Christopher Whyte
@christopherjwhyte.bsky.social
Theoretical neuroscientist. PhD student in the Shine lab at Sydney Uni. Research associate at Monash M3CS. Interested in spikes, (nonlinear) neural dynamics, decisions, and consciousness.
www.ChristopherJWhyte.com
www.ChristopherJWhyte.com
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Really hoping bifurcations are the new manifolds. What a time to be alive 🥲
My co-authors have yet to move to Bluesky, so I'm pleased to announce our latest work has just been published in @nature.com Neuroscience. Amazing work led by Junheng Li, revealing that falling asleep follows a predictable bifurcation pattern #neuroskyence #sleep
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Falling asleep follows a predictable bifurcation dynamic - Nature Neuroscience
Li et al. propose a conceptual framework to study the phenomenon of falling asleep based on electroencephalogram data. They show that a tipping point marks the brain’s nonlinear wake-to-sleep transiti...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Really hoping bifurcations are the new manifolds. What a time to be alive 🥲
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
1/ "Hemispherotomy leads to persistent sleep-like slow waves in the isolated cortex of awake humans" - out now in @plosbiology.org, led by Michele Colombo, Jacopo Favaro, & Marcello Massimini. 🧠
October 17, 2025 at 7:57 AM
1/ "Hemispherotomy leads to persistent sleep-like slow waves in the isolated cortex of awake humans" - out now in @plosbiology.org, led by Michele Colombo, Jacopo Favaro, & Marcello Massimini. 🧠
The final paper of my PhD is now out as a preprint. This is a follow-up piece in series of two companion papers modelling awareness and suppression in a new variant of continuous flash suppression.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.17154
🧵 1/3
arxiv.org/abs/2510.17154
🧵 1/3
A Minimal Quantitative Model of Perceptual Suppression and Breakthrough in Visual Rivalry
When conflicting images are presented to either eye, binocular fusion is disrupted. Rather than experiencing a blend of both percepts, often only one eye's image is experienced, whilst the other is su...
arxiv.org
October 21, 2025 at 6:10 AM
The final paper of my PhD is now out as a preprint. This is a follow-up piece in series of two companion papers modelling awareness and suppression in a new variant of continuous flash suppression.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.17154
🧵 1/3
arxiv.org/abs/2510.17154
🧵 1/3
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
What changes and what stays the same as you scale from single neurons up to local populations of neurons up to whole brains?
Michael and Mac @macshine.bsky.social on the systems approach to study brains across scales.
braininspired.co/podcast/220/
Michael and Mac @macshine.bsky.social on the systems approach to study brains across scales.
braininspired.co/podcast/220/
September 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
What changes and what stays the same as you scale from single neurons up to local populations of neurons up to whole brains?
Michael and Mac @macshine.bsky.social on the systems approach to study brains across scales.
braininspired.co/podcast/220/
Michael and Mac @macshine.bsky.social on the systems approach to study brains across scales.
braininspired.co/podcast/220/
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Thank you so much for having me!! I always have a blast chatting with @bethfisher.bsky.social and this time was no different! 💕 Also I loved your reflections in the end and how both of you have change your mind perhaps a bit through sharing your experiences with each other. So cool and precious!
New episode!! Dr. Anikó Kusztor joins us this week to discuss the results of dissociation, and how they vary from person to person. Link in 🧵
September 3, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Thank you so much for having me!! I always have a blast chatting with @bethfisher.bsky.social and this time was no different! 💕 Also I loved your reflections in the end and how both of you have change your mind perhaps a bit through sharing your experiences with each other. So cool and precious!
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
The first major output of the @templetonworld.bsky.social @arc-intrepid.bsky.social adversarial collaboration testing IIT & predictive processing theories of consciousness is out now
arxiv.org/abs/2509.00555
arxiv.org/abs/2509.00555
Integrated information and predictive processing theories of consciousness: An adversarial collaborative review
As neuroscientific theories of consciousness continue to proliferate, the need to assess their similarities and differences -- as well as their predictive and explanatory power -- becomes ever more pr...
arxiv.org
September 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM
The first major output of the @templetonworld.bsky.social @arc-intrepid.bsky.social adversarial collaboration testing IIT & predictive processing theories of consciousness is out now
arxiv.org/abs/2509.00555
arxiv.org/abs/2509.00555
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Adaptive learning is coordinated across behaviour, time and neurobiology (from synapses and dendrites, to astrocytes and the systems level).
