BJKS Podcast

Roberto Bottini is an Associate Professor at the University of Trento. We talk about his recent work on unusual cognitive maps in blind people, image spaces, metaphors, and he gives me some advice for writing successful grant applications.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Roberto's background0:03:20: Start discussing Roberto's paper on altered grid cells in visually impaired people: theoretical background0:16:28: Methods & results: walking on a clock face / altered grid cells: fourfold symmetry0:47:48: Start discussing Roberto's paper on cognitive maps and image spaces (TiCS)0:52:05: Egocentric and allocentric perspectives0:55:27: Metaphors and analogies1:00:08: Tips for grant applications1:14:18: A book or paper that more people should read1:18:38: Something Roberto wishes he'd learnt sooner1:20:30: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtRoberto's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bottini-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bottini-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bottini-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesAronov, ... & Tank (2017). Mapping of a non-spatial dimension by the hippocampal–entorhinal circuit. Nature.Bisiach & Luzzatti (1978). Unilateral neglect of representational space. Cortex.Bottini & Doeller (2020). Knowledge across reference frames: Cognitive maps and image spaces. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.Casasanto (2009). Embodiment of abstract concepts: good and bad in right-and left-handers. Journal of experimental psychology: General.Constantinescu, ... & Behrens (2016). Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code. Science.Derdikman, ... & Moser (2009). Fragmentation of grid cell maps in a multicompartment environment. Nature neuroscience.Eichenbaum (2014). Time cells in the hippocampus: a new dimension for mapping memories. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.Gardenfors (2004). Conceptual spaces: The geometry of thought.Gentner (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive science.He & Brown (2019). Environmental barriers disrupt grid-like representations in humans during navigation. Current Biology.Horner, ... & Burgess (2016). Grid-like processing of imagined navigation. Current Biology.Jaynes (1976). The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.Park, ... & Boorman (2021). Inferences on a multidimensional social hierarchy use a grid-like code. Nature Neuroscience.Sigismondi, ... & Bottini (2024). Altered grid-like coding in early blind people. Nature Communications.Stangl, ... & Wolbers (2018). Compromised grid-cell-like representations in old age as a key mechanism to explain age-related navigational deficits. Current Biology.Tolman (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review.Whittington, ... & Behrens (2022). How to build a cognitive map. Nature Neuroscience.

Robert (Bob) Wilson is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Georgia Tech. We talk about his tutorial paper (w/ Anne Collins) on computational modelling, and some of his recent work on detecting phishing.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Bob's strange path through computational cognitive neuroscience0:07:37: Phishing: a computational model with real-life applications0:25:46: Start discussing Bob's paper 10 simple rules for computational modeling of behavioral data0:32:15: Rule 0: Why even do computational modelling?0:46:24: Rules 1 & 2: Design a good experiment & Design a good model1:02:51: Rule 3: Simulate!1:05:48: Rules 4 & 5: Parameter estimation and recovery1:18:28: Rule 6: Model recovery1:25:55: Rules 7 & 8: Collect data and validate the model1:33:15: Rule 9: Latent variable analysis1:36:24: Rule 10: Report your results1:37:46: Computational modelling and the open science movement1:40:17: A book or paper more people should read1:43:35: Something Bob wishes he'd learnt sooner1:47:18: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtRobert's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/wilson-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/wilson-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/wilson-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesEpisodes w/ Paul Smaldino: https://geni.us/bjks-smaldinohttps://geni.us/bjks-smaldino_2Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson (1994). Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex. Cognition.Feng, Wang, Zarnescu & Wilson (2021). The dynamics of explore–exploit decisions reveal a signal-to-noise mechanism for random exploration. Scientific Reports.Grilli, ... & Wilson (2021). Is this phishing? Older age is associated with greater difficulty discriminating between safe and malicious emails. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.Hakim, Ebner, ... & Wilson (2021). The Phishing Email Suspicion Test (PEST) a lab-based task for evaluating the cognitive mechanisms of phishing detection. Behavior research methods.Harootonian, Ekstrom & Wilson (2022). Combination and competition between path integration and landmark navigation in the estimation of heading direction. PLoS Computational Biology.Hopfield (1982). Neural networks and physical systems with emergent collective computational abilities. PNAS.MacKay (2003). Information theory, inference and learning algorithms.Miller, Eugene & Pribram (1960). Plans and the Structure of Behaviour.Sweis, Abram, Schmidt, Seeland, MacDonald III, Thomas, & Redish (2018). Sensitivity to “sunk costs” in mice, rats, and humans. Science.Walasek & Stewart (2021). You cannot accurately estimate an individual’s loss aversion using an accept–reject task. Decision.Wilson & Collins (2019). Ten simple rules for the computational modeling of behavioral data. Elife.

