Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Charan Ranganath

@charan-neuro.bsky.social

7.6K followers 570 following 130 posts

Professor, Author of WHY WE REMEMBER out 2-20-24, Doubleday Books Director, UC Davis Memory and Plasticity Program, Professor, Center for #Neuroscience & Dept. of #Psychology #Memory #fMRI #EEG #Computational #Punk #indie #Music: http://ch-ra.bandcamp.com

ch-ra.bandcamp.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Nov 18

Super-psyched to share this preprint from my student Yicong (Alan) Zheng: "Recurrent Inhibitory Dynamics in the Entorhinal Cortex Support Pattern Separation" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... It's a new biologicaly-based computational model of the entorhinal-hippocampal system. Thread (1/?)

Recurrent Inhibitory Dynamics in the Entorhinal Cortex Support Pattern Separation

The entorhinal cortex (EC) provides the major input to the hippocampus (HPC). Numerous computational models on the EC propose that its grid cells serve as a spatial metric, supporting path integration...

www.biorxiv.org

3 26 79

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · 3d

"Kill the wabbit, Kill the wabbit..."=Wagner
So many others: www.mentalfloss.com/article/6667...

15 Pieces of Classical Music That Showed Up in 'Looney Tunes' Cartoons

Warner Brothers relied on music to help pull off some of the funniest gags in cartoon history.

www.mentalfloss.com

1 13

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 4d

New preprint 🌟 Psychology is core to cognitive science, and so it is vital we preserve it from harmful frames. @irisvanrooij.bsky.social & I use our psych and computer science expertise to analyse and craft:

Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. doi.org/10.31234/osf...

🧵 1/

Cover page of Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025, October 4). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

Table 1 Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025, October 4). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

Table 2 Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025, October 4). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

8 97 240

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 13d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

730 9.9K 30K

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Brynn Sherman @brynnsherman.bsky.social · 18d

Last month, I launched my lab at Ohio State. Our lab website is now live, and we're recruiting graduate students this cycle! If you're interested in the cognitive (neuro)science of learning & memory, please reach out!

www.momentslab.org

Moments Lab

www.momentslab.org

2 48 78

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · 18d

Word. "General" intelligence will involve inherent compromises. More data or layers is not the answer. Metacognition is what helps humans calibrate confidence.

Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 18d

It's still going to fail.

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws

In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

www.computerworld.com

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · 21d

Very cool new results from @alexbarnett.bsky.social !

Alex Barnett @alexbarnett.bsky.social · 21d

New preprint! My stellar undergrad, June Kim, & @charan-neuro.bsky.social find that intersubject pattern similarity at encoding (especially in posteromedial cortex) relates to shared/differing content between Ss at recall (measured using topic modeling) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Natural language processing captures memory content associated with shared neural patterns at encoding

People can experience the same event yet form distinct memories shaped by individual interpretations. Prior research shows that multivariate activity patterns in the Default Mode Network (DMN) are cor...

www.biorxiv.org

1 7

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

UC Davis Center for Neuroscience @ucdaviscns.bsky.social · 21d

Happy National Postdoc Appreciation Week! We're thrilled to spotlight 💫Dr. Qianqian Wan💫, a postdoctoral scholar in @charan-neuro.bsky.social's Dynamic Memory Lab and Dr. Joy Geng's Attention Lab @ucdavis.bsky.social. Learn more: dml.ucdavis.edu #PostdocAppreciationWeek2025 #NPAW2025 #LabsToLives

UC Davis Center for Neuroscience postdoc spotlight: Dr. Qianqian Wan, studying human perception, learning and memory.

1 4

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · 29d

We are looking for our next colleague. Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions!

Yuko Munakata @yukomunakata.bsky.social · 29d

UC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

1 7 21

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Diane Duane @diane.dianeduane.com · 29d

😏 ...Next? www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Apple Sued by Authors for Copyright Infringement

On Friday, authors Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Apple accusing the company of illegally using their books to train its AI.

www.publishersweekly.com

2 50 140

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · 29d

I really enjoyed talking to Meryl Horn about memory, & the Science Vs. team put it together w/interviews from Jan Born & Loren Frank and made an episode that's clear, true to the science, and fun!

Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · Sep 4

New episodes of Science Vs start TODAY! First up: Memory. Tons of us feel like our memories are terrible. So we're asking: How worried should we be about this? Plus, we'll give you the science-approved ways to boost your memory ... 🧪

open.spotify.com/episode/0MeY...

Memory: How to Boost It

open.spotify.com

1 3 12

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Sep 5

Well done Brian and well deserved. Congratulations!!!!

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Sep 5

LibGen sucks but I really hate that companies are making tons of money off training AI systems with stolen work. If a single mom steals a textbook for their kid, they can be arrested, but if a company does it, they are rewarded. And they'll send the lawyers to destroy anyone who steals *their* IP.

