl @sylvainbaillet.bsky.social @olejensen.bsky.social @katduecker.bsky.social) Using human MEG, we found lower-order and higher-order neural processes that underlie illusory transitions in conscious visual perception. 🧵👇
science.org
Hierarchical brain dynamics supporting visual perceptual transitions
Illusory transitions in conscious visual perception involve both early visual cortex and higher-order motor cortices.
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Marisa Carrasco's talk "Perception / Action Dissociations as a Window into Consciousness" at the MIT Consciousness Club is now available online: youtu.be/7g6wodPclqs.
youtu.be
Marisa Carrasco - Perception/Action Dissociations as a Window Into Consciousness
YouTube video by MIT Consciousness Club
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
David Soto @dsotob.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
2 new papers on awareness and working memory "Replicating the unconscious working memory effect: a multisite Registered Report" academic.oup.com/nc/article/2... @theassc.bsky.social @matthiasmichel.bsky.social @liadmudrik.bsky.social (1)
academic.oup.com
Replicating the unconscious working memory effect: a multisite Registered Report
Abstract. Although in recent years some studies have found evidence suggesting that working memory (WM) may operate on unconscious perceptual contents, dec
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Congratulations Dr @pietroamerio.bsky.social !
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Reposted by Patxi Elosegi
Pietro Amerio @pietroamerio.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Absolutely incredible work led by @patxelos.bsky.social and @dsotob.bsky.social - such a compelling case of unconscious perception! Privileged to have been a little part of this 🧠
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François Stockart @francoisstock.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Our #sEEG study is now published in Nature Communications: rdcu.be/eIkoG! 🧠 Key finding: We discovered neural evidence accumulation for visual perception that's independent of report preparation—recorded from >3000 channels across 3 experiments! #Neuroscience #Consciousness #OpenAccess
rdcu.be
Cortical evidence accumulation for visual perception occurs irrespective of reports
Nature Communications - Perception can occur in the absence of report. Here, the authors use intracranial recordings to show that sequential sampling of sensory evidence in the ventral visual...
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps... @matthiasmichel.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @smfleming.bsky.social @axc.bsky.social @liadmudrik.bsky.social
osf.io
OSF
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Finally, huge thanks to @pietroamerio.bsky.social for outstanding modeling work, and to the incomparable @dsotob.bsky.social for his mentorship throughout this project and my PhD.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Methods note: we used Bayesian optimization to titrate exposure and eccentricity to maximize the chance to dissociate perception from awareness. We also analyze spatial anisotropies and provide extensive convergent tests of the effect.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
12/ The ensemble blindsight effect reported here shows that other more ecologically valid perceptual processes may be more suitable candidates to isolate behavioral traces of unconscious perception and thereby characterize the functional scope of unconscious processing.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
11/ We've been stubbornly trying to find evidence of unconscious perception using single, highly degraded objects. When response criterion is controlled, results are consistently null. This doesn’t refute unconscious perception; it just shows these paradigms rarely reveal it.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
10/ In contrast, the brief, masked signal from a single small object (e.g., tilted Gabor patch) could be diluted or overwritten during the feedforward pass by the more stable spatiotemporal statistics of the surrounding display, limiting its availability to unconscious processing
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
9/Why were ensembles successful in achieving a dissociation? We argue that the spatial redundancy of ensembles lets the system pool many noisy measurements, cancel uncorrelated noise, and yield a stronger unconscious signal.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
8/ To formalize the effect, we build Bayesian ideal-observer models to test whether the detection shortfall could be mere decision-making inefficiency. We find awareness is systematically more suboptimal than ensmeble discrimination beyond expected by task-difficulty differences
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
7/However, 2-IFC task introduces an assymetry in the amount of the information that the perceptual and awareness test have to consider. In Exp.2. we use a single interval paradigm where both tasks are matched in the amount of information and we replicated all findings from Exp.1.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
6/ In Exp.1. we find a clear dissociation between ensemble percetion and awareness. We demonstrate that this effect was not influenced by task-order, target interval order or an unstable detection criterion. We provide convergent analyses proving the robustness of the effect.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
5/We tackle both issues with ensemble perception in a 2-IFC paradigm. Ensemble summaries test unconscious perception in richer, natural displays and boost unconscious sensitivity via the brain’s statistical pooling without using masking other signal degradation techniques.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
4/ Criterion-content fallacy (Michel, 2023): if the awareness test relies on a different feature than the perceptual task, unconscious effects may be underestimated. This hampered prior work; even with closer matching, clear evidence has been scarce (e.g., Amerio et al., 2024).
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
3/ Subjective criterion problem: people may report “no experience” if sensory evidence falls below a subjective threshold. A remedy is bias-free designs like two-interval forced choice. Yet prior 2-IFC studies (e.g., Peters & Lau, 2015) found no unconscious perception.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
2/ Interest in unconscious perception surged through the 2023, then cooled. One reason: despite many attempts, robust evidence remains elusive once controlling for response-criterion issues—both the subjective criterion and the criterion-content fallacy.
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Patxi Elosegi @patxelos.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
1/Preprint Alert🔔: Across two experiments plus a computational model, we show the visual system compresses complex scenes into summary statistics that can guide behavior without conscious access to the task-defining features. We term this the Ensemble Blindsight effect.
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Bradley Love @profdata.bsky.social · 07/03/2024
"Large language models surpass human experts in predicting neuroscience results" w @ken-lxl.bsky.social and braingpt.org. LLMs integrate a noisy yet interrelated scientific literature to forecast outcomes. arxiv.org/abs/2403.03230 1/6
arxiv.org
Large language models surpass human experts in predicting...
Scientific discoveries often hinge on synthesizing decades of research, a task that potentially outstrips human information processing capacities. Large language models (LLMs) offer a solution....
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