BJKS Podcast

Dan Quintana is a senior researcher at the University of Olso, where his research focuses on oxytocin, autism,  and meta-analyses. In this conversation, we talk about Dan's primer on synthetic datasets, science comunication, Everything Hertz, and podcasting in general.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New conversations every other Friday, available on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps0:00:04: From Australia to Norway0:09:37: Synthetic datasets0:41:15: Software tools in science (for writing and analysing data)0:58:41: Dan's multifaceted online presence / science communication on social media1:06:32: How to grow on Twitter with no followers1:15:45: The sound of your own voice1:22:30: Some of Dan's favourite podcasts1:25:53: How Everything Hertz grew over time1:33:04: Finances of podcasts1:41:45: Podcast editingPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtDan's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/quintana-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/quintana-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/quintana-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesBrown, N. J., & Heathers, J. A. (2017). The GRIM test: A simple technique detects numerous anomalies in the reporting of results in psychology. Social Psychological and Personality Science.Heathers, J. A., Anaya, J., van der Zee, T., & Brown, N. J. (2018). Recovering data from summary statistics: Sample parameter reconstruction via iterative techniques (SPRITE). PeerJ Preprints.Kuper-Smith, B. J., & Korn, C. (2021, Oct). Decomposed 2*2 games - a conceptual review. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5jxrfQuintana, D. S. (2020). A synthetic dataset primer for the biobehavioural sciences to promote reproducibility and hypothesis generation. Elife, 9.LinksThe psychpathy measure used in my study with prison inmates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_ChecklistMost standard statistical tests are linear models blog post: https://lindeloev.github.io/tests-as-linear/Dan's presentation on synthetic datasets for RIOT Science Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAR_oro1NYSimul for writing collaborations: https://www.simuldocs.com/Melon for live streaming: https://melonapp.com/featuresSome podcasts Dan listens to:Quantitude: https://quantitudepod.org/Very bad wizards: https://www.verybadwizards.com/Ologies: https://www.alieward.com/ologiesEzra Klein: https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcastHarcore History: https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

In episode 42 I interviewed Matthias Stangl about his work on spatial navigation. I wanted to ask him a few questions about postdoc applications, but we ran out of time. Matthias kindly agreed to meet again for a few questions that I would add to the end of our conversation. We ended up speaking for almost an hour, so instead of adding this to an episode that was already more than an hour long, we decided to release this part of our conversation as a separate episode for people who might also be applying for postdocs.Podcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtMatthias's linksGoogle Scholar:  https://geni.us/stangl-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/stangl-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twt

Matthias Stangl is a postdoc at UCLA, where he studies the neural representations of spatial navigation in social situations. In this conversation, we talk about his PhD work about aging, grid cells, and path integration, about his recent Nature paper, about the difference between movement in VR and actual physical movement, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New episodes every Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps0:00:04: Stangl.Stangl.eu0:02:13: Start discussing Matthias's Current Biology paper on aging, grid cells, and spatial navigation0:07:10: The temporal stability of grid cells0:16:10: Start discussing Matthias's Nature Communications paper on path integration errors in aging0:26:07: Sensory effects on path integration in humans and other animals0:37:45: Does actual movement lead to stronger grid cells firing (compared to imagined/VR)?0:41:52: Start discussing Matthias's Nature paper on neural representations for self and other in real spatial navigation1:00:03: Matthias's futurePodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtMatthias's linksGoogle Scholar:  https://geni.us/stangl-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/stangl-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesAghajan, Z. M., Schuette, P., Fields, T. A., Tran, M. E., Siddiqui, S. M., Hasulak, N. R., ... & Suthana, N. (2017). Theta oscillations in the human medial temporal lobe during real-world ambulatory movement. Current Biology.Barnes, C. A., Suster, M. S., Shen, J., & McNaughton, B. L. (1997). Multistability of cognitive maps in the hippocampus of old rats. Nature.Chen, G., Manson, D., Cacucci, F., & Wills, T. J. (2016). Absence of visual input results in the disruption of grid cell firing in the mouse. Current Biology.Kunz, L., Schröder, T. N., Lee, H., Montag, C., Lachmann, B., Sariyska, R., ... & Axmacher, N. (2015). Reduced grid-cell–like representations in adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Science.Stangl, M., Achtzehn, J., Huber, K., Dietrich, C., Tempelmann, C., & Wolbers, T. (2018). Compromised grid-cell-like representations in old age as a key mechanism to explain age-related navigational deficits. Current Biology.Stangl, M., Kanitscheider, I., Riemer, M., Fiete, I., & Wolbers, T. (2020). Sources of path integration error in young and aging humans. Nature communications.Stangl, M., Topalovic, U., Inman, C. S., Hiller, S., Villaroman, D., Aghajan, Z. M., ... & Suthana, N. (2021). Boundary-anchored neural mechanisms of location-encoding for self and others. Nature.Topalovic, U., Aghajan, Z. M., Villaroman, D., Hiller, S., Christov-Moore, L., Wishard, T. J., ... & Suthana, N. (2020). Wireless programmable recording and stimulation of deep brain activity in freely moving humans. Neuron.Yoder, R. M., & Taube, J. S. (2014). The vestibular contribution to the head direction signal and navigation. Frontiers in integrative neuroscience.