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Sep 5

AWESOME congratulations Brian!!!!

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Sep 5

So my book, "Why We Remember" (English and Italian versions) plus a ton of my papers are in this database. Sad but unsurprising given that ChatGPT can tell me all sorts of things about my book. Sharing this for anyone else who might be affected.

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Aug 27

There's a lawsuit about AI stealing your work. It's the same lawyers taking on Elsevier et al in a separate case.

Academics:
1. Check if your work is in LibGen at www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

2. If so, let the lawyers know at www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · Aug 27

There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.

As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how

Part 1: is your work in Libgen?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

1 3

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Aug 24

It's conceivable that someone who starts w/ genAI might eventually make art themselves, but I think it's more likely that they will settle for what is easy than what is worthwhile. We're already seeing that in a lot of student writing. That said, AI can be used by artists in interesting ways.

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Aug 24

Entering a prompt in generative AI and receiving a picture or song or poem in less than a minute might give the feeling of creation, but it'll disappear quickly like junk food. And it leads people to devalue real art made by people who put in the time to learn, experiment, and express themselves.

1 1

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Aug 24

I've given this more thought. Anyone can make art, it just takes patience. Even if it's not "good" they can express themselves and it is a real accomplishment. With practice, they get better at expressing themselves.

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Aug 17

There's nothing wrong with using technological tools to make art, but something deeply wrong about companies stealing art to train AI models & with people who think that a prompt-generated mediocre picture counts as art. Anyone can make art, but it takes work to make something good.

1 1

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Aug 17

Well done Hugo! Awesome that you are documenting their knowledge while people are still practicing it!

Charan Ranganath @charan-neuro.bsky.social · Aug 13

New study examining predictive eye movements during naturalistic events. These effects can occur without awareness and show sleep-mediated consolidation effects. Cool stuff! (I only made a small contribution to the study but it was fun to be involved)

Omer Sharon @omersharon.bsky.social · Aug 11

No one ever steps in the same movie twice. Anticipatory gaze 👁️ indicate episodic memory seconds before an event occurs. 🧠🐾 Very robust effects across both natural and crafted movies, and of course, after sleep! 😴. Out today in Communication Psychology:
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Check it out!

Anticipatory eye gaze as a marker of memory - Communications Psychology

Anticipatory eye movements during repeated movie viewing reveal when and what is remembered. Gaze patterns correlate with explicit reports, offering a method to detect memory for events without verbal...

www.nature.com

2 15

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

CalMatters @calmatters.org · Aug 13

Breaking: A federal judge ordered the Trump admin. to restore a portion of the 800 federal science research grants that it suspended at UCLA, delivering a major setback to efforts to force the university into a $1 billion settlement buff.ly/cJKbdTY

📝 @mzinshteyn.bsky.social
📸 Jules Hotz

Participants in the “Kill the Cuts” rally march against the Trump administration’s proposed research funding cuts in Los Angeles on April 8, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters.

Hed: Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore hundreds of UCLA research grants

3 120 430

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Denis Lan @denislan.bsky.social · Aug 7

My first PhD paper - with @lhuntneuro.bsky.social and @summerfieldlab.bsky.social - is now out in @plosbiology.org! We ask: how do humans (and deep neural networks) navigate flexibly even in unfamiliar environments, such as a new city? Link: plos.io/45uSwNm 🧵 (1/6)

Cartoon image of me looking at a map, with a stadium behind me and a hotel and ferris wheel across the river in the background. I am thinking about going to the ferris wheel

1 11 30

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Bradley Love @profdata.bsky.social · Nov 27

"Large language models surpass human experts in predicting neuroscience results" w @ken-lxl.bsky.social
and braingpt.org. LLMs integrate a noisy yet interrelated scientific literature to forecast outcomes. nature.com/articles/s41... 1/8

19 110 270

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Micah G. Allen @micahgallen.com · Jul 30

I’m elated to share our latest publication - out now in @natmentalhealth.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s44... - tour de force by @leahbanellis.bsky.social @brainandstomach.bsky.social and the rest of the VMP team!

Stomach–brain coupling indexes a dimensional signature of mental health - Nature Mental Health

Using a relatively large and diverse sample of mostly young adults, this study by Banellis, Rebollo and colleagues examines associations between regional stomach–brain coupling and mental health and i...

www.nature.com

8 47 190

Reposted by Charan Ranganath

Norman Lab @ptoncompmemlab.bsky.social · Jul 28

New paper led by @codydong.bsky.social now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, exploring the relationship between memory-augmented LLMs and human episodic memory – see Cody’s post below for a short thread and a non-paywalled paper link! #NeuroAI doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

1 9 20