hakwan lau
@hakwan.bsky.social
neuroscientist in Korea (co-director of IBS-CNIR) interested in how neuroimaging (e.g. fMRI or widefield optical imaging) can facilitate closed-loop causal interventions (e.g. neurofeedback, patterned stimulations). https://tinyurl.com/hakwan
Pinned
hakwan lau
@hakwan.bsky.social
· Apr 30
OSF
osf.io
i have uploaded this preprint a while back, but hadn't promoted it directly here. in this piece i explain why i can no longer recommend trainees to participate in my former home field.
The End of Conscioussness - osf.io/preprints/ps...
but i've learned a lot. thank you for everything.
🧠📈
The End of Conscioussness - osf.io/preprints/ps...
but i've learned a lot. thank you for everything.
🧠📈
despite the questionable choice of keynote speaker, i think this is likely going to be a good conference
It is our great honour to announce the APCV Keynote at #epc-apcv-2026: Prof. Hakwan Lau from the Institute for Basic Science in Korea!
The call for member-initiated symposia & abstracts is now open: visualneuroscience.auckland.ac.nz/epc-apcv-2026
#psychscisky #visionscience #neuroskyence
The call for member-initiated symposia & abstracts is now open: visualneuroscience.auckland.ac.nz/epc-apcv-2026
#psychscisky #visionscience #neuroskyence
November 25, 2025 at 1:04 AM
despite the questionable choice of keynote speaker, i think this is likely going to be a good conference
Reposted by hakwan lau
Let's compare our world models. I find that different people seem to have rather distinct internal world models. E.g. I personally have neither visual imagination nor an inner voice, found it weird others do. Here is a quick google forms to check idea:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
World-models in your head
Talking with a lot of people, they have rather shocking different kinds of world-models. I believe that people have somewhat specialized simulators. Let me list some and then give you the chance to ad...
docs.google.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Let's compare our world models. I find that different people seem to have rather distinct internal world models. E.g. I personally have neither visual imagination nor an inner voice, found it weird others do. Here is a quick google forms to check idea:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by hakwan lau
"It may be uncomfortable to conclude that a widely used study design has been producing spurious results. But the evidence is in, and telling uncomfortable truths is a part of doing science."
Problems with twin studies.
theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/the-missin...
Problems with twin studies.
theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/the-missin...
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:03 PM
"It may be uncomfortable to conclude that a widely used study design has been producing spurious results. But the evidence is in, and telling uncomfortable truths is a part of doing science."
Problems with twin studies.
theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/the-missin...
Problems with twin studies.
theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/the-missin...
hello - we're looking for a postdoc / staff scientist to do NHP fMRI work at the center (cnir.ibs.re.kr). pls email cv to [email protected] to learn more
ibs.re.kr
cnir.ibs.re.kr
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
hello - we're looking for a postdoc / staff scientist to do NHP fMRI work at the center (cnir.ibs.re.kr). pls email cv to [email protected] to learn more
Reposted by hakwan lau
🚨New publication!
I am extremely happy to share this new review article in elife on #Traveling_Waves!
@erc.europa.eu
@upcite.bsky.social
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
I am extremely happy to share this new review article in elife on #Traveling_Waves!
@erc.europa.eu
@upcite.bsky.social
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
Traveling waves across scales: Different mechanisms but same canonical computation?
The review proposes a novel mechanistic distinction between first- and second-order traveling waves that subserves a same canonical computation by ordering neuronal processing to impose a computationa...
elifesciences.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:54 PM
🚨New publication!
I am extremely happy to share this new review article in elife on #Traveling_Waves!
@erc.europa.eu
@upcite.bsky.social
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
I am extremely happy to share this new review article in elife on #Traveling_Waves!
@erc.europa.eu
@upcite.bsky.social
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
Reposted by hakwan lau
Excited to announce that our latest paper is now out: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Cortical PV interneurons regulate loudness perception and sustainably reverse loudness hypersensitivity
Noise damages the cochlea, triggering maladaptive plasticity in the auditory cortex
(ACtx) that makes moderate-intensity sounds seem uncomfortably loud. Clayton, Awwad,
McGill, et al. show that brief ...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Excited to announce that our latest paper is now out: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Here we uncover a simple cortical code for loudness and leverage it reverse sound hypersensitivity disorders in mice.
#neuroskyence
Reposted by hakwan lau
DecNef is a powerful tool for brain modulation, but it remains difficult to optimize; we built DecNefLab, a simulation framework using “virtual subjs” as ML generative models to prototype protocols before exps, & showed conditions in which DecNef fails to induce learning
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
DecNefLab: A Modular and Interpretable Simulation Framework for Decoded Neurofeedback
arxiv.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
DecNef is a powerful tool for brain modulation, but it remains difficult to optimize; we built DecNefLab, a simulation framework using “virtual subjs” as ML generative models to prototype protocols before exps, & showed conditions in which DecNef fails to induce learning
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
This study aimed to investigate how working memory interacts with perception at the behavioral level. We examined whether working memory modulates subjective perception when the general capacity for perceptual processing is kept constant.
