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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 18h

And of course the excellent Perspectival Realism by Michela Massimi.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 18h

Also excellent and I think missed by a lot of people.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 18h

𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 Excellent book on relational aspects of knowledge and world. Inspired by physics but providing a general process + relational + perspectival framework. Quite convergent with The Blind Spot by Frank, Gleiser, and Thompson.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

This is testable. If dominant influence reverses across contexts and relations form cycles, control is heterarchical. If they fall into one ranking and context only changes their strength, control is hierarchical. Experiments designed for this are now needed. /end

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

So instead of a fast system supervised by a slow one, we propose a spectrum of control: how far a response can depend on memory, internal state and anticipated consequences, not just the stimulus. Urgency, weighed against the organism's needs, sets the position.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Threat behavior shows the same thing. What the terrain affords recruits a different escape route. After looming extinction, restored escape is carried by ventral hippocampus, not the original midbrain response. Learning can relocate control across the neuroaxis.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Loops have no fixed commander. Thalamus-to-PFC is needed to hold a memory across a delay; PFC-to-thalamus is needed when that memory guides the choice. Motor cortex and cerebellum need each other to prepare a movement. Direction follows the task phase.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Reciprocal wiring isn't the point. A thermostat has feedback and is still a hierarchy. What matters is structures constraining each other's processes. Example: PAG sends a teaching signal to the amygdala, and the amygdala suppresses that same PAG signal.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Our answer: in general, they don't. A structure is a controller only relative to a particular process; each element takes part in many processes at once; and these relations form loops. One loop is enough. If A sets the terms for B and B for A, no ranking fits both.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

What we don't dispute: the brain has levels of organization, and local asymmetries of influence are real. A dimmer does regulate a lamp. The question is whether such local relations add up to one stable ranking.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The familiar version puts cortex over noncortex, but our claim is general. Control changes hands between cortex and cerebellum, thalamus and cortex, hippocampus and striatum, amygdala and midbrain. Hierarchy, where it holds, is the special case.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

𝗛𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 New preprint with Andrea Gambarotto. Neuroscience often treats control as a hierarchy: the structures behind a behavior hold a stable rank. We argue this mistakes a configuration for an architecture. 🧵 arxiv.org/abs/2610.04643 #neuroskyence

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

But why didn't Ed Boyden win too??? (I know 3 is the max)

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I often think of the parallels with life and the fact that discussion in its domain is so much less blown into non sense.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

FELIPE!! fantastic accomplishment

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I know what you mean too! I'm analyzing some threat controllability study and nothing makes sense 🙃

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Neuroscientists now recording across the brain are finding what fMRI revealed in humans. Signals are not localized but often all over the brain. (NB: non, it's not everything, everywhere) #neuroskyence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

this stuff is just so much fun! regret starting this so late in my career but better late than never :-|

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Work with a Xiaoyu Zhou, a fantastic postdoc. More results to come soon! Major update of our work here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

But what brain regions drive these changes? We quantified this and showed that some regions exert much larger effects on maintaining a state’s dynamics and separately driving a state switch.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Here's the dynamics in terms of vector fields. Check the very rapid switch!

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

At state transitions activity in some multiple networks switched abruptly.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Switching linear dynamical systems model dynamics in a lower-dimensional latent space. The results suggest that the brain both transitions between states that have similar dynamics and those that qualitatively change it.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀? We find evidence of both smooth and sharp transitions; latter sharply altered brain dynamics in as few as 1 time step. Link below -->

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Thanks Manlio! The best part of science for me is tough and collegial (friendly is even better!) adversarial exchanges. The more elightened (=old) I get, the more I embrace it.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Paper spearheaded by Paul Taylor and Gang Chen from the AFNI team with lots of others. I had a very minor role here but highly recommend the thinking behind the idea. #neuroskyence

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝘀? It seems like a boring visualization change but quite important! fMRI maps have been thresholded for 3+ decades so as to emphasize peaks of activation. This paper argues for a different approach. rdcu.be/B4tikBETdQZa

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

So "how to trust science less" or others of the same vein risk distorting some of your themes.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Surviving the crisis is really great. At the present moment I think scientists need to be especially careful with our words.

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Reposted by PessoaBrain

Ismael T. Freire @ishmajl.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Good news if this workshop sounds like your kind of thing: we’ve extended the deadline to Sept 14 (AoE)! 🌱 At #SAB2026, “Wanting What Is Needed” asks how homeostasis shape value, motivation & adaptive behaviour. Come join us in Berlin on Oct 19!! 😊 wwin-workshop.github.io/sab2026/

wwin-workshop.github.io

Wanting What is Needed: From Homeostatic Control to Adaptive Behavior

A SAB 2026 workshop bringing together AI, robotics, neuroscience, physiology, ethology, biology and control theory around homeostasis, allostasis and adaptive behavior.

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Reposted by PessoaBrain

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

In this episode, @braininspired.bsky.social talks with @marcofacchin.bsky.social about why computational explanations of cognition, though powerful, aren't the only game in town. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...

thetransmitter.org

Marco Facchin on theories, explanations in neuroscience

Computational explanations of cognition, though powerful, aren’t the only game in town.

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Reposted by PessoaBrain

Mara Mather @maramather.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Starting September 1, I will be working with a team to start a new research center at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. We currently have a couple of positions posted but there will be more so if you are interested stay tuned and feel free to get in touch.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I too used to consider "funding competitive but reasonable with known challenges" but not anymore (after 20+ years). I'll keep trying but at some point might shift to writing books and computational work on existing datasets. Maybe I'll do the reverse and try to work back in Brazil! :-)

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 "Inferring brain-wide interactions using data- constrained recurrent neural network models" Going straight to top of to-read list! #neuroskyence doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Interesting results in this report.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I'm what country? Is you've ever been to Brazil or Italy you'll know things are a bit different 😅

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Harrison gives the state-space modeling tutorial at CNN

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘅: 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 A must read for systems neuroscience. #neuroskyence doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Not a super collegial invitation but an interesting paper might be the one by the IBL/Fiete group. There are many others that inform this question, Ben et al. has written about/cites a bunch; I have too in the past. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #neuroskyence

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Neuroscience & Philosophy Salon discussion now online. Lively debate on @romainbrette.bsky.social 's position. #neuroskyence youtu.be/XV6kCsiq0g0?...

youtu.be

Romain Brette discusses brains and computations

YouTube video by Neuroscience & Philosophy Salon

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Don't forget our Salon with Romain Brett discussing 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗼... July 9. Open to all but you need to register (personal-free/academic zoom account is necessary) #neuroskyence

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