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Thomas Serre

@thomasserre.bsky.social
285 followers 89 following 30 posts

Computational vision. Deep learning. Center for Computational Brain Science @Brown University. Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute (France). European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS).

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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 16h
The model builds on our hGRU (NeurIPS 2018) and GammaNet (ICLR 2020) models, contractor recurrent backprop (NeurIPS 2020) and reaction-time metric (NeurIPS 2023). cc @browncopsy.bsky.social @carneyinstitute.bsky.social
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 16h
The model groups objects in natural scenes and predicts human reaction times. Early grouping is governed by local boundary signals; later, top-down feedback about object identity allows the grouping signal to cross internal edges, such as changes in shading or texture.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 16h
Sami Mollard @samimollard.bsky.social from Pieter Roelfsema's lab @pieterroelfsema.bsky.social visited us at Brown, and the project brought together their work on incremental grouping in visual cortex with our recurrent vision models. New preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2610.05419
arxiv.org
Recurrent network dynamics explain the time course of perceptual grouping in natural scenes
How the brain groups image elements into coherent objects in natural scenes remains unclear. Existing models for grouping in biological vision rely on simplified stimuli with explicit boundaries and c...
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The vOICe vision BCI 🧠🇪🇺 @seeingwithsound.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Recurrent network dynamics explain the time course of perceptual grouping in natural scenes arxiv.org/abs/2610.05419 by @samimollard.bsky.social @alekhka.bsky.social @drewlinsley.bsky.social @thomasserre.bsky.social et al. on perceptual grouping in vision; #AI #NeuroAI #neuroscience
arxiv.org
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Vittorio Cuculo @vcuculo.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
⏳ 5 days to go until #HCV2026 at #ECCV2026 in Malmö! 📄 25 accepted contributions 🎙️ Invited talks by Pietro Perona, @thomasserre.bsky.social, Gemma Roig & @vickykalogeiton.bsky.social 🏆 Outstanding Paper Awards 📅 Sept 8, 13:00–17:00 👉 sites.google.com/view/hcvwork...
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Very much looking forward to welcoming a new colleague! We're hiring at both ranks — the senior (Associate/Full) search is open too, applications due Oct 15: apply.interfolio.com/190696
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browncopsy.bsky.social @browncopsy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Brown University CoPsy is hiring an Associate or Full Professor! Research in AI & cognition, collective behavior, or brain health. Starting July 2027. Apply by Oct 15: apply.interfolio.com/190696
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browncopsy.bsky.social @browncopsy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Brown University CoPsy is hiring an Assistant Professor! Research areas: AI & cognition, collective behavior, or brain health. Starting July 2027. Apply by Sept 15: apply.interfolio.com/190677
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
We're recruiting postdoc fellows in computational neuroscience for Brown's NIH T32 Training Program — brain & cognitive modeling from biophysics to AI, with connections to mental health & psychiatry. US citizens/PRs. Review begins Sept 1. @carneyinstitute @browncopsy apply.interfolio.com/190111
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
📢 We're recruiting! 18-month postdoc in civic science & AI-human interaction @BrownUniversity, hosted by ARIA (NSF AI Institute). Bridge computational brain science with community engagement & public impact. Apply by Aug 1: apply.interfolio.com/188112
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Jean-Rémi King @jeanremiking.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
We have a new postdoc position to work on Neuro AI and human intracranial recording with Pierre Bourdillon and I: Apply here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... Lab info: bourdillon-titan-lab.fr feel free to RT ;)
docs.google.com
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Carney Institute for Brain Science @carneyinstitute.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
@michael-lepori.bsky.social, Ellie Pavlick and @thomasserre.bsky.social have found that LLMs can develop a mathematical “understanding” that differentiates between events ranging from commonplace to impossible. www.brown.edu/news/2026-04-22/artificial-intelligence-understanding-real-world
brown.edu
Do AI language models ‘understand’ the real world? On a basic level, they do, a new study finds
New research shows that AI language models can develop a mathematical “understanding” that differentiates between events that are commonplace, improbable, impossible or just plain nonsense.
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Jean-Rémi King @jeanremiking.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
We're happy to release NeuralSet: a simple, fast, scalable package for Neuro-AI Supports: 🧠 fMRI, EEG, MEG, iEEG, spikes… preprocessing 💬 text 🔊 audio ▶️ video 🏞️ image… embeddings 📦 pip install neuralset 🔍 facebookresearch.github.io/neuroai/neur... 📄 kingjr.github.io/files/neural... 🧵 Details👇
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Eero Simoncelli @eerosim.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Postdocs and advanced grad students in theoretical/computational neuroscience - come join our workshop in July!
