Nidhi Seethapathi
@nidhise.bsky.social
assistant professor at MIT building computational models to understand human movement
Pinned
Nidhi Seethapathi
@nidhise.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
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...
The best place in the world to be at the cutting edge of muscle models!
The Nishikawa lab at Northern Arizona University and the NSF-funded Integrative Movement Sciences Institute are hiring a postdoc to help develop multiscale muscle models - please apply and share widely! careers.nau.edu/cw/en-us/job...
Postdoctoral Scholar - Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
Special Information
This position is an on-site position which requires the incumbent to complete their work primarily at an NAU site, campus, or facility with or without accommodation. Opportunities...
careers.nau.edu
November 21, 2025 at 6:15 AM
The best place in the world to be at the cutting edge of muscle models!
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
I think almost all scientific projects should be planned carefully. And I think an app can dramatically improve that. So I wrote an app for that (free for now, if you can fund this let me know). I tested it quite a bit (>8000 users in beta so far). try it: planyourscience.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I think almost all scientific projects should be planned carefully. And I think an app can dramatically improve that. So I wrote an app for that (free for now, if you can fund this let me know). I tested it quite a bit (>8000 users in beta so far). try it: planyourscience.com
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
My research group has an open position for a postdoc! Interested in investigating the postural transition towards mammalian gait using movement simulations? We might have the right position for you! More details and application info here: www.asm.tf.fau.de/en/2025/11/1...
Postdoctoral researcher for DFG-funded project “FossilGaitSim”
The Biomechanical Motion Analysis and Creation (BioMAC) group at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) invites applications for a postdoctoral position with the goal to…
www.asm.tf.fau.de
November 19, 2025 at 1:41 PM
My research group has an open position for a postdoc! Interested in investigating the postural transition towards mammalian gait using movement simulations? We might have the right position for you! More details and application info here: www.asm.tf.fau.de/en/2025/11/1...
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
On a similar note, I feel like we ought to stop writing papers as flowing text and instead just have the bullet points you would have used as a prompt.
I'm actually not joking.
I'm actually not joking.
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
On a similar note, I feel like we ought to stop writing papers as flowing text and instead just have the bullet points you would have used as a prompt.
I'm actually not joking.
I'm actually not joking.
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
MLMC2025 is tomorrow!
For those joining remotely, here is the link for the meeting:
harvard.zoom.us/j/9544921964...
Reminder, the conference will start promptly at 9am PST.
Please visit the website for additional information, schedule, registration, etc!
motor-conference.org/openconf.php
For those joining remotely, here is the link for the meeting:
harvard.zoom.us/j/9544921964...
Reminder, the conference will start promptly at 9am PST.
Please visit the website for additional information, schedule, registration, etc!
motor-conference.org/openconf.php
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.
harvard.zoom.us
November 13, 2025 at 10:49 PM
MLMC2025 is tomorrow!
For those joining remotely, here is the link for the meeting:
harvard.zoom.us/j/9544921964...
Reminder, the conference will start promptly at 9am PST.
Please visit the website for additional information, schedule, registration, etc!
motor-conference.org/openconf.php
For those joining remotely, here is the link for the meeting:
harvard.zoom.us/j/9544921964...
Reminder, the conference will start promptly at 9am PST.
Please visit the website for additional information, schedule, registration, etc!
motor-conference.org/openconf.php
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Come to my poster at SfN on Wednesday morning! I'll present my work on how the cerebellum uses internal models to control neocortical dynamics in a non-motor learning task. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty exciting! www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Program Planner
www.abstractsonline.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Come to my poster at SfN on Wednesday morning! I'll present my work on how the cerebellum uses internal models to control neocortical dynamics in a non-motor learning task. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty exciting! www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171...
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
India won the Women’s Cricket World Cup for the first time with a 52-run victory over South Africa on Sunday.
India wins Women’s Cricket World Cup for first time with 52-run victory over South Africa
India has won the Women’s Cricket World Cup for the first time with a 52-run victory over South Africa on Sunday.
bit.ly
November 2, 2025 at 6:42 PM
India won the Women’s Cricket World Cup for the first time with a 52-run victory over South Africa on Sunday.
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
1/N
How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? I’m beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk @eric-kirk.bsky.social with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? I’m beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk @eric-kirk.bsky.social with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 23, 2025 at 12:28 PM
1/N
How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? I’m beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk @eric-kirk.bsky.social with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? I’m beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk @eric-kirk.bsky.social with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
We are excited to share our new paper that dives into how ongoing decision deliberation reflects ongoing movements: (jneurosci.org/content/45/3...
