2026-01-16 06:12:16
Your Brain Doesn’t Magically Finish Developing at 25. Here’s What Actually Happens
https://scitechdaily.com/your-brain-doesnt-magically-finish-developing-at-25-heres-what-actually-happens/
Your Brain Doesn’t Magically Finish Developing at 25. Here’s What Actually Happens
https://scitechdaily.com/your-brain-doesnt-magically-finish-developing-at-25-heres-what-actually-happens/
🧠 Decoded circuits reveal how brain cell networks stabilize memory formation
#brain
Misplaced neurons reveal the brain's adaptability https://www.sflorg.com/2026/01/ns01162601.html Position-independent emergence of neocortical neuron molecular identity, connectivity and function
A look at Cybathlon, an event by ETH Zurich where researchers team up with people with disabilities in a competition to test brain-computer interfaces (Oliver Whang/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/scien…
A movie that is forever burned into my brain is Conspiracy (2001), which is a recreation of the Wannsee conference, were the Nazis decided to kill all Jews is Europe.
The banality of it while they haggle about questions of "legality" and having turf wars while they plan one of the biggest genocides in history is suffocating.
A very timely movie right now if you can stomach it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(2001_film)
fly_larva: Drosophila larva brain (2023)
A complete synaptic map of the brain connectome of the larva of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Nodes are neurons, and edges are synaptic connections, traced individually from brain image sections using three-dimensional electron microscopy–based reconstruction. Node metadata include the neuron hempisphere, hemispherical homologue, cell type, annotations, and inferred cluster. Edge metadata include the type of interaction (`'aa'`,…
DAMMIT NEIL, YOU BROKE MY BRAIN 😁
▶️ Is Our Universe Inside a Black Hole? - Startalk
#blackholes
RE: https://hachyderm.io/@jimfl/115560110273697988
Subconsciously do mental arithmetic as you read the timeline. Bits of exercises for the brain cells while consuming content 🤔
We have reached a stage where we have to turn to the jesters for truth.
From: @…
https://flipboard.com/@thenewsdesk/cel
One of the things that made organizing a lot easier with the GDC was a thing called "GDC in a box." It was a zip file with all kinds of resources. There was a directory structure, templates for all kinds of things like meetings and paperwork you had to file (for legal reasons) and "read me" files.
We had all kinds of support. There were people you could talk to who had been there. There were people you could call to walk through legal paperwork (taxes). Centralized orgs are vulnerable and easy to infiltrate. They're easy for states to shut down. But there are benefits to org structures.
I think it's possible to have the type of support we had with the GDC, but without the politics of an org (even the IWW). I hope this most recent essay has some of the same properties. I hope that it makes building something new, something no one has really imagined before, easier.
This whole project is something a bit different. It's a collective vision and collective project, from the ground up. Some of it has felt like a brain dump, just getting things that have been swimming around in my head down somewhere. But I hope this feels more like an invitation.
Everything thus far written is all useless unless people do things with it. Only from that point does it become a thing that lives, a thing with its own consciousness that can't be controlled by any individual human.
Tech billionaire cultists want to bring a new era of humanity with AGI. That is definitely not possible with LLMs, and may not be possible at all. But there is a super intelligence that is possible, though it's been constrained by capitalism: collective human intelligence.
The grand vision of the tech dystopians is that of the ultimate slave that can then enslave all humans on their behalf. I think we can build a humanity that can liberate itself from their grasp, crush their vision, and build for itself a world in which people will never be enslaved again. Not only do I think it's possible, I think it's necessary. I think there are only two choices: collective liberation or death.
And that's what I plan to write about next time to wrap this whole project up. Today things often feel impossible. But people talked about the Middle Ages as though they were the end of the world, and then everything changed in unimaginable ways. Everything can, and will, change again.
"The profit motive often is in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings."
Was thinking that my wife's frequent use of Duolingo had made the Duoling sound permanently worm its way into my brain. I kept hearing the sound. It turns out it was notificatinos on my iPhone, with volume set to really low.
I've just had the misfortune of reading yet another smug, somewhat revered book "explaining" music, this time with all the same problems as most of the others.
It tricked me with its title: 'Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination'.
Some choice excerpts:
"Composers working with [non-Western] scales must labor harder to devise deep musical relations, their melodies will prosper more by contour than harmony, and ultimately…
Sam Altman's brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs raised $252M from OpenAI, Bain Capital, and others (Ike Swetlitz/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-15/altman-s-merge-raises-252-million-to-l…
#matsodon , this is part of why your friends think it's too hard & everyone stays on X or Twitter or tries out BSky.