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Candidates should have strong research potential and interests consistent with current APMA faculty, plus a clear vision for collaboration with brain science and/or CS. Up to 3 years of prior postdoc experience allowed. ccbs.carney.brown.edu Full ad and application: www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/28...
ccbs.carney.brown.edu
Nancy G. Zimmerman Center for Computational Brain Science | Carney Institute for Brain Science | Brown University
A world-class center focused on computational approaches to solve the big questions of our time.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Postdoc opening in Applied Mathematics at Brown! Bridging APMA + brain science or CS. Two-year appointment starting July 2026 — review begins April 1! Great opportunity to collaborate with @carneyinstitute.bsky.social faculty at the Nancy G. Zimmerman Center for Computational Brain Science.
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Michael Lepori @michael-lepori.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
I'm excited to share that this paper was accepted at ICLR 2026! We show that language models encode one of the most basic ingredients of a world model: the ability to distinguish plausible from implausible states. Check out the paper for more details! See you in Rio! Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2507.12553
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Trends in Cognitive Sciences @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Online Now: Better artificial intelligence does not mean better models of biology
dlvr.it
Better artificial intelligence does not mean better models of biology
Deep neural networks (DNNs) once showed increasing alignment with primate perception as they improved on vision benchmarks, raising hopes that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) would naturally yield better models of biological vision. However, we present accumulating evidence that this alignment is now plateauing – and in some cases worsening – as DNNs scale to human or even superhuman accuracy. This divergence between artificial and biological perception may reflect the acquisition of visual strategies distinct from those of primates, and these findings challenge the view that advances in AI will naturally translate to progress in neuroscience. We argue that vision science must chart its own course, developing algorithms grounded in biological visual systems rather than optimizing for internet data.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Published @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social with @drewlinsley.bsky.social & @tonyfeng.bsky.social: As vision models scale to human/superhuman accuracy, they’re becoming worse models of primate vision—benchmark engineering isn’t neuroscience. @carneyinstitute.bsky.social @browncopsy.bsky.social
cell.com
Better artificial intelligence does not mean better models of biology
Deep neural networks (DNNs) once showed increasing alignment with primate perception as they improved on vision benchmarks, raising hopes that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) would naturally ...
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Mick Bonner @mickbonner.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Hopkins Cog Sci is hiring! We have two open faculty positions: one in vision, and one language. Please repost!
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SP Arun @sparuniisc.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
This is such a bizarre illusion - the helmet leads to an expectation of a face inside and all I saw was a blurred out face until I realized what's really happening...
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Markus Meister @mameister4.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
That image is from 1961 and an idealization. Here is an actual trajectory of fixational eye movements. The dots are 2 ms apart. If a midget ganglion cell, with single-cone receptive field, fires at 100 Hz, then every spike reports about a different cone. How can we ever read anything?
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Pascal Mamassian @mamassian.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
A nice shift in perceived colour between central and peripheral vision. The fixated disc looks purple while the others look blue. The effect presumably comes from the absence of S-cones in the fovea. From Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.115...
An array of 9 purple discs on a blue background. Figure from Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt.
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Tony Zador @tonyzador.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Apply to become a CSHL-Simons Fellow in Neuroscience! Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community! All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems PhD required; ≤~1 yr postdoc www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
cshl.edu
Fellows Positions | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
CSHL Simons Fellow in NEUROSCIENCE Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is seeking to fill a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellow position in the area of NEUROSCIENCE (experimental and/or computationa...
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Last call for applications! Join us in advancing AI and the science of mind at Brown. Apply by Nov 8, 2025 👉 apply.interfolio.com/173939
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Personal take: Current XAI tools can't yet discover novel mechanisms—they test hypotheses more than reveal the unexpected. We need better methods NOW, before digital twins become so convincing we stop asking how they work. 📚 Full ref: arxiv.org/abs/2509.17280 📄 doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.039
arxiv.org
From Prediction to Understanding: Will AI Foundation Models Transform Brain Science?
Generative pretraining (the "GPT" in ChatGPT) enables language models to learn from vast amounts of internet text without human supervision. This approach has driven breakthroughs across AI by allowin...
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Moving beyond prediction means: - Grounding models in neuroscience/cognitive science theory - Revealing computations through interpretability/XAI studies - Generating testable hypotheses to drive experiments Challenge: turning data-fitting machines into theory-bearing instruments.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Yet debate continues: Do high-performing models capture genuine mechanisms or just exploit statistical regularities? Even with perfect predictions, we risk replacing one black box (the brain) with another (a deep neural network). Explanatory value requires more than fit.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Based on successes across AI and science, optimism is growing that scaled models will uncover true generative processes. If a model predicts like a brain, has it discovered how the brain works? Tempting to think so.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
🧠 Thrilled to share our NeuroView with Ellie Pavlick! "From Prediction to Understanding: Will AI Foundation Models Transform Brain Science?" AI foundation models are coming to neuroscience—if scaling laws hold, predictive power will be unprecedented. But is that enough? Thread 🧵👇
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Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Square News about the government's attempt to extort universities. nyunews.com/opinion/gues...
nyunews.com
Guest Essay: Unity is the only way out of Trump’s ‘compact’ - Washington Square News
Grace Lindsay is an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Data Science at New York University. Nine universities received an Oct. 1 letter from the Trump administration with an offer: If you agree to a ...
