Yang Wu
Mathematics & Music Composition Undergrad at Soochow Univ. in Taiwan
Computational Neuroscience RA at Harvard, Oxford & NYU (three separate projects)
I'm interested in imagination, mental simulation and memory retrieval!
yangwu15.github.io
- Reposted by Yang WuImagination in bonobos! I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko
- Reposted by Yang Wu"How much of the brain's learned algorithms depend on the fact it is a brain?" arxiv.org/abs/2601.02063 The brain is a neural network, but also a biological organ (unlike artificial neural networks). How much does this matter to cognition?
- Reposted by Yang Wu🧠 How do transformers learn relational reasoning? We trained small transformers on transitive inference (if A>B and B>C, then A>C) and discovered striking differences between learning paradigms. Our latest work reveals when and why AI systems generalize beyond training data 🤖
- Reposted by Yang WuThis Gershman and Ullman paper is just so cool in showing that humans really can't not view correlation without assuming causality. Summary of my quixotic life in neuroscience: gershmanlab.com/pubs/Gershma...
- Reposted by Yang WuHow do we achieve few-shot generalization? New work led by @fabianrenz.bsky.social dives into the role of replay in learning and using structure to generalize reward. Dream team effort with Shany Grossman @nathanieldaw.bsky.social Peter Dayan & @doellerlab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Yang WuReally thrilled that this paper led by @neurozz.bsky.social is now published in its final version in @elife.bsky.social!! This is a memory-focused (as opposed to RL-focused) account of the detailed characteristics of forward and backward awake and sleep replay! elifesciences.org/articles/99931
- Super cooool!
- When and why do modular representations emerge in neural networks? @stefanofusi.bsky.social and I posted a preprint answering this question last year, and now it has been extensively revised, refocused, and generalized. Read more here: doi.org/10.1101/2024... (1/7)
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- Merry Christmas guys!
- Reposted by Yang WuI ll recommend this paper. Read it once, like it a lot. Not fully grasp all details yet, I ll probably present it at Allen. Really like their previous Trial-Matching one arxiv.org/abs/2306.03603 . We are using/extending some of these OT ideas at Allen for fitting neural data. Inspiring work.
- Our paper on data constrained RNN that generalize to optogenetic perturbations now citable on eLife: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
- wait I never knew this lol
- Reposted by Yang WuExcited to announce a new book telling the story of mathematical approaches to studying the mind, from the origins of cognitive science to modern AI! The Laws of Thought will be published in February and is available for pre-order now.
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- Reposted by Yang WuGoal selection through the lens of subjective functions: arxiv.org/abs/2512.15948 I welcome any feedback on these preliminary ideas.
- important, and interesting! youtu.be/5KTHvKCrQ00?...
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- Reposted by Yang WuCells can hunt prey, solve mazes, and learn from past experience. Does this mean they can think, at some level? Find out more at our upcoming session on "Cell Behavior and Cognition" at the ASCB/EMBO #cellbio2025 meeting, Saturday 1-3 pm rm 115.
- Reposted by Yang WuThank you for having me on BrainInspired, Paul @braininspired.bsky.social! It was such an honor to be on my favorite show—a rare place where we can leisurely talk about manifolds, latent circuits, power laws, and other esoteric ideas, and still be taken seriously in knowing they are all real.
- Are manifolds real? Are latent circuits real? Tatiana @engeltatiana.bsky.social uses one, infers the other, and says yes to both. Also, how timescales are different and the same across the entire brain... braininspired.co/podcast/226/
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- Reposted by Yang WuThis is such an important point often lost in discussions about neuroimaging (e.g., no-report paradigms) or artificial intelligence (e.g., purported classification of, say, mental states or personality types). Any indirect measures tracking subjective states *depend* on subjective reports.
- Reposted by Yang WuI'm excited to share our new #NeurIPS2025 paper with @jsoldadomagraner @yugroupcmu @smithlabneuro! We introduce OMiSO, a new adaptive brain stimulation framework with two technical advancements from our previous work MiSO. Poster Session 1, Dec 3 11-2pm, Exhibit Hall C,D,E #2008 [1/n]
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- Reposted by Yang WuI have a PhD project open for application about "Habituation of Paramecium, the “swimming neuron”" on the DIM C-Brains programme, for a PhD in Paris. Open for students with a Master outside France. Get in touch if interested! dim-cbrains.fr/en/phd-progr...
- Reposted by Yang WuI am very excited to share our new preprint, spearheaded by the brilliant @lunahuestegge.bsky.social, w/ @peterkok.bsky.social and others: ‘An attempt to push mental imagery over the reality threshold using non-invasive brain stimulation’ doi.org/10.31234/osf...
