Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging

Neural tuning for ordinal processing: convergent patterns in human brains and artificial networks Processing ordinality, i.e., the rank of an item in a series such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., is a fundamental skill shared by humans and animals. While humans often use symbolic sequences like numbers or...

In sports, we celebrate 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Everyone else gets lumped together. Why?

Using 7T MRI, pRF modelling, and artificial neural networks, we show that tuning underlies ordinality perception, with most neural populations preferring early ordinalities.

doi.org/10.1523/JNEU...

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Publication alert: Vicarious body maps bridge vision and touch in the human brain. 🧠

Read the full article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congratulation @tknapen.bsky.social and all researchers involved!

Honored to receive the Early Career Award by @brain-cognition-nl.bsky.social (NVP) and to give a prize lecture on the general principles of active vision, memory, and imagination. Huge thanks to the NVP community, my mentors, collaborators, and students that shaped this work over the years! 1/2

Characterizing individual brain differences to advance personalized diagnosis, treatment, and sustainable healthcare

🎓 15 fully funded #PhD positions in EU-funded Doctoral Network. 🧪🧠

We lead Project 7 (@spinozacentre.bsky.social & @nin-knaw.bsky.social): 4-year PhD combining 7T MRI + MEG with computational modelling of vision & individual differences.

Apply: indibrain.eu

#AcademicJobs

Characterizing individual brain differences to advance personalized diagnosis, treatment, and sustainable healthcare

15 fully funded PhD positions in EU-funded Doctoral Network (IndiBrain).

We lead Project 7 (@spinozacentre.bsky.social, @nin-knaw.bsky.social): biologically inspired models of individual observers combining 7T MRI + MEG, focusing on vision and recurrent processing. 4-year PhD.

Apply: indibrain.eu

Spinoza Centre covered in snow

Bike covered in snow

Olive tree covered in snow

Snowman built by the team

Happy New Year! Rare images of snowy Spinoza in MRI chill mode. ❄️

And outside Nature portfolio:
- Cerebellar connectivity (J Neurosci, doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1370-23.2025)

with @sergedumoulin.net , @tknapen.bsky.social ky.social, @marcoaqil.bsky.social & @liangyouzhang.bsky.social

at @nin-knaw.bsky.social & @spinozacentre.bsky.social

collaboration with @vuamsterdam.bsky.social , @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social , @amsterdamumc.bsky.social & @unileiden.bsky.social

Our team's new publications cover the Nature portfolio! 🧪🧠

- Vision & touch (Nature, rdcu.be/eSsZR)
- Psychedelics (Nat Commun, rdcu.be/eSsZ2)
- Binocular rivalry (Nat Hum Behav, rdcu.be/eSsYW)
- CSF mobility (Nat Neurosci, rdcu.be/eSs0c)
- Numerical cognition (Commun Biol, rdcu.be/eSs0p)

Research paper of neuroscientists and radiologists,
Nicholas Hedger ( @uniofreading.bsky.social )
Thomas Naselaris & Kendric Kay  (University of Minnesota)
@tknapen    ( @vuamsterdam.bsky.social, @spinozacentre.bsky.social ),
is gepubliceerd in @nature.com
2/2

New today in @Nature: your visual cortex contains touch-based body maps. bit.ly/VisualBodyMaps
Your brain transforms what you see into first-person, body-referenced codes: A previously unknown bridge between vision and touch.

Our new paper is out in Nature Communications! nature.com/articles/s41...

We combined psychophysics, 7T fMRI, and computational modeling of vision with placebo, 5mg, and 10mg psilocybin, in the same group of participants, to clarify the computational mechanisms of psychedelics. 🧵

Numerosity adaptation suppresses early visual responses Communications Biology - Numerosity adaptation suppresses monotonic neural responses to numerosity displays in the early visual cortex, with more suppression for higher numerosity adaptors....

Excited to share that my first article is now published in Communications Biology!
Humans and many animals have an innate ability to rapidly perceive numerosity—the number of objects in a visual scene. But how does our brain process this fundamental capability?
Read the full paper: rdcu.be/eRxMi

The Transmitter’s Rising Stars of Neuroscience 2025 We recognize the outstanding achievements of 25 neuroscientists who stand to shape the field for years to come.

Congrats, Matthias! @matthiasnau.bsky.social !
www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...

The paper demonstrating that #psilocybin alters contextual computations is out in @natcomms.nature.com : doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Thanks to the reviewers and coauthors : @marcoaqil.bsky.social , @tknapen.bsky.social , @gillesdehollander.bsky.social , and Nina Vreugdenhil

fMRI_EPI_KspaceAcquisition_short This is a demonstration of how a single slice of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is collected. Before this makes any sense, you will need to understand…

Nice demo by Mark Lescroart @neuromdl.bsky.social on EPI imaging of a single #fMRI slice. Great for teaching! :)
vimeo.com/143701608?fl...

