This is great, thank you

notes for this interesting conversation: Transcranial electric stimulation, TES, probably changes the spike threshold by half a millivolt or so. Very small amount! How does DBS (100-200 Hz, 90-160 microseconds) work? Nobody knows for sure. One possible mechanism is: "ionic currents in the extracellular space" instead of "affecting the membrane potential". People agree that some stimulation causes some neurons to fire. It is not that you are silencing neurons. We want spatial specificity and long-lasting plastic changes.

Disclaimer: I'm a science writer with focus on linguistics and cognition from an Evolutionary Biology perspective. Anyway, I think I can solve this problem from this Cross-discipline. First, I think it would be helpful to remember the original use of the phrase in its entirety is more limiting. While "Cognitive Map" alone removes itself from the confines of Neuroscience, since "Cognition" is a basic Human Function. (I focus on Public Domain Meta Human Research.) Even so, the more limiting complete Original "Cognitive Map of Location" may not be limiting enough, but it does have two critical self-limiting linguistic clues that define it functionally - it's singular in two places, both Map and Location. This limiting linguistic feature has gotten confused by lack of explicit examination to mean its opposite intent of a *UNIVERSAL* Map of Location. This is of course impossible, but that is what is the point of confusion being expressed without being caught by a writing coach-advisor. Secondly, the Original Term is implicitly tied to Hippocampus "tissues", known to be the seat of (per-se) memory based thought. When seen in this way we start with a more focused perspective and can better appreciate the significance of the findings, as shedding light on the details of how this works. Finally, after going through this I can suggest a first pin of redirection by using the Adverb "MAPPING" instead of the Noun Map. Thus "Cognitive Mapping of Location" I think "nails" the actual mouse-out process.

First

Thank you for a great conversation. Short neuropeptide F, an ortholog of NPY plays a critical role in sleep, and calcium-phases in Drosophila. Understanding the patterns of neural activity required to trigger the release of both neuropeptides and small-molecule neurotransmitters in vertebrates (e.g., NPY) or insects (Neuropeptide F) is a difficult task. The release of these neuropeptides, driven by different Ca2-dependent signals that reflect firing pattern-dependency, appears to be a general feature of co-localization and co-transmission!

Great episode! Two of my favourite cellular systems thinkers discussing their thoughts about subcortical systems. You love to see it!

Go SAVA

Thank you for the great conversation! It is fascinating how analogous networks (endocrine and genetic?) in very distant social species shape the main aspects of social behavior, social status, and their effects on longevity. Yes, oxytocin expressed in the ant brain may have the same function (creating social bonds) as in humans. However, there are also differences. For example, workers initiate a tournament after the death of their queen, during which they engage in aggressive behaviors, like antennal dueling. Shared dominance and negotiation help to lower the level of aggression. The violent nature of dueling contrasts with the behaviors of some vertebrates that foster shared dominance. This is very intriguing.

Awesome.....

Google Lara Hwa. Her field is rife with bullshitters. Herbert Fingarette had it right.

This is so fascinating! Thank you.

P R O M O S M 😣

It's been pointed out (and unfortunately I don't remember by whom) that the brain itself resides in a quiet, dark, closed space and, in and of itself, does not "know" anything either. The brain receives nerve signals from the rest of the body, and never actually hears, sees or touches anything. My study (many years ago) of Ludwig Wittgenstein's later work leads me to suggest that only the human (or other animal) organism as a whole can properly be said to "know" the world. But Wittgenstein might have discouraged us from persistently asking such questions, as he would probably say they are unanswerable. Since ChatGPT came out, I've been studying its operation intensively, including how it is constructed internally. Based on that study, and my observations of what it does, I think ChatGPT is probably reading, writing and learning similarly to the way our brains do. However, it seems clear that the brain does not actually use, for example, "back-propagation" in anything like the physical way these language models strengthen or weaken connection weights between artificial neurons, though the net effect appears be the same in many respects.

Yes, Professor Chang, as you said we are highly competitive primates. We want to be tigers and winners and not lose a milligram of juice. Nobody wants to be a sheep; few wants to be a bird and fly in neuroscience or neuro-AI at a responsible pace. Even our "pro-social" neurons (for oxytocin and dopamine) compete with our "anti-social" neurons (amygdala?) in a paradoxical way (Gómez, Gómez, Restrepo 2012). The discipline of mathematics and science should not give us success, grants, power, "juice" or happiness but the moral condition to deserve it.

