Carney Institute for Brain Science

From prediction to understanding: Will AI foundation models transform brain science? Deep-learning approaches using massive data have transformed AI and are reshaping science. We ask when AI foundation models will transform neuroscience, outlining critical success conditions and a shi...

In their NeuroView, out in Neuron this week, Ellie Pavlick and @thomasserre.bsky.social ask, “Will AI foundation models transform neuroscience?”
www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273%2825%2900752-4

Gossiping Is Smarter Than You Think The mental machinery that helps us spread rumors also helps us thrive in an interconnected world.

Op-ed from Oriel FeldmanHall, featuring insights from her work: "Social networks typically include ... tens of thousands of possible connections. To predict where a piece of gossip might travel, you need to calculate which of many paths it might travel. That is a staggering amount of mental math."

Researchers uncover similarities between human and AI learning By working to understand how new AI systems integrate flexible and incremental learning, researchers gained insights about the human brain.

Analyzing strengths and weaknesses of different learning strategies in an artificial neural network offers new insights about the human brain:

For Some Patients, the ‘Inner Voice’ May Soon Be Audible

Incredible work on brain-computer interface technology that can decode "imagined" inner speech. The research team, led by Stanford University, includes Carney-affiliated Professor of Engineering Leigh Hochberg and Brown alumni David Brandman PhD’18, MD, and Sergey Stavisky ’08 of UC Davis.

Empowering graduate students to think entrepreneurially about brain technology Graduate students from Brown University and Ben-Gurion University put their brains together in a unique summer practicum to invent and pitch ideas for neurotechnology startups.

July ended on a high note! Read about the "Dolphin Tank" that is starting to become a favorite summer tradition:

$1.3 million grant to Brown to expand research on the role of blood-brain barrier in decision making Researchers from Brown’s Carney Institute will investigate how the blood-brain barrier is involved in transmitting information to the brain, informing potential treatments for brain diseases and disor...

New work from the Moore lab could reveal an unexpected role for the blood-brain barrier in how we make decisions:

Social success not about who you know – it’s about knowing who knows whom Knowledge trumps popularity in the long haul of trying to be influential, researchers say

New work from the lab of Brown University researcher
Oriel FeldmanHall reveals an unexpected key to becoming influential in your social network:

Golden eyes: How gold nanoparticles may one day help to restore people’s vision A team of Brown University researchers has identified a promising new approach that may one day help to restore vision in people affected by macular degeneration and other retinal disorders.

A new study by Carney researchers suggests that gold nanoparticles injected into the retina can successfully stimulate the visual system and restore vision in mice with retinal disorders.

Could blocking ‘jumping genes’ help fight disease and aging? The first clinical trials are testing inhibitors of transposons, DNA sequences that hop around the genome on their own

Could blocking ‘jumping genes’ treat diseases and aging? Brown researchers Bess Frost, director of Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, and John Sedivy, director of the Center for the Biology of Aging, are featured in the latest Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... #brownbrainscience

The reptile brain is real Carney scientists have discovered that the part of the cerebral cortex that processes smell is similar in mice, reptiles and amphibians–a surprising finding that rewrites the story about the evolution...

New findings published in @natureneuro.bsky.social by the lab of Alexander Fleischmann, Provost's Professor of Brain Science at Brown University, show surprising similarities between the mouse olfactory cortex and the cerebral cortices of reptiles and amphibians. bit.ly/4joIGkr #BrownBrainScience 🧠

With a storied past stretching back more than a century, the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown University is stepping into its future. Learn more about our key partners who study the mind - and where they're headed. bit.ly/4l8SMaO #BrownBrainScience 🧠

From software to sensors, models to molecules, tools made by Carney researchers not only fuel brain science discovery at Brown, but at thousands of university, nonprofit and private labs on five continents. Check out our ingenious inventions - and inventors at bit.ly/4l1N6iV

#BrownBrainScience 🧠

We're so excited to see what you learn!

The @carneyinstitute.bsky.social Zimmerman Innovation Awards in Brain Science have killer ROI with about $5M in seed funds resulting in $166 million in external funding for projects on Alzheimer's disease to autism to AI. Details on this year's crop of awards: bit.ly/3XyiSd5

#BrownBrainScience 🧠

Bird brains help scientists to unveil the secrets of speech Neural underpinnings of vocalization in zebra finches and budgerigars.

