Sean Weaver

@KordingLab There are broadly 2 methods of enquiry in neuroscience: „kinematic“ description or „dynamic“ prescription, fitting the goals of explaining or predict/control (resp) found in science generally. Both valid; caveat „There is no science but the science of the general“ (Poincaré 1905)

Feynman famously quipped "What I cannot create, I do not understand". Do you feel like this if you are a neuroscientist? The goal of our field is to (or let me know better options):

@Timothy0Leary Might depend on what you metric for chaos is. I like the Smale horseshoe map and have been reasonably convinced that electrogenic cells can be chaotic. Agree that might not be the case for neurons in healthy animals though.

@SeanWeaver92 I'm not sure individual neuron behaviour is chaotic tbh!

I'm interested in how people teach this topic. Do we tell students that the math says the brain is chaotic? How do we break down the model and assumptions? Do we relate it to other equivalent models in biology (e.g. food webs, which triggered similar questions in the 1970s)?

@marielgoddu Practically, CT is problematic. However, the philosophical content Thom developed in CT is interesting, I.e. defining form (individuation) through the topology of a systems fixed points.

@marielgoddu It was a way to classify DS (strictly, only gradient systems) based on their topology at bifurcations. A brief overview and criticisms of CT are given here: Smale, Stephen. "EC Zeeman, Catastrophe theory: Selected papers, 1972–1977." (1978).

Anyone have a rec for papers that treat the ontological status of attractors ? And/or questions re: "causation" (both 'within' and 'as the result of') them? Thanks!

@JWietek @L_andreae This is what I was able to achieve with the pre-syntagma (green, MAP2 blue)

@JWietek @L_andreae It is, but it is a cytoplasm tag to show which neurons have the pre-mGRASP expressing. This is what I have using an AAV9 from the VVF with pre-mGRASP

Does anyone know of an AAV expressing a fluorescently tagged presynaptic protein, that is NOT Cre-dependent? Can't seem to find one... V grateful for any suggestions🙏

@TheresaMWelle @nishfish26 @AcademicChatter @PhDVoice Same here...

Great working with you @Jose_C_Mateus!

Our "bidirectionality" paper is now accepted in the Journal of Neural Engineering! Bidirectional flow of action potentials in axons drives activity dynamics in neuronal cultures doi.org/10.1088/1741-2… via @IOPscience @NCN_i3S @i3S_UPorto

In Gauss we trust #nerdyhumour