Davide Valeriani, PhD 🧠+💪+❤️+😴+👨‍💻

I am doing 100 push-ups a day for the whole June to fundraise for Cancer Research UK. Now more than ever research needs our support, and what a great challenge to improve strength from anywhere.
Donate here: fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/davides...
Every little counts!

The secret to a strong economy is women I’ve seen first-hand that when you tap the talents of the whole population you draw from the very best available

The secret to a strong economy is women - on.ft.com/41tncvf

YouTube video by Jonathan Pie The Art of The Deal

Jonathan Pie's rant about Trump, Musk, Farage and the rest of that sordid bunch is truly magnificent -- and so cathartic by proxy.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk0n...

This robovac has an arm that can pick up your dirty laundry But can it bring me a beverage?

This is very cool!

www.theverge.com/2025/1/5/243...

Thanks for running it!

P.S. the link to "Up-level your resume" on your website is broken.

Frequency of eating home cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study Reported associations between preparing and eating home cooked food, and both diet and health, are inconsistent. Most previous research has focused on preparing, rather than eating, home cooked food; ...

Learn to cook your meals!
Research shows that "those consuming home cooked meals more than five times, compared with less than three times per week, were 28% less likely to have overweight BMI [...], and 24% less likely to have excess percentage body fat".

Davide Valeriani, PhD 🧠+💪+❤️+😴+👨‍💻 (@davidevaleriani.bsky.social) AI for Health. Lead data scientist @ Technogym. Previously WHOOP, Google, Neurable, Harvard. He/him.

After 15 years on Twitter/X, I will delete my account at the end of this year. Let's keep in touch on https://t.co/fRkfWlsmtJ

Dopo 15 anni su Twitter/X, cancellerò questo account alla fine dell'anno. Rimaniamo in contatto su
https://t.co/fRkfWlsmtJ

an airplane is taking off from a runway and the words just landed are below it ALT: an airplane is taking off from a runway and the words just landed are below it

Just landed to Bluesky from X.

Do we need a publicly-owned #LLM?
Given the concerns around most LLM models being in the hands of private #AI companies, I wonder if governments around the world should invest resources in training their own LLM.

The importance of sleep for motor performance https://twitter.com/MasoudTahmasian/status/1799728609457799528

BCI Society Industry Advisory Committee Application 2024 Please fill this form if you want to apply to be a member of the Industry Committee of the BCI Society. Members will serve in the committees for 2 years and are expected to attend at least one meeting per quarter. DEADLINE: July 7, 2024 (11.59.59 EST)

The @BciSociety is forming a new Industry Advisory committee, aiming to provide strategic guidance, expertise, and insights into industry developments of #BCI.
If you are a BCI Society member and are working in industry, please join us!
https://t.co/usjQFL4OY7

Do at least 22 minutes of moderate physical activity (like a walk) per day to reduce your risk of health problems.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/22/1457

Read 6 minutes to reduce your stress by up to 68%.
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/medlit/2023/01/19/reading-reduces-stress-fact

Lifting weights and resistance training help you #sleep better!

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079216301526

Did you know that sleeping less than 6 hours per night increases your risk of developing diabetes? Even if you follow a healthy diet.

https://t.co/iMMbT3kqWM

Drinking alcohol disrupts your sleep, especially reducing your REM sleep, very important for memory consolidation and dreaming. For every drink, you need an hour to metabolize it. If you go to bed before that your sleep is going to be disrupted.

Source: https://t.co/qvSvWFqdIA

Diversity is important everywhere, including in your microbiome. Eat more yogurt and other fermented food to increase it, and don't forget high-fiber food to increase microbiome function.
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00754-6

Neurotech start-ups will not give rise to superhumans The idea that the technology might accelerate general human capabilities remains fanciful

"To reach a consumer audience, neurotechnology start-ups will need to prove they can dramatically enhance human abilities."
Exactly ☝️: human augmentation is key to neurotech success! https://www.ft.com/content/69a58b9f-62f5-40d0-b48c-7ef92c46aaa4 via @ft

Did you know that not sleeping enough make you more hungry during the day? Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn2016201
Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308022201_The_effects_of_partial_sleep_deprivation_on_energy_balance_a_systematic_review_and_meta-analysis