I *JUST* want to like someone's post. I just want to give them a small amount of happy-brain-chemicals & thank them for what they wrote. Why do I have to log in again? I'm already logged in!
Yes, if I wanted to quote their stuff, I see the dangers, I could be trying to do a pile on. But I just want to give them a ⭐️. Why make it so hard???
brain damage cure when
🇺🇦 Auf #radioeins läuft...
Everyone Says Hi:
🎵 Brain Freeze
#NowPlaying #EveryoneSaysHi
https://open.spotify.com/track/57E8bTfIbarOcrs95hNYI7
Advancing credibility and transparency in brain-to-image reconstruction research: Reanalysis of Koide-Majima, Nishimoto, and Majima https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07960 by @… et al.;
Professor Obvious theorizes that the difference is related to how the substances interact with areas of the brain
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/13/psychedelics-ocd-treatment-psilocybin
A body made entirely of head-like organs
Using state-of-the-art single-cell and gene expression analyses, the researchers mapped the cell types of young post-metamorphic sea urchins.
They found that the adult body plan is largely "head-like."
Genes that in other animals define trunk structures are active only in internal organs such as the gut and the water vascular system.
In sea urchins, a true trunk region is missing altogether.
An 'all-body brain&…
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #HuwStephens
Cypress Hill:
🎵 Insane In The Brain
#CypressHill
https://fefotheghost.bandcamp.com/track/cypress-hill-insane-in-the-brain-fefo-edit
https://open.spotify.com/track/6DtVPEJXQxDp7nn3Kp076o
🐭 High-speed imaging tracks live brain cell activity in awake mice
#brain
@…
I haven't seen latest Star Wars (because latest Star Wars stories are for brain dead) and I haven't seen Hidden Fortress, but just by looking at pictures I must ask - what are the similarities?🤔
We presented “Advancing Vulnerability Tracking and Disclosure Through an Open and Distributed Platform” at the excellent @…
#cve #vulnerability
Scientists find hidden brain damage from a common pesticide #UnitedStates
Neuralink set to launch 'high-volume' brain implant production as competitors weigh in https://thedebrief.org/neuralink-set-to-launch-high-volume-brain-implant-production-as-competitors-weigh-in/
Interesting article from The Guardian about the idea of distinct phases or eras of human brain development.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/nov/25/brain-human-cognitive-development-life-stages-cambridge-study
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #DriveTime
The Flaming Lips:
🎵 Love Yer Brain
#TheFlamingLips
https://aaronaylor.bandcamp.com/track/love-yer-brain-flaming-lips-cover
https://open.spotify.com/track/348dXYe4mYFTshWR4Ly2ST
Today’s one small action to push SF progressives away from the embrace of car brain.
All candidates who have filed in that district oppose the park, so it’s an easy call that she would be my first place vote if I lived there, regardless. But unless that stance changes, am I spending my precious time on her campaign? Nah. #sfpol
cintestinalis: Tadpole larva brain (C. intestinalis)
Entire connectivity matrix for the complete brain of a larva of Ciona intestinalis. Each directed edge represents a synaptic connection from pre-synaptic cell i to post-synaptic cell j (may not be a neuron). Edge weights represent the cumulative depth of presynaptic contacts in µm.
This network has 205 nodes and 2903 edges.
Tags: Biological, Connectome, Weighted
I can attest that being at an indoor range near someone with a short barreled AR is more than unpleasant, it’s discombobulating and, as it turns out, brain scrambling. I’ve switched to an outdoor range for that reason.
https://www.n…
😧 Astringent, sharper mind: Flavanols can trigger brain activity for memory and stress response
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-astringent-sharper-mind-flavanols-trigger.html
Parallel Neuron Groups in the Drosophila Brain
Robert Worden
https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.10525 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.10525 https://arxiv.org/html/2512.10525
arXiv:2512.10525v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The full connectome of an adult Drosophila enables a search for novel neural structures in the insect brain. I describe a new neural structure, called a Parallel Neuron Group (PNG). Two neurons are called parallel if they share a significant number of input neurons and output neurons. Most pairs of neurons in the Drosophila brain have very small parallel match. There are about twenty larger groups of neurons for which any pair of neurons in the group has a high match. These are the parallel groups. Parallel groups contain only about 1000 out of the 65,000 neurons in the brain, and have distinctive properties. There are groups in the right mushroom bodies, the antennal lobes, the lobula, and in two central neuropils (GNG and EB). Most parallel groups do not have lateral symmetry. A group usually has one major input neuron, which inputs to all the neurons in the group, and a small number of major output neurons. The major input and output neurons are laterally asymmetric. Parallel neuron groups present puzzles, such as: what does a group do, that could not be done by one larger neuron? Do all neurons in a group fire in synchrony, or do they perform different functions? Why are they laterally asymmetric? These may merit further investigation.