Nick Wise is a postdoc in fluid dynamics at Cambridge University. We talk about his 'detective work' on publication fraud which has gotten more than 800 papers retracted to date, including tortured phrases, discovering Facebook groups and Telegram channels in which people sell authorships on papers, how 'Special' issues can be exploited, and what we can do about this.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: How Nick got involved with publication fraud: tortured phrases0:18:26: Why do people try to publish nonsense papers?0:24:27: The ecosystem of fraudulent publishing0:30:22: 'Special' issues0:49:02: How does Nick do this detective work?1:00:37: What can we do about publication fraud?1:38:52: There are practically no jobs to work full-time on fraud detection1:49:37: A book or paper more people should read1:55:13: Something Nick wishes he'd learnt sooner1:57:21: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtNick's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/n-wise-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/n-wise-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/n-wise-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences & linksEpisodes with Eugenie Reich: https://geni.us/bjks-reichEpisode with Elisabeth Bik: https://geni.us/bjks-bikEpisode with Adam Mastroianni: https://geni.us/bjks-mastroianni_2Dorothy Bishop awards 2024: https://www.ukrn.org/2024/03/28/winners-of-the-2024-dorothy-bishop-prize/Nick's guest blog post on Dorothy Bishop's blog: http://deevybee.blogspot.com/2022/10/what-is-going-on-in-hindawi-special.htmlNick's talk at Cambridge: https://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/4117618Everything Hertz podcast: https://everythinghertz.com/James Heathers's series of posts on Hindawi: https://jamesclaims.substack.com/p/the-hindawi-files-part-1-the-timelineCoffeezilla: https://www.youtube.com/@CoffeezillaBarnaby Jack's talk at DefCon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkteGFfvwJ0Cabanac, Labbé & Magazinov (2021). Tortured phrases: A dubious writing style emerging in science. Evidence of critical issues affecting established journals. arXiv.Mastroianni & Ludwin-Peery (2022). Things could be better. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/2uxwkReich (2009). Plastic fantastic: How the biggest fraud in physics shook the scientific world.

This is the 2nd part of my interview with Eugenie Reich, who is a lawyer who represents scientific whistleblowers, and a former investigative science journalist. We talk about her transition from journalism to law, and discuss the legal aspects of scientific fraud: why fraudsters rarely go to prison, what whistleblowers are legally allowed to do, how and when to seek legal advice, and much more. Obviously, none of this is legal advice, but hopefully it provides some useful pointers.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: How Eugenie went from science journalist to being a lawyer and defending whistleblowers0:13:15: Why do most people who commit scientific fraud not go to prison?0:32:36: What are whistleblowers allowed to do?0:48:24: What if I get sued for reporting scientific misconduct?0:56:32: How do fraudsters try to intimidate whistleblowers?1:01:24: What if I can't afford legal help?1:06:18: Eugenie's plans for the futurePodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtEugenie's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/reich-webTwitter: https://geni.us/reich-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksWoo-Suk Hwang affair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwang_affairTheranos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheranosCassava: https://www.science.org/content/article/company-misled-investors-possible-alzheimer-s-drug-sec-chargesEric Poehlman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_PoehlmanLuk van Parijs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luk_Van_ParijsThe Scientific Integrity Fund: https://scientificintegrityfund.org/Reich (2009). Plastic fantastic: How the biggest fraud in physics shook the scientific world.Reich (2011). Fraud case we might have seen coming. Nature News.