BCI Definitions - Request for Input Overall Purpose The idea of a brain-computer interface (BCI) is becoming far more common in the public consciousness with the ever-increasing depictions of BCIs in popular news media, entertainment, and even governmental regulations. Further, BCIs have moved out of the purely academic world and towards commercial translation as an increasing number of private companies are developing BCIs for a variety of purposes. These BCIs include external devices that may be considered as exempt devices from a regulatory perspective, as well as surgically implanted systems that are regulated by national or international governmental agencies. As the International Brain-Computer Interface Society, we believe it is important to put forward a clear and comprehensive definition of a brain-computer interface that reflects both the history and current state of the field, that simply captures the essential aspects of what a BCI is and is not, and that is useful for the Society in both internal and external communications. There have been numerous definitions of BCIs created by individual scientists in the field, or by other societies and organizations. Here, we intended to adopt or develop a definition that has broad acceptance within the academic community of scientists, engineers, clinicians that have an interest in BCIs. Specific Goals and Objectives 1) Adopt or develop a definition of a brain-computer interface that is supported by the majority of the membership of the International BCI Society. 2) Provide a reference resource for BCI definitions that can be used by the Society and other stakeholders in publications, materials, interactions with media outlets, etc. Existing Definitions A thoughtful, well-supported, and well-motivated definition of a brain-computer interface was published by John and Elizabeth Wolpaw in 2012. It has been updated or presented in several forms, but the most referenced definition is: A BCI is a system that measures CNS activity and converts it into artificial output that replaces, restores, enhances, supplements, or improves natural CNS output and thereby changes the ongoing interactions between the CNS and its external or internal environment.(Wolpaw and Wolpaw, 2012) Other definitions exist within the field, but to a considerable extent, they overlap with the concepts and ideas described above. Further, there may be additional terms for different types or flavors of BCIs that could exist within this framework, with active and passive BCIs being one specific example. Several key concepts can be drawn from the definition of a BCI provided above: BCIs are output devices. The directional flow of information is from the brain to the external world. Many potential use cases exist. Information acquired can be used for more than simply replacing a lost control channel. Using a BCI changes the interaction between the user’s central nervous system (CNS) and their environment. Current Landscape There has been significant development in academic and commercial neurotechnology since this definition was proposed. This includes the creation of numerous companies developing BCIs. There have also been developments in the demonstrated capabilities of what are generally categorized as BCIs, including real-time speech synthesis, high-bandwidth communication devices, high-degree of freedom robotic arm control, somatosensory and visual feedback systems, and others. There has also been a general acceleration of what could be considered the larger field of neural interfaces, in which engineered systems are being created that interface with the body throughout the nervous system. This has the potential to raise into question what is or is not a BCI. Potential Questions or Limitations of the existing definition The definition proposed by Wolpaw and Wolpaw raises several questions and presents a few limitations. First, the CNS consists of both the brain and spinal cord, and most definitions of the CNS include the first and second cranial nerves. Further the retina itself is classified as being part of the CNS. However, neural interfaces, neuroprosthetics or neuromodulation devices that are deployed in the spinal cord, cranial nerves, or retina would not often be considered as a BCI. On the other hand, changing the interface target to be the brain may represent a significant change from the Wolpaw and Wolpaw definition. Question 1: Should a definition of a BCI define the brain or the entire CNS as the interface target? Second, the Wolpaw and Wolpaw definition recognized that ‘interaction’ is an important component of BCIs. According to that definition, a device that simply monitors signals from the brain is not a BCI. A BCI “changes the ongoing interactions between the CNS and its external or internal environment.” However, interactions between the CNS and the external or internal environment are always (or very nearly always) bidirectional. Sensation drives motor action, which drives new sensations. Monitoring brain activity and providing neurofeedback to the user elicits a reaction from the CNS. If the purpose of the CNS is to acquire and process sensory information and then respond to that information with appropriate outputs, then a definition of a BCI that addresses only the role of the CNS in generating movement is perhaps unnecessarily limiting. Indeed, ‘direct input’ systems were briefly discussed in Wolpaw and Wolpaw 2012, but at the time, this was a nearly non-existent field. Question 2: Should a definition of a BCI include a description of a system that (only, or in addition to reading and decoding brain signals) modulates or modifies brain function? Revised Definition Proposal Below are revised definitions of a BCI that minimally modify the Wolpaw and Wolpaw 2012 definition, but that address one or both questions above. A definition that focuses specifically on the brain as compared to the entire CNS. A BCI is a system that measures brain activity and converts it online into artificial output that replaces, restores, enhances, supplements, or improves the natural output of the brain and thereby changes the ongoing interactions between the brain and its external or internal environment. A definition that incorporates bidirectional interfaces. A BCI is a system that measures CNS activity and converts it online into artificial outputs, and/or modifies CNS activity using artificial inputs, to replace, restore, enhance, supplement, and/or improve natural CNS outputs of the brain, or to perceptually alter the inputs of the brain, thereby changing the ongoing interactions between the CNS and its external or internal environments. A definition that incorporates both modifications. A BCI is a system that measures brain activity and converts it online into artificial outputs, and/or modifies brain activity using artificial inputs, to replace, restore, enhance, supplement, and/or improve the natural outputs of the brain, or to perceptually alter the inputs of the brain, thereby changing the ongoing interactions between the brain and its external or internal environments. Other General Comments It may not be necessary to develop a new term to describe input systems, such as a computer-brain interface (CBI). While the term brain-computer interface can (and often has) been associated with information flow from the brain to a computer, there may be no reason to insist upon a directional interpretation of the term, apart from historical precedent. Definition of the brain: The brain includes the cerebrum, the diencephalon, the brainstem, and the cerebellum. It does not include the cranial nerves. Furthermore, it does not include the measurement of intention or information (that could have originated in the brain) obtained from downstream areas of the nervous system (e.g. peripheral nerves or muscles). There is no modality limitation to what type of technology or signal sources might form the basis of a BCI system, as long as they interact with the brain itself. For example, a BCI system could be based on one or more of the following (not exhaustive) existing technologies or methodologies: TMS, tDCS, EEG, ECOG, FUS, MEG, fMRI, SEEG, microelectrode arrays, optical imaging, optogenetics. The definition of Wolpaw and Wolpaw, as well as the suggested alternative definitions, do not require the measured brain activity to contain information about the ongoing intention of the user, because this would exclude technologies referred to as passive BCIs from the definition. The consequence of this is that technologies such as closed-loop neuromodulation (e.g., responsive DBS) may fall under the definition of a BCI. Suggestions on the need to distinguish between these types of technologies, and how to differentiate between them, are welcomed. The term ‘online’ in the proposed definitions is meant to reflect ‘(nearly) real-time’, not ‘on the internet’. Other Relevant Resources https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-106118 References Wolpaw, J.R., Wolpaw, E.W., 2012. Brain–Computer Interfaces Principles and Practice 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388855.003.0001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At this stage, the board of the BCI Society is seeking input from BCI Society members, as well as other BCI stakeholders, on the above considerations and alternative definitions of a BCI. We invite all of you to answer the questions below. NOTE: We are asking for your email and name as we may wish to follow up with you for clarification or to discuss these ideas further. Responses will only be seen by board members and will not be communicated to or shared with other parties.

