Mayank Mehta
Prof. in Physics, Neuro, ECE at UCLA
Board of Reviewing Editors @ Science
Interests: Quantum physics, Hippocampus, Learning & Memory, VR, Sleep, Neural computation, AI
mayank.pa.ucla.edu
- Imagine having the power to move the entire global stock market with a few words. One sentence—and trillions evaporate. Then buy the dip, and say the opposite words, and rake in billions over night. Then repeat. Only one personn has that secret power, its called tariffs other threats.
- Bye bye 2025, a divisive year, with many divisors: 3, 5, 9, 15, 25, 27, 45, 75, 81, 135, 225, 405, 675. Happy 2026 = 2*1013 Just two primes Cheers!
- Welcome to USA, after you watch this NYT documentary. www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4X0...
- A democratic socialist, and a muslim, son of Indian parents, but born in Uganda, is the NYC Mayor! Oh my god, the sky is falling... on the Orange Bafoon. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
- In a chaotic world, some inspiration from human greatness. In even more chaotic times, on October 28 1893, Pyotr Tchaikovsky premiered his masterpiece, Symphony #6, aka "Pathetique". Nine days later he died. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVA1...
- In a chaotic world, some inspiration from human greatness. In even more chaotic times, Mozart, just 32, created his 39th symphony! Then he finished the 40th the next month! Then the 41st in just 2 weeks! Timeless creations, untouched by the the chaos. www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8bZ...
- Thank you. I learned a lot from this visit.
- Thank you to UCLA Professor @mayankmehta.bsky.social for kicking off the 𝗖𝗡𝗦 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱–𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 today with a fantastic talk! We’re excited for another inspiring year of seminars exploring bold ideas and breakthroughs in neuroscience. 🧠✨
- In a chaotic world, some inspiration from human greatness. In even more chaotic times, Mozart, just 32, created his 39th symphony! Then he finished the 40th the next month! Then the 41st in just 2 weeks! Timeless creations, untouched by the the chaos. www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8bZ...
- The same darkness that descended on Harvard and other East Coast Universities has now come to UCLA. First this www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... Then this www.yahoo.com/news/article...
- 🧠🧠Announcing: Neural computations without borders 🧠🧠 So many students and postdocs are stuck due to visa, or other hurdles. To help in a small way, I will mentor about ten students/postdocs in neural computation, or neuro-AI projects, leading to publication/s.
- Reposted by Mayank Mehta
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaNew opinion paper in @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social with Dan Bendor, where we argue that rodent studies provide only marginal support for the idea that replay supports real-time decisions (e.g. planning). Fictive learning and memory tagging are more consistent w/evidence. www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
- This was a wonderful meeting.
- Registration open for 'CNS2025: Expanding the Horizons of Brain Research' neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/camneuro-eve... All welcome -registration is heavily subsidised! Abstract submission closes on Monday 17th March Excellent interdisciplinary programme🧠 Please share and see you in Cambridge on April 8th!
- Make Russia Great again: -Zero tariffs on Russia -Highest tariffs on the biggest trading partners of Russia: China, European Union, especially Germany, India. -Higher tariffs from USA will make them trade with Russia at a lower cost. Everyone else will bear the burden.
- Reposted by Mayank Mehta
If you are a faculty member at a US university, please consider signing this excellent petition asking our presidents, chancellors, etc to work together to defend our institutions from the direct attacks by Trump administration: sites.google.com/view/we-must... - The real qustion is: Why would Musk want to know about war plans with china? ucla.zoom.us/j/9669404201... All of Musk's money is in Tesla Cars. Chinese car maker BYD (and others) has made much better EV cars for 70% less price than Tesla. www.cnbc.com/2025/03/18/b...
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaMeta used at least 16 of my books, and numerous articles, to help train the AI it will use to make billions. Authors, search your name here: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaImmigrants, trans people, palestinian rights activists, eventually it’s going to be your turn when the regime decides you are an enemy
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaWhen Trump was sworn in, Elon Musk's corporations were under more than 32 investigations conducted by at least 11 federal agencies. Most of the cases are now closed or likely to be closed soon, and the federal agencies are being defanged by DOGE. Funny how that works, huh?
- Reposted by Mayank Mehta“Wealthy Chinese investors are quietly funnelling tens of millions of dollars into private companies controlled by Elon Musk using an arrangement that shields their identities from public view” www.ft.com/content/6685...