1/
This study aimed to investigate how working memory interacts with perception at the behavioral level. We examined whether working memory modulates subjective perception when the general capacity for perceptual processing is kept constant.
1/
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:40 AM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
This study aimed to investigate how working memory interacts with perception at the behavioral level. We examined whether working memory modulates subjective perception when the general capacity for perceptual processing is kept constant.
1/
This study aimed to investigate how working memory interacts with perception at the behavioral level. We examined whether working memory modulates subjective perception when the general capacity for perceptual processing is kept constant.
1/
Reposted by hakwan lau
Publish and perish www.nature.com/articles/d41... (archived at archive.ph/OBmXT) Pressure to publish is rising as research time shrinks, finds survey of scientists; via @smellosopher.bsky.social
Pressure to publish is rising as research time shrinks, finds survey of scientists
Researchers feel that pressures to publish are increasing, but the time and resources available to do research are decreasing, according to a survey by Elsevier.
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Publish and perish www.nature.com/articles/d41... (archived at archive.ph/OBmXT) Pressure to publish is rising as research time shrinks, finds survey of scientists; via @smellosopher.bsky.social
Reposted by hakwan lau
Congratulations 👏👏👏 to @nadinedijkstra.bsky.social who has been selected as one of @thetransmitter.bsky.social Rising Stars of Neuroscience, 2025!
⭐️🧠🌏🤩💫
www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
⭐️🧠🌏🤩💫
www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
The Transmitter’s Rising Stars of Neuroscience 2025
We recognize the outstanding achievements of 25 neuroscientists who stand to shape the field for years to come.
www.thetransmitter.org
November 18, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Congratulations 👏👏👏 to @nadinedijkstra.bsky.social who has been selected as one of @thetransmitter.bsky.social Rising Stars of Neuroscience, 2025!
⭐️🧠🌏🤩💫
www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
⭐️🧠🌏🤩💫
www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...
to expand our center cnir.ibs.re.kr admin, we're looking for a person who is fluent in both English & Korean. previous admin exp not required. if u know someone who has good communication skills, & interests to work in a dynamic, culturally diverse, & flexible working environment, pls let us know~
cnir.ibs.re.kr
November 18, 2025 at 7:12 AM
to expand our center cnir.ibs.re.kr admin, we're looking for a person who is fluent in both English & Korean. previous admin exp not required. if u know someone who has good communication skills, & interests to work in a dynamic, culturally diverse, & flexible working environment, pls let us know~
Reposted by hakwan lau
Same for neuroscience. The lack of ability to measure many neurons’ activity, perturb them, and measure intracellular processes and connections is what limits understanding the brain.
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
November 15, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Same for neuroscience. The lack of ability to measure many neurons’ activity, perturb them, and measure intracellular processes and connections is what limits understanding the brain.
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
Reposted by hakwan lau
1/3
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology
Spatial variations in dopamine function are linked to cognition and substance use disorders but are challenging to characterize with current methods. Because dopamine influences blood vessel dilation,...
doi.org
November 16, 2025 at 10:21 PM
1/3
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
New preprint by Ballard et al. on using resting-state hemodynamic latency as an indirect marker of dopamine physiology:
“Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology” (bioRxiv, 2025)
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#RewardSignals #neurosky #neuroskyence
Reposted by hakwan lau
Psst - neuromorphic folks. Did you know that you can solve the SHD dataset with 90% accuracy using only 22 kb of parameter memory by quantising weights and delays? Check out our preprint with @pengfei-sun.bsky.social and @danakarca.bsky.social, or read the TLDR below. 👇🤖🧠🧪 arxiv.org/abs/2510.27434
Exploiting heterogeneous delays for efficient computation in low-bit neural networks
Neural networks rely on learning synaptic weights. However, this overlooks other neural parameters that can also be learned and may be utilized by the brain. One such parameter is the delay: the brain...
arxiv.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Psst - neuromorphic folks. Did you know that you can solve the SHD dataset with 90% accuracy using only 22 kb of parameter memory by quantising weights and delays? Check out our preprint with @pengfei-sun.bsky.social and @danakarca.bsky.social, or read the TLDR below. 👇🤖🧠🧪 arxiv.org/abs/2510.27434
Reposted by hakwan lau
We did a thing. 😬
The link between the gut #microbiome and autism is not backed by science, researchers say.
Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA
@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA
@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 5:59 PM
We did a thing. 😬
Reposted by hakwan lau
I had a fun time teaching this paper this year: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
November 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I had a fun time teaching this paper this year: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by hakwan lau
It’s grad school application season, and I wanted to give some public advice.
Caveats:
-*-*-*-*
> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees
> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases
Caveats:
-*-*-*-*
> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees
> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases
November 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
It’s grad school application season, and I wanted to give some public advice.
Caveats:
-*-*-*-*
> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees
> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases
Caveats:
-*-*-*-*
> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees
> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases
Reposted by hakwan lau
Congratulations to Sheena Josselyn @sjo09.bsky.social, contributing editor at @thetransmitter.bsky.social, on winning the 2025 Peter Seeburg Integrative Neuroscience Prize in recognition of her profound impact on memory research.
