Flexible and generalizable representations of touch - Nature Reviews Neuroscience

The representational geometry of neural population activity in the somatosensory cortex of mice allows for high flexibility needed to perform complex tasks and for generalization to novel tasks at the same time.

The geometry of cortical representations of touch in rodents - Nature Neuroscience

Mice were trained to discriminate objects using their whiskers. The geometry of the neural representations recorded in somatosensory cortex was disentangled with small non-linear perturbations, allowing for generalization and flexibility.

Get Stoke(s)d! Introduction to the Special Focus

For the past 20 years, Mark Stokes has had a remarkably outsized influence on many areas of research within cognitive neuroscience. As an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne, in the laboratory of Jason Mattingley, he contributed to several studies pioneering the use of TMS for the study of human cognition (cf. Feredoes, 2023). Although many of these addressed fundamental questions about attention, arguably the most enduring of his contributions from that time was methodological, 2005's “Simple metric for scaling motor threshold based on scalp-cortex distance: Application to studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation” (Stokes et al., 2005). Google Scholar shows that although the citation count for this introduction of “the Stokes method” initially peaked in 2011, its year-by-year histogram has remained stubbornly elevated, achieving additional modes in 2017, in 2019, and now again in 2022 (for which, already by the 9-month mark, it has already eclipsed the previously most highly cited calendar year).For his PhD, Mark Stokes moved to Cambridge University where, in the laboratory of John Duncan, he was among the first to apply multivariate decoding analyses to neuroimaging studies of high-level cognition (cf. Duncan, 2023). Subsequently, he moved to Oxford University, initially to work with Kia Nobre as a research fellow and later establishing his own independent group and mentoring an impressive cohort of trainees (cf. Pike et al., 2023). Across his time at Oxford, he played a major role in bridging research on memory and attention, promoting a functional account of working memory in which forward-looking memory traces are informationally and computationally tuned for interacting with incoming sensory signals to guide adaptive behavior (Nobre & Stokes, 2019; cf. Myers, 2023; Nobre, 2023). In addition, and perhaps most influentially, soon after his arrival at Oxford, Mark Stokes turned his analytic acumen to developing a then-novel approach for the “retrospectively multivariate” analysis of data from single-unit extracellular recordings from awake, behaving animals. As recently as the decade of the 2000s, the preponderance of neurophysiological studies of nonhuman primates used the approach, during chronic recording sessions, of first isolating a single neuron, then recording from that neuron while the animal engaged in the behavior of interest, repeating this process across hundreds of recording sessions, then averaging the results across similarly tuned neurons. Stokes' insight was that one might learn more from such data sets by, rather than approaching them as a collection of univariate observations, treating them as a single multivariate observation by, in effect, pretending that these hundreds of units had all been recorded simultaneously. The results have been breathtakingly revealing.The first, and perhaps most impactful, of publications to come out of Mark Stokes' “retrospectively multivariate” enterprise was a product of his enduring collaborative relationship with John Duncan—a reanalysis of recordings from the pFC of nonhuman primates performing a working memory task (Sigala, Kusunoki, Nimmo-Smith, Gaffan, & Duncan, 2008). It reported the discovery that the population-level representation of stimulus information in pFC underwent a dynamic trajectory of state transitions that reflected task- and trial-specific context (Stokes et al., 2013; cf. Adam, Rademaker, & Serences, 2023). (For example, when a new stimulus appeared, its representation in pFC transitioned, over the course of just a few hundred milliseconds, from one primarily reflecting stimulus identity to one primarily reflecting whether it was a “target” [that would require a response] or a distractor [that would not].) Critically, because this information could be read out even during periods when the average firing rate in pFC did not differ from baseline, this finding implied that these dynamic transformations were occurring at the level of changing patterns of connectivity between neurons, rather than at the level of firing rates. It may well turn out that the most enduringly consequential impact to arise from this work will have been an insight that Stokes himself derived from it: There may be an “activity-silent” basis for the representation of information in working memory (Stokes, 2015). The wide-ranging implications of this proposal are being seen, seemingly every day, in new models and experimental results in disciplines ranging from experimental psychology to computational neuroscience to cellular neurobiology (cf. Buschman & Miller, 2023; Manohar, 2023).1Sadly for our field, personal circumstances have led to Dr. Stokes moving away from his role as Head of Attention group at Oxford's Department of Experimental Psychology. During the Summer of 2022, the contributions of this remarkable, and remarkably influential, cognitive neuroscientist were highlighted by an international gathering for a Stokes Fest[schrift] hosted on the grounds of New College (Figure 1). The articles collected in this Special Focus capture some of the spirit and ferment (cf. Wu & Buckley, 2023) that pervaded this celebration of the career of a dearly valued and admired colleague/mentor/teacher.Reprint requests should be sent to Bradley R. Postle, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1202 West Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706, or via e-mail: [email protected] Institutes of Health (https://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000002), grant number: MH095984.Retrospective analysis of the citations in every article published in this journal from 2010 to 2021 reveals a persistent pattern of gender imbalance: Although the proportions of authorship teams (categorized by estimated gender identification of first author/last author) publishing in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (JoCN) during this period were M(an)/M = .407, W(oman)/M = .32, M/W = .115, and W/W = .159, the comparable proportions for the articles that these authorship teams cited were M/M = .549, W/M = .257, M/W = .109, and W/W = .085 (Postle and Fulvio, JoCN, 34:1, pp. 1–3). Consequently, JoCN encourages all authors to consider gender balance explicitly when selecting which articles to cite and gives them the opportunity to report their article's gender citation balance. The authors of this article report its proportions of citations by gender category to be as follows: M/M = .467; W/M = .267; M/W = 0; W/W = .267.

