What is autism?
Worth a quick run-through of the modern understanding of autism, since so many teams are still using the outdated DSM-5 descriptions from 2013. So many changes in the last 12 years. This is all from research studies.
Thread.

It's part of wider neurodivergence, a brain difference/

How does the perception of our bodily self arise in our experience, and to what extent do we process body ownership information unconsciously? In a new study (preprint), we found body ownership information processing cannot occur without awareness. 0/14👇 doi.org/10.31234/osf...

Dear Government. Forcing more & more disabled people into poverty does not save the taxpayer money.
What did you think disabled people do with money? Stash it under the mattress?
It goes back into the economy.
Cold, malnourished people become very ill & cost the NHS a fortune.
Please get a grip.

#MedSky 🧪🩺🦠🧠

‘2024 was the hottest year in recorded history. With temperatures rising around the globe & the oceans unusually warm, scientists are warning that the world has entered a dangerous new era of chaotic floods, storms & fires made worse by human-caused climate change.’
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/c...

Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.

Big paper from @paigel.bsky.social in our lab:

Sensory feedback is always crucial for proper development, right? Wrong!

Crazier still, the motor system is the slowest part of a developing reflex circuit!

Surprises abound in this bluetorial c’mon along….

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1/19

Truth.

Ever wondered why walking around museums is weirdly tiring? At normal speed our legs act like pendulums, swinging forward from the hip & saving us a huge amount of energy. In "museum shuffle" our muscles must do ALL the work of constant readjustment. So cake in the cafe is scientifically justified 🥳

A good thread pointing out how things can go badly wrong when taking an AI summary in a search result and just running with it. (See how the misinfo-spreading account is replying to corrections to see more examples of them assuming that the top line of the search result is the ultimate authority.)

I keep trying to write something eloquent and just being tired.
History matters. Philosophy matters. Languages and literature matter. Indigenous studies matter. Arts and humanities and social sciences matter. All of them.

Signed,
a physicist

Do the folks who want to tear up bike lanes not understand that if the cyclists are not in the bike lanes they are in the lanes with the cars? In most cases in their own cars? Which means they are now (noisy, polluting) traffic? More car lanes just means more cars.

OK If we are moving to Bluesky I am rescuing my favourite ever twitter thread (Jan 2019).

The renamed:

Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)

Gisèle Pelicot graces the cover of vogue Germany, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women #16daysofactivism

I think the integrator is spot on. But the stay/switch sounds a bit more norepinepheriny? This fantastic essay by @jeremiahycohen.bsky.social lays out the case for serotonin-as-integration wrt mood.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Consciousness is not as important as it thinks it is. But it does get a trophy for attendance.
A take-home message from my grad class lecture today
#Neuroscience