Raunak Basu
@raunakbasu.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences
Reposted by Raunak Basu
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 "𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲" (𝗮𝗸𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘂𝘀)?
Via Decision Formation Through Multi-Area Population Dynamics
Excellent short review.
doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...
#neuroskyence
Via Decision Formation Through Multi-Area Population Dynamics
Excellent short review.
doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...
#neuroskyence
November 20, 2025 at 8:37 PM
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 "𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲" (𝗮𝗸𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘂𝘀)?
Via Decision Formation Through Multi-Area Population Dynamics
Excellent short review.
doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...
#neuroskyence
Via Decision Formation Through Multi-Area Population Dynamics
Excellent short review.
doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Raunak Basu
My book "The Brain, in Theory" on the publisher's website (out in April 2026):
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
The Brain, In Theory
Why engineering and computational analogies are poorly suited to the study of biological cognition
press.princeton.edu
November 18, 2025 at 8:25 AM
My book "The Brain, in Theory" on the publisher's website (out in April 2026):
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Who wore it better? Our new paper shows that rat OFC supports Bayesian inference of hidden states! With neural correlates of inferred state transitions at the level of single neurons and population-level latent factors. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Who wore it better? Our new paper shows that rat OFC supports Bayesian inference of hidden states! With neural correlates of inferred state transitions at the level of single neurons and population-level latent factors. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Ecstatic to announce our exciting new paper! Rat-mon y Cajal found a new friend to help him learn. Introducing, Dr. Tutor-us!
November 11, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Ecstatic to announce our exciting new paper! Rat-mon y Cajal found a new friend to help him learn. Introducing, Dr. Tutor-us!
Reposted by Raunak Basu
New preprint:
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
New preprint:
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
🚨Job alert🚨
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
3 Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
November 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
🚨Job alert🚨
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Specialized structure of neural population codes in parietal cortex outputs
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Specialized structure of neural population codes in parietal cortex outputs - Nature Neuroscience
Cortical neurons comprising an output pathway form a specialized population code that enhances the propagation of information to a downstream target, potentially improving the accuracy of decision-mak...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Specialized structure of neural population codes in parietal cortex outputs
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
What an exciting program for GRC Frontal Cortex in 2026! www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
2026 Frontal Cortex Conference GRC
The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Frontal Cortex will be held in Holderness, New Hampshire. Apply today to reserve your spot.
www.grc.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:18 PM
What an exciting program for GRC Frontal Cortex in 2026! www.grc.org/frontal-cort...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Reposted by Raunak Basu
The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink
We are hurtling toward climate chaos.
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
We are hurtling toward climate chaos.
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink
We are hurtling toward climate chaos. The planet's vital signs are flashing red. The consequences of human-driven alterations of the climate are no longer
academic.oup.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:43 AM
The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink
We are hurtling toward climate chaos.
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
We are hurtling toward climate chaos.
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
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 4:11 PM
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
September 11, 2025 at 10:15 AM
New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
The work with bats on barren, 7-acre Latham Island was Nachum Ulanovsky’s most complex undertaking yet.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
October 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The work with bats on barren, 7-acre Latham Island was Nachum Ulanovsky’s most complex undertaking yet.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
I am excited to share my PhD work on head-direction cells recorded in the wild, now published in @science.org, where we recorded neurons in bats flying outdoors on an island.
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
October 16, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I am excited to share my PhD work on head-direction cells recorded in the wild, now published in @science.org, where we recorded neurons in bats flying outdoors on an island.
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Really interesting work by Bakhurin and colleagues challenging the reward prediction error hypothesis of dopamine:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
October 14, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Really interesting work by Bakhurin and colleagues challenging the reward prediction error hypothesis of dopamine:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).
Reposted by Raunak Basu
🎇 Excited to finally share JL Romero Sosa’s publication! Results are from single-cell imaging in different subregions of rat frontal cortex during ✨de novo learning. Spoiler: everything is not everywhere all at once www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Neural coding of choice and outcome are modulated by uncertainty in orbitofrontal but not secondary motor cortex - Nature Communications
Neural mechanisms underlying flexible learning and decision-making are not fully understood. Using single-cell calcium imaging, authors here found that neurons in orbitofrontal and secondary motor cortex exhibit complementary roles in reward learning, with neurons in the former exerting a sustained role in conditions of uncertainty.
www.nature.com
October 8, 2025 at 12:33 PM
🎇 Excited to finally share JL Romero Sosa’s publication! Results are from single-cell imaging in different subregions of rat frontal cortex during ✨de novo learning. Spoiler: everything is not everywhere all at once www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ever wonder if there are spatial maps in the brain outside the hippocampal-entorhinal regions? In this preprint, we describe a novel spatial map in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that preserves the topological arrangements and distance between locations. However, ...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
The orbitofrontal cortex forms a context-generalized spatial schema that preserves topology and distance
Flexible and efficient navigation requires the brain to construct maps that are both topological, preserving the relationships between locations, and schematic, enabling generalization across environm...
