Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Sep 7

It's been a great FIT'NG so far 🧠👶🏻 I'm always excited to present the work from the amazing FOUNDCOG team, and chat all things developmental cog comp neuro. Feel free to reach out to me or find me on the last day tomorrow!

Fetal, Infant, & Toddler Neuroimaging Group—FIT’NG @fitngin.bsky.social · Sep 7

Cliona O'Doherty present pioneering work relating awake infant fMRI data to adults and computational models of vision, with strong correspondence at 2 months of age!

1 7

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Tim Kietzmann @timkietzmann.bsky.social · Aug 9

Hi, we will have three NeuroAI postdoc openings (3 years each, fully funded) to work with Sebastian Musslick (@musslick.bsky.social), Pascal Nieters and myself on task-switching, replay, and visual information routing.

Reach out if you are interested in any of the above, I'll be at CCN next week!

31 57

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Tristan Yates @tristansyates.bsky.social · Jul 18

This was so fun to write! Grateful to ICIS and the Baby Blog for the space to reflect on infant memory

International Congress of Infant Studies @infantstudies.bsky.social · Jul 17

New on the Baby Blog - Episodic-like memory in infancy: Insights from the developing hippocampus by Tristan S. Yates #EarlyYears #DevPsychSky #PsychSciSky #infantstudies infantstudies.org/episodic-lik...

Text: Latest from the Baby Blog - Episodic-like memory in infancy: Insights from the developing hippocampus by Tristan S. Yates against an image background of a baby lying on its back holding a book

1 2 11

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Vlad Ayzenberg @vayzenb.bsky.social · Jul 2

My paper with @stellalourenco.bsky.social ‬is now out in Science Advances!

We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime

doi.org/10.1126/scia...

Fast and robust visual object recognition in young children

The visual recognition abilities of preschool children rival those of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models.

doi.org

2 36 110

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Rhodri Cusack @rhodricusack.bsky.social · Jul 2

Thanks to fellow defenders @clionaod.bsky.social, Marc'Aurelio Ranzato, and @charvetcj.bsky.social

Defending the foundation model view of infant development www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Defending the foundation model view of infant development

www.sciencedirect.com

3 9 17

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Jun 26

Excited for CCN this year! The lineup is full of super interesting developmental work👶🏻🧠🤖 Looking forward to presenting my results as a contributed talk as well!

Rhodri Cusack @rhodricusack.bsky.social · Jun 25

Not just one, but two fantastic chances to discuss how infant development can inform machine learning and vice-versa at CCN 2025 in Amsterdam!!! Satellite workshop sites.google.com/view/child2m...
and Generative Adversarial Collaboration sites.google.com/ccneuro.org/...

CCN 2025 Satellite Event

Background The human visual system is full of optimisations—mechanisms designed to extract the most useful information from a constant stream of incoming data. The field of neuro-AI has made significa...

sites.google.com

2

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Martin Hebart @martinhebart.bsky.social · Jun 23

What makes humans similar or different to AI? In a paper out in @natmachintell.nature.com led by @florianmahner.bsky.social & @lukasmut.bsky.social, w/ Umut Güclü, we took a deep look at the factors underlying their representational alignment, with surprising results.

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Dimensions underlying the representational alignment of deep neural networks with humans - Nature Machine Intelligence

An interpretability framework that compares how humans and deep neural networks process images has been presented. Their findings reveal that, unlike humans, deep neural networks focus more on visual ...

www.nature.com

2 36 100

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Steven Scholte @neurosteven.bsky.social · May 28

There are 2 PhD positions in my lab in Amsterdam (collaboration with Sander Bohte, @tessamdekker.bsky.social and Ingmar Visser) on NeuroAI of developmental vision.

academicpositions.nl/ad/centrum-w...

2 PHD-STUDENTS IN NEUROAI OF DEVELOPMENTAL VISION (M/F/X) - Academic Positions

Join an interdisciplinary team to research developmental vision in NeuroAI. Requires a strong computational background, deep learning skills, and a Master's ...

academicpositions.nl

13 25

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · May 27

Thinking about brain development is hard ... but modern computational models can hint towards potential learning mechanisms! Of course, these need to be contextualised within the findings from developmental psychology. Check out the discussion out now in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social

Rhodri Cusack @rhodricusack.bsky.social · May 24

Excited to see our response published www.cell.com/trends/cogni... to Zettersten at al's thoughtful commentary www.cell.com/trends/cogni... on our TiCS perspective "Helpless infants are learning a foundation model" www.cell.com/trends/cogni... @trinityneuro.bsky.social @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social

Defending the foundation model view of infant development

In response to the opinion article by Cusack et al. [1], Zettersten et al. [2] challenge the proposal that human infants undergo a stage-like development from sensory to goal-directed actions. Zetters...

www.cell.com

5

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · May 15

Please help: Do you know a baby, less than 12 months old, who can walk? We are trying to complete a project, 7 years in the works. And all we need are 3 infants who are less than a year old and can walk, to do a short online looking-time study.
🆘

6 67 41

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Martin Hebart @martinhebart.bsky.social · May 8

Fascinating talk by @rhodricusack.bsky.social showing his & @clionaod.bsky.social’s work on 2 and 9-month olds with 130 (!) infants & 20 min (!) data showing a largely similar representation of medial ventral vision but a largely absent response in LO, dovetailing with myelin development. #CAOS2025

2 13

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Francesco Poli @francescopoli.bsky.social · Apr 29

"How infants learn and explore: From behavior to computations" 👶⚙️

This review outlines my take on early development, mostly driven by frustration that infancy research focuses on what infants can do, not how.

