NicoleCRust

NicoleCRust, 7 months ago to random

The importance of emotion

Well said.

James Russell

"Most major topics in psychology and every major problem faced by humanity involve emotion. Perhaps the same could be said of cognition. Yet, in the psychology of human beings, with passions as well as reasons, with feelings as well as thoughts, it is the emotional side that remains the more mysterious. Psychology and humanity can progress without considering emotion—about as fast as someone running on one leg."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12529060/

NicoleCRust, 10 months ago to random

Wow. Great to see the community continue to take scientific fraud seriously. This was about high profile papers on Alzheimer’s disease.

https://stanforddaily.com/2023/07/19/stanford-president-resigns-over-manipulated-research-will-retract-at-least-3-papers/

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/tessier-lavigne-matter-shows-why-running-lab-full-time-job

NicoleCRust, 6 months ago to random

Crowd sourcing big data collection efforts in the brain research space

Looking for both details as well as a conceptual parsing of the space. Here's a partial list (and a conceptual parsing,n loosely organized around -omics): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omics

Genomics > Human Genome Project is relevant. Modern version: PsychENCODE
https://psychencode.synapse.org/

Transcriptomics >
Mouse whole-brain transcriptomic cell type atlas https://knowledge.brain-map.org/data/LVDBJAW8BI5YSS1QUBG/collections

Connectomics > worms; fly larvae; mouse (eg MiCroNShttps://www.iarpa.gov/research-programs/microns)

Multi-omics: https://chanzuckerberg.com/science/programs-resources/single-cell-biology/

Cell type atlases > https://www.humancellatlas.org/
https://portal.brain-map.org/atlases-and-data/bkp/abc-atlas

Brain activity efforts (including human fMRI):
http://openfmri.org/
https://openneuro.org/
https://www.internationalbrainlab.com/

Thanks in advance!

NicoleCRust, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

POLL: Are you on board with mind/brain reductionism (to genetic expression)?

In 1998, Eric Kandel proposed a new intellectual framework for psychiatry in which brain function and dysfunction can ultimately be reduced to genetic expression but one in which environmental effects (including psychotherapy) play a role (by modulating genetic expression which changes neural circuits and neuron function).

Paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9545989/

Summarized here: https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/110819846084871415

If you're not on board, why not?

NicoleCRust, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

Fragility of complex systems - leads?

I'm curious to widen my net wrt the different ways that complex systems can be fragile (versus robust). Any leads on good things to read?

To plant some seeds of different slices through it:

Adaptive systems (like ecosystems) tend to incorporate feedback. Fragility happens when a small change (eg in one node) leads to a catastrophe. These networks become more fragile as they increase in size:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-58440-6

It's really hard to engineer a complex system that is robust to catastrophic failures. For example, the 2003 NE US blackout happened when I single power line fell into a tree.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003)

Discussion of fragility is peppered all over. eg, here is an example of of it related to managing healthcare systems:
https://journals.lww.com/jonajournal/citation/2014/12000/handle_with_care__the_fragile_nature_of_complex.5.aspx

As these examples reflect, I'm really curious to learn about anything!

NicoleCRust, 10 months ago to random

Citations to social media posts?

I've seen this happen a few times in academic talks as well as peer-reviewed publications: someone quotes and cites a post from a social media (like a post here).

Under what conditions do you think this is appropriate? I'm not so sure it's a great idea.

The thoughts I post here are somewhere between "musing things through" and things I'd write in an archival publication. I don't want to have to hold them to the same bar that I hold for archivable/publishable words (if I did, I'd stop musing). I'm dismayed to think that my musings might be used in a publication to make some point.

But I can also see when it might be relevant/important.

My take is that we should hold words on social media to the same bar as traditional "personal communication" where we seek permission from the author to use the quotes (definitely in publications; ideally in formal talks as well).

Any disagreements?

NicoleCRust, 9 months ago to random

Inspiration for my anarchist friends here on the furry elephant. A profile of John Hardy, first to pinpoint an amyloid mutation in a family with Alzheimer's. Quite the character.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nm1004-1009

NicoleCRust, 9 months ago to random

On jargon - is it useful?

Is it necessary and useful for scientists to say "mnemonic" to refer to "memory" and "affect" to talk about "emotion"?

In other words, given that everyone understand emotion and mood and no one really understands what "affect" is until you are really deep into things, why is the term affect useful and important at all? And should we reserve it for deep dives (as opposed to public facing websites and such)? And does anyone call themselves an "emotion researcher?" or a "mood researcher?"