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaNorwegian firm Haltbakk Bunkers announced it will stop providing fuel to all US forces in Norway: "No Fuel to Americans! We encourage all Norwegians and Europeans to follow our example. SLAVA UKRAINA" #3E #StandWithUkraine
- Reposted by Mayank Mehta
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaAn admin throwing away all its leverage. "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions, according to three people familiar with the matter." therecord.media/hegseth-orde...
- Clearly, Musk & Trump never thought this would happen. www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/p...
- Indeed terrifyingly accurate. Our only hope is to quit Musk in every way. Signature campaigns will have zero effects. Mass protests on the streets will be effective but too costly, they will use the military against us.
- This is what should be on every front page right now. What's happening in the US right now is an illegal power grab by a private citizen. IT'S A COUP. It's a digital coup. It's Musk who's leading it. The consequences are terrifying. And it's coming for us next. 1/ open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
- This is a good move. Sadly, I doubt Musk+Maga madness will care. What they will definitely notice is if we quit everything Musk, from Twitter to Tesla cars and stocks. Europe has already done that, we are far behind. Give them a doGe of their own medicine.
- Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk "Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."
- All 22 states are Blue states. Practically none of the Red states. You know where this is going.
- BREAKING: 22 states sue NIH over Trump administration's new 15% cap on overhead for federal research grants. Suit filed federal court in Boston contends lifesaving research 'will grind to a halt' under the policy. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
- I like the undergrad textbook by Bear, Connors & Paradiso from Brown University.
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaEarly Career Researchers: If you have a job offer in the US, get everything in writing*immediately*. Universities will have no choice but to rescind offers. Hiring freezes are unavoidable. #AcademicSky
- 1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%. I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaGrid cells have a geometry in time. Thanks to @azvollan.bsky.social l & @rjgardner.bsky.social for this heroic discovery. @ercresearch.bsky.social #KiloNeurons @m-bmoser.bsky.social @kavlintnu.bsky.social @nature.com @kavlifoundation.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Quitting twitter is a solid way to protest Mu$k+Maga madness. But, we can do better. Use X solely to criticize Musk+Maga. Many are still enamoured with him. They need to hear us. If we change just 1% of votes, we change the election result. Let's do mass protests on X against Mu$k+maga.
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaDemocratic lawmakers need to understand something: Imagine your house is on fire. Fire truck shows up. Firefighters get out. They look at the fire, then at you, and say: "Such a fire is a grave threat. This house will not sustain." And just stand there. This is how many of you are coming across.
- Why is Alzheimer's note cured? When sleuths examined papers from the topmost 46 scientists, they found a staggering 600 papers (cited 80,000 times) that had ostensibly fraudulant content. How do we fix this mess? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/o...
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaA real photo and perfect metaphor heading into 2025.
- Reposted by Mayank MehtaIs neuroscience research really working to understand the human brain? Or do we get lost in mouse cognition? I’ve asked myself this a lot since starting to work with human tissue. Our first Jonas Lab foray into untangling human hippocampal circuits is now online! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... 1/a few
- High energy physics (HEP) and neuroscience are very different. A) HEP experiments are strongly driven by theories that match diverse data to decimal points. e.g. SU3XSU2XU1 -> seek Higgs particle for decades. B) it has been decades since any particle, not predicted by theory, was found. But...1/3
- A) To my knowledge, there are no systems neuro theories that match **diverse** experimental data within even 30% error. B) Surprising experimental discoveries happen all the time. example: grid cells in 2005. Hippocampal movie cells 2023 etc. DItto for many other brain areas. In fact...2/3
- the most fundamental mathemtical theory in systems neuro, the Hopfield model (1982, ~30,000 citations), has yet to be proven *quantatively* in experiments; Hopfield got the Nobel in Physics, for Artificial nets, not solving brain. Syss neuro has not had Kepler yet. Only Galileos. 3/3
- Precisely my thoughts too. The standard memory test in mice is the water maze escape task, a **fearful** memory. But, humans are tested in **positive** events, e.g. what did you have for lunch. Entirely different circuits. We need tests in mice that are relevant for & identical to that in humans 1/2
- Hence, we developed several memory tasks in a non-stressful virtual reality for mice. The same VR & tests work in mice & men. Neural signatures of memory were robust in this task, but had nothing to with place cells. Instead, robust abstraction and generalization! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Yet another major failure of translation of memory therapy from mice to humans. It's easy to blame the pharma but there is a real, fundamental science problem: why have so many drugs cured memory disorders in mice all have failed in humans? www.investors.com/news/technol...
