Gregory Kohn
@kohngregory.bsky.social
Professor specializing in bird social behavior and ethology. Enactive cognition, developmental systems thought, ontogenetic niches, organismal agency, ייִדיש. PI: Animal Social Interaction lab, kohnlab.wordpress.com
Pinned
Not convinced. The fact that all biological systems (even organoids) show some endogenous activity does not mean that experience plays no causal role. The existence of structured activity is not evidence for the absence of causal experience.
Slate status: not blank
Preconfigured neuronal firing sequences in human brain organoids www.nature.com/articles/s41... "...results suggest that temporal sequences do not arise in an experience-dependent manner, but are rather constrained by a preconfigured architecture established during neurodevelopment"
November 25, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Not convinced. The fact that all biological systems (even organoids) show some endogenous activity does not mean that experience plays no causal role. The existence of structured activity is not evidence for the absence of causal experience.
Got the wonderful UK edition of @philipcball.bsky.social book on biological agency. If you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it. Going to attempt to teach a seminar class around in soon to introduce students to these concepts.
November 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Got the wonderful UK edition of @philipcball.bsky.social book on biological agency. If you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it. Going to attempt to teach a seminar class around in soon to introduce students to these concepts.
Interesting chapter by Garland Allen on dialectical materialism, reductionism, and its relationship to animal consciousness research. By charting a dialectical approach to the study of animal minds, he suggested alternative ways to situate the brain's role in the evolution of behavior.
November 23, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Interesting chapter by Garland Allen on dialectical materialism, reductionism, and its relationship to animal consciousness research. By charting a dialectical approach to the study of animal minds, he suggested alternative ways to situate the brain's role in the evolution of behavior.
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
"Mice seem to assist pregnant females when they get into difficulty giving birth, with experienced mothers being the most helpful. This is thought to be the first official sighting of such assistance in non-primates, and so expands our knowledge of caregiving behaviours across the animal kingdom."
Mouse 'midwives' help their pregnant companions give birth
Scientists have observed mice helping each other when they encounter difficulties during birth, prompting a rethink of caregiving among rodents and other animals
www.newscientist.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:37 PM
"Mice seem to assist pregnant females when they get into difficulty giving birth, with experienced mothers being the most helpful. This is thought to be the first official sighting of such assistance in non-primates, and so expands our knowledge of caregiving behaviours across the animal kingdom."
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
It only took us several decades and dozens Nature/Nature Genetics papers but we finally got to the conclusion that plant and animal breeders (and Lewontin) arrived at from the start: twin studies suck!
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:40 PM
It only took us several decades and dozens Nature/Nature Genetics papers but we finally got to the conclusion that plant and animal breeders (and Lewontin) arrived at from the start: twin studies suck!
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
A global screen for magnetically induced neuronal activity in the pigeon brain www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... - so cool! 🐦🧠
A global screen for magnetically induced neuronal activity in the pigeon brain
How animals detect the Earth’s magnetic field remains a mystery in sensory biology. Despite extensive behavioral evidence, the neural circuitry and molecular mechanisms responsible for magnetic sensin...
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 3:07 PM
A global screen for magnetically induced neuronal activity in the pigeon brain www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... - so cool! 🐦🧠
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
Complex dynamics of social learning in groups of wild Arabian babblers
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
November 21, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Complex dynamics of social learning in groups of wild Arabian babblers
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
What a disastrous move on the side of the
@uniofleicester.bsky.social . In a world affected by the global change which needs a multitude of perspective, they are planning to narrow-down all Earth sciences to few unoriginal generics. Please sign the petition 👇
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #EvoBio #Paleobio
@uniofleicester.bsky.social . In a world affected by the global change which needs a multitude of perspective, they are planning to narrow-down all Earth sciences to few unoriginal generics. Please sign the petition 👇
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #EvoBio #Paleobio
Geology and palaeobiology at the University of Leicester are under threat, with at least 14 staff expected to be made redundant. Support them, their postdocs, and their students by signing this petition: c.org/SK8Xm8dhqK
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
What a disastrous move on the side of the
@uniofleicester.bsky.social . In a world affected by the global change which needs a multitude of perspective, they are planning to narrow-down all Earth sciences to few unoriginal generics. Please sign the petition 👇
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #EvoBio #Paleobio
@uniofleicester.bsky.social . In a world affected by the global change which needs a multitude of perspective, they are planning to narrow-down all Earth sciences to few unoriginal generics. Please sign the petition 👇
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #EvoBio #Paleobio
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
A reminder to anyone interested in #brains #birds or behaviour, our new book is available for FREE as an ebook in addition to print copies.
#neuroethology #neuroskyence #ornithology 🧪🧠🪶
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
#neuroethology #neuroskyence #ornithology 🧪🧠🪶
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis
From two avian neurobiologists, a captivating deep dive into the mechanisms that control avian behavior.The last few decades have produced extensive resear
direct.mit.edu
November 20, 2025 at 11:58 AM
A reminder to anyone interested in #brains #birds or behaviour, our new book is available for FREE as an ebook in addition to print copies.
#neuroethology #neuroskyence #ornithology 🧪🧠🪶
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
#neuroethology #neuroskyence #ornithology 🧪🧠🪶
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
Next Monday, we welcome @cshambaugh.bsky.social from the University of Oregon in our ROTO Lecture Series who will talk about dialectical biology. Just register via the link and join the talk and discussion at 4pm (CET): rotorub.wordpress.com/roto-lecture...
#HPBio #PhilSci #HistSci
#HPBio #PhilSci #HistSci
November 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Next Monday, we welcome @cshambaugh.bsky.social from the University of Oregon in our ROTO Lecture Series who will talk about dialectical biology. Just register via the link and join the talk and discussion at 4pm (CET): rotorub.wordpress.com/roto-lecture...