If you’ve ever wondered how noradrenaline helps shape these multiscale learning processes, you might like this: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
If you’ve ever wondered how noradrenaline helps shape these multiscale learning processes, you might like this: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
August 29, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Adaptive learning is coordinated across behaviour, time and neurobiology (from synapses and dendrites, to astrocytes and the systems level).
If you’ve ever wondered how noradrenaline helps shape these multiscale learning processes, you might like this: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
If you’ve ever wondered how noradrenaline helps shape these multiscale learning processes, you might like this: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
OHBM Oz rego + abstracts now open. Get amongst it!
✨✨ We are excited to announce the OHBM Australian Chapter 2025 Annual Meeting! 🧠🇦🇺
📢 Abstract submissions & registration now OPEN (abstract submission closes September 15th at 5pm)
📍 Melbourne 🏙️☕
📅 Wednesday, November 12, 2025
ohbm-aus.github.io/posts/2025-a...
We hope to see you there! 🤩
📢 Abstract submissions & registration now OPEN (abstract submission closes September 15th at 5pm)
📍 Melbourne 🏙️☕
📅 Wednesday, November 12, 2025
ohbm-aus.github.io/posts/2025-a...
We hope to see you there! 🤩
August 25, 2025 at 5:50 AM
OHBM Oz rego + abstracts now open. Get amongst it!
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
I wrote a Comment on neurotheory, and now you can read it!
Some thoughts on where neurotheory has and has not taken root within the neuroscience community, how it has shaped those subfields, and where we theorists might look next for fresh adventures.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Some thoughts on where neurotheory has and has not taken root within the neuroscience community, how it has shaped those subfields, and where we theorists might look next for fresh adventures.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Theoretical neuroscience has room to grow
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - The goal of theoretical neuroscience is to uncover principles of neural computation through careful design and interpretation of mathematical models. Here, I examine...
www.nature.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I wrote a Comment on neurotheory, and now you can read it!
Some thoughts on where neurotheory has and has not taken root within the neuroscience community, how it has shaped those subfields, and where we theorists might look next for fresh adventures.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Some thoughts on where neurotheory has and has not taken root within the neuroscience community, how it has shaped those subfields, and where we theorists might look next for fresh adventures.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
It’s touching and wonderful the amount of people saying reading Pratchett has made them a better person, myself included.
Was it @adamchapman.bsky.social I remembering saying that his downstream positive effect on UK society is something we should increasingly be considering as his readers age?
Was it @adamchapman.bsky.social I remembering saying that his downstream positive effect on UK society is something we should increasingly be considering as his readers age?
He was very good in person with his trans fans too. Growing up going to SF cons, I met many trans people before I even knew what trans meant. I gave my parents very little they needed to accept in their child, so they had lots left over for everyone else. 😉 www.thepinknews.com/2021/08/06/t...
August 20, 2025 at 7:55 AM
It’s touching and wonderful the amount of people saying reading Pratchett has made them a better person, myself included.
Was it @adamchapman.bsky.social I remembering saying that his downstream positive effect on UK society is something we should increasingly be considering as his readers age?
Was it @adamchapman.bsky.social I remembering saying that his downstream positive effect on UK society is something we should increasingly be considering as his readers age?
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
🎊Ain’t no party like a thesis submission party🎊
Honored to have submitted my PhD as a recipient of the Paulette Isabel Jones Career Development Award from The University of Sydney!
Thank you x1000000 to MVP supervisor @bendfulcher.bsky.social & co-supervisor @macshine.bsky.social 😊
Honored to have submitted my PhD as a recipient of the Paulette Isabel Jones Career Development Award from The University of Sydney!
Thank you x1000000 to MVP supervisor @bendfulcher.bsky.social & co-supervisor @macshine.bsky.social 😊
August 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
🎊Ain’t no party like a thesis submission party🎊
Honored to have submitted my PhD as a recipient of the Paulette Isabel Jones Career Development Award from The University of Sydney!
Thank you x1000000 to MVP supervisor @bendfulcher.bsky.social & co-supervisor @macshine.bsky.social 😊
Honored to have submitted my PhD as a recipient of the Paulette Isabel Jones Career Development Award from The University of Sydney!
Thank you x1000000 to MVP supervisor @bendfulcher.bsky.social & co-supervisor @macshine.bsky.social 😊
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
I need some help from the #neuroskyence Bluesky-verse. Anyone know the source of this ~quote from Walter J. Freeman Jr.: "the secrets of the brain are hidden by two of God’s own firewalls: neurobiology and non-linear dynamics". I read it yrs ago but can't seem to find my way back to the source.