toXiv_bot_toot
Ok, here's my story pitch:
Unbeknownst to Bond, his brain was encased in a special capsule inside his skull by circa 1997 Q and survived the explosion.
Due to a series of hilarious mishaps, the brain capsule ends up in a new host made up of various body parts of his former nemesises, including the ears of Blofeld's cat.
A brain for radio: Raiders host can’t comprehend “meaningless” wins https://raiderramble.com/2025/12/05/a-brain-for-radio-raiders-host-cant-comprehend-meaningless-wins/
Series B, Episode 12 - The Keeper
FOOL: [Singing] I sing you of the Tents, my Master, Charl of the Goths, I sing you of the golden tents, Where your fathers wait to greet you...
BLAKE: [Examining the talisman] It's gone, the brain print's gone!
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/212/515…
Starting the year with a broken brain?
OH: Brainstorming without a brain is a problem.
recent-ish reading/rereading. #books
I fixed ck3!!! but also I think my brain is too asleep to play it rn lol
(PDF on Zenodo) White paper: Comparing The vOICe vision BCI for the blind with Neuralink Blindsight and other brain implants for restoring vision #BCI
Study Finds 40% of fMRI Brain Scans Misread Neural Activity
https://ground.news/article/study-finds-40-of-fmri-brain-scans-misread-neural-activity_7aa5a7
budapest_connectome: Budapest Reference Connectome 3.0
A parameterizable consensus brain graph, derived from connectomes of 477 people, each computed from MRI datasets of the Human Connectome Project. Nodes are brain regions, and edges are weighted by the number of "tracks" that run between two nodes, as well as fiber length, fractional anisotropy and the number of occurrences in each of the 477 individuals.
This network has 1015 nodes and 112890 edges.
Tags: Biol…
Instead of invasive electrodes (Neuralink Blindsight) or ultrasound ( invasive irreversible gene therapy and/or neural dust, Merge Labs), The vOICe vision BCI uses audible sound and is completely noninvasive https://www.artificialvision.com/neuralink.htm and it works, gives functional v…
Lego unveils the Smart Play platform, with a brick powered by a custom chip that connects to compatible minifigures and tags for interactive lights and sounds (Jeremy White/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/lego-smart-brick-new-digital-brain/
Wireless device uses light patterns to deliver information directly to the brain https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-wireless-device-patterns-brain.html
Patterned wireless transcranial optogenetics generates artificial perception (in mice)
Allometric scaling of brain activity explained by avalanche criticality
Tiago S. A. N. Sim\~oes, Jos\'e S. Andrade Jr., Hans J. Herrmann, Stefano Zapperi, Lucilla de Arcangelis
https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.10834 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.10834 https://arxiv.org/html/2512.10834
arXiv:2512.10834v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Allometric scaling laws, such as Kleiber's law for metabolic rate, highlight how efficiency emerges with size across living systems. The brain, with its characteristic sublinear scaling of activity, has long posed a puzzle: why do larger brains operate with disproportionately lower firing rates? Here we show that this economy of scale is a universal outcome of avalanche dynamics. We derive analytical scaling laws directly from avalanche statistics, establishing that any system governed by critical avalanches must exhibit sublinear activity-size relations. This theoretical prediction is then verified in integrate-and-fire neuronal networks at criticality and in classical self-organized criticality models, demonstrating that the effect is not model-specific but generic. The predicted exponents align with experimental observations across mammal species, bridging dynamical criticality with the allometry of brain metabolism. Our results reveal avalanche criticality as a fundamental mechanism underlying Kleiber-like scaling in the brain.
toXiv_bot_toot
A new study suggests that #dementia may be driven in part by faulty blood flow in the brain.
Researchers found that losing a key lipid causes blood vessels to become overactive,
disrupting circulation and starving brain tissue.
When the missing molecule was restored, normal blood flow returned.
