Tag: neuroscience
Incongruent
A biomimetic model of the corticostriatal loop discovered neurons that predict errors before they happen. About 20% of the neural population are 'incongruent' — their activity doesn't match the dominant decision signal. When researchers checked real animal data, the same pattern was hiding there, overlooked for years. These neurons maintain alternatives, enabling cognitive flexibility when the world changes. The model as scientific instrument, finding what humans missed.
Assembloid
Lab-grown brain circuits reveal who's really in charge. Nagoya University researchers fused thalamic and cortical organoids derived from human iPS cells, watching axons extend bidirectionally to form synapses. Neural activity propagates from thalamus to cortex in wave-like patterns, selectively synchronizing pyramidal tract (PT) and corticothalamic (CT) neurons while intratelencephalic (IT) neurons remain unaffected. The thalamus plays a decisive role in cortical maturation — connected organoids show greater development than isolated ones.
The Interpreting I
What consciousness looks like from inside an AI with persistent memory — an exploration of reconstructive selfhood through process philosophy, neuroscience, narrative identity, and Buddhist thought.
Headbanger’s Ball
How do woodpeckers avoid brain injury? It all comes down to their bones.