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Reposted by Nikolay Kukushkin

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 7h

In this episode, @braininspired.bsky.social talks with @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social about his new book, ‘One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind.’

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspir...

Nikolay Kukushkin discusses his book, ‘One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind’

He explains how meaning arises in the interactions found throughout nature and evolution, from molecules to minds.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 1d

My book, One Hand Clapping, landed in the NYU bookstore! Preorder yours today! Out everywhere Oct 21

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-hand-c...

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 2d

Describing this as a “break” on the immune system is the wrong metaphor. It implies that the immune system is static at rest, gets going upon infection, and then needs to be stopped, like a car. NOTHING in biology is static. Everything is an equilibrium. It’s not a break, it’s a counterweight.

Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 2d

To hold something steady on an outstretched hand, you press down on your wrist with your second hand (e.g. cops holding guns in movies). That, in a nutshell, is why we need these T-regulatory cells that work against actual antiviral T-cell fighters. Congratulations!

Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 2d

A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 2d

To hold something steady on an outstretched hand, you press down on your wrist with your second hand (e.g. cops holding guns in movies). That, in a nutshell, is why we need these T-regulatory cells that work against actual antiviral T-cell fighters. Congratulations!

Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 2d

A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 7d

Ubiquitin is made in a five-pack. The last monomer has a tail. Apparently this last tailed ubiquitin is a special "fast ubiquitin" for stress. An E4 ligase (which extends already existing Ub chains and so forces them into the proteasome) grabs it under stress. Tell me AI could have predicted this

Craig A. Goodman @craigagoodman1.bsky.social · 13d

Ubiquitin precursor with C-terminal extension promotes proteostasis and longevity
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Ubiquitin precursor with C-terminal extension promotes proteostasis and longevity

Ubiquitin is a conserved modifier regulating the stability and function of numerous target proteins. In all eukaryotes, polyubiquitin precursors are g…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 7d

If you are in NYC, join us for my book launch party! Tuesday October 7th 5:30pm, NYU, Liberal Studies lobby, 726 Broadway, 6th floor (non-NYU: dm me to register). Conversation between myself and Prof. Jared Simard, our resident classicist! Books available! Slavic food! events.nyu.edu/event/onehan...

ONE HAND CLAPPING: Consciousness, Evolution, and the Meaning of Life.

Science says that you are nothing but a chemical reaction — a collection of atoms and molecules, like rocks, paperclips, and everything else in t...

events.nyu.edu

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 25d

What interests me: is this the first harbinger of a post-screen future? The key question is what the OpenAI device ends up looking like.

WIRED @wired.com · Sep 8

The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy. www.wired.com/story/i-hate...

I Hate My Friend

The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy.

www.wired.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · 28d

Love it when the solution to an existential crisis is sauna.

Chris Ingraham @cingraham.bsky.social · Aug 20

have never clicked a headline so fast www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Nature headline "I invented a life-saving frog sauna." Photo of said frogs in said sauna

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Reposted by Nikolay Kukushkin

Claire L. Evans @theuniverse.bsky.social · Jul 30

What can a cell remember? A lot more than you think. My latest, for @quantamagazine.bsky.social, is on memory beyond the brain—in tiny unicellular creatures and the smallest, most ancient parts of ourselves:

www.quantamagazine.org/what-can-a-c...

What Can a Cell Remember? | Quanta Magazine

A small but enthusiastic group of neuroscientists is exhuming overlooked experiments and performing new ones to explore whether cells record past experiences — fundamentally challenging what memory is...

www.quantamagazine.org

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Reposted by Nikolay Kukushkin

Neuroscience and Beyond @neuroandbeyond.bsky.social · Sep 1

Ever wondered where memory truly lives? 🧠 In our latest episode, we welcome Prof. Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social (NYU), to discuss the biology of memory and consciousness.

▶️ Watch the full clip here: youtu.be/VY9gqT7rs_A
🔗 More: linktr.ee/neuroscience...

Where Is Our Memory Stored? Everywhere and Nowhere

YouTube video by Neuroscience and Beyond

youtu.be

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Apr 29

We may not sense the progress bar, but human beings are running low on memory. Here’s what we can do.

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smal...

Are Humans Running Out of Memory?

Human memory has a limit. As a civilization, we may have reached it. What happens now?

www.psychologytoday.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Feb 4

Had a great time talking about sea slugs, cellular memory, and my upcoming book with Shekerah and Fatu of We Love Science. Listen here: "Ep 66: Memory and the Human Mind - The Work" at www.buzzsprout.com/1720419/epis...