This discovery opens the door to new treatments aimed at fixing vascular problems in …
🤯 Brain activity goes to extremes in soccer fans, neuroimaging reveals
#sports
Visual and cognitive disorders associated with isolated lingual gyrus infarctions https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20230182 "The lingual gyrus is a brain structure that appears to be critical for vision processing, color integration, face r…
I've seen many posts about headmates and plural personalities on fedi, and I get it, but my personal experience is dozens of identical Cats (me) all talking at the same time.
Maybe it's just my ADHD, but for me it's like being possessed by yourself (if that makes sense). Brain is always going 200% speed just not always in the direction I want. 😹
Anyone interested in following along with the brain dump before it's completely edified can feel free. It's the same one I've posted before.
Editing support (typos, corrections, questions) is always welcome.
https://anarchoccultism.org/building-zion/
Edit:
FYI, I've temporarily renamed it "Rainforest" but WriteFreely doesn't really support changing URLs or titles very well so it's stuck until I finish it. The temporary name is "Rainforest" because it's roughly the opposite of Desert. It is not simply optimistic rather than pessimistic... it's a plan.
tell me ur favorite chill steam games. my brain is too full of snot for CK3/civ/FM rn i think. am playing dorfromantik rn
cintestinalis: Tadpole larva brain (C. intestinalis)
Entire connectivity matrix for the complete brain of a larva of Ciona intestinalis. Each directed edge represents a synaptic connection from pre-synaptic cell i to post-synaptic cell j (may not be a neuron). Edge weights represent the cumulative depth of presynaptic contacts in µm.
This network has 205 nodes and 2903 edges.
Tags: Biological, Connectome, Weighted
Synchron, whose brain implant is inserted through the circulatory system, avoiding invasive brain surgery, raised a $200M Series D at a nearly $1B valuation (Ike Swetlitz/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-…
Revolutionary 65,536-electrode wireless brain-computer interface #BCI
And yes, you should feel like a piece of shit if someone calls you out on Nazi bootlicking.
That feeling is your brain telling you that you’re doing it wrong.
That feeling is what’s left of your conscience.
🥓 Brain health could be improved with high-fat, low-carb diet, study finds
#brain
cintestinalis: Tadpole larva brain (C. intestinalis)
Entire connectivity matrix for the complete brain of a larva of Ciona intestinalis. Each directed edge represents a synaptic connection from pre-synaptic cell i to post-synaptic cell j (may not be a neuron). Edge weights represent the cumulative depth of presynaptic contacts in µm.
This network has 205 nodes and 2903 edges.
Tags: Biological, Connectome, Weighted
Can a visual neuroprosthesis communicate with the brain? https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/can-visual-neuroprosthesis-communicate-brain-2025a1000yhe Archived at
📡 'Mind-captioning' technique can read human thoughts from brain scans
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-mind-captioning-technique-human-thoughts.html
While Elon Musk is pushing hard to get the Neuralink Blindsight brain implant out, The vOICe vision BCI can grow organically, no matter how long it takes https://www.artificialvision.com/neuralink.htm Applied psychohistory
Source: Sam Altman's Merge Labs, which seeks to read brain activity using ultrasound, is being spun out of LA-based nonprofit Forest Neurotech (Emily Mullin/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/sam-altman-brain-computer-interf…
✨ Noninvasive approach to treating stroke by boosting the brain's lymphatic system
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-noninvasive-approach-boosting-brain-lymphatic.html
fly_larva: Drosophila larva brain (2023)
A complete synaptic map of the brain connectome of the larva of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Nodes are neurons, and edges are synaptic connections, traced individually from brain image sections using three-dimensional electron microscopy–based reconstruction. Node metadata include the neuron hempisphere, hemispherical homologue, cell type, annotations, and inferred cluster. Edge metadata include the type of interaction (`'aa'`,…
Flexion, which is building a full autonomy stack for humanoid robots, raised a $50M Series A from DST Global Partners, NVentures, and others, after a $7M seed (Mary Ann Azevedo/Crunchbase News)
https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/robotic-brain-building-star…
👁️ Natural brain opioids help us 'see the bigger picture' after rewards
#bran
fly_larva: Drosophila larva brain (2023)
A complete synaptic map of the brain connectome of the larva of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Nodes are neurons, and edges are synaptic connections, traced individually from brain image sections using three-dimensional electron microscopy–based reconstruction. Node metadata include the neuron hempisphere, hemispherical homologue, cell type, annotations, and inferred cluster. Edge metadata include the type of interaction (`'aa'`,…
📉 The loser's brain: How neuroscience controls social behavior
#brain
budapest_connectome: Budapest Reference Connectome 3.0
A parameterizable consensus brain graph, derived from connectomes of 477 people, each computed from MRI datasets of the Human Connectome Project. Nodes are brain regions, and edges are weighted by the number of "tracks" that run between two nodes, as well as fiber length, fractional anisotropy and the number of occurrences in each of the 477 individuals.