Still a Preprint! Missing-literature suggestions welcome :)

osf.io/preprints/ps...

OSF

osf.io

2 9 25

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Mar 21

Incredible Tristan 😍

2

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Tristan Yates @tristansyates.bsky.social · Mar 20

Why do we not remember being a baby? One idea is that the hippocampus, which is essential for episodic memory in adults, is too immature to form individual memories in infancy. We tested this using awake infant fMRI, new in @science.org #ScienceResearch www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Hippocampal encoding of memories in human infants

Humans lack memories for specific events from the first few years of life. We investigated the mechanistic basis of this infantile amnesia by scanning the brains of awake infants with functional magne...

www.science.org

21 170 480

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Calli McMurray @callimcflurry.bsky.social · Mar 20

A brave (and patient) group of neuroscientists have figured out how to do task-based fMRI in babies and toddlers. They aim to uncover how the infant mind takes shape—and the method has already provided new insight into infantile amnesia. My latest www.thetransmitter.org/cognitive-ne... #neuroskyence

What infant fMRI is revealing about the developing mind

Cognitive neuroscientists have finally clocked how to perform task-based fMRI experiments in awake babies. Now they want watch cognition take shape.

www.thetransmitter.org

3 20 61

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

MIT Kids Brains @kidsbrains.bsky.social · Mar 3

The Saxe Lab @ MIT is hiring! We seek one lab manager to start in summer 2025. Research in our lab focuses on social cognition (learn more on saxelab.mit.edu).

Please apply at: tinyurl.com/saxe2025 (Job ID 31993).

Review of applications starts on March 24, 2025.

Sharing appreciated. Thank you!

Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at MIT |

saxelab.mit.edu

2 44 54

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Rob Mok @robmok.bsky.social · Jan 23

JOB ALERT: Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Postdoc position in Osaka, Japan! Plus PhD positions for April 2026. PLEASE REPOST! #postdocjobs #neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychscisky #compneurosky

We had to re-start the process after our preferred candidate withdrew. Info 👇.

Rob Mok @robmok.bsky.social · Oct 7

PLEASE SHARE: apply to my postdoc in Osaka. Comp cogneuro of learning, control, & concept representation. fMRI, cognitive models & deep nets.

Initial deadline Oct 18. The deadline will be extended once so don't worry if u need more time.

#neuroskyence #psychscisky #compneurosky

Rob Mok @robmok.bsky.social · Oct 1

POSTDOC position: cognitive and/or computational neuroscientist to study how learning of new concepts and categories leads to long-term semantic concepts using multi-session fMRI & comp modelling (hippocampal-cortical interactions). Listing 2024R-148: www.nict.go.jp/en/employmen.... 3/

3 44 49

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Rhodri Cusack @rhodricusack.bsky.social · Dec 10

If you are a member of the FIT'NG society then please consider voting for me! To vote, check for the email, and here is a link describing the candidates... fitng.org/elections/ I can't believe this is my first ever election!! @fitngin.bsky.social

Elections | fitng.org

fitng.org

2 5

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Fetal, Infant, & Toddler Neuroimaging Group—FIT’NG @fitngin.bsky.social · Dec 3

🥁 FIT'NG is thrilled to announce our 2025 destination is 🌎 Dublin, Ireland.
Join us next fall September 7 - 8, 2025!
🌐 Learn more about this beautiful and historic city by visiting: fitng.org/destination/
#FITNG2025 #RSNA2024 #BrainDevelopment

8 8

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Dec 4

It's been so rewarding discussing our results throughout the year, and I can't wait for the community to continue to hear what we have been working on! 👶🏻🧠👩🏻‍💻 @rhodricusack.bsky.social

Cameron Ellis @camerontellis.bsky.social · Dec 3

We were dazzled by @clionaod.bsky.social's talk. Sitting at the apex of AI, neuroimaging, and developmental research, this research is not to be missed. Invite her to give this talk; you won't regret it!

Introductory slide for Cliona's talk. Title: "Unveiling the Foundations of Visual Recognition using Awake Infant fMRI and Deep Learning"

5

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Dec 3

Thanks for having me!

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Nov 25

🙋🏻‍♀️

2

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Jascha Achterberg @achterbrain.bsky.social · Nov 8

What if you are a student interested in NeuroAI and are looking for resources to learn more? We provide a list of resources with the paper! If you know other great resources, please open a pull request or DM me! We hope this to become a ‘living document’!
github.com/8erberg/Neur...

GitHub - 8erberg/NeuroAI_Trainee_Resources

Contribute to 8erberg/NeuroAI_Trainee_Resources development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

2 8 17

Cliona O'Doherty @clionaod.bsky.social · Nov 4

It's done! 👩🏻‍🎓 I'm so happy to share that last Friday I successfully defended my PhD. After a crazy four years of ambitious awake infant neuroimaging, NeuroAI and everything in between ... somehow, I'm even more excited now to see where this research takes me next 💡 #PhDone

2 37

Reposted by Cliona O'Doherty

Tristan Yates @tristansyates.bsky.social · Apr 6

A great new piece on infant neuroscience, from two of the best: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

2 4