- Reposted by Yang Wu1/6 New preprint 🚀 How does the cortex learn to represent things and how they move without reconstructing sensory stimuli? We developed a circuit-centric recurrent predictive learning (RPL) model based on JEPAs. 🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025... Led by @atenagm.bsky.social @mshalvagal.bsky.social
- Reposted by Yang WuWhat does it mean to understand language? We argue that the brain’s core language system is limited, and that *deeply* understanding language requires EXPORTING info to other brain regions. w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757 1/n🧵👇
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- Reposted by Yang WuIt feels like the converastion about manifold dimensionality is back, so I thought I'd share a paper that explains nicely why measuring the "embedding dimensionality" of a manifold (e.g., counting PCs) can be very different from its actual "intrinsic dimensionality (DoFs) doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
- Reposted by Yang Wu🗣️ With the support of the @danafoundation.bsky.social, we are very excited to announce the Philosophy & Neuroscience Collaborative Mentorship Program! 🧠 For more details & submission requirements, visit: philandneuro.com/mentorship (This is 1/2 announcements we will make over the next 1-2 weeks.)
- Reposted by Yang Wu🔔 NEW PREPRINT FROM THE LAB ‼️ We introduce a new ML model, LoRAX, for predicting olfactory responses from chemical features, a tricky problem that benefits from progress in ML for biochem. We combine LoRA fine-tuning with protein and chemical foundation models, www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Yang WuMy book "The Brain, in Theory" on the publisher's website (out in April 2026): press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
- Reposted by Yang WuOfficially out in the current issue of Trends in Cognitive Sciences: "Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition" www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
- Reposted by Yang WuA remarkable journey of resilience and transformation, from the chaotic corridors of group homes to the halls of Columbia and Stanford, EMERGENCE is a coming-of-age tale where heartbreak and humor meet the scientific wonder of modern artificial intelligence. 🔗 Preorder: tinyurl.com/fzcxb5ea
- Reposted by Yang WuCome join us at #SfN25 for the minisymposium "Cognitive Maps in the Prefrontal Cortex"! Saturday, Nov 15, 2:00-4:30pm, Room SDCC 6CF www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/21171... We will explore how the PFC represents structured relationships across species and how this supports flexible behavior.
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- Reposted by Yang WuNew pre-print from our lab, by Lakshmi Govindarajan with help from Sagarika Alavilli, introducing a new type of model for studying sensory uncertainty. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Here is a summary. (1/n)
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- Reposted by Yang WuExcited to share our new work with @engeltatiana.bsky.social! RNNs are often used to explore how the brain may solve specific tasks. We show that, depending on the architecture, RNNs find distinct circuit solutions, behaving differently when exposed to novel stimuli. www.nature.com/articles/s42...
- Reposted by Yang Wu🚨 New preprint 🚨 How do people's mental models shape memory, prediction, and generalization? We find that people spontaneously construct goal-dependent causal abstractions that compress experience to privilege relevant information. 📃 osf.io/preprints/ps... 🔗 github.com/cicl-stanfor...
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- Reposted by Yang WuHow well do classifiers trained on visual activity actually transfer to non-visual reactivation? #Decoding studies often rely on training in one (visual) condition and applying it to another (e.g. rest-reactivation). However: How well does this work? Show us what makes it work and win up to 1000$!
- Reposted by Yang WuHow does our brain excel at complex object recognition, yet get fooled by simple illusory contours? What unifying principle governs all Gestalt laws of perceptual organization? We may have an answer: integration of learned priors through feedback. New paper with @kenmiller.bsky.social! 🧵
- Reposted by Yang WuTravel awards are available for undergraduate students looking to attend #Cosyne25! The application is short, and the deadline is Nov 12. @cosynemeeting.bsky.social Application: shorturl.at/6NEyk More info: www.cosyne.org/travel-grants (1/2)
- Can confirm the lots of fun part!! Congrats🥳🥳
- Want the freedom of a fancy fellowship, but not the year-long wait or arduous application? Come join my lab! Work on neuroscience and AI, explore your creativity, be independent or work closely with me, collaborate widely, and have a lot of fun! my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
- Reposted by Yang WuNew preprint written with the wonderful philosopher William Ramsey: Mental Representation Without Neural Representation: Understanding The Evidence osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Yang WuNew preprint! "Non-commitment in mental imagery is distinct from perceptual inattention, and supports hierarchical scene construction" (by Li, Hammond, & me) link: doi.org/10.31234/osf... -- the title's a bit of a mouthful, but the nice thing is that it's a pretty decent summary
- Reposted by Yang WuInteresting new data on BTSP mechanisms from my old Janelia colleague @hiallen72.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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- Reposted by Yang WuImagine an apple 🍎. Is your mental image more like a picture or more like a thought? In a new preprint led by Morgan McCarty—our lab's wonderful RA—we develop a new approach to this old cognitive science question and find that LLMs excel at tasks thought to be solvable only via visual imagery. 🧵
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