Eugenie Reich is an attorney who represents scientific whistleblowers, and a former investigative science journalist. We talk about her previous work as a science journalist, in particular her book Plastic Fantastic about one of the biggest fraud cases in physics, the case of Jan-Hendrik Schön. We'd planned to also discuss Eugenie's current work as an attorney, but spent all our time on the Schön case. Eugenie kindly agreed to do another interview, in which we cover the legal aspects of fraud, which will be the next episode (#106).BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: One of the biggest fraud cases in physics/all of science0:05:47: How and why Eugenie started writing about the Schön case0:09:26: Why did Schön commit fraud?0:19:30: Schön's PhD: he never saved any original data0:30:05: Bell Labs vs. Schön's PhD lab: long-term revolutions vs. short-term applications0:36:42: Schön's first work at Bell Labs was 'unpublishable'0:41:42: How to get away with fraud: pretend you collected data in another lab0:47:45: Bertram Batlogg and the role of the supervisors of fraudsters0:56:20: How the bursting of the Dot-Com Bubble and 9/11 may (indirectly) have exacerbated Schön's fraud1:01:09: How to use your colleagues' ideas to commit better fraud1:05:05: How Schön's fraud unraveled1:13:45: What is Schön doing now?1:18:11: A book or paper more people should read1:20:20: Something Eugenie wishes she'd learnt sooner1:22:58: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtEugenie's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/reich-webTwitter: https://geni.us/reich-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksEpisode with Simine Vazire: https://geni.us/bjks-vazireEpisode with Elisabeth Bik: https://geni.us/bjks-bikBell Labs (2002). The Schon report: https://media-bell-labs-com.s3.amazonaws.com/pages/20170403_1709/misconduct-revew-report-lucent.pdfReich (2009). Plastic fantastic: How the biggest fraud in physics shook the scientific world.Shapin & Schaffer (1985). Leviathan and the air-pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life.

James (Mac) Shine is a PI and fellow at the University of Sydney. We talk about his background in sports, using fMRI to integrate various parts of neuroscience, collaboration, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Mac's sporting background0:07:46: Overview of Mac's review in Nature (w/ Emily Finn and Russell Poldrack)0:14:03: The role of great editors in improving scientists and their work0:32:53: Connecting different levels of description0:40:07: Integration and specialisation0:48:49: You can scan any animal with fMRI - but they're usually anaesthetised0:54:13: The transfer from human fMRI to animal electrophysiology1:01:53: N=1 studies and layer-fMRI in clinical neuroscience1:16:17: Collaboration and building a multidisciplinary lab1:26:52: The magic formula in science: annoyance, excitement, and a constructive mindset1:34:51: Writing grants as a test to oneself, and the art of reframing1:41:52: A book or paper more people should read1:43:37: Something Mac wishes he'd learnt sooner1:45:43: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtMac's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/shine-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/shine-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/shine-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksOHMB interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucDj_94ovaUBoyden, ... & Deisseroth (2005). Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity. Nature Neuroscience.Finn, Poldrack & Shine (2023). Functional neuroimaging as a catalyst for integrated neuroscience. Nature.Friston, ... (2017). Active inference: a process theory. Neural Computation.Munn, ... Larkum & Shine (2023). A thalamocortical substrate for integrated information via critical synchronous bursting. PNAS.Newbold, ... & Dosenbach (2020). Plasticity and spontaneous activity pulses in disused human brain circuits. Neuron.Pezzulo & Cisek (2016). Navigating the affordance landscape: feedback control as a process model of behavior and cognition. TiCS.Poldrack, ... (2015). Long-term neural and physiological phenotyping of a single human. Nature Communications.Rao & Ballard (1999). Predictive coding in the visual cortex: a functional interpretation of some extra-classical receptive-field effects. Nature Neuroscience.Shine, ... (2011). Visual misperceptions and hallucinations in Parkinson's disease: dysfunction of attentional control networks?. Movement Disorders.Shine, ... & Poldrack (2016). The dynamics of functional brain networks: integrated network states during cognitive task performance. Neuron.Shine, ... & Poldrack (2016). Temporal metastates are associated with differential patterns of time-resolved connectivity, network topology, and attention. PNAS.Shine & Poldrack (2018). Principles of dynamic network reconfiguration across diverse brain states. NeuroImage.

Brandon Brown is a professor at University of California Riverside, where he studies global health and ethics. He also writes career columns for Nature and Science, which we talk about: negotiations in academia, his sabbatical, his life owning and working a farm, different types of grants and contributions in academia, and much moreBJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Brandon's path to becoming a scientist0:20:39: Start discussing Brandon's career columns in Nature0:32:17: Grant applications: small vs. big0:41:36: Postdoc-phase: is my plan crazy?0:55:32: Different types of contribution/recognition in academia1:09:22: Negotiation in academia1:22:47: Contributing to team science1:30:30: Sabbaticals1:39:19: Brandon's farm1:48:15: A book or paper more people should read1:49:33: Something Brandon wishes he'd learnt sooner1:51:43: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtBrandon's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/brown-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/brown-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/brown-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksCAMP: https://www.campstatewide.org/truEvolution: https://www.truevolution.org/Brandon's columns (most of which we discussed):https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02390-whttps://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03184-8https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00381-5https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.364.6447.1306https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.372.6548.1358Coelho (1988). The Alchemist.