This is the second episode of an experiment: I'll be reviewing all books called "Prisoner's Dilemma". Today I'm reviewing The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart and Prisoner's Dilemma by Ilexa Yardley.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New conversations every other Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps00:00: Intro01:07: Reviewing Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma18:04: Reviewing Ilexa Yardley's Prisoner's Dilemma: Conservation of the CirclePodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twt

This episode is the start of an experiment: I'll be reviewing all books called "Prisoner's Dilemma", and today I'm starting with the first two books. Basically, I use the Prisoner's Dilemma in my own work and realised that there are 26 books with that title (or minor variant thereof). So, as a very silly idea, I decided to review them all and see whether there is anything I can learn from them about the Prisoner's Dilemma. This episode will be the first, and I'm reviewing A Prisoner's Dilemma by Matthew Karabache and Prisoner's Dilemma by Damien Mitchell Feiklowicz. Over the course of the next two years or so, I'll occasionally review the other books.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New conversations every other Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps00:00: Why will I be reviewing all books called "Prisoner's Dilemma"??05:20: Matthew Karabache: A Prisoner's Dilemma12:47: Damien Mitchell Feiklowicz: Prisoner's Dilemma, or In a Nutshell28:32: End summaryPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences Amazon link for A Prisoner's Dilemma by Matthew Karabache: https://geni.us/bjks-PD-KarabacheAmazon link for Prisoner's Dilemma by Damien Mitchel Feiklowicz: https://geni.us/bjks-PD-FeiklowiczMy episode about Huxley's Brave New World: https://geni.us/bjks-huxley-bnw