Centering cognitive neuroscience on task demands and generalization - Nature Neuroscience Task demands are a primary determiner of behavior and neurophysiology. Here the authors discuss how understanding their influence through multitask studies and tests of generalization is the key to ar...

Datasets like NSD & THINGS offer rich stimuli but often test a single task.

After great conversations at #CCN2025 on multi-task studies & generalization in brains & models, I thought I would repost our perspective for those interested in this topic. We need multiple tasks!👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Don’t miss our upcoming CCN satellite event, Applying Computational Models to Clinical Disorders (August 11th). This session will showcase how computational methods are transforming our understanding and treatment of sensory disorders
dlwiki.nin.nl/ccn_2025
#CCN2025 #CompNeuro #VisionScience

Voor onze fMRI studie zijn wij nog steeds op zoek naar volwassenen met amblyopie (‘lui oog’) of glaucoom!

Meer informatie en aanmelden: dlwiki.nin.nl/Participate

Contextual responses drive a unique laminar signature in human V1 Natural sciences; Biological sciences; Neuroscience; Systems neuroscience

#Newpaper showing that contextual responses drive a unique laminar signature in human V1. Using line-scanning #fMRI at #7T, we show how stimulus-driven and contextual inputs target distinct layers. Contextual input targeted superficial and deep cortical depths. 🧪 🧠

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Easy‐to‐use B1+ shims for human brain imaging at 7 T Purpose B1+$$ {B}_1^{+} $$ field inhomogeneity is a common problem in high field brain MRI (>3$$ >3 $$ T). Parallel-transmit methods that adjust the B1+$$ {B}_1^{+} $$ field channelwise often requi.....

New paper from the amazing Emma Brouwer: humble, group-optimized B1+ shims at 7T can boost or destroy signal where it matters—no subject-specific calibration needed. in MRM doi.org/10.1002/mrm.... @spinozacentre.bsky.social🎓🧠 #MRI #fMRI #Neuroimaging #7T

DeepMReye DeepMReye is a software package for magnetic resonance-based eye tracking for (f)MRI experiments. Contact: m.nau[at]vu.nl & markus.frey1[at]gmail.com - DeepMReye

#OSCAwards2025 | open access, data, materials & software: OpenMReye: camera-free magnetic resonance-based eye tracking for research and clinical applications 👀🩻 by @matthiasnau.bsky.social
Find out more: github.com/DeepMReye/

Honored to receive the #OSCAward2025. Thank you to the #OpenScience community @oscamsterdam.bsky.social for this recognition and for the inspiring work you do! And congrats to the other prize winners! 🎉 1/2

Great symposium on #neuroscience of mathematical cognition with talks by Yuxuan Cai, @liangyouzhang.bsky.social , Ben Harvey and @jacobmpaul.bsky.social

I'm really glad to have this chance to share our numerosity adaptation work at #MCLS2025. Thanks for our organizers.

Pod in office space perfectly blending in

New pod available at Spinoza Centre: a private space in our open office for phone calls, meetings, or videoconferencing!

Writing a scientific paper or thesis? Over the years, I’ve gathered my favorite practical writing tips. I hope you find them helpful!

Check them out: dlwiki.nin.nl/Writing_and_...

#AcademicWriting #SciComm #WritingTips 🖊️🧪 🧠

Gezocht: volwassenen met amblyopie (‘lui oog’) of glaucoom

Heb je amblyopie of glaucoom? En ben je benieuwd hoe jouw visuele aandoening invloed heeft op de hersenen? Doe dan mee aan ons fMRI onderzoek in Amsterdam en help de wetenschap vooruit!

Meer info en aanmelden: dlwiki.nin.nl/Participate

Poster describing the upcoming Seeing and Acting Workshop, September 25-27, 2025 at the University of Coimbra: Speakers: Cristina Becchio, Marlene Behrmann, Katja Doerschner, Russell Epstein, François Osiurak, Marco Tamietto, and Wim Vanduffel.

Come to Coimbra, Portugal, this September for SAW (Seeing and Acting Workshop). A wonderful meeting in a beautiful place. Submit your poster abstracts by July 31. Registration deadline is Aug 31. Check out the great lineup of speakers. Website here: www.uc.pt/cogbooster/s...
Please re-post.🧪🧠

Finished reading "Co-intelligence" by @emollick.bsky.social Refreshingly practical on human-AI collaboration with concrete examples. Cuts through the doomsaying and hype. Worth your time if you want to learn about AI or how to integrate AI tools in your workflow. #bookreviews #AI