Nicole Rust
@nicolecrust.bsky.social
Mood & Memory researcher with a computational bent. https://www.nicolecrust.com. Science advocate. Prof (UPenn Psych) - on leave as a Simons Pivot Fellow. Author: Elusive Cures. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243054/elusive-cures
I would say sensory versus "everything else" (cognitive flexibility, memory, emotion, motor). Great Q - how do all these connect? Likewise, where do @sueyeonchung.bsky.social's manifolds and @stefanofusi.bsky.social's abstractions fit in?
One key difference: static versus dynamic descriptions.
One key difference: static versus dynamic descriptions.
November 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I would say sensory versus "everything else" (cognitive flexibility, memory, emotion, motor). Great Q - how do all these connect? Likewise, where do @sueyeonchung.bsky.social's manifolds and @stefanofusi.bsky.social's abstractions fit in?
One key difference: static versus dynamic descriptions.
One key difference: static versus dynamic descriptions.
One thing I really like about what you said: The brain is the most complex thing in the universe and ~low-D coding does not capture this tremendous complexity. I too have been thinking a lot about that lately. (It inspired the final text of Elusive Cures and my pivot to mood). 😊
November 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
One thing I really like about what you said: The brain is the most complex thing in the universe and ~low-D coding does not capture this tremendous complexity. I too have been thinking a lot about that lately. (It inspired the final text of Elusive Cures and my pivot to mood). 😊
In some cases, we have found that it could have been 1D but was not, like match/non-match in IT where info is reflected not just in linear but also nonlinear (quadratic) terms.
www.nature.com/articles/nn....
www.marinopagan.com/pagan_lab/as...
www.nature.com/articles/nn....
www.marinopagan.com/pagan_lab/as...
Signals in inferotemporal and perirhinal cortex suggest an untangling of visual target information - Nature Neuroscience
To investigate how visual input is combined with information about the current task, the authors recorded neural responses in inferotemporal (IT) and perirhinal (PRH) cortex as macaque monkeys perform...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
In some cases, we have found that it could have been 1D but was not, like match/non-match in IT where info is reflected not just in linear but also nonlinear (quadratic) terms.
www.nature.com/articles/nn....
www.marinopagan.com/pagan_lab/as...
www.nature.com/articles/nn....
www.marinopagan.com/pagan_lab/as...
Here we were talking about a special set of tasks (these ones); not sensory coding writ large. I suspect there's a lot of apples-versus-oranges cross talk happening in this space.
/2
/2
November 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Here we were talking about a special set of tasks (these ones); not sensory coding writ large. I suspect there's a lot of apples-versus-oranges cross talk happening in this space.
/2
/2
Sounds like there's a considerable amount of confusion even among the gurus! I'd love to see someone like @jmxpearson.bsky.social do a "what's what" on it, perhaps in @thetransmitter.bsky.social.
Here's what @marlenecohen.bsky.social and I had to say about it. /1
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here's what @marlenecohen.bsky.social and I had to say about it. /1
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Sounds like there's a considerable amount of confusion even among the gurus! I'd love to see someone like @jmxpearson.bsky.social do a "what's what" on it, perhaps in @thetransmitter.bsky.social.
Here's what @marlenecohen.bsky.social and I had to say about it. /1
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here's what @marlenecohen.bsky.social and I had to say about it. /1
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🙏 Thank you, @thebalelab.bsky.social!!
November 24, 2025 at 2:27 AM
🙏 Thank you, @thebalelab.bsky.social!!
Interesting - thanks!
November 24, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Interesting - thanks!
I‘ve never heard anyone claim that (eg) sensory processing was lowD - that wouldn’t make sense! (Are you looking at a pen or a face or a table?) …. that’s always been a highD problem. I’m guessing you are talking about the realm in which 1D could possibly make sense? Like 1 variable decisions?
November 24, 2025 at 1:49 AM
I‘ve never heard anyone claim that (eg) sensory processing was lowD - that wouldn’t make sense! (Are you looking at a pen or a face or a table?) …. that’s always been a highD problem. I’m guessing you are talking about the realm in which 1D could possibly make sense? Like 1 variable decisions?
Whatever the answer is, to your mainpoint: Yes, absolutely, let's use the emerging technology of this era to test old assumptions (as soon as that technology becomes available)!
November 23, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Whatever the answer is, to your mainpoint: Yes, absolutely, let's use the emerging technology of this era to test old assumptions (as soon as that technology becomes available)!