#HPBio #PhilSci #HistSci
#HPBio #PhilSci #HistSci
A story of a nest takeover in three panels.
November 16, 2025 at 10:51 PM
A story of a nest takeover in three panels.
A Southern Two-striped Walkingstick in the lab this morning. My favorite insect in Florida.
November 16, 2025 at 2:23 PM
A Southern Two-striped Walkingstick in the lab this morning. My favorite insect in Florida.
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
NEW PAPER: Introduced house sparrows showed more numerous, larger, and more variable DNA-methylation changes after simulated infection than native birds, suggesting distinct epigenetic responses that may aid introduction success.
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
November 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
NEW PAPER: Introduced house sparrows showed more numerous, larger, and more variable DNA-methylation changes after simulated infection than native birds, suggesting distinct epigenetic responses that may aid introduction success.
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
Our special issue on Evolutionary Functions of Consciousness, coedited with Tecumseh Fitch and Adina Roskies, now online royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...
Contributions by (1) Irina Mikhalevich; (2) Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg; (3) Nicholas Humphrey; (cont'd)
Contributions by (1) Irina Mikhalevich; (2) Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg; (3) Nicholas Humphrey; (cont'd)
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1939
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Our special issue on Evolutionary Functions of Consciousness, coedited with Tecumseh Fitch and Adina Roskies, now online royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...
Contributions by (1) Irina Mikhalevich; (2) Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg; (3) Nicholas Humphrey; (cont'd)
Contributions by (1) Irina Mikhalevich; (2) Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg; (3) Nicholas Humphrey; (cont'd)
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
Today is the day! Our reply to the two concurrent critiques (from the same set of authors) is now published in the journal Intelligence 🧵 1/
November 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Today is the day! Our reply to the two concurrent critiques (from the same set of authors) is now published in the journal Intelligence 🧵 1/
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
NEW on #theBOUblog from Roni Ostreiher
To leave or to stay home? Sex-dependent dispersal decisions in a cooperative desert bird
bou.org.uk/blog-ostr...
Based on this IBIS paper doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
#ornithology 🪶
To leave or to stay home? Sex-dependent dispersal decisions in a cooperative desert bird
bou.org.uk/blog-ostr...
Based on this IBIS paper doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
#ornithology 🪶
November 10, 2025 at 9:00 AM
NEW on #theBOUblog from Roni Ostreiher
To leave or to stay home? Sex-dependent dispersal decisions in a cooperative desert bird
bou.org.uk/blog-ostr...
Based on this IBIS paper doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
#ornithology 🪶
To leave or to stay home? Sex-dependent dispersal decisions in a cooperative desert bird
bou.org.uk/blog-ostr...
Based on this IBIS paper doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
#ornithology 🪶
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
New from @carriej.bsky.social: Folks, we’ve got a white loon. 🪶https://www.audubon.org/magazine/once-lifetime-photos-capture-rare-white-loons-first-summer
‘Once-in-a-Lifetime’ Photos Capture a Rare White Loon’s First Summer
Montana photographer Tony Gangemi documented a season in the life of a leucistic Common Loon, from its first days as a “little cotton ball” up until its first flight.
www.audubon.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:15 PM
New from @carriej.bsky.social: Folks, we’ve got a white loon. 🪶https://www.audubon.org/magazine/once-lifetime-photos-capture-rare-white-loons-first-summer
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
"The Riddle of Organismal Agency" is now available as a paperback version! Edited by @alejandrofabregastejeda.com, Jan Baedke, Guido Prieto and Gregory Radick, the volume puts together reflections from #HistSci and #PhilSci on the topic of organismal agency.
#HPBio
www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o...
#HPBio
www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o...
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"The Riddle of Organismal Agency" is now available as a paperback version! Edited by @alejandrofabregastejeda.com, Jan Baedke, Guido Prieto and Gregory Radick, the volume puts together reflections from #HistSci and #PhilSci on the topic of organismal agency.
#HPBio
www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o...
#HPBio
www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o...
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
Been reading "What is Innateness?" by Paul Griffiths (2002) philpapers.org/rec/EGRWII in which he offers this very sound advice:
November 2, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Been reading "What is Innateness?" by Paul Griffiths (2002) philpapers.org/rec/EGRWII in which he offers this very sound advice:
It’s going to be really ironic that the basic research the Silicon Valley bros fought so hard to cut to extinction is the thing that finally gives them real life extension.
How bowhead whales live for centuries—and how we might borrow some of their biology to extend our healthy lifespan. Gift link to my new column: nyti.ms/4hyD9ry
November 1, 2025 at 1:07 AM
It’s going to be really ironic that the basic research the Silicon Valley bros fought so hard to cut to extinction is the thing that finally gives them real life extension.
Reposted by Gregory Kohn
“A lot of people are talking about how Jews in New York feel about @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social...
Well, I’m a Jew in New York!
And I’m out here canvassing with my community for Zohran!”
Watch Madeline’s story about why she’s a New York Jew for Zohran:
Well, I’m a Jew in New York!
And I’m out here canvassing with my community for Zohran!”
Watch Madeline’s story about why she’s a New York Jew for Zohran:
October 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
“A lot of people are talking about how Jews in New York feel about @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social...
Well, I’m a Jew in New York!
And I’m out here canvassing with my community for Zohran!”
Watch Madeline’s story about why she’s a New York Jew for Zohran:
Well, I’m a Jew in New York!
And I’m out here canvassing with my community for Zohran!”
Watch Madeline’s story about why she’s a New York Jew for Zohran: