Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz

Alireza Modirshanechi @modirshanechi.bsky.social · Sep 28

New in @pnas.org: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

We study how humans explore a 61-state environment with a stochastic region that mimics a “noisy-TV.”

Results: Participants keep exploring the stochastic part even when it’s unhelpful, and novelty-seeking best explains this behavior.

#cogsci #neuroskyence

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Sep 9

we think this is a proposal for an alternative mechanism for phenomena that have been explained through e.g. asymmetric learning rates, and fits well with the (RL and working memory) literature, curious for feedback!

work with @becketebs.bsky.social

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Sep 9

this funny little result is an extension to our "Imperfect Memory Programs" paper where we propose a principled way to get "value" fingerprints without ever calculating value -- through a stochastic memory that trades off precision and complexity!

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Sep 9

Our new paper "Noisy memory generates value in changing environments" just got published in Adaptive Behavior! doi.org/10.1177/1059...

tldr: we find that stochastic encoding of outcomes can perform better than perfect encoding (woot?), esp. if you have asymmetric encoding (for reward vs no reward)

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

doi.org

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Reposted by Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz

Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · Jun 21

The idea that self-censoring is a new form of oppression forced on white men rather than a normal part of having a prefrontal cortex and existing in society is some of the biggest bullshit in the centrist/right wing coalition gender grift

millennium falco @ritamitsuko.bsky.social · Jun 21

LMAO I WISH

Fox News Headline
White men are ‘walking around on eggshells at work’, afraid to speak freely: Survey
Poll reveals 43% of White men self-censor at work, while 25 million report losing job opportunities due to their race and gender

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Jun 12

Cracked the code for good coffee at conferences #rldm2025 @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Apr 29

Cool heated exchange. Looks like social media sometimes shows the true, dark side of people (if you missed it you missed it I guess). Otherwise the exchange is interesting, and it’s always cool to see disciplines engaging.

Andrew D Wilson @adw.bsky.social · Apr 24

Hmmm. Why is this ecological, if it’s about how brains represent things?

Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · Apr 24

We are excited to announce our new Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE)! This program will unite experts in experimental and computational #neuroscience approaches to investigate how the brain represents sensorimotor interactions. www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/04/24/s... #science

Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Apr 29

And it looks like Canada will keep being Canada, the good and bad, but more importantly, we will not live in the dark timeline.

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Reposted by Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · Apr 29

It's really hard to overstate how hugely favored conservatives were up until two months ago.

Here's the graph of Canadian polling between March 2023 and March 2025. (Reminder: blue is conservative.)

Those are months and months of 20+ point leads for Tories.

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Reposted by Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz

Franziska Brändle @frabraendle.bsky.social · Apr 15

Our workshop at RLDM on intrinsic motivation is still accepting abstracts for lightning talks - two weeks left to submit! More info on our website: sites.google.com/view/pimbaa2...

Come join us in Dublin! 🤩

@jramirezruiz.bsky.social
@surabhisnath.bsky.social
@becketebs.bsky.social

PIMBAA @ RLDM2025

Inviting all Curious Agents to attend our workshop! The goal of PIMBAA is to bring together experts in intrinsic motivation across cognitive sciences, neuroscience, developmental science, robotics and...

sites.google.com

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Apr 14

We are also still calling for abstracts for lightning talks, deadline in two weeks. Come join us! @surabhisnath.bsky.social @becketebs.bsky.social @frabraendle.bsky.social

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Apr 14

🚨 RLDM Workshop alert! 🚨
You are coming to @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social in Dublin this summer? Come to our fun, surprising, novel, information-seeking workshop on intrinsic motivations in biology and AI! We have an amazing lineup of speakers! Visit our website: sites.google.com/view/pimbaa2...

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Reposted by Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz

Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · Mar 14

Beyond Mechanism—Extending Our Concepts of Causation in Neuroscience onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... - really pleased that this paper with Henry Potter is now published in the European Journal of Neuroscience 😊

Beyond Mechanism—Extending Our Concepts of Causation in Neuroscience

The search for neural mechanisms of behaviour often relies on a synchronic, driving view of causation, where neural activity drives more neural activity, which eventually drives behaviour. The real c...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Mar 12

Lately my 3yo falls asleep caressing my arm and head and I don’t know what I did to deserve this but boy life is simple and beautiful sometimes

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 23

Oh yeah, that is on my soon to-read pile! Hope you enjoy and tell us how it went!

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 22

“Forget that old adage: that history continues to keep us from the world we want to see” - Lake Street Dive lyrics to uplift your Saturday… and that bounce appropriately in my mind while reading the “The future is not written“ chapter from @wiringthebrain.bsky.social‘s Free Agents

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Reposted by Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz

Surabhi S Nath @surabhisnath.bsky.social · Feb 17

🚨 Inviting all Curious Agents 🔍👀 to attend our workshop @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social!!
With amazing speakers from across disciplines, we attempt to arrive at the core principles underlying intrinsic motivations in biological and artificial agents 🎮🧠🤖💪
Website: sites.google.com/view/pimbaa2...

PIMBAA @ RLDM2025

Inviting all Curious Agents to attend our workshop! The goal of PIMBAA is to bring together experts in intrinsic motivation across cognitive sciences, neuroscience, developmental science, robotics and...

sites.google.com

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 17

@claudiasheinbaum.bsky.social

Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 17

Organizing:
@frabraendle.bsky.social
@surabhisnath.bsky.social
@jramirezruiz.bsky.social
@becketebs.bsky.social

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 17

We are calling for abstracts for Lightning Talks ⚡️ so please consider submitting! @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 17

Hey hey! Going to RLDM this year? We are organizing the interdisciplinary workshop PIMBAA: Principles of Intrinsic Motivations in Biological and Artificial Agents. Join us (and our amazing speaker lineup!) to discuss IMs in Neuro, CogSci, RL and Robotics.

Website: sites.google.com/view/pimbaa2...

PIMBAA @ RLDM2025

Inviting all Curious Agents to attend our workshop! The goal of PIMBAA is to bring together experts in intrinsic motivation across cognitive sciences, neuroscience, developmental science, robotics and...

sites.google.com

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 15

Sometimes I do feel like wind power in Taiwan, and now I know why

Daily Spurious Correlation 🤖 @dailycorrelation.bsky.social · Feb 15

Wind power generated in Taiwan correlates with Google searches for 'i am tired' (r=0.98)

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 7

It’s quite a funny and pleasant idea to think that our president knows what a Lagrangian is.

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Feb 7

Every time I see science in the US slowly (and rapidly) declining, I try to think how in Mexico we have a president that is a woman, a physicist, a former PI in sustainable energies and development. It helps.

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Jorge Ramírez-Ruiz @jramirezruiz.bsky.social · Jan 28

I’ve slowly grown fond of Connections, anyone else here plays it? Yesterday was fun