@PessoaBrain @knutson_brain

NicoleCRust, 8 months ago to random

Congrats to my colleagues Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman on the Nobel Prize!

My favorite part of this news is knowing that more people (including kids) will get to hear and be inspired by the story behind the science and scientists (especially Kariko).

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/katalin-kariko-and-drew-weissman-penns-historic-mrna-vaccine-research-team-win-2023-nobel

NicoleCRust, 8 months ago to random

If you are looking to replenish this weekend, this is the thread for you. Over 30 ways to reconnect with curiosity and awe. Among them: sift through the museum backlog to find a species you've never seen before. Also: step back. Look up! And then down.

Thank you everyone. I'm bookmarking this one for a rainy day.

https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/111188025078828554

NicoleCRust, 8 months ago to random

Claudia Goldin wins Nobel economics prize for work on gender gap

Wonderful!

I would love to learn more about Claudia Goldin’s contributions than I can glean from the press. Anyone in the know and could point to a great high-level paper of hers I might read? While I’d love to read the 1990 book, that’s more than I have bandwidth for right now.

https://www.reuters.com/world/claudia-goldin-wins-2023-nobel-economics-prize-2023-10-09/

NicoleCRust, 10 months ago to science

Book superposition?

I just finished an interleaved reading of two books, and wow! did they enhance one another.

The first was an approachable philosophical treatise about how science works given that scientists are human with all their faults. The answer: “evidence”. (Thanks to Jim DiCarlo for this rec + confirmation by @markdhumphries).

https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631491375

The second was a book describing the unfolding of ideas about evolution from Darwin’s tree (mutations + survival of the fittest) through more modern ideas about horizontal gene transfer between species - a perfect illustration of the ideas in the philosophical book but not included in it. (Thanks to @cyrilpedia for this rec).

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Tangled-Tree/David-Quammen/9781476776637

Books can be complementary in all sorts of ways. Do you know of pairings that are enhanced when thought about together?

I’m just starting a book about the nature of time and ideas about time travel by @JamesGleick. Any thoughts on a good complement for it? (Maybe @JamesGleick) even has suggestions?

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/233793/time-travel-by-james-gleick/

#nonfiction #science #philosophy

NicoleCRust, 8 months ago to random

Is the DSM (manual for psychiatry) equivalent to the Farmer's almanac?

Provocative idea (shaped around the notion that both the brain and the weather are complex systems)

According to the NWS, it takes in 192,000 observations from surface stations, 2,700 from ships, 18,000 from weather buoys, 115,000 from aircraft, 250,000 from balloons, and 140 million from satellites. This doesn’t include information incorporated from other international networks. The data are then updated (remember weather and climate are CASs and therefore always changing) at least every hour.

Compared to meteorologists, the relatively meager data available to clinicians about the individual and the disorders they are faced with is sadly lacking. Evan Collins quipped, “This begs the question, is the DSM akin to computer modeling or The Farmer’s Almanac”

https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780197509326.003.0002

NicoleCRust, 6 months ago to random

Looking for: drugs developed using systems biology / complex systems (probably cancer).

I'm looking for examples in which the appreciation that a genetic network is configured (not as a domino chain but) as a complex system led to the identification of a therapeutic target and a new drug.

I know that there are examples of that we can point to explaining 1) why existing drugs don't work or 2) are in the clinical pipeline (eg clinical trials). But do you know of any "success stories" that are approved and in use?

Anything in the "brain" space is particularly appreciated but I'm open to anything here (and I'm guessing that the most likely space is cancer).

NicoleCRust, 1 year ago to random

The troubled history of psychiatry, summarized:

Disturbing, fascinating, & enlightening, all at once.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/27/the-troubled-history-of-psychiatry

Summary of this book, by Anne Harrington (Historian of Science, Harvard)
https://wwnorton.com/books/Mind-Fixers/

NicoleCRust, 10 months ago to Neuroscience

I’ve noticed a strong alignment between those who think that the computer metaphor for the brain makes little sense and those who’ve thought about how the brain might give rise to emotion.

As much as I love all the progress happening in NeuroAI to push our understanding of perception, memory & intelligence forward, I very much think they are right - there’s a crucial swath that doesn’t seem to fit with that agenda.

