Ling-Qi Zhang

Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience The study of foraging is central to a renewed interest in naturalistic behavior in neuroscience. Applying a foraging framework grounded in behavioral …

Pleased to have this review out in @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social. In it we discuss various aspects of the intersection between foraging behaviors and neuroscience, and offer some future directions: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In this sense, the normative theory / optimization framework is less of a theory itself, but a epistemological tool to organize our knowledege about why certain "solution" exists in the brain.

And then he wrote: "Hence, the study of the
behavior of an adaptive system like the human mind is
not *a logical study of optimization* but an *empirical study
of the side conditions* that place limits on the approach to the optimum".

The debate of whether the brain is optimal is the wrong one. Quoting one of my favorite writings from Herbert Simon (1992): The predictions of an optimizing theory depend as much on the postulated side conditions as on the optimization assumption. (By side conditions here, he meant constraints).

✨ We’re #hiring Theory Fellows!✨

Janelia is recruiting early-career scientists to join our collaborative research environment and use #computation & #theory to tackle bold questions in #biology.

🔗 Apply by Nov. 3 👉 janelia.link/theoryfellow...
@hhmi.org

📢We're #hiring Group Leaders!

Apply to lead a lab at Janelia & advance biology using theory, computational modeling & machine learning.

🔹5-year renewable appointment
🔹Pioneer new tools & approaches
🔹Collaborate across disciplines

Apply by Nov. 4👉 https://janelia.link/groupleader

Bayesians in shambles

📢 Students & postdocs in #TheoreticalNeuroscience 👉 Join us this November for a "by the students, for the students" workshop featuring whiteboard-style tutorials, in-depth discussions, and research talks.

✈️ Travel, lodging & registration covered

Apply by Aug. 5 @ janelia.news/THE25

What is the probability of an image? What do the highest and lowest probability images look like? Do natural images lie on a low-dimensional manifold?
In a new preprint with Zahra Kadkhodaie and @eerosim.bsky.social, we develop a novel energy-based model in order to answer these questions: 🧵

Thanks!! There are no major changes in the main text re results. We did refine the vignetting analysis, but it didn't make a huge difference in the end results. We also added a polar ROI analysis in the supplement, complementary to the eccentricity ROI in Fig. 5.

Simons Foundation Launches Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience Simons Foundation Launches Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience on Simons Foundation

Very excited to be part of this. Huge thank you to the @simonsfoundation.org for their support and vision.

www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/04/24/s...

Also, job openings in this context! Please apply and forward to anyone who may be interested!
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/367...

Thanks Megan!!

Same here!!

Space and time in visual context - Nature Reviews Neuroscience Sensory stimuli are interpreted in light of their spatial and temporal context, which can sometimes lead to visual illusions. Schwartz, Hsu and Dayan consider the possible functional benefits of conte...

And I'm very excited to see how this theoretical framework (the original credit goes to www.nature.com/articles/nrn...) might explain many other illusions (e.g., motion aftereffect) in a principled way! (6/6)

Adaptation optimizes sensory encoding for future stimuli Author summary Prolonged exposure to a fixed stimulus causes sensory neurons to adapt. In this study, we uncover some of the functional benefits of adaptation for the visual system. We first quantifie...

Lastly, our results, together with some recent work such as journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol... and www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @mariodipoppa.bsky.social, are painting a compelling picture of how contextual effects (both spatial and temporal) can be interpreted as adaptive efficient coding. (5/6)

In addition, the change in encoding is sufficient to predict the behavioral characteristics of the tilt illusion using a Bayesian observer model. (4/6)

With an oriented surround, encoding precision is locally increased for stimuli similar to the surround orientation, specifically in higher areas of the visual cortex. This encoding change also reflects the surround-conditioned orientation statistics in natural scene. (3/6)

We measured sensory encoding precision (in terms of Fisher information) from both behavioral and neural data in an orientation estimation task. At baseline, encoding reflects the natural scene statistics of orientation. (We observe the cardinal bias in different parts of the visual cortex!). (2/6)

The tilt illusion arises from an efficient reallocation of neural coding resources at the contextual boundary | PNAS The tilt illusion—a bias in the perceived orientation of a center stimulus induced by an oriented surround—illustrates how context shapes visual pe...

Very happy to see our work finally in print!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

TLDR: Tilt illusion is not a bug, but a feature of a well-designed visual system that maximizes information capacity adaptively based on spatial context. (1/6)

many many tiny contextual boundaries!

And 2) If we can create a surround that REALLY modulates the representation at the boundary, we might be able to break the segmentation cue, and see an illusion as you suggested. This will require an image synthesis method for surround modulation, but people are working on this type of idea!

This does lead to some "really cool if true" predictions: 1) If we gradually increase the grey center aperture, the illusion strength should first increase (as we are removing orientation information not modulated by the surround), and then decrease (once we are in the "center-surround" boundary).

Great question! My explanation would be that there are strong enough segmentation cues in the stimulus for the visual system to integrate the orientation information across the center, to form a holistic orientation estimate.

AI@MBL: Machine Learning for Microscopy Image Analysis | Marine Biological Laboratory The goal of this course is to familiarize researchers in the life sciences with state-of-the-art deep learning techniques for microscopy image analysis and to introduce them to tools and frameworks th...

How can AI help you to analyze your microscopy images?

Find out at the "Machine Learning for Microscopy Image Analysis" course at the @mblscience.bsky.social in Woods Hole from Aug 22-Sep 6!

Applications are due 🚨 April 30 🚨

Read on for more! 👇

www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

To stop intimidation, Eisgruber needs your help When targeting one institution is a bald attempt to divide and conquer, as is the case with Columbia, it is essential for a coalition or group of institutions and individuals to stand up together.&nbs...

Here at Princeton, we’re amplifying our university president’s leadership. It’s time for everyone - faculty, students, staff - to speak out.

tl;dr: rights can’t be blackmailed.

From me and science colleagues:
www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025...

Columbia Concedes to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.

Columbia University has failed to defend academic freedom & freedom of speech & allowed a great institution to be bullied & extorted into submission by an administration hellbent on contorting higher education to their will.

The AAUP condemns this capitulation. We can & must fight back.

Using funding to 'force concessions' threatens institutions, Princeton president says Columbia University agreed to comply with a series of demands from the Trump administration about how it will handle protests, antisemitism and academic departments. The university faced a deadline to...

"And I think once you make concessions once, it's hard not to make them again." Princeton President Chris Eisgruber's warning to universities applies to law firms, companies, foundations, nonprofits, and more. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Pro-tip for university administrators: when the government illegally cancels your grants, your first response shouldn't be "you kind of have a point."

old Soviet joke for our times:

Guy stops by the newsstand every day, scans the front page, doesn’t buy the paper. One day the vendor asks what he’s up to.

Guy says: “looking for an obituary.”

Vendor says “those are towards the back of the paper, comrade.”

Guy says: “not the one I’m looking for.”