Hans Op de Beeck

This study highlights the power of combining EEG and fMRI, together with hypothesis-driven stimulus designs, to untangle the spatiotemporal dynamics of object representations. 9/9

In conclusion, different dimensions related to animacy show very different representational dynamics, and some of them (in this case: animal taxonomy) reflect perceptual selectivity for faces vs bodies. 8/n

The same EEG study also revealed that the binary animacy distinction (animate vs inanimate) shows a slower, more sustained profile—emerging later and lasting longer. 7/n

🧠 Key finding: The representational dynamics of Face/body and taxonomy distinctions are very similar, with a peak around 150 ms after stimulus onset. 6/n

A prediction of this fmri study is that taxonomic selectivity should have a similar time course as selectivity for faces vs bodies. We tested this prediction using EEG, which offers high temporal resolution. 5/n

Untangling the Animacy Organization of Occipitotemporal Cortex Some of the most impressive functional specializations in the human brain are found in the occipitotemporal cortex (OTC), where several areas exhibit selectivity for a small number of visual categorie...

Previous fMRI work with Brendan Ritchie already suggested that what looks like a taxonomy effect might actually be driven by selectivity for faces vs bodies, and how similar animal faces and bodies are to humans. 4/n www.jneurosci.org/content/41/3...

First, the animacy distinction seems gradual rather than binary (‘taxonomic effects’: insects are less animate than mammals …). Second, it is unclear to which extent effects of animacy & taxonomy are driven by the known selectivity for faces and bodies and associated category-selective regions. 3/n

Several dimensions and distinctions characterize behavioral and neural representations of objects. The distinction between animate and inanimate objects seems particularly strong, but has proven difficult to understand. The new paper addresses two issues. 2/n

New paper (and thread) on the representational dynamics of the main dimensions of object space: jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx... 1/n

It's finally out! Our work with @hansopdebeeck.bsky.social & @costantinoai.bsky.social is published.

We went looking for dissociations between types of recurrence in DNNs, but we found something quite different.. hopefully that can tell us somehting about our models!

rdcu.be/eLwBA

Text of the call for papers which can be found here: https://jov.arvojournals.org/ss/visionlanguageinterface.aspx

Hello vision scientists & linguists! The Journal of Vision is publishing a special issue on “The Vision-Language Interface.” Send in your research about reading, perceptual learning, sign language, dyslexia, etc! jov.arvojournals.org/ss/visionlan... #neuroskyence #VisionScience #PsychSciSky

Distinct neural processing underlying visual face and object perception in dyslexia Developmental dyslexia is a disorder marked by difficulties in reading, spelling, and connecting sounds to written language. The high-level visual dys…

Excited to share a new article from @icevislab.bsky.social! In a sample of over 60 people, we found distinct neural differences underlying object and face recognition in dyslexia. These findings highlight crucial domain-general visual processes that may contribute to word reading challenges.

Investigating action topography in visual cortex and deep artificial neural networks High-level visual cortex contains category-selective areas embedded within larger-scale topographic maps like animacy and real-world size. Here, we propose action as a key organizing factor shaping vi...

New preprint out! We propose that action is a key dimension shaping the topographic organization of object categories in lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC)—and test whether standard and topographic neural networks capture this pattern. A thread:

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧵 1/n

“Waar zijn de personages die kinderen leren dat ze niet hoeven te wachten tot iemand anders de wereld redt, maar dat ze zelf het verschil kunnen maken?”

We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers.

The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.

Journal of Vision Special Issue The vision-language interface Call for papers Vision and language are often considered to be separate cognitive systems, studied by separate research teams. However, they interact when we use vision for linguistic communication: when reading printed text, when describing verbally the things we see, and when observing the expressions and gestures of an interlocutor (during sign language, for example). The development of these critical skills changes the brain, such that the visual and language systems influence one another. In particular, regions of the cerebral cortex that are typically responsive to visual stimuli are also recruited for linguistic tasks. But some of those ideas are controversial. For instance, for well over a century scientists have debated whether the brains of literate individuals contain a region that is specialized for recognizing written words. The Journal of Vision invites submissions for a Special Issue on the interface between vision and language. The unique perspectives and techniques of vision science contribute much to the understanding of language. This special issue welcomes empirical papers that use behavioral/psychophysical, neuroimaging, electrophysiological and stimulation methods. Topics include, but are not limited to: - Functional specialization in the brain for reading and naming - Semantic representations in the brain - Letter recognition and perceptual learning - Sign language comprehension - Eye movements during reading or other linguistic tasks - Development of visual skills for reading and communication - Links between visual cortical activity and representations in large language models - Visual processing differences in dyslexia Editors: Susana Chung Kalanit Grill-Spector Garikoitz Lerma-Usabiaga Hans Op de Beeck Zeynep Saygin Alex White Oscar Woolnough Deadline for submissions: December 31, 2025. All papers will be subject to peer review.

For everyone out there working at the intersection of vision and language. We are currently accepting submissions for a Journal of Vision Special Issue on the vision-language interface
Submission deadline: Dec 31st
jov.arvojournals.org/ss/visionlan...

#neuroskyence #VisionScience #PsychSciSky

NEUROCOG 2025 is taking place in Brussels Nov 17–18!

The theme: AI and the Human Brain 🤖 🧠

We’re thrilled to welcome 6 amazing invited speakers:
@evfedorenko.bsky.social, @nicoschuck.bsky.social, @summerfieldlab.bsky.social, @jeffreybowers.bsky.social, @irisgroen.bsky.social & @mtoneva.bsky.social

Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it | Colette Delawalla The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way to state-controlled science

Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it" by Colette Delawalla (@cdelawalla.bsky.social), Victor Ambros, Carl Bergstrom, Carol Greider, Michael Mann and Brian Nosek for @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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 ...

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...

I came with my own money (Belgian & international fellowships), and during my stay I spent many tens of thousands of US dollars. I myself motivated and helped other researchers to do the same. This is an unbelievably stupid decision, with global and long-term consequences. 3/3

It will make bright researchers from other countries think twice before embarking on a US adventure. This is a major loss, in particular for USA. As I witnessed from within, US science benefited enormously from the presence of the international scholars. The economic gains were also substantial. 2/3

As a prior J1 visa holder (postdoc at MIT), I express my support for all those affected by this decision. The possibility of such a sudden and politically motivated stop of enrollment of international students and scholars will have a chilling effect on the prestige of all US institutes. 1/3

Tomorrow tuesday afternoon at @vssmtg.bsky.social , our poster about what it takes for the brain and AI models to process the valence of complex and ambiguous social scenes

The cuts to NIH and NSF will cost 100s of billions in the short term and will reduce GPT by ~7% over the next 25-30 years

Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale

An open letter to graduate students and other procrastinators: it’s time to write - Nature Biotechnology Nature Biotechnology - An open letter to graduate students and other procrastinators: it’s time to write

A beautiful article about writing, which also advocates against the use of LLM when learning academic writing

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Call for new research group leaders… literally 50 meters from NeuroSpin and its 6 MRI magnets and MEG!

Come work with us !

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

We have an opening for a 12 month Research Assistant post, funded by an ERC grant. The postholder would help with several neuroimaging projects, including MEG and 7T fMRI. Please repost and share with anyone who may be interested. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... #neuroskyence #Neuroimaging

Hearing from a govt contractor that Dept of Education is terminating What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) contracts.
WWC is a website that rigorously evaluates education policies, programs, and products to determine what's effective and not. It's an invaluable tool for school, district, state leaders