The @BciSociety is developing a definition of #BCI and is looking for feedback. Please fill this form if you work in the BCI space!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjlVsauVjPkrjCE-eefJdfF6ELXsctrIkKIhMkbdKNt58_8A/viewform

Great #BCI postdoc position @EssexBCILab @Uni_of_Essex. Check it out if you are looking for your next role.
https://hrorganiser.essex.ac.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?VACANCY_ID=632738UjkO&WVID=9918109NEm&LANG=USA
#research

My team at @WHOOP is #hiring! Come work with us to build new algorithms to help people understand and improve their sleep.

We are looking for a senior data scientist with expertise in physiology / sleep, ML/deep learning, and some familiarity of MLOps.

https://t.co/bz00g0Tmoo

Ricercatori italiani residenti in USA: c'è tempo fino al 25 agosto per partecipare a questo sondaggio https://twitter.com/issnaf/status/1674901641039065088

Very cool, well done @dagdevirencanan and team! https://twitter.com/MIT/status/1686030267100643328

Is the name going to change too? I suggest #Xitter

Ok let's try this #ThreadsApp too
https://www.threads.net/@davide_valeriani

Tip for making project management more friendly: change "milestone" with "smilestone"

Did you know that the longest mountain trail in the world is in #Italy? You can walk through the whole country: 7,850 km, crossing all 20 regions.
Find out more: https://www.vasentiero.org/en/home

Dairy vs. plant-based milk: what are the environmental impacts? A growing number of people are interested in switching to plant-based alternatives to dairy. But are they better for the environment, and which is best?

Milk consumption has decreased by 65% in the past 75 years, and this could be good for our planet.
Environmental impact of milk: https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks
Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/dining/milk-dairy-industry-gen-z.html

This is a great opportunity for everyone in computational neuroscience. Also, #NMA is leading the way to more affordable education, by adjusting fees based on career position, funding status and location. https://twitter.com/neuromatch/status/1642936425657122846