August 18, 2025 at 3:56 AM
I need some help from the #neuroskyence Bluesky-verse. Anyone know the source of this ~quote from Walter J. Freeman Jr.: "the secrets of the brain are hidden by two of God’s own firewalls: neurobiology and non-linear dynamics". I read it yrs ago but can't seem to find my way back to the source.
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Position open for a neuroimaging focused postdoc to come work with us in Sydney
Feel free to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions about it :)
usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/USYD_E...
Feel free to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions about it :)
usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/USYD_E...
August 15, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Position open for a neuroimaging focused postdoc to come work with us in Sydney
Feel free to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions about it :)
usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/USYD_E...
Feel free to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions about it :)
usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/USYD_E...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Interested in cortical wave dynamics? Check out our new preprint led by J Cruddas with @jchrispang.bsky.social where review the physics and physiology of cortical waves and their implications for psychological function:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
@nsb-lab.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
@nsb-lab.bsky.social
August 2, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Interested in cortical wave dynamics? Check out our new preprint led by J Cruddas with @jchrispang.bsky.social where review the physics and physiology of cortical waves and their implications for psychological function:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
@nsb-lab.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
@nsb-lab.bsky.social
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
New electron microscopy study in @nature.com Neuroscience finds that layer 5 ET neurons mostly connect to inhibitory cells locally, esp. those suppressing other excitatory cells, suggesting a "winner-take-all" system.
🧠📈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧠📈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The synaptic architecture of layer 5 thick tufted excitatory neurons in mouse visual cortex - Nature Neuroscience
This study maps the connections of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the mouse cortex, revealing distinct local and intercortical wiring patterns, and provides an open framework for exploring the connectiv...
www.nature.com
July 28, 2025 at 6:23 PM
New electron microscopy study in @nature.com Neuroscience finds that layer 5 ET neurons mostly connect to inhibitory cells locally, esp. those suppressing other excitatory cells, suggesting a "winner-take-all" system.
🧠📈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧠📈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
After five years of confused staring at Greek letters, it is my absolute pleasure to finally share our (with @smfleming.bsky.social) computational model of mental imagery and reality monitoring: Perceptual Reality Monitoring as Higher-Order inference on Sensory Precision ✨
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
After five years of confused staring at Greek letters, it is my absolute pleasure to finally share our (with @smfleming.bsky.social) computational model of mental imagery and reality monitoring: Perceptual Reality Monitoring as Higher-Order inference on Sensory Precision ✨
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
finally recovered from all the thought provoking discussions I had at @assc28.bsky.social! presented a meta analysis of the current state of consciousness science and why we should leave theory convergence behind (based on work with @mnoichl.bsky.social & @niccolonegro.bsky.social)
July 21, 2025 at 9:07 AM
finally recovered from all the thought provoking discussions I had at @assc28.bsky.social! presented a meta analysis of the current state of consciousness science and why we should leave theory convergence behind (based on work with @mnoichl.bsky.social & @niccolonegro.bsky.social)
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
📜🪇[PUBLISHED]: NEW PREPRINT!🪇📜
I am incredibly excited to announce that we have published our paper on how "Dynamical independence reveals anaesthetic specific fragmentation of emergent structure in neural dynamics"
[email protected] @anilseth.bsky.social Barnett, Carter
Strap in!
1/n
I am incredibly excited to announce that we have published our paper on how "Dynamical independence reveals anaesthetic specific fragmentation of emergent structure in neural dynamics"
[email protected] @anilseth.bsky.social Barnett, Carter
Strap in!
1/n
Dynamical independence reveals anaesthetic specific fragmentation of emergent structure in neural dynamics
Conscious experience depends on the coordinated activity of neural processes that span multiple scales--from synapses to whole-brain dynamics. A recently introduced measure, dynamical independence, id...
www.biorxiv.org
July 20, 2025 at 8:20 AM
📜🪇[PUBLISHED]: NEW PREPRINT!🪇📜
I am incredibly excited to announce that we have published our paper on how "Dynamical independence reveals anaesthetic specific fragmentation of emergent structure in neural dynamics"
[email protected] @anilseth.bsky.social Barnett, Carter
Strap in!
1/n
I am incredibly excited to announce that we have published our paper on how "Dynamical independence reveals anaesthetic specific fragmentation of emergent structure in neural dynamics"
[email protected] @anilseth.bsky.social Barnett, Carter
Strap in!
1/n
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
A new study led by @timothysit.bsky.social reveals that different layers of mouse V1 integrate visual and non-visual signals differently.
