Came across someone online saying that multiple neuroscientists they have worked with are against IQ tests and have very rigorous and well crafted arguments as to hey they are pseudoscientific (they didn't give any of the reasons). I'm wondering if this is generally seen as the case, and why would people hold those opinions about IQ tests?

Hi! I am a neuroscience student and I want to learn Python now because I'm gonna need to use it for my internships and I know it will be usefull for my future career. I have very basic knowledge, so I would like something for beginners, but if you have any suggestions for tutorials or courses that could be of good use after I learn the basics, that would also help a lot! I think what would work best for me are videos with exercises, but any recommendations are welcome.

I am thinking either biotechnology and neuroscience double major, or maybe molecular biology and neuroscience double major, or even biology for health sciences and neuroscience double major. What are your thoughts, perspectives?

It has always been my dream to study neuroscience. But I wasn't able to go abroad and my country does not offer any neuroscience major here. So I decided to self-study as much as possible just for myself since I'm really interested in it, and also to prepare for a post grad education in neuroscience. I've already started taking online courses on coursera and edx.

Now I am looking for books, and other materials that a neuroscience major will study during their time at college. Literally course by course, if possible. Please drop some suggestions below! Or any materials/ sources that you think is needed for a beginner in the field of neuroscience.

Hi y'all,

I have a question about an assay I'm running in lab. Essentially, we have a C. elegans strain that expresses mCherry using an egl-1 promoter. EGL-1 essentially promotes cell death from my understanding (pathway in Figure 3). I put a plate of these worms into a StrataLinker and nuked them (and then waited 30+ minutes to allow for gene expression). I expected to see increased fluorescence (increased apoptosis in response to DNA damage), but it actually looks like there's less fluorescence.

Does anyone have any ideas about what's happening? Additionally, if you have StrataLinker experience, how much energy do you usually use, and how long do you wait after? I could only find a couple protocols online. Thanks!

I have two offers for post-grad research: one from very prestigious researcher in my field at NIH; one from my (hopeful) desired institution for grad school -- this PI is 100% brand new, but has a strong academic background. Everyone loves both PIs. Which would better strengthen my app? Got all rejections this cycle, so very cautious

I'm in a CS bachelors degree in Germany and I would love to get into neuroscience. I've started coding at the age of 14 and have worked for several companies since. So I do consider myself quite an advanced coder, but I fear my skills are mostly in areas less relevant to neurotech (e.g. I have 0 knowledge about embedded systems, just a bit knowledge about ML). I'm now planning to contribute to some open source library to A) learn more about neuroscience and B) make some contacts in the industry

Is MNE a good library to contribute to or are there other ones (where I can learn more, make better contacts, etc.)?

I am currently ending grade 11 and heading into grade 12 and have been deciding my classes for the year. I am definitely taking:

• grade 12 pre-cal
• AP bio
• AP psych
• comp eng

I am currently finishing AP chem and intro to AP psych (11 enriched) right now. I also did grade 11 physics last semester and it ended up good, but tough. Ive been doing research about uni courses (specifically big Ontario ones and some American) and lots have stuff to do with data science, computer science, and physics is rare. I'd like to get some opinions from neuroscience students or anyone really. I feel like an introduction to these topics would help me out, however I'm stressed with the load. I've never taken computer science and it feels wrong to enter such a field without it. This is the first year my school has any statistics class either so l chose not to try it this year because I didn't know anything about it, also I was not sure on field of neuroscience at that time. Please ask questions about anything so you provide a clear answer I would greatly appreciate it. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

I have always questioned why the education system isn’t more structured around memorising via songs. I struggled all throughout school and especially in exams because nothing seemed to stick. Yet, as a 32 year old, I am amazed that I can hear a song I haven’t heard or thought of in 15 years and I can remember it word for word. I probably would have done a lot better if I was learning through song, honestly.

Given exams and the entire world education system is fundamentally based on memory, is there a reason music and songs aren’t incorporated into education in levels higher than Prep/Kinder?

TIA :)

Hi! I have recently applied to Charité’s medical neuroscience program. Could anyone tell me about the entrance exams or the environment at the university? Thanks!

Hi! I have applied to Charité's Medical Neuroscience Program. Could anyone tell me about the entrance exams or the environment at the university? Thanks

I have a student who is graduating this May. She’s been one of mine for four years. I haven’t read any books in a while, but I know she is interested in studying neuroscience. Any recommendations for a newbie to the field?

I'm writing a methods section. I analyzed some EEG data with time-frequency methods. I did this using Morlet wavelets (specifically with the mne.time_frequency morlet tools).

I just want to double-check that I know what I did. Basically for a given frequency, the package defines a Morlet representing that frequency. Then, the package goes through an EEG time series (t = 0 to end), and at each position, it defines a window and takes the dot product between the signal and the defined Morlet. Is this right? Also, can this be said to be a "sliding window" approach and/or be "convolving the time series with the Morlet"?