A tour-de-force by the incredible Jan Calalo.
A tour-de-force by the incredible Jan Calalo.
July 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
We are excited to share our new paper that dives into how ongoing decision deliberation reflects ongoing movements: (jneurosci.org/content/45/3...
A tour-de-force by the incredible Jan Calalo.
A tour-de-force by the incredible Jan Calalo.
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
The cerebellum isn’t just about coordinating movement. It’s implicated in nearly every domain of cognition—from language to social behavior.
But how exactly does the cerebellum contribute to action and cognition? 🧵
Check out our new paper w/ Rich Ivry.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.09818
But how exactly does the cerebellum contribute to action and cognition? 🧵
Check out our new paper w/ Rich Ivry.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.09818
Cerebellar Contributions to Action and Cognition: Prediction, Timescale, and Continuity
The cerebellum is implicated in nearly every domain of human cognition, yet our understanding of how this subcortical structure contributes to cognition remains elusive. Efforts on this front have ten...
arxiv.org
September 15, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The cerebellum isn’t just about coordinating movement. It’s implicated in nearly every domain of cognition—from language to social behavior.
But how exactly does the cerebellum contribute to action and cognition? 🧵
Check out our new paper w/ Rich Ivry.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.09818
But how exactly does the cerebellum contribute to action and cognition? 🧵
Check out our new paper w/ Rich Ivry.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.09818
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Stoked to see our study out in final form! Big kudos to @jonathanamichaels.bsky.social for driving this along for the past 5 years.
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics in motor circuits
Nature - Experiments with human volunteers and macaques show that expectations produced by probabilistic cueing of future sensory inputs shape motor circuit dynamics in order to increase the...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Stoked to see our study out in final form! Big kudos to @jonathanamichaels.bsky.social for driving this along for the past 5 years.
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
New Pre-Print:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We’re all familiar with having to practice a new skill to get better at it, but what really happens during practice? The answer, I propose, is reinforcement learning - specifically policy-gradient reinforcement learning.
Overview 🧵 below...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We’re all familiar with having to practice a new skill to get better at it, but what really happens during practice? The answer, I propose, is reinforcement learning - specifically policy-gradient reinforcement learning.
Overview 🧵 below...
Policy-Gradient Reinforcement Learning as a General Theory of Practice-Based Motor Skill Learning
Mastering any new skill requires extensive practice, but the computational principles underlying this learning are not clearly understood. Existing theories of motor learning can explain short-term ad...
www.biorxiv.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
New Pre-Print:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We’re all familiar with having to practice a new skill to get better at it, but what really happens during practice? The answer, I propose, is reinforcement learning - specifically policy-gradient reinforcement learning.
Overview 🧵 below...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We’re all familiar with having to practice a new skill to get better at it, but what really happens during practice? The answer, I propose, is reinforcement learning - specifically policy-gradient reinforcement learning.
Overview 🧵 below...
Our 2024 paper showed that policy gradient RL (with performance-based memory updates) predicts long-horizon motor learning. Now, @adrianhaith.bsky.social shows that policy-gradient RL also explains learning in other shorter horizon tasks. Exciting!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Policy-Gradient Reinforcement Learning as a General Theory of Practice-Based Motor Skill Learning
Mastering any new skill requires extensive practice, but the computational principles underlying this learning are not clearly understood. Existing theories of motor learning can explain short-term ad...
www.biorxiv.org
October 29, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Our 2024 paper showed that policy gradient RL (with performance-based memory updates) predicts long-horizon motor learning. Now, @adrianhaith.bsky.social shows that policy-gradient RL also explains learning in other shorter horizon tasks. Exciting!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Important work by @nidhise.bsky.social discovering signatures of control for stable locomotion across species. Excited to see the models applied to diverse species as part of IMSI @movementscience.bsky.social
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
October 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Important work by @nidhise.bsky.social discovering signatures of control for stable locomotion across species. Excited to see the models applied to diverse species as part of IMSI @movementscience.bsky.social
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Check out this #incredible work on #stability and #control during movement across #humans, #mice, and #flies.
Congratulations @nidhise.bsky.social and @antoinecomite.bsky.social 👏🏽⭐
Congratulations @nidhise.bsky.social and @antoinecomite.bsky.social 👏🏽⭐
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
October 26, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Check out this #incredible work on #stability and #control during movement across #humans, #mice, and #flies.