#neuroskyence
#neuroskyence
November 4, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Congratulations to Sheena Josselyn @sjo09.bsky.social, contributing editor at @thetransmitter.bsky.social, on winning the 2025 Peter Seeburg Integrative Neuroscience Prize in recognition of her profound impact on memory research.
#neuroskyence
#neuroskyence
Reposted by hakwan lau
"The cognitive psychologist Amos Tversky was reported to have said: ‘Theories are not refuted. They are embarrassed.’ Today the Modern Synthesis does seem to be somewhat embarrassed, but history tells us that scientists can live with embarrassment for a remarkably long time."
Jablonka & Lamb (2020)
Jablonka & Lamb (2020)
October 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
"The cognitive psychologist Amos Tversky was reported to have said: ‘Theories are not refuted. They are embarrassed.’ Today the Modern Synthesis does seem to be somewhat embarrassed, but history tells us that scientists can live with embarrassment for a remarkably long time."
Jablonka & Lamb (2020)
Jablonka & Lamb (2020)
Reposted by hakwan lau
"This, however, overlooks two important false assumptions: that hypotheses themselves are value neutral, and that we have unlimited resources to debunk misconceived ideas."
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2024/03/03/t...
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2024/03/03/t...
The myth of value-free science*
Perhaps one of the most persistent myths in science—one that also pervades public perception of science—is that it provides a value-free method to arrive at objective Truth, with a big ‘T’. This my…
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:22 AM
"This, however, overlooks two important false assumptions: that hypotheses themselves are value neutral, and that we have unlimited resources to debunk misconceived ideas."
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2024/03/03/t...
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2024/03/03/t...
Reposted by hakwan lau
What is the representation underlying cognition? Formal models rely on multidimensional scaling of similarity judgments to derive the representation. In this preprint with @mdlbayes.bsky.social, we take an alternative approach; we build Bayesian generative models for three cognitive tasks. /1
Similarity judgments and visual working memory do not share the same cognitive representation: https://osf.io/fm9vz
November 3, 2025 at 7:34 AM
What is the representation underlying cognition? Formal models rely on multidimensional scaling of similarity judgments to derive the representation. In this preprint with @mdlbayes.bsky.social, we take an alternative approach; we build Bayesian generative models for three cognitive tasks. /1
Reposted by hakwan lau
Introducing CorText: a framework that fuses brain data directly into a large language model, allowing for interactive neural readout using natural language.
tl;dr: you can now chat with a brain scan 🧠💬
1/n
tl;dr: you can now chat with a brain scan 🧠💬
1/n
November 3, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Introducing CorText: a framework that fuses brain data directly into a large language model, allowing for interactive neural readout using natural language.
tl;dr: you can now chat with a brain scan 🧠💬
1/n
tl;dr: you can now chat with a brain scan 🧠💬
1/n
Reposted by hakwan lau
Really delighted to share our new article in Current Biology showing that the cingulate-to-dorsolateral prefrontal pathway is not involved in trial-to-trial short-term adaptation but rather in sustained motivational control.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
Redirecting
doi.org
November 2, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Really delighted to share our new article in Current Biology showing that the cingulate-to-dorsolateral prefrontal pathway is not involved in trial-to-trial short-term adaptation but rather in sustained motivational control.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
Reposted by hakwan lau
Come be my colleague! The Wu Tsai Institute at Yale has two faculty searches ongoing:
- One in computational cognitive science (due Dec 1)
- One in neurodevelopment (rolling)
🧠🤖
- One in computational cognitive science (due Dec 1)
- One in neurodevelopment (rolling)
🧠🤖
📣 WTI is hiring faculty positions! Are you interested in advancing our understanding of the brain + how it gives rise to cognition?
Two calls are open:
Open-rank search, Neurocomputation, deadline: 12.1.25
Senior search, Neurodevelopment, rolling review
🔗 wti.yale.edu/opportunities
#KnowTogether
Two calls are open:
Open-rank search, Neurocomputation, deadline: 12.1.25
Senior search, Neurodevelopment, rolling review
🔗 wti.yale.edu/opportunities
#KnowTogether
November 2, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Come be my colleague! The Wu Tsai Institute at Yale has two faculty searches ongoing:
- One in computational cognitive science (due Dec 1)
- One in neurodevelopment (rolling)
🧠🤖
- One in computational cognitive science (due Dec 1)
- One in neurodevelopment (rolling)
🧠🤖
Reposted by hakwan lau
I am recruiting a postdoc at UC Santa Barbara for an NIH-funded project on the organization of lateral PFC function--across emotion and cognition--using representational fMRI & TMS. I’d love to find someone w/ a background in cognitive control & computational modeling to complement our team! 🏝️ 🧠 🧲
October 29, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I am recruiting a postdoc at UC Santa Barbara for an NIH-funded project on the organization of lateral PFC function--across emotion and cognition--using representational fMRI & TMS. I’d love to find someone w/ a background in cognitive control & computational modeling to complement our team! 🏝️ 🧠 🧲