Flatiron Research Fellow, Center for Computational Neuroscience

The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 in New York City by Jim and Marilyn Simons. With an annual grants and programs budget of $450 million, the foundation’s mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. The foundation pursues its mission through its grant-making division, comprising programs in Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Education & Outreach and autism research, and through its internal research division, the Flatiron Institute. The Mathematics & Physical Sciences program supports work in mathematics, theoretical computer science and theoretical physics. The Life Sciences program works to advance basic research in life sciences, with, among other efforts, large grant programs in ocean ecology and in the origins of life. The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) is a campaign that aims to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of autism by funding innovative research of the highest quality and relevance. SFARI also supports the editorially independent autism research news site Spectrum. In 2016, the foundation launched the Flatiron Institute (FI), a multidisciplinary institute whose mission is to advance scientific research through computational methods, including data analysis, modeling and simulation. The FI hosts scientists and collaborating expert programmers who work to create, deploy and support new state-of-the-art computational methods. Outreach & Education supports and promotes scientific literacy in society generally. Specifically, the program supports the nonprofit Math for America and the independent science news site, Quanta Magazine. This program’s Science Sandbox initiative seeks to unlock scientific thinking in all people, so that science becomes a more integral part of culture. SALARY AND BENEFITS In addition to competitive salaries, the Simons Foundation provides employees with an outstanding benefits package. SIMONS FOUNDATION'S DIVERSITY COMMITMENT Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences, and we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment. The Simons Foundation actively seeks a diverse applicant pool and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. We provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected category under federal, state and local law. OVERVIEW The Center for Computational Neuroscience (CCN) invites applications for Flatiron Research Fellowships (FRFs - our designation for Postdoctoral Fellows) in CCN’s computational vision and neural circuits and algorithms groups. CCN aims to develop theories, models, and computational methods that deepen our knowledge of brain function — both in health and in disease. CCN takes a “systems\" neuroscience approach, building models that are motivated by fundamental principles, that are constrained by properties of neural circuits and responses, and that provide insights into perception, cognition and behavior. This cross-disciplinary approach not only leads to the design of new model-driven scientific experiments, but also encapsulates current functional descriptions of the brain that can spur the development of new engineered computational systems, especially in the realm of machine learning. CCN’s current research groups include computational vision (Eero Simoncelli, PI), neural circuits and algorithms (Dmitri ‘Mitya’ Chklovskii, PI), neuroAI and geometry (SueYeon Chung, PI), and statistical analysis of neural data (Alex Williams, PI), and is planning to expand the number of research groups in the near term. While the current open positions are in the computational vision and neural circuits and algorithms groups only, CCN scientists are encouraged to collaborate across research groups and the wider Flatiron Institute. Interested candidates should review the CCN public website for specific information, and to select a group for their primary affiliation. Visit the Flatiron Institute career page to learn more. POSITION SUMMARY The CCN FRF program offers the opportunity for postdoctoral research in areas that have strong synergy with one or more of the existing research groups at CCN or other centers at the Flatiron Institute. During this recruitment cycle, CCN is accepting applications for the computational vision and neural circuits and algorithms groups only. Each CCN FRF will have a primary mentor from a CCN research group, though affiliations and collaborations with other research groups within CCN and throughout the Flatiron Institute are encouraged. Candidates seeking a joint appointment between CCN and another Flatiron Center are encouraged to apply to both centers and to state their interest in a joint position in their cover letter. In addition to carrying out their own research, Flatiron Research Fellows are expected to: disseminate their results through scientific presentations, publications, and software release, collaborate with other members of the CCN or Flatiron Institute, and participate in the scientific life of the CCN and Flatiron Institute by attending seminars, colloquia, and group meetings. Flatiron Research Fellows also have the opportunity to organize workshops and to mentor graduate and undergraduate students. Review of applications will begin immediately and will remain ongoing until all positions are filled, for positions starting in 2023. Required Application Materials: Curriculum Vitae with bibliography; Research statement of no more than three pages describing past work and proposed research program. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the broad impact of the past and proposed research on computational neuroscience. Applicants should also indicate the primary CCN group(s) with which they’d seek to conduct research, and any desired affiliation with other Flatiron Centers. Three (3) letters of recommendation submitted confidentially by direct email to [email protected] Optional Application Materials: Cover letter (optional); Selection Criteria: Applicants must have a PhD in a related field or expect to receive their PhD before the start of the appointment. Applications will be evaluated based on 1) past research accomplishments 2) proposed research program 3) synergy of applicant’s expertise and research proposal topic with existing CCN staff and research programs. Education: PhD in computational neuroscience or a relevant technical field such as electrical engineering, machine learning, statistics, physics, or applied math. Related Skills: Flexible multi-disciplinary mindset; Ability to work independently, as well as in a collaborative environment. Strong interest in the scientific study of the brain; Ability to execute and communicate original scientific research; Demonstrated abilities in analysis, software and algorithm development, modeling and/or scientific simulation; FRF positions are two-year appointments and are generally renewed for a third year, contingent on performance. FRFs receive a research budget and have access to the Flatiron Institute’s powerful scientific computing resources. FRF may be eligible for subsidized housing within walking distance of the CCN. THE SIMONS FOUNDATION'S DIVERSITY COMMITMENT Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences, and we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment. The Simons Foundation actively seeks a diverse applicant pool and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. We provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status or any other protected category under federal, state and local law.

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