(based on the labs' previous work). V1 is also high-D, but all those Ds matter for all tasks? Or does 1D capture most of it and the additional Ds capture more but decreasing variance? That is what I will be curious to know. Especially for tasks like these.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Priority coding in the visual system - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Prioritization of visual inputs manifests itself in different behavioural signatures. In this Review, Rust and Cohen describe these signatures and their neural correlates and suggest that the brain us...
www.nature.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:55 PM
(based on the labs' previous work). V1 is also high-D, but all those Ds matter for all tasks? Or does 1D capture most of it and the additional Ds capture more but decreasing variance? That is what I will be curious to know. Especially for tasks like these.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Loosely, there seem to be variables & bits of the brain that require a dynamical systems / attractor like interpretation to make sense of them (like aggression in the hypothalamus) and other scenarios that can be made more sense of in terms of classic frameworks (like V1). This is the former. /2
November 23, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Loosely, there seem to be variables & bits of the brain that require a dynamical systems / attractor like interpretation to make sense of them (like aggression in the hypothalamus) and other scenarios that can be made more sense of in terms of classic frameworks (like V1). This is the former. /2
Interesting! As we think about these things (and as we all know), it's unlikely that there will be a one-size-fits-all story about coding schemes for all variables and brain areas. For this area and coding scheme, the evidence is very nice. I'll be very curious to see how it generalizes. /1
November 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Interesting! As we think about these things (and as we all know), it's unlikely that there will be a one-size-fits-all story about coding schemes for all variables and brain areas. For this area and coding scheme, the evidence is very nice. I'll be very curious to see how it generalizes. /1
💙. I admire taking on the uncertainty of a mystery puzzle. I can handle it with brains; I'm not sure I'm ready with puzzles.
(My puzzle advent calendar arrived yesterday. 24 excuses to combat chaos by finagling 100 pieces back into a nice, tidy order. Exactly what I need to wrap 2025!)
(My puzzle advent calendar arrived yesterday. 24 excuses to combat chaos by finagling 100 pieces back into a nice, tidy order. Exactly what I need to wrap 2025!)
November 23, 2025 at 1:44 PM
💙. I admire taking on the uncertainty of a mystery puzzle. I can handle it with brains; I'm not sure I'm ready with puzzles.
(My puzzle advent calendar arrived yesterday. 24 excuses to combat chaos by finagling 100 pieces back into a nice, tidy order. Exactly what I need to wrap 2025!)
(My puzzle advent calendar arrived yesterday. 24 excuses to combat chaos by finagling 100 pieces back into a nice, tidy order. Exactly what I need to wrap 2025!)
And if you'd rather not yourself but you'd like to support effective efforts, one effective outlet is @skypeascientist.bsky.social. I recently saw @sarahmackattack.bsky.social give a talk about what they've been up to, and I'm convinced it's important and effective.
givebutter.com/SupportSAS25
givebutter.com/SupportSAS25
Support Skype a Scientist!
By Skype a Scientist
givebutter.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM
And if you'd rather not yourself but you'd like to support effective efforts, one effective outlet is @skypeascientist.bsky.social. I recently saw @sarahmackattack.bsky.social give a talk about what they've been up to, and I'm convinced it's important and effective.
givebutter.com/SupportSAS25
givebutter.com/SupportSAS25
As you think about wrapping up your bucket list for 2025 or making new resolutions for 2026, consider it!
November 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
As you think about wrapping up your bucket list for 2025 or making new resolutions for 2026, consider it!
And I meant every word I said in this piece - I really do believe that engaging in public facing communication benefits scientists too. "It replenishes my awe and
wonder."
rdcu.be/eCGr7
wonder."
rdcu.be/eCGr7
The unexpected value of communicating science to the public
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - As a group, our scientific community has a responsibility to unpack the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind our work for the public, not least because much...
rdcu.be
November 22, 2025 at 1:53 PM
And I meant every word I said in this piece - I really do believe that engaging in public facing communication benefits scientists too. "It replenishes my awe and
wonder."
rdcu.be/eCGr7
wonder."
rdcu.be/eCGr7
It’s been amazing to see so many of us get more involved in scicomm. I was just exchanging notes with @srheilbronner.bsky.social at SFN, hearing about what has led to the tremendous success of the Science Homecoming effort.
sciencehomecoming.com
sciencehomecoming.com
Science Homecoming
sciencehomecoming.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
It’s been amazing to see so many of us get more involved in scicomm. I was just exchanging notes with @srheilbronner.bsky.social at SFN, hearing about what has led to the tremendous success of the Science Homecoming effort.
sciencehomecoming.com
sciencehomecoming.com