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Join a top interdisciplinary program exploring the intersection of artificial & natural intelligence. Strong ties with the @carneyinstitute.bsky.social, the Center for Computational Brain Science (CCBS), and the new NSF-funded AI Institute (ARIA).
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Brown’s Department of Cognitive & Psychological Sciences is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor, working in the area of AI and the Mind (start July 1, 2026). Apply by Nov 8, 2025 👉 apply.interfolio.com/173939 #AI #CognitiveScience #AcademicJobs #BrownUniversity
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
With Pieter Roelfsema, our TICS response to Scholte & de Haan (2025): in deep nets, distributed codes ≠ solved binding. Flexible vision needs dynamic grouping + attention (or object-centric slots) to link features to objects/relations. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Feature binding in biological and artificial vision
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Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Day of Action planned for July 21 to protect science protectscienceandinnovation.org
protectscienceandinnovation.org
Protect Science and Innovation
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 09/06/2025
🚨BREAKING: 300+ NIH employees call out the harm of censorship & politicized science in scathing email to Bhattacharya, demanding an end to political interference, a lift on funding freezes, & rehiring of fired staff whose work saves lives. This is historic - insiders are blowing the whistle. 🧵(1/5)
Front-page-style graphic titled “BREAKING NEWS” with photos of RFK Jr. and Dr. Bhattacharya in front of a government hearing chamber. Text reads: “NIH Scientists Sound the Alarm as Health Research Faces Historic Threat” and “NIH Employees Send Trump Cronies Scathing Wake-Up Call.”
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Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
From the NIH news desk: "NIH to prioritize human-based research technologies; new initiative aims to reduce use of animals in NIH-funded research" www.nih.gov/news-events/...
nih.gov
NIH to prioritize human-based research technologies
New initiative aims to reduce use of animals in NIH-funded research.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Read the full preprint here: arxiv.org/abs/2504.16940
arxiv.org
Better artificial intelligence does not mean better models of biology
Deep neural networks (DNNs) once showed increasing alignment with primate perception and neural responses as they improved on vision benchmarks, raising hopes that advances in AI would yield better mo...
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
📢 Our takeaway: To truly model biological vision, vision science must diverge from conventional AI approaches and develop deep learning methods tailored to the intricacies of biological visual systems.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
🧠 This divergence suggests that DNNs may adopt visual strategies differing from those used by primates, as highlighted in our previous work on harmonization.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
🔍 Key finding: As DNNs achieve human or superhuman accuracy, their alignment with primate vision plateaus—and in some cases, deteriorates.
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
🚨 New preprint alert! Our latest study, led by @DrewLinsley, examines how deep neural networks (DNNs) optimized for image categorization align with primate vision, using neural and behavioral benchmarks.
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Tim Behrens @behrenstimb.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Science is under threat in the US. @elife.bsky.social have commissioned a series of articles discussing the implications and what we can do. The first three articles are now live. More to follow: elifesciences.org/articles/106... elifesciences.org/articles/106... elifesciences.org/articles/106...
elifesciences.org
Science Under Threat in the United States: How scientists and institutions should respond
Individual researchers and university leaders need to make the case for science to their elected representatives and to the public at large.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 06/03/2025
WHERE WILL YOU BE TOMORROW?
Stand up for science flyer, happening on March 7th in DC & nationwide with more information at www.standupforscience2025.org
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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
AI researchers should be worried about all their funding to make formers TRANS
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Tim Verstynen @tdverstynen.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Francis Collins has had enough. Good on him.
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CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Join us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠 sciencehomecoming.com
sciencehomecoming.com
Science Homecoming
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Thomas Serre @thomasserre.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Apologies for probably not reading the paper carefully enough... I see mentions of "functional specialization" and evidence for a "language network" in LLMs. What is the evidence that the "specialized" units are part of a functional network?
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Steve Griffin @profstevegriffin.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Laudable stance and brilliant letter from @scurry.bsky.social Musk has no place amongst scientists, let alone one as a member of one of its most revered institutions. Science sky, please consider signing and letting @royalsociety.org know your views. occamstypewriter.org/scurry/
occamstypewriter.org
Reciprocal Space | Occam's Typewriter
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