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
A new study led by @timothysit.bsky.social reveals that different layers of mouse V1 integrate visual and non-visual signals differently.
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
New paper!
We introduce an efficient set of statistical features for fMRI time series (calibrated on mouse manipulation experiments and tested on mouse and human data): catchaMouse16.
Paper: doi.org/10.52294/001...
Code (python/Matlab/C): github.com/DynamicsAndN...
We introduce an efficient set of statistical features for fMRI time series (calibrated on mouse manipulation experiments and tested on mouse and human data): catchaMouse16.
Paper: doi.org/10.52294/001...
Code (python/Matlab/C): github.com/DynamicsAndN...
July 15, 2025 at 11:47 PM
New paper!
We introduce an efficient set of statistical features for fMRI time series (calibrated on mouse manipulation experiments and tested on mouse and human data): catchaMouse16.
Paper: doi.org/10.52294/001...
Code (python/Matlab/C): github.com/DynamicsAndN...
We introduce an efficient set of statistical features for fMRI time series (calibrated on mouse manipulation experiments and tested on mouse and human data): catchaMouse16.
Paper: doi.org/10.52294/001...
Code (python/Matlab/C): github.com/DynamicsAndN...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Pairs well with www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Our results indicate that individual V1 neurons do not signal how the actual visual input deviates from the animal’s predictions, as postulated within the predictive coding framework”
Thrilling to see a major theory get tested!
“Our results indicate that individual V1 neurons do not signal how the actual visual input deviates from the animal’s predictions, as postulated within the predictive coding framework”
Thrilling to see a major theory get tested!
Cooperative thalamocortical circuit mechanism for sensory prediction errors - Nature
Experiments in mice show that a cortico-thalamic circuit generates prediction-error signals in primary visual cortex that amplify visual input that deviates from animals’ expectations.
www.nature.com
July 11, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Pairs well with www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Our results indicate that individual V1 neurons do not signal how the actual visual input deviates from the animal’s predictions, as postulated within the predictive coding framework”
Thrilling to see a major theory get tested!
“Our results indicate that individual V1 neurons do not signal how the actual visual input deviates from the animal’s predictions, as postulated within the predictive coding framework”
Thrilling to see a major theory get tested!
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
1/3) This may be a very important paper, it suggests that there are no prediction error encoding neurons in sensory areas of cortex:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I personally am a big fan of the idea that cortical regions (allo and neo) are doing sequence prediction.
But...
🧠📈 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I personally am a big fan of the idea that cortical regions (allo and neo) are doing sequence prediction.
But...
🧠📈 🧪
Sensory responses of visual cortical neurons are not prediction errors
Predictive coding is theorized to be a ubiquitous cortical process to explain sensory responses. It asserts that the brain continuously predicts sensory information and imposes those predictions on lo...
www.biorxiv.org
July 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
1/3) This may be a very important paper, it suggests that there are no prediction error encoding neurons in sensory areas of cortex:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I personally am a big fan of the idea that cortical regions (allo and neo) are doing sequence prediction.
But...
🧠📈 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I personally am a big fan of the idea that cortical regions (allo and neo) are doing sequence prediction.
But...
🧠📈 🧪
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Congratulations to Abhilash Dwarakanath who won this year's William James Prize for his brilliant work on the b istability of prefrontal states gating access to consciousness. You can read his paper here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
July 10, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Congratulations to Abhilash Dwarakanath who won this year's William James Prize for his brilliant work on the b istability of prefrontal states gating access to consciousness. You can read his paper here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
New paper @pnas.org with Lola Beerendonk, Jan Willem de Gee, Simon van Gaal and others, on pharmacological shifts of performance. We combine psychophysics and pupillometry with computational modeling to provide interesting insights linked to PV-SST-VIP circuits: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
July 8, 2025 at 10:07 AM
New paper @pnas.org with Lola Beerendonk, Jan Willem de Gee, Simon van Gaal and others, on pharmacological shifts of performance. We combine psychophysics and pupillometry with computational modeling to provide interesting insights linked to PV-SST-VIP circuits: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Christopher Whyte
Mindscape 320 | Solo: Complexity and the Universe. Our cosmos was once simple, and someday will be simple again. We currently live in the complicated, exciting era of universal history! Enjoy it while it lasts. #MindscapePodcast
www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025...
www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025...
June 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Mindscape 320 | Solo: Complexity and the Universe. Our cosmos was once simple, and someday will be simple again. We currently live in the complicated, exciting era of universal history! Enjoy it while it lasts. #MindscapePodcast
www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025...
www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025...