Soledad Gonzalo Cogno is a group leader at the Kavli Institute for Science Neuroscience in Trondheim. We talk about how she went from studying physics in Argentina to working on the brain in Norway, the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to neuroscience, why researchers should give their research animals a nice life, mentorship, and discuss her recent Nature paper on ultraslow oscillatory sequences in medial entorhinal cortex.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Studying physics in Argentina0:12:30: The advantages of a physics background - interdisciplinarity in neuroscience0:27:31: How Soledad ended up in Trondheim0:32:46: Rodent heaven in Norway0:36:19: Start discussing Soledad's paper on ultraslow oscillatory sequences1:03:12: So what do those ultraslow oscillatory sequences do?1:16:18: A book or paper more people should read1:22:30: Something Soledad wishes she'd learnt sooner1:30:51: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtSoledad's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/gonzalo_cogno-webTwitter: https://geni.us/gonzalo_cogno-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesEpisode about Ramon y Cajal: https://geni.us/bjks-ehrlichBrun, Solstad, Kjelstrup, Fyhn, Witter, Moser & Moser (2008). Progressive increase in grid scale from dorsal to ventral medial entorhinal cortex. Hippocampus.Constantinou, Gonzalo Cogno, Elijah, Kropff, Gigg, Samengo & Montemurro (2016). Bursting neurons in the hippocampal formation encode features of LFP rhythms. Frontiers in computational neuroscience.Dayan & Abbott (2005). Theoretical neuroscience: computational and mathematical modeling of neural systems.Gonzalo Cogno, Obenhaus, Lautrup, Jacobsen, Clopath, Andersson, ... & Moser (2024). Minute-scale oscillatory sequences in medial entorhinal cortex. Nature.Hastie, Tibshirani & Friedman (2009). The elements of statistical learning: data mining, inference, and prediction.Kropff, Carmichael, Moser & Moser (2015). Speed cells in the medial entorhinal cortex. Nature.MacKay (2003). Information theory, inference and learning algorithms.

Julie Old is as Associate Professor at Western Sydney University. We talk about her experiences and research with wombats, various aspects of wombat behavior, conservation efforts, challenges such as sarcoptic mange and roadkill, the Northern hairy-nosed wombat's critically endangered status and efforts to translocate them safely, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: How Julie got into working with wombats0:03:14: What are wombats?0:11:40: How Julie started researching wombats0:15:34: Sarcoptic mange in wombats0:25:22: Saving the critically endangered Northern hairy-nosed wombat0:36:00: How to prevent wombats from becoming roadkill0:41:46: How do I know a wombat was there without seeing the wombat directly?0:44:11: What research could I do on wombats and (social) decision-making?0:47:51: How do wombats navigate in burrows?0:52:42: How the Australian wildfires in 19/20 affected wombats0:55:41: WomSAT0:59:29: The Wombat Foundation1:01:06: How to translocate a population of wombats1:08:35: A book or paper more people should read1:10:53: Something Julie wishes she'd learnt sooner1:12:11: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtJulie's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/old-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/old-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/old-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences & linksThe scientific park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epping_Forest_National_ParkThe Wombat Foundation: https://www.wombatfoundation.com.au/WomSAT: https://www.womsat.org.au/womsat/French & Whatley (2002). Diary of a Wombat.Mayadunnage, Stannard, West & Old (2024). Spatial and temporal patterns of sarcoptic mange in wombats using the citizen science tool, WomSAT. Integrative Zoology.Old, Hunter & Wolfenden (2018). Who utilises bare-nosed wombat burrows?. Australian Zoologist.Old, Sengupta, Naraya, & Wolfenden (2018). Sarcoptic mange in wombats—A review and future research directions. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases.Old & Deane (2003). The detection of mature T‐and B‐cells during development of the lymphoid tissues of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Journal of Anatomy.Old & Deane (2000). Development of the immune system and immunological protection in marsupial pouch young. Developmental & Comparative Immunology.Park (1962). The Adventures of the Muddle-headed Wombat.Stannard, Wynan, Wynan, Dixon Mayadunnage & Old (2021). Can virtual fences reduce wombat road mortalities?. Ecological Engineering.Strahan's mammals of Australia (2023).Woodford (2002). The secret life of wombats.

Tom Chivers is a prominent science journalist and author, well-known for his expertise in applied statistics and Bayesian methods. He discusses his new book that explores the legacy of Thomas Bayes and the intricacies of Bayesian statistics. Chivers delves into how these concepts can help address the replication crisis in science. He shares insights from his journey into journalism, the philosophical debates around probability, and the evolution of scientific models, while emphasizing the critical thinking necessary for interpreting data.