Also, this dot product is taken between the Morlet and the actual signal, right? I'm not taking some dot product with the output of a FFT somehow, correct? I saw the below quote in a paper and it confused me

Time–frequency measures were computed by multiplying the fast Fourier transformed (FFT) power spectrum of single-trial EEG data with the FFT power spectrum of a set of complex Morlet wavelets and taking the inverse FFT.

Thanks

This is what ive read about HCI headsets in someone elses comment, and i have some questions to ask. Is it true what they are saying here?

• What else can HCI headsets do, other than simply turn something on/off?

• Is it as truly difficult to turn stuff on and off as the comment says?

• If someone could very easily turn things on and off with the headset, would there possibly be something more advanced that could be done with it? Like making systems out of it?

• Is it possible to get better at using the headset through mental exploration? Exploring and wondering how your mind works and thus being able to control it more efficiently? Just somehow figuring out what parts trigger it and what doesnt?

A lot of very experimental technologies exist in very preliminary stages in very controlled settings, but the rate of development suggested in these pull quotes (I admit I only skimmed toward the end) is great for imagining and considering knock-off effects but that future that is way, way off.

I’ve used HCI headsets to operate things with my mind. The thing nobody talks about is how exhausting it is. The mental requirements of sending a single on/off binary switch (which is the level this stuff is at: 1 or 0) felt like I was cramming for a final on a topic I barely grasped. It became moderately easier with practice, but that’s just literally sending a single “on” signal through the headset. It was unreliable and hard to control even through the same actions / thought processes. And the algorithms used to translate your mental energy require individual calibration by a technician — one-size-fits-all tech is not here yet (that I know of — would be eager to be corrected).

I am under 18 and i would love to learn more about neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience to be specific.

I dont really know where to start, ive asked google and it just told me to read about it but i dont know what books or sites i should look at and im sure there must be more i can do besides just reading up on it (though i do expect that to be most of it)

If anyone could give me some pointers or advice i would be very appreciative

perhaps this is better suited for r/askPsychiatry or r/Psychopharmacology , but maybe you brain nerds know what's up.

It *seems* like there are a new wave of shiny new psychiatric drugs (karXT, utultaront, auvelis?, and the gaba targeting drugs). The major focus seems to be on schizophrenia, OCD, and MDD). Yes, by extension schizophrenia treatments may have the potential to treat acute mania, but i feel like non dopaminergic treatments for acute mania that aren't anticonvulsants would be pretty exciting. "Circadian biology" seems to be a promising treatment avenue, but most current treatments focus almost exclusively on monoamine transmission/signaling. The reward/saliency system is a broad and somewhat valid treatment target, but upstream effects and side effects result from screwing around with this system. It would be nice to see some compounds target camKK2 signaling or sleep/ wake cycles.

I'd appreciate your thoughts

Hi everyone, I'm getting more and more into neuroscience, but I can't find the answer to this anywhere. I could find that the reason that the brain has folds is to increase surface area which allows for more neurons, and that makes sense. However, neurons don't have to be at the surface, so what does the greater surface area achieve? Why aren't the sulci just filled in with more neurons? Wouldn't that increase neuron density even further? Forgive me if this is already answered, I couldn't find it anywhere.

I have been working in neuropsych research for 2 years now with the intention of eventually getting my PhD in neuroscience. I love research and I love neuroscience but have seen soooo many people discouraging this route. I’ve really considered all career options and can’t see myself doing anything else? But maybe i dont know everything thats out there? I do not think I would be satisfied if my career did not involve working in the neuropsych field in some capacity (also I dont have any data experience yet and have ruled out an MD) but I also want to make a decent living if I’m pouring this much time into my education. I’m also not tied to working in academia and am open to industry.

Just having a whole career existential crisis and would love to hear from graduate students/PhDs and if you regret your degree, if you’re glad you got it?

I understand the direct and indirect pathways, and have just memorised what lesions cause what disease, but is there a physical translation of the circuits? Like could someone please just explain in a bit detail as to how the two circuits are translated into motion? It would be very helpful. Thanks in advance

New in Science

Explained by BrainPost: https://www.brainpost.co/weekly-brainpost/2024/4/9/how-the-awake-and-sleeping-brain-tags-relevant-information-for-memory

Hi All, posting for a friend who is an IMG that doesn’t use Reddit. He is applying to post docs currently that sit at the intersection of his interests and experience. Neuroscience/Neurology with a focus in either equity/access/bioethics. He is an older medical graduate with a background in bioethics, social work and has done a postgrad at Yale in neurology. If there are any specific programs you might know that sit at the nexus of these experiences that we may have overlooked feel free to share.

Anyone interested in being study buddies for Neuro? 2nd year med student.

Some topics we could cover: For example different kinds of headache (Migraine vs Tension), BPPV. Seizures vs epilepsy (Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy), Tumors. How to work-up a patient.