www.biorxiv.org
September 26, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Ever wonder if there are spatial maps in the brain outside the hippocampal-entorhinal regions? In this preprint, we describe a novel spatial map in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that preserves the topological arrangements and distance between locations. However, ...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
1/5 How does the brain turn the low-dimensional, universal grid cell metric into the rich, diverse codes needed for memory in hippocampal place cells? 🧵
Preprint link 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Preprint link 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Functional independence of entorhinal grid cell modules enables remapping in hippocampal place cells
A systems-level understanding of cortical computation requires insight into how neural codes are transformed across distinct brain circuits. In the mammalian cortex, one of the few systems where such ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 25, 2025 at 4:06 AM
1/5 How does the brain turn the low-dimensional, universal grid cell metric into the rich, diverse codes needed for memory in hippocampal place cells? 🧵
Preprint link 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Preprint link 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
New paper!
Evidence for an active handoff between hemispheres during target tracking
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
#neuroscience
Evidence for an active handoff between hemispheres during target tracking
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
#neuroscience
Evidence for an active handoff between hemispheres during target tracking
The brain has somewhat separate cognitive resources for the left and right sides of our visual field. Despite this lateralization, we have a smooth and unified perception of our environment. This rais...
www.jneurosci.org
September 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM
New paper!
Evidence for an active handoff between hemispheres during target tracking
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
#neuroscience
Evidence for an active handoff between hemispheres during target tracking
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
#neuroscience
Reposted by Raunak Basu
What happens in your brain when you make up your mind?
Postdoc (soon faculty at U. of Utah) @thomas-zhihao-luo.bsky.social and ex-grad student (now Shanahan Fellow at Allen Institute) @timkimd.bsky.social have some answers in this new paper out in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 1/6
Postdoc (soon faculty at U. of Utah) @thomas-zhihao-luo.bsky.social and ex-grad student (now Shanahan Fellow at Allen Institute) @timkimd.bsky.social have some answers in this new paper out in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 1/6
September 19, 2025 at 1:01 PM
What happens in your brain when you make up your mind?
Postdoc (soon faculty at U. of Utah) @thomas-zhihao-luo.bsky.social and ex-grad student (now Shanahan Fellow at Allen Institute) @timkimd.bsky.social have some answers in this new paper out in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 1/6
Postdoc (soon faculty at U. of Utah) @thomas-zhihao-luo.bsky.social and ex-grad student (now Shanahan Fellow at Allen Institute) @timkimd.bsky.social have some answers in this new paper out in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 1/6
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Neurons in mouse primary visual cortex that respond emergently to illusory contours drive pattern completion
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Recurrent pattern completion drives the neocortical representation of sensory inference - Nature Neuroscience
Neurons that respond emergently to illusory contours drive pattern completion in V1. Pattern completion in lower cortical areas may therefore mediate perceptual inference by selectively reinforcing ac...
www.nature.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Neurons in mouse primary visual cortex that respond emergently to illusory contours drive pattern completion
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Multisensory coding of self-motion and its contribution to navigation — a Review by Dun Mao & Yong Gu
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
Multisensory coding of self-motion and its contribution to navigation - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
As an animal moves within its environment, self-motion signals are generated by the inner ear vestibular organs and the retina and transmitted to the CNS. In this Review, Mao and Gu describe how these...
www.nature.com
September 16, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Multisensory coding of self-motion and its contribution to navigation — a Review by Dun Mao & Yong Gu
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Thrilled to share that our work is now published in Science! ✨
We found a preference for visual objects in the mouse spatial navigation system where they dynamically refine head-direction coding. In short, objects boost our inner compass! 🧭
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/
We found a preference for visual objects in the mouse spatial navigation system where they dynamically refine head-direction coding. In short, objects boost our inner compass! 🧭
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/
September 11, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Thrilled to share that our work is now published in Science! ✨
We found a preference for visual objects in the mouse spatial navigation system where they dynamically refine head-direction coding. In short, objects boost our inner compass! 🧭
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/
We found a preference for visual objects in the mouse spatial navigation system where they dynamically refine head-direction coding. In short, objects boost our inner compass! 🧭
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/
Reposted by Raunak Basu
Of potential interest to those keen on motor control and/or multi-task networks. Congrats to Elom and Eric.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Motor cortex flexibly deploys a high-dimensional repertoire of subskills
Skilled movement often requires flexibly combining multiple subskills, each requiring dedicated control strategies and underlying computations. How the motor system achieves such versatility remains u...
www.biorxiv.org
September 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Of potential interest to those keen on motor control and/or multi-task networks. Congrats to Elom and Eric.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...