Nikolai Axmacher is professor at the Institue for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Ruhr University Bochum where his research focuses on memory, spatial navigation, and neurodegenerative diseases. In this conversation, we talk about how he and his colleagues found that people with a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's showed reduced grid-cell like activity and path integration ability, despite having no symptoms and still being in their 20s.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New conversations every other Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps0:00:05: The history of Nikolai's 2015 Science paper "Reduced grid-cell-like representations in adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease"0:15:57: Discussing the paper's main findings0:38:35: Discussing Bierbauer...Axmacher (2020), Science Advances0:49:03: Applying (abstract) cognitive spaces to Nikolai's studies0:59:10: Could we use grid cells as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's?Podcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtNikolai's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/axmacher-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/axmacher-scholarBen's linksWebsite:  https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesBierbrauer, Kunz, Gomes, Luhmann, Deuker, Getzmann, ... & Axmacher (2020). Unmasking selective path integration deficits in Alzheimer’s disease risk carriers. Science advances.Constantinescu, O’Reilly, & Behrens (2016). Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code. Science.Coutrot, Silva, Manley, de Cothi, Sami, Bohbot, ... & Spiers (2018). Global determinants of navigation ability. Current Biology.Doeller, Barry, & Burgess (2010). Evidence for grid cells in a human memory network. Nature.Ghebremedhin, Schultz, Braak, & Braak (1998). High frequency of apolipoprotein E ϵ4 allele in young individuals with very mild Alzheimer's disease-related neurofibrillary changes. Experimental neurology.Hafting, Fyhn, Molden, Moser, & Moser (2005). Microstructure of a spatial map in the entorhinal cortex. Nature.Hardcastle, Ganguli, & Giocomo (2015). Environmental boundaries as an error correction mechanism for grid cells. Neuron. Huxley (1959). Brave New World Revisited.  Chatto & Windus. Kunz, Schröder, Lee, Montag, Lachmann, Sariyska, ... & Axmacher (2015). Reduced grid-cell–like representations in adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Science.Quiroga, Reddy, Kreiman, Koch, & Fried. (2005). Invariant visual representation by single neurons in the human brain. Nature.Saint-Aubert, Lemoine, Chiotis, Leuzy, Rodriguez-Vieitez, & Nordberg. (2017). Tau PET imaging: present and future directions. Molecular neurodegeneration.Wills, Cacucci, Burgess, & O'Keefe (2010). Development of the hippocampal cognitive map in preweanling rats. Science.Wills, Muessig, & Cacucci (2014). The development of spatial behaviour and the hippocampal neural representation of space. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Keno Juechems is a Junior Research Fellow at St John's College in Oxford. He studies how humans make decisions, using computational modelling, behavioural tasks, and fMRI. In this conversation, we talk about his papers  "Optimal utility and probability functions for agents with finite computational precision" and  "Where does value come from?", and various related topics.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New episodes every Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps0:00:05: Where does the name "Keno" come from?0:01:47: How Keno got into his current research area0:14:09: Start discussing Keno's paper "Optimal utility and probability functions for agents with finite computational precision"0:26:46: Rationality and optimality0:38:58: Losses, gains, and how much does a paper need to include?0:51:04: Start discussing Keno's paper "Where does value come from?"1:10:28: How does a PhD student learn all this stuff?1:19:56: Resources for learning behavioural economics and reinforcement learning1:25:42: What's next for Keno Juechems?Podcast linksWebsite: https://bjks.buzzsprout.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BjksPodcastKeno's linksWebsite: https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/people/keno-juchems/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=tereY1oAAAAJTwitter: https://twitter.com/kjuechemsBen's linksWebsite: www.bjks.blog/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=-nWNfvcAAAAJTwitter:  https://twitter.com/bjks_tweetsReferencesJuechems, K., & Summerfield, C. (2019). Where does value come from?. Trends in cognitive sciences.Juechems, K., Balaguer, J., Spitzer, B., & Summerfield, C. (2021). Optimal utility and probability functions for agents with finite computational precision. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica.Keramati, M., & Gutkin, B. (2014). Homeostatic reinforcement learning for integrating reward collection and physiological stability. Elife.Lewis, M. (2016). The undoing project: A friendship that changed the world. Penguin UK.Sutton, R. S., & Barto, A. G. (2018). Reinforcement learning: An introduction. MIT press.Thaler, R. H. (2015). Misbehaving: The making of behavioral economics.Trepte, S., Reinecke, L., & Juechems, K. (2012). The social side of gaming: How playing online computer games creates online and offline social support. Computers in Human behavior.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indifference_curveDavid Silver's reinforcement learning course on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pWv7GOvuf0&list=PLqYmG7hTraZDM-OYHWgPebj2MfCFzFObQChris Summerfield's course How to Build a Brain: https://humaninformationprocessing.com/teaching/

Jacob Bellmund is a postdoc at the Max Planck in Leipzig, studying spatial navigation, cognitive maps, and episodic memory. In this conversation, we talk about his research on deforming cognitive maps, abstract cognitive maps, and the translation of the spatial navigation literature to abstract spaces.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New episodes every Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps00:05: How Jacob started working on cognitive maps02:05: What are place cells, grid cells, and cognitive maps?08:49: Discussing Jacob's paper "Deforming the metric of cognitive maps distorts memory"28:34: Abstract cognitive spaces41:57: How far do findings from spatial navigation translate to cognitive spaces?50:40: How many dimensions can grid cells encode?58:01: What is Jacob going to work on next?Podcast linksWebsite: https://bjks.buzzsprout.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BjksPodcastJacob's linksWebsite: https://www.jacobbellmund.com/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=_DRs4ukAAAAJTwitter: https://twitter.com/jacobbellmundBen's linksWebsite: www.bjks.blog/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=-nWNfvcAAAAJTwitter:  https://twitter.com/bjks_tweetsReferencesAuger, ..., & Maguire (2017). Efficacy of navigation may be influenced by retrosplenial cortex-mediated learning of landmark stability. Neuropsychologia.Bellmund, ..., & Doeller (2016). Grid-cell representations in mental simulation. Elife.Bellmund, ..., & Doeller (2018). Navigating cognition: Spatial codes for human thinking. Science.Bellmund,  ... , & Doeller (2020). Deforming the metric of cognitive maps distorts memory. Nat Hum Behav. Jacob wrote a Blog Post about his Nature Human Behaviour article: https://socialsciences.nature.com/posts/55610-distorting-human-memory?channel_id=1745-behind-the-paperButler, ..., & Giocomo (2019). Remembered reward locations restructure entorhinal spatial maps. Science.Constantinescu, ..., & Behrens (2016). Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code. Science.Doeller, ..., & Burgess (2010). Evidence for grid cells in a human memory network. Nature.Hafting,  ... , & Moser (2005). Microstructure of a spatial map in the entorhinal cortex. Nature.Gärdenfors (2004). Conceptual spaces: The geometry of thought. MIT press.Ginosar,  ... , & Ulanovsky (2021). Locally ordered representation of 3D space in the entorhinal cortex. Nature.Grieves,  ... , & Jeffery (2021). Irregular distribution of grid cell firing fields in rats exploring a 3D volumetric space. Nature Neuro. Kim & Doeller (2021). Adaptive cognitive maps for curved surfaces in the 3D world. bioRxiv. pKrupic,  ... , & O’Keefe (2015). Grid cell symmetry is shaped by environmental geometry. Nature.