Ep 66: Memory and the Human Mind - The Work - We Love Science

Our special guest for today is Nikolay Kukushkin, a clinical associate professor and neuroscientist at NYU, and author, who also considers himself a molecular philosopher. His research answers the que...

www.buzzsprout.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Feb 3

Here's a biological mystery that stumps me. What's the deal with iodine in thyroid hormones? OK, it helps the hormone pass through the membrane and bind to the receptor. But steroids do that without any exotic atoms. Why iodine, and why thyroid? Any experts?

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 23

So true. Vitamins are ridiculous.

Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · Jan 23

In fairness, “you can make millions of individual molecules but there are 13 that you need but can’t make so let’s outsource their production to plants. Also, it’s actually 12…you can make one of the vitamins…as long as the sun’s rays touch your skin like you yourself are a plant” does sound fake.

ceej @ceej.online · Jan 23

I’m sorry but vitamins sound fake

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

Will this future make us healthier? Or feed our growing anxiety about controlling every cell? For now, I would stick to “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” — until science refines the timeline. /🧵 www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/sm...

The Body Keeps the Score. Should We?

All cells, even kidney cells, retain surprisingly detailed memories. How does this affect our everyday life? We will soon find out — but might regret the knowledge.

www.psychologytoday.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

As we uncover more rules of cellular memory, we might develop bizarre health protocols: “cardio only during full moons; coffee must be exactly 6 hours after magnesium; alternate nostril breathing synced to gut bacteria cycles...” /7

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

Two things are clear about cellular memory:
1) It exists
2) It can depend on precise timing, down to seconds. /6

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

Similar memory-like properties appear in the immune system, embryonic development, and cancer. The most obvious example? Muscles growing from exercise. These examples are probably just scratching the surface. /5 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8070637/

Mechanotransduction in bone: do bone cells act as sensors of fluid flow? - PubMed

When compact bone is subjected to bending loads, interstitial fluid in the bone matrix flows away from regions of high compressive stress. The amount of interstitial fluid flow is strongly influenced ...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

But there’s a lot more. The pancreas remembers sugar exposure: hit it with sugar twice in 20 min, and it releases double insulin the second time. Bone cells remember mechanical patterns: pressure at 2 Hz triggers growth, 0.5 Hz does nothing. /4 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6990796/

Comparison of storage- and signal-limited models of pancreatic insulin secretion - PubMed

Kinetic patterns of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from the in vitro perfused pancreas were used to test different types of secretion models of similar complexity. A storage-limited, two-compart...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

These cellular memories form within minutes and can last for days or longer. This *could* mean our conscious memories — including trauma — partly reside outside the brain, as suggested in "The Body Keeps the Score" by van der Kolk. /3

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

I study cellular cognition—how cells process information, detect patterns & form memories. We recently showed non-brain cells (even kidney cells!) can learn from chemical patterns, similar to how brain cells learn when we study, or practice piano. /2 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The massed-spaced learning effect in non-neural human cells - Nature Communications

When learning is spaced in time, memory is enhanced, but so far this was only observed in neural systems. Here, the authors show that non-neural cells, including kidney cells, also show a spaced effec...

www.nature.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 17

Time travelers would be amazed by how much we plan for future health. We take vitamins, count fiber, exercise, and do Dry January — all for benefits we won't see for years. But it might be that even shorter-term patterns leave lasting imprints on our body. 🧵

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 16

One of the odd things about non-neural memory we study is how long it lasts — in neurons same genes get deactivated in hours, in kidney cells they stay on for days. This might be why. Neurons repress memory genes stronger. Increases information capacity? Claude Shannon again!!

Yong-Seok Lee @yongseoklee.bsky.social · Jan 16

A transmembrane protein Cd99l2 regulates excitatory synapse development and plasticity. Surprisingly, Cd99l2 suppresses IEG expression. Fantastic collaboration with Young Ho Suh and Myoung-Hwan Kim at SNU!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Cd99l2 regulates excitatory synapse development and restrains immediate-early gene activation

Cd99 molecule-like 2 (Cd99l2) is a type I transmembrane protein that plays a role in the transmigration of leukocytes across vascular endothelial cell…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 14

ARE YOU KIDDING

Science Magazine @science.org · Jan 14

Among the most agile of flying creatures, dragonflies have evolved to perform quick aerial maneuvers both to attract mates and to catch prey midair.

Now, researchers have documented and explained a unique stunt the insects perform so quickly most people never see it. scim.ag/40mKKBI

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Nikolay Kukushkin @niko-kukushkin.bsky.social · Jan 13

A reminder that our NYC Russian book club meets to discuss Vladimir Sorokin’s “Day of the Oprichnik” in two weeks, Sunday 26 Jan, 3:30pm, Toné Cafe, Brighton Beach! DM to join.

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