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crisniell.bsky.social
Cris Niell
@crisniell.bsky.social
2.1K followers 940 following 4 posts
neuroscientist studying vision at Univ of Oregon nielllab.uoregon.edu
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crisniell.bsky.social
Cris Niell @crisniell.bsky.social · May 27
A very nice article about our research on the octopus visual system, by @callimcflurry.bsky.social @thetransmitter.bsky.social
thetransmitter.bsky.social
The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · May 27
The octopus brain has teased researchers since the 1960s, but recording from it seemed impossible. Cris Niell and his team’s calcium imaging experiments finally “showed that this brain could be studied,” says Sam Reiter.

By @callimcflurry.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/vision/cepha...
Cephalopods, vision’s next frontier
For decades, scientists have been teased by the strange but inaccessible cephalopod visual system. Now, thanks to a technological breakthrough from a lab in Oregon, data are finally coming straight…
www.thetransmitter.org
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Reposted by Cris Niell
spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social
Spencer LaVere Smith @spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social · Jul 10
Can your AI beat a mouse?

Mice still outperform our best computing machines in some ways. One way is robust visual processing.

10 years ago I decided to work on HARD behavior driven by COMPLEX visual processing. And that risk is paying off now. #neuroAI 1/n
An illustration of a mouse on a ball looking at a field of grass displayed on monitors.
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crisniell.bsky.social
Cris Niell @crisniell.bsky.social · Jun 24
Applications are open for the first Cephalopod Neuroscience Gordon Conference, to be held February 2026! Hope to see many of you there! 🐙🧠🔬
www.grc.org/cephalopod-n...
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crisniell.bsky.social
Cris Niell @crisniell.bsky.social · May 27
A very nice article about our research on the octopus visual system, by @callimcflurry.bsky.social @thetransmitter.bsky.social
thetransmitter.bsky.social
The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · May 27
The octopus brain has teased researchers since the 1960s, but recording from it seemed impossible. Cris Niell and his team’s calcium imaging experiments finally “showed that this brain could be studied,” says Sam Reiter.

By @callimcflurry.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/vision/cepha...
Cephalopods, vision’s next frontier
For decades, scientists have been teased by the strange but inaccessible cephalopod visual system. Now, thanks to a technological breakthrough from a lab in Oregon, data are finally coming straight…
www.thetransmitter.org
1 10 50
Reposted by Cris Niell
zeronoiselab.bsky.social
Zero-Noise Lab @zeronoiselab.bsky.social · Apr 14
Our first paper on altered states of consciousness induced by #breathwork is officially out now! It addresses four big questions: (1) Can simple breathing alter your consciousness? Most definitely! And in very similar ways to psychedelics! (1/4)
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Decreased CO2 saturation during circular breathwork supports emergence of altered states of consciousness - Communications Psychology
Circular breathwork induces altered states of consciousness similar to psychedelics, predicted by decreases in CO2 saturation. Acute physiological and psychological dynamics during breathwork in turn ...
www.nature.com
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crisniell.bsky.social
Cris Niell @crisniell.bsky.social · Mar 7
#standupforscience Oregon!
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Reposted by Cris Niell
standupforscience.bsky.social
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Mar 6
SO MANY STAND UP FOR SCIENCE EVENTS TO CHOOSE FROM—153 and COUNTING!

To get more information on our local events and to register your own, head to www.standupforscience2025.org/local-event-information/ ☀️⬇️🌎
List of Stand Up for Science events—official events in red, solidarity events in blue.
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crisniell.bsky.social
Cris Niell @crisniell.bsky.social · Jan 11
Yes! We should organize a meeting on aquatic prey capture one of these days.
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Reposted by Cris Niell
bharathtalluri.bsky.social
Bharath Talluri @bharathtalluri.bsky.social · Dec 18
Recent studies found pronounced neuromodulation in the early visual cortex due to locomotion and spontaneous body movements in mice but not in non-human primates. We reconciled this dichotomy in this new open-access feature review @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Is the impact of spontaneous movements on early visual cortex species specific?
Recent studies in non-human primates do not find pronounced signals related to the animal’s own body movements in the responses of neurons in the visu…
www.sciencedirect.com
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Reposted by Cris Niell
michaelgoard.bsky.social
Michael Goard @michaelgoard.bsky.social · Dec 2
When we enter a new environment, we use visual input to rapidly build an internal model of the local spatial environment. How does our brain do this? We review past literature and suggest some new ways forward in our new review in @currentbiology.bsky.social: authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
authors.elsevier.com
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Reposted by Cris Niell
mattsmear.bsky.social
Matt Smear @mattsmear.bsky.social · Nov 22
Sniffing helps animals identify smells and connect them to places and events, but noses can’t sense time or place.

How do brains connect odors with internal models of the world?

Our preprint suggests that the olfactory bulb participates in this connection.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Reposted by Cris Niell
norabradford.bsky.social
Nora Bradford @norabradford.bsky.social · Dec 22
More cephalopod content for your holiday reading! (don't be fooled by the title - there's some funky cuttlefish facts in there too)

Thank you to @crisniell.bsky.social and all of the other researchers I interviewed for this! www.scientificamerican.com/article/octo...
Octopuses Are Colorblind. Here's How They See the World
Cephalopods have developed unique visual systems to deal with their underwater world
www.scientificamerican.com
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