This is the third and final episode of our discussion of  Andrea Wulf's biography of Alexander von Humboldt, The Invention of Nature. In this episode, we will discuss part 5 and have a general discussion about the entire book. As always with the book club, in each episode we will talk about whatever happened, so there will be spoilers and it probably makes most sense if you have read as far as we have. For this series, I'm joined by Cody Kommers, former guest of the podcast (episode 4), fellow podcaster, and fellow PhD student in cognitive neuroscience. Cody has a particular interest in travel and psychology.Podcast linksWebsite: https://bjks.buzzsprout.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BjksPodcastCody's linksWebsite: https://www.codykommers.com/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=ImTtx_kAAAAJTwitter: https://twitter.com/codykommersNewsletter: https://codykommers.substack.com/Ben's linksWebsite: www.bjks.blog/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=-nWNfvcAAAAJTwitter:  https://twitter.com/bjks_tweetsReferencesHumboldt (1807). Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of the new continent during the years 1799-1804. G. Bell.Humboldt (1845-62). Cosmos: a sketch of a physical description of the universe. Harper. Isaacson (2011). Steve Jobs. Simon & SchusterMenand (2002). The metaphysical club: A story of ideas in America. Macmillan.Menand (2021). The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.Pausas & Bond (2019). Humboldt and the reinvention of nature. Journal of Ecology.Poe (1848). Eureka: a prose poem.(An essay on the material and spiritual universe.). GP Putnam.Rillig, Kiessling, Borsch, Gessler, Greenwood, Hofer ... & Jeltsch (2015). Biodiversity research: data without theory—theory without data. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.Wulf (2015). The invention of nature: Alexander von Humboldt's new world. Knopf.

This is the second episode of our discussion of  Andrea Wulf's biography of Alexander von Humboldt, The Invention of Nature. In this episode, we will discuss parts 3 and 4. As always with the book club, in each episode we will talk about whatever happened, so there will be spoilers and it probably makes most sense if you have read as far as we have. For this series, I'm joined by Cody Kommers, former guest of the podcast (episode 4), fellow podcaster, and fellow PhD student in cognitive neuroscience. Cody has a particular interest in travel and psychology.Podcast linksWebsite: https://bjks.buzzsprout.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BjksPodcastCody's linksWebsite: https://www.codykommers.com/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=ImTtx_kAAAAJTwitter: https://twitter.com/codykommersNewsletter: https://codykommers.substack.com/Ben's linksWebsite: www.bjks.blog/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=-nWNfvcAAAAJTwitter:  https://twitter.com/bjks_tweetsReferencesBryson (2004). A short history of nearly everything. Broadway.Foer (2012). Moonwalking with Einstein: The art and science of remembering everything. Freud (1905). The interpretation of dreams.Geertz (1973). The interpretation of cultures. Humboldt & Bonpland (1807). Essay on the Geography of Plants. University of Chicago Press. Humboldt (1807). Views of nature. University of Chicago Press.Humboldt (1807). Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of the new continent during the years 1799-1804. G. Bell.Humboldt (1845-62). Cosmos: a sketch of a physical description of the universe. Harper. Luria (1968). The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory.Sacks (1985). The man who mistook his wife for a hat. Duckworth.Wulf (2015). The invention of nature: Alexander von Humboldt's new world. Knopf.