great conversation and very interesting complexity of multiple nested levels of antagonistic effects! Can reinforcement learning describe them as dopamine-dependent desinhibitions? : short-range mutual inhibition between D1R-D2R within a local functional unit for a motor pattern selection; large-range antagonism between D1-D1, D2-D2 to inhibit non selected actions (see Veronica Alvarez video); cortical effects of Dynorphin vs. Enkephalin to slow down/ speed up execution; aversive /elusive vs. pro-motivational / social behaviors (see my sister model with oxytocin Gómez 2012, 😊)! 😁

Dr. Starr gives people with movement disorders a new lease on life. Dr. Starr is a miracle performing surgeon. Dr. Starr is a fantastic human being and it was an honor and a pleasure to meet Dr. Starr. I was told, nothing can be done to help you, that was until I met Dr. Starr - who skillfully solved the problem performing surgery, other surgeons said was not possible. Until I met Dr. Starr, I thought I was just another statistic. Thank you 🙏 Dr. Starr, for giving me my life back.

Super interesting conversation. Thank you for sharing. Notes to research further: Para brachial / hyper polarize GABA (I always thought GABA was very positive; curious about the thought process re: suppressing it) Locus Cerrilius (sp?) Neuropeptides Corticotropus releasing factor=(-)?

Protein accumulations: when are they toxic or physiological? It depends on their size, their surface, cell activity at that moment/age and other protein accumulations that can induce compensation in the first ones! Alzheimer's disease is, then, not caused when one or two proteins (e.g. Tau, amyloid) reach certain rigid levels of accumulation (oligomers of certain size) but when these levels are relatively inappropriate to each other, so they become toxic... It is what I can understand, at least (😁)... great debate; thanks to all!

Are there videos of the seminars preceding the podcasts? Sometimes its hard to follow the conversation without having been able to attend the talk.

great 👍 handling of the deepest problems on the nature of probability, randomness and noise...! An issue that touch the hard of quantum physics (e.g. radioactive decay, Heisenberg's principle) and the biophysics of neurons (Po in ion channels, statistics of spontaneous neurotransmitter release and firing)! "Frequentis" believe in objective ratios and statistical distributions, whereas "Bayesian" believe only in arbitrary, subjective priors! An issue that James Bower pointed out at the Alamo-meeting, San Antonio, TX, in his critical view about non biologically realistic models... randomness: is it a intrinsic property of neural oscillations (R. Llinás) or is it only our ignorance of unknown subthreshold fluctuations? You have all noticed the big problem we are having in Biomedicine with reproducibility and the arbitrary threshold of p-values... great conversation, congratulations to all for the beauty of mathematical debate that emerged!

A new and complex astrocyte-network biochemistry that adjust gain and neural electric circuitry: activation/inhibition of astrocytes, calcium waves that responds to neural activity and regulate synapses, NO/ROS release for synaptic-specific action, calcium events en astrocytes that diverge to specific neurons, cortical-layer specificity of glia function, glia regulation of circuits, unknown neurochemical substances released between astrocytes generating calcium oscillations!! ...exploring all of this by using virus that propagate in axons and astrocytes!

The dynamics of actin is so hard to understand that its role in stable pathological process can be more mysterious...!

great, thanks!! (algorithm vs data...what is the neural implementation of it? spikes, connections, networks, phase? )

Thank you so much for this talk. Very interesting, very informative. Really nicely explained, no visual aids was necessary. I wonder if cannabis and other taste enhancing drugs would affect the brainstem using the same connections.

great talk! not sure if the brain is, or is not, one or many equations but the more simple change of a single molecule or ion channel can be linked to a computation or mathematical operation. In a broad sense, math is about structures, concepts and logic, and it will give us a very beautiful light on what we are!

I have friend who has ONLY working neural organoid model - patented. He has all biomarkers for all CNS diseases. FYI, microglia are critical. Nothing will ever be published to protect trade secrets but the data already exists and patent is public record.

Very thoughtful and interesting!

Smartest biologist I know says the genome is only biological entity which is 1st cause of behavior and has any agency.

Reminds me how far we are away from coherent ideas/models of lab animal behavior so primates-humans? We are a looooong ways away - centuries? Decades for sure.

Good lord, can we get a real mic next time!? My go to for all brain > behavior matters is Paul Cizek in Montreal. Gee, what happened to the old "representation" models? Of course, all this must be coded in the genome, across time and cells, by definition. Can't wait until we move from brain tissue/phenotype analysis to genomics.

Thanks

"New data suggests 1 in 44 US children affected by autism"

Boy this all is a loooooong ways away from clinical applications...al that taxpayer money...poor overloaded clinicians get ...? Paul Cizek in Montreal has pointed out that mouse brains/behavior without predators present is entirely different from what the mouse genome evolved for.

🕊

Are all these mouse models? Doesn't the "memory" have to be encoded in the genome and transcriptome? Mouse genome will not translate to humans.