Congratulations @nidhise.bsky.social and @antoinecomite.bsky.social 👏🏽⭐
Congratulations @nidhise.bsky.social and @antoinecomite.bsky.social 👏🏽⭐
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
October 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Understanding behavior requires datasets that capture humans while carrying out complex tasks. The kitchen is an excellent environment for assessing human motor and cognitive function, as many complex actions are naturally exhibited in kitchens from chopping to 🧽!
arxiv.org/abs/2506.01608
arxiv.org/abs/2506.01608
EPFL-Smart-Kitchen-30: Densely annotated cooking dataset with 3D kinematics to challenge video and language models
Understanding behavior requires datasets that capture humans while carrying out complex tasks. The kitchen is an excellent environment for assessing human motor and cognitive function, as many complex...
arxiv.org
September 23, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Understanding behavior requires datasets that capture humans while carrying out complex tasks. The kitchen is an excellent environment for assessing human motor and cognitive function, as many complex actions are naturally exhibited in kitchens from chopping to 🧽!
arxiv.org/abs/2506.01608
arxiv.org/abs/2506.01608
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Last week, I had the incredible privilege of talking with the @mit.edu first-generation, low income graduating class of 2025 as the event's keynote speaker. (1/n)
May 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Last week, I had the incredible privilege of talking with the @mit.edu first-generation, low income graduating class of 2025 as the event's keynote speaker. (1/n)
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
The NSF Integrative Movement Sciences Institute (IMSI) is a major biology research center spanning over 20 US institutions.
The Mission: To understand why we move like we do--from molecules to muscles to our environment.
At our Summer Institute, we train new students in our labs--like Hannah Chow:
The Mission: To understand why we move like we do--from molecules to muscles to our environment.
At our Summer Institute, we train new students in our labs--like Hannah Chow:
September 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The NSF Integrative Movement Sciences Institute (IMSI) is a major biology research center spanning over 20 US institutions.
The Mission: To understand why we move like we do--from molecules to muscles to our environment.
At our Summer Institute, we train new students in our labs--like Hannah Chow:
The Mission: To understand why we move like we do--from molecules to muscles to our environment.
At our Summer Institute, we train new students in our labs--like Hannah Chow:
In Nov last year, we published a predictive theory of locomotor adaptation to novel environments, capturing learning and generalization phenomena in over ten experiments:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I'm honored to be featured on the 2025 Innovators Under 35 list for this work.
ter.li/7c0jek
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I'm honored to be featured on the 2025 Innovators Under 35 list for this work.
ter.li/7c0jek
September 8, 2025 at 1:29 PM
In Nov last year, we published a predictive theory of locomotor adaptation to novel environments, capturing learning and generalization phenomena in over ten experiments:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I'm honored to be featured on the 2025 Innovators Under 35 list for this work.
ter.li/7c0jek
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I'm honored to be featured on the 2025 Innovators Under 35 list for this work.
ter.li/7c0jek
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
We test this by considering a cross-linguistic dataset of locomotion naming 🏃♀️💃🚶
We find that even in this challenging dynamical multi-modal domain, systems of semantic categories across languages are significantly efficient
7/n
We find that even in this challenging dynamical multi-modal domain, systems of semantic categories across languages are significantly efficient
7/n
August 9, 2025 at 1:46 PM
We test this by considering a cross-linguistic dataset of locomotion naming 🏃♀️💃🚶
We find that even in this challenging dynamical multi-modal domain, systems of semantic categories across languages are significantly efficient
7/n
We find that even in this challenging dynamical multi-modal domain, systems of semantic categories across languages are significantly efficient
7/n
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Cogsci and AI: two different approaches as articulated by Josh Tenenbaum #cogsci2025
August 1, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Cogsci and AI: two different approaches as articulated by Josh Tenenbaum #cogsci2025
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
This is what the science machine does. No massive breakthrough. No single cure. Just lots and lots of cumulative knowledge that makes things better…
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
UK cancer survival rate doubles since 1970s amid ‘golden age’, report says
Half of those diagnosed will now survive for 10 years or more after advances in diagnosis and treatment
www.theguardian.com
June 3, 2025 at 5:35 AM
This is what the science machine does. No massive breakthrough. No single cure. Just lots and lots of cumulative knowledge that makes things better…
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Nidhi Seethapathi
Ugh… there’s also what I call messianic AI, the fantasy that AI will “solve” science. Treating science like a vending machine for solitons/profit & scientists as human cogs replaceable by machinery. But Science is a living culture of critical discussion, mentorship, shared community values &methods.
May 9, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Ugh… there’s also what I call messianic AI, the fantasy that AI will “solve” science. Treating science like a vending machine for solitons/profit & scientists as human cogs replaceable by machinery. But Science is a living culture of critical discussion, mentorship, shared community values &methods.