This network has 1015 nodes and 54480 edges.
Tags: Biolo…
Paradromics says it received FDA approval for a human trial of its Connexus brain implant, aimed at restoring speech to those with severe motor impairments (Emily Mullin/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/paradromics-gets-fda-approval-to-trial-…
Brain-aligning of semantic vectors improves neural decoding of visual stimuli #BCI
🦥 Long-term calorie restriction may slow normal brain aging
#diet …
fly_larva: Drosophila larva brain (2023)
A complete synaptic map of the brain connectome of the larva of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Nodes are neurons, and edges are synaptic connections, traced individually from brain image sections using three-dimensional electron microscopy–based reconstruction. Node metadata include the neuron hempisphere, hemispherical homologue, cell type, annotations, and inferred cluster. Edge metadata include the type of interaction (`'aa'`,…
TIME: Computer chips in our bodies could be the future of medicine https://time.com/7330887/brain-computer-chips-future-of-medicine/ (archived at https://
💫 Scientists discover how nanoplastics disrupt brain energy metabolism
#brain
🌟 Astrocytes are superstars in the game of long-term memory
#memory
fly_larva: Drosophila larva brain (2023)
A complete synaptic map of the brain connectome of the larva of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Nodes are neurons, and edges are synaptic connections, traced individually from brain image sections using three-dimensional electron microscopy–based reconstruction. Node metadata include the neuron hempisphere, hemispherical homologue, cell type, annotations, and inferred cluster. Edge metadata include the type of interaction (`'aa'`,…
#Subsense expands financing to $27 million to accelerate R&D for non-surgical brain-computer interfaces https://www.busine…
🧁 Tiny sugars in the brain disrupt emotional circuits, fueling depression
#brain
RE: https://mas.to/@seeingwithsound/115694827245576278
The vOICe vision BCI has the same goal of providing functional vision, without the brain surgery and brain implant
fly_larva: Drosophila larva brain (2023)
A complete synaptic map of the brain connectome of the larva of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Nodes are neurons, and edges are synaptic connections, traced individually from brain image sections using three-dimensional electron microscopy–based reconstruction. Node metadata include the neuron hempisphere, hemispherical homologue, cell type, annotations, and inferred cluster. Edge metadata include the type of interaction (`'aa'`,…
(LinkedIn) As of today, not only the Neuralink Blindsight brain implant has FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, but also ReVision Implant https://www.linkedin.com/posts/frederikceyssens_with-great-pleasure-im-announcing-that…
😵💫 Targeted ultrasound can shape the brain's reward-seeking mechanisms
#ultrasound
Northwestern University: Wireless device 'speaks' to the brain with light (in mice) https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025/12/wireless-device-speaks-to-the-brain-with-light "Implant could restore lost senses, provide sensory …
(YouTube) Samarth by Hyundai: The vOICe vision BCI in India https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtgpoT3eff0&t=692s Will Neuralink Blindsight and other brain implants for restoring vision ever work for congenitally blind people? Probably not.
Sam Altman's next startup eyes using sound waves to read your brain https://www.theverge.com/column/806666/sam-altman-merge-labs-brain-computer-interface-startup-hire (archived at
#Biodrones: Russian company successfully tests remote-controlled pigeons with brain implants https://www.notebookcheck.net/Company-succes…
(YouTube) ReVision Implant's Occular brain implant for restoring vision #FLAIRVISION
Prototype device restores lost smell by teaching the brain to feel odors https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-prototype-device-lost-brain-odors.html
Substitution of human olfaction by the trigeminal system
Tricks for using Google Gemini Live AI scene description in combination with The vOICe visual-to-auditory sensory substitution for the blind #blind
(IEEE Spectrum) 11 Amazing engineering events in 2026: Brain chip helps blind people see https://spectrum.ieee.org/new-technology-2026 on Elon Musk and Neuralink Blindsight: "some experts worry he is overpromising on the quality of the brain-computer interface";