The Nuanced Neuroscientist, MS

#generalstrike 2026 #goals

The Edge of Space-Time by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: 9780593701683 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A fresh, charming, socially conscious tour of the mysteries of space-time, from the award-winning author of The Disordered Cosmos In her highly acclaimed debut, distinguished cosmologist and particle...

#Introduction: Theoretical physicist. Black Feminist theorist. Writer. I do: dark matter, neutron stars, & science studies.

Web: chanda.science
Newsletter: news.chanda.science
Insta: chanda.prescod.weinstein

Author of award-winning #DisorderedCosmos and now #EdgeOfSpaceTime, coming 4/7/26.

#literatureofscience #theartofthinkingclearly

#literatureofscience #theartofthinkingclearly

Frontiers | A finding of maintained cryonotothenioid nesting sites in the Western Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is one of Earth’s most remote and least studied regions. The region around the Larsen C Ice shelf has been largely inaccessible because of it...

‘Lindbergichthys nudifrons (yellowfin notie)…Novel nesting patterns, groups of nests close to each other, were discernible throughout the video footage; These patterns are thought to have evolved as a form of group predation protection behaviour.‘

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Stop.

This Week in The Journal Exploring a Dopamine Neuron and Striatal Circuit Strahinja Stojanovic, Christopher Joseph Knowlton, Richard Egger-Mackrodt, Johanna Mankel, Josef Shin et al. (see article e0361252025) Dopamine neu...

‘A second set of channels (voltage-gated potassium and hyperpolarization-activated) regulated the timing of this rebound. In contrast, another channel (GIRK) interacted with inhibitory dopamine (D2) and GABA (GABAB) receptors to prevent rebound bursting.’

www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...

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#theconfidencecode #readwithme #storytime #literatureofscience

#theconfidencecode #readwithme #storytime #literatureofscience

#theconfidencecode #readwithme #storytime #literatureofscience

#theconfidencecode #readwithme #storytime #literatureofscience

The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...

First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience

Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E

@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social

#luminouspursuit #readwithme part 1

If I were assessing CVs and I saw that I would be thinking about Richard’s comment about the whole situation.

I tend to agree with Richard, it’s a greater reflection of the flaws in how we valuate our work and each other in STEM and academia.

We who are applying his work in ABA (you) and behavioral neuroscience (me) have the greatest, not the least obligation to understand the critiques of his work and in those cases which are valid, to adjust our own understanding of our work accordingly. I would argue it’s a moral obligation.

The fact that Skinner himself mistakes his own pseudoscientific philosophy with his own actual science is actually the core issue, with Skinner, and his legacy, being discussed. You could learn a lot about that by reading critiques of Skinner. If you wanted to.

You’re training and background has taught you that Skinner is above criticism and I as an actual neuroscientist am telling you he is not above criticism. If you had read the paper you would know that it is Skinners philosophy on autonomy being discussed.

Talk to me after you’ve read Chomsky’s critique which we are discussing.

The way in which Skinner applies valid conclusions from his actual scientific research towards his pseudoscientific beliefs about autonomy and freedom, which seem motivated by political ideology more than anything is actually the whole thesis of that paper. Have you read it yet?

And again, I, am not ‘just a philosopher’ I am an animal behaviorist and published cellular neuroscientist, I am qualified to critique him, as a scientist, and at the moment what I am critiquing, is Skinner’s philosophy. You are free and welcome to agree or disagree with him on the issue of freedom.

Luckily I also already addressed this point.
bsky.app/profile/abby...

@trainingmatters.bsky.social

Skinners beliefs about classical conditioning are science and are not being critiqued in ‘A Case Against Skinner’, his beliefs about autonomy and free will are philosophy and they are the part of Skinner’s work being discussed here. This is made clear in the introduction of the essay.

In this case Chomsky is critiquing Skinners philosophy, not his science. He makes that distinction clear and I’ve talked about it in two videos. Does the fact that some people don’t believe in free will make that a good thing necessarily?

#luminouspursuit #readwithme #literatureofscience Part 2

I’m ok.

#stem #neuroscience I didn’t put nuance in my title for nothing. Let’s talk about Chomsky and Skinner, Science and Philosophy.

Another important thing I try to keep in mind with this paper is that Chomsky isn’t talking about Skinners experiments on behavior, he is talking about his philosophy about that research which is distinct, and as I’ve pointed out, concerning. His beliefs about human autonomy are worth analyzing.