Neural recordings from parrots and songbirds reveal the ways in which vocal production is encoded in the brain, highlighting remarkable similarities between how parrots and humans learn to produce sounds.

https://go.nature.com/4bImwai

Associate director, @cimoore444.bsky.social, spoke at last week's National Academy of Engineering symposium to talk neuroengineering - a field pioneered at Brown - and how it can be harnessed to do the seemingly impossible. Like cross the blood brain barrier to deliver AD drugs. bit.ly/3DEUX58 🧠

Psssst: Brain science is the best science. And we got to share the secret with Rhode Island on Saturday, when families packed the Brown Brain Fair to learn about our beautiful brains and how research makes the discovery possible. The full scoop: bit.ly/2025brainfair

#BrownBrainScience 🧠

Free, family-friendly, fun!

Come out for the Brown Brain Fair powered by local high schoolers and @carneyinstitute grad students. You'll find lots of hands-on goodness: games, art, and demos plus fast, fun science talks. Open to all.

🧩 💯 🎨 🔥 🌈 🔬 ✋

#BrownBrainScience 🧠

This month a new concentration launches at Brown - computational neuroscience - and Ah-Young Moon was the first to declare. Brown is one of a handful of U.S. schools to offer it to undergrads in a move that's quintessentially Brown: student-led and cross-disciplinary. The scoop: bit.ly/4hqFC65 🧠 💻

The biology of addiction Insights into the biology of addiction and their potential translation into advances in therapy are discussed.

Recent discoveries are reshaping how scientists understand the neuroscience and biology of drug addiction, according to a new #ScienceSignaling Review that discusses the latest findings, future research priorities, and emerging therapies. scim.ag/3DguvOY

A new computational neuroscience concentration, powered by Brown undergrads and Carney affiliates, arrives with spring With the launch, Brown becomes one of a handful of U.S. universities with an undergraduate curriculum that marries neuroscience with computer science and math.

New! Brown University now has a Computational Neuroscience undergraduate B.S. degree! Fun read on how this was developed on the @carneyinstitute.bsky.social website. carney.brown.edu/news/2025-03...

A new computational neuroscience concentration, powered by Brown undergrads and Carney affiliates, arrives with spring With the launch, Brown becomes one of a handful of U.S. universities with an undergraduate curriculum that marries neuroscience with computer science and math.

So excited about our new Computational Neuroscience concentration (major) @carneyinstitute.bsky.social carney.brown.edu/news/2025-03...

High five to Debbie Yee 🙌 for winning one of three Brown University awards for outstanding postdoctoral researchers.
Yee won for community-building - something she's done in spades at Carney, including co-organizing a postdoc retreat this fall. 🏆⭐🍎 Congrats! #BrownBrainScience🧠

A dynamic flyer announcing the Black in Neuro Mentorship Program 2025, featuring a vibrant purple and white background. The Black in Neuro logo is positioned in the top left corner. The flyer displays "Coming Soon" with a pink microphone below it, followed by a purple box that reads "Black in Neuro Program 2025!" In the bottom left, there is text that reads "Scan the QR code to fill out an interest form or contact us via email at MENTORSHIP@BLACKINNEURO.COM." To the right of the text is an arrow pointing to a QR code.

🚨 Exciting news! 🚨 The Black in Neuro Mentorship Program 2025 is coming soon! 🌟 Interested in being a mentor or mentee? Scan the QR code to fill out an interest form or reach out via email. Let’s build the future of #neuroscience together! 💜 #BlackInNeuroMentorship #Mentorship #PhDSky #BlackInSTEM 🧪

Awesome colleague and awesome Center!

ChatGPT for students: learners find creative new uses for chatbots The utility of generative AI tools is expanding far beyond simple summarisation and grammar support towards more sophisticated, pedagogical applications.

The utility of generative AI tools is expanding far beyond simple summarisation and grammar support towards more sophisticated, pedagogical applications

https://go.nature.com/3DgtdDy

Bess Frost, head of the Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research, has joined the board of the @alzassociation.bsky.social Rhode Island. Thanks to Providence Business News for the coverage: bit.ly/4kgDRLn

#BrownBrainScience 🧠

⬇️ Check out what Dr. Christopher Moore of @carneyinstitute.bsky.social tells
@johnfoxe.bsky.social - what scientists can learn from playful lion cubs🦁

Subscribe & watch a new NeURoscience Perspectives
👉 youtube.com/watch?v=b1yh...

#podcast #URochesterResearch

Great story by @kennaculture.bsky.social in the #debrief on the new model for working memory by Michael Frank and Aneri Soni from Carney's Center for Computational Brain Science. 🧠

Check this @nbc10wjar.bsky.social spot featuring Carney's Thomas Serre and undergrad Jay Gopal, who lead ClickMe, an object recognition game helping AI see more like humans - making the tech more accurate and trustworthy.

📺 The spot: bit.ly/3Xk6RI5
🧩 The game: bit.ly/4idGJXr

#BrownBrainScience🧠