Twitter this week teemed with debate over an opinion piece published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences earlier this month. The article calls out “3 questionable assumptions” made by most brain-imaging studies, tweeted Lisa Feldman Barrett, professor of psychology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and one of the article’s co-authors.
Better assumptions: (1) Mental events comprise distributed activity across the whole brain; (2) Brain & behavior are linked by degenerate, many-to-one mappings; (3) Mental events emerge as a complex ensemble of non-linear, interacting signals from brain, body, & outside world. 2/
— Lisa Feldman Barrett (@LFeldmanBarrett) February 3, 2023
These assumptions may be at the root of replication issues in neuroimaging research, Barrett and her colleagues wrote in their article, which provided alternatives for each. For example, instead of assuming that a mental event can be localized to a specific brain region, assume that it comes from activity across the entire brain.
“Very interesting and critical perspective on revising our cognitive neuroscience framework of brain-behavior relationships,” tweeted Asif Jamil, instructor in psychiatry at Harvard University.
Very interesting and critical perspective on revising our cognitive neuroscience framework of brain-behavior relationships. Loved the diagram especially which succinctly nails in the concept https://t.co/WRjaKywNeL
— Asif Jamil (@asifjamil) February 3, 2023
“Perhaps we’re making the wrong assumptions about our behavioral measurements” rather than the brain itself, tweeted Gregory Hickok, professor of cognitive sciences at the University of California, Irvine.
Greg is absolutely right. In fact for the vast bulk of behavioral tasks, we cannot specify how they are being carried out. In fact, most of those tasks can be performed in multiple ways.
— Robert Sekuler (@robsek) February 6, 2023
Robert Sekuler, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, agreed, adding that researchers aren’t able to specify how “the vast bulk of behavioral tasks” are being carried out.
Offering another view, Nancy Kanwisher, Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tweeted a detailed thread of counterpoints “to clear up some of the misconceptions and incorrect claims” the article makes.
1. Localization of function and context independence of functional selectivity are not “assumptions” but empirical hypotheses. It does not advance science to replace them with opposite assumptions (as LFB proposes). Rather, we should test these hypotheses against data.
— Nancy Kanwisher @[email protected] (@Nancy_Kanwisher) February 3, 2023
For example, Kanwisher argued that two of the “assumptions” pointed out by the researchers are actually hypotheses. And rather than replace them with alternative assumptions, “we should test these hypotheses against data.”
As Todd Kashdan, professor of psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, put it: “This is what productive disagreement looks like.”
This is what productive disagreement looks like. Looking forward to the scientific references that are interpreted differently by the two parties. https://t.co/fli9oaSpFn
— Todd Kashdan (@toddkashdan) February 5, 2023
Elsewhere on Twitter, another brain-imaging study was also making waves. The work, published in Nature Communications on Monday, explored the “organization principles underpinning functional connectivity” in resting-state fMRI, according to a tweet from Noam Shemesh, principal investigator at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal.
Digest will follow shortly, but for now, take a look at this amazing video of coordinated resting-state patterns in the brain: pic.twitter.com/nMvSV2GI3U
— Shemesh Lab (@ShemeshL) February 6, 2023
“Vibrations in the #brain create distant connections, much like the sound waves in a guitar chamber,” tweeted Champalimaud Research.
New study @NatureComms: @ChampalimaudF and @UMinho_Oficial use #fMRI to show that #vibrations in the #brain create distant connections, much like the sound waves in a guitar chamber! Well done @ShemeshL @Joana_Cabral @ciscaff94
More: https://t.co/Tcg9PXd09W https://t.co/ycdqUnEBQ5— ChampalimaudResearch (@Neuro_CF) February 6, 2023
“We concluded something similar within the Global Functional State Space framework,” tweeted David Jones, assistant professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
“Ultimately, by promoting a better understanding of brain dynamics, this work provides perspective avenues for the advance in the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders.” This makes sense to me. We concluded something similar within the Global Functional State Space framework https://t.co/EZ9Qd3TiCx pic.twitter.com/fSUsLgM8Ip
— David Jones (@DavidJonesBrain) February 7, 2023
Scientists on Twitter sounded off about another paper this week that reported on a “rare #neurometabolic condition” linked to autism, tweeted study author Àngels García-Cazorla, a pediatric neurologist at Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Hospital in Spain.
Our paper reports new insights into this rare #neurometabolic condition leading to intellectual disability, #autism and branched-chain amino acid depletion. It is treatable and can be detected in #newbornscreening Early therapy is crucial. @MetabERN @SJDbarcelona_es @IRSJD_info https://t.co/OC3ttpe7Dd
— Dra A. García-Cazorla (@AGarciaCazorla) February 4, 2023
The condition results from mutations in a gene called branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase (BCKDK) that lead to a deficiency of branched-chain amino acids. The study, published in Brain earlier this month, describes the traits of 21 children with the mutations and reports some improvements among those who were treated with a high-protein diet and supplements containing branched-chain amino acids. The researchers recommend early screening and dietary treatment for the condition.
The findings elicited a “wow” from Carlos Ribeiro, principal investigator at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal.
Amino acids are key for #neurodevelopment and #brain function. This impressive study describes a large series of patients with a mutation that lowers AAs. #diet intervention improves features of neurodevelopmental diseases including #autism. Wow. https://t.co/qAJdjDkObY
— Carlos Ribeiro (@RibeiroCarlitos) February 4, 2023
“This new paper shows treating children early can prevent disease,” tweeted Joseph Gleeson, professor of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego. Gleeson and his colleagues discovered the rare condition in 2012.
@gaianovarino identified loss of BCKDK in autism, and showed features in mice could be elicited and rescued by dietary branch chain amino acids. This new paper shows treating children early can prevent disease. It’s rewarding to see it added to newborn screening!
— Joseph G. Gleeson (@jogleeson_ucsd) February 5, 2023
“So glad to see this happening,” tweeted Gaia Novarino, professor of neuroscience at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria in Klosterneuberg, Austria, and an investigator on the 2012 study.
So glad to see this happening
— Gaia Novarino (@gaianovarino) February 5, 2023
That’s it for this week’s Community Newsletter! If you have any suggestions for interesting social posts you saw in the autism research sphere, feel free to send an email to [email protected].
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Cite this article: https://doi.org/10.53053/KZCV5989
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