#neuroscience #neuroAI #philosophy

NicoleCRust, 6 months ago to random

CRISPR is now FDA approved (for sickle cell). It’s the first disorder to receive approval using this approach. No doubt many more to come. Exciting!

https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-fda-approval-vertex-crispr-8d85279d7de0c60888d37afbfa06d39e

cian, 3 months ago to random

Made the mistake of flicking through a few Wikipedia articles on topics I am familiar with. Apart from some out of date statements, the main issue is just how random a lot of the points are. Eg this page on synaptic plasticity is really unrepresentative of the field state of the art imo: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_plasticity

Is this the kind of garbage students are reading and ChatGPT is training on?

NicoleCRust, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

Brain and mind researchers of all types: I hope you'll join this conversation at Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (August 6-9, Boston).

There, I'll be zooming out to 40,000 feet to inspire discussion around the question: Why have we been learning so much about the brain and mind for so many decades, but our ability to treat its dysfunction has been so frustrated?

The answer to that question informs what I affectionately call the Grand Plan — a description, in broad strokes, of how brain and mind researchers of all types plan to move from where we are now to societal benefits (including treating brain dysfunction).

I'm envisioning a community-centered conversation unlike any I've seen before; because it's unusual, I unpack it here:
https://www.nicolerust.com/grandplan

I'm grateful to the CCN organizers for providing an opportunity for this. I hope you'll join in!

https://2024.ccneuro.org/

NicoleCRust, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

On our recent conversations about opt-in polls ....

An alarming poll last December suggested Holocaust denial was widespread. Pew research followed it up with questions like, "Are you licensed to drive a nuclear submarine?" (Answer: No one is). The answer: 12% of certain edit: self reported to be (but suspected not really to be) demographics say yes. And that demographic matched up with those that polled as Holocaust deniers.

They conclude that (big surprise?) we need to be careful when interpreting the results of opt-in polls.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/05/online-opt-in-polls-can-produce-misleading-results-especially-for-young-people-and-hispanic-adults/

NicoleCRust, 1 month ago to random

I’m sad that NPR is turning into silly. Where are y’all getting your (audio) news?

https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/

NicoleCRust, 1 month ago to random

Sometimes I think that maybe (just maybe) I write well ...

Then I encounter someone who writes REALLY well (sometimes a revising my own text).

Sigh ... focusing on the delta can be hard. But inspiring and motivating too.

The deeper I get into it, the more I realize: writing (compelling nonfiction) is an art form.

NicoleCRust, 1 month ago to random

On making the anticipation bifurcation collapse ...

At the final stages of pulling together a big proposal where I'm really sticking my neck out, I feel like I'm torn between two states: I can be nervous about woulda-shoulda-coulda, or I can be really happy with the delta from start to finish.

After musing for a good while on the first (Did I do everything I possibly could, given what I know?), I'm going to opt for the latter.

While it feels a bit dangerous to be hopeful and excited, I'll say it: I'M EXCITED!!!

And instead of being superstitious, I'm opting to invite the universe to join in. Hey universe: working together could be fun. Want to collaborate?!

NicoleCRust, 3 days ago to random

On the joys of fact checking and the diameter of Phineas Gage's rod ...

How thick was the rod that pierced Phineas Gage?

Some reports say that the diameter was 1.25 inches = 3.2 cm.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phineas-Gage

Others say the diameter was 6 mm = 0.25 inches.
https://www.bmj.com/content/317/7174/1673.2

Some say it was tapered:
"It was 1 1/4 inches in diameter at one end (not circumference as in the newspaper report) and tapered over a distance of about 1-foot to a diameter of 1/4 inch at the other."
https://www.uakron.edu/gage/story.dot

That might resolve the discrepancy!

NicoleCRust, 14 days ago to writing

On fact checking: ugh. Tips?

I wrote a book and now I have to wrap it up. In that effort, I have many! facts to check. I think I can plow through the bulk of it at ~60 facts per/day for ~30 days (spread across ~10 sources). My new hobby, I guess?

This type of tedious, detailed work is not my favorite thing. I have the source material, but I need to go back and scrutinize what I wrote in detail to make sure it's correct.

On one hand, it may have been easier if past Nicole did a better job at documenting details along the way. On the other hand, it was really unclear what would make it through the final filter and documenting every little thing would have been even more tedious (and would have disrupted the process of connecting it all together).

Any tips for how to make this new hobby of mine easier or more pleasant?

#writing #nonfiction