Roddy Grieves
@roddy-grieves.bsky.social
Cognition | Navigation | Behaviour
I study how the brain maps space - how this map is influenced by the environment & an animals's behaviour. Currently starting my own research group: the Neuroethology and Spatial Cognition lab @ University of Glasgow
I study how the brain maps space - how this map is influenced by the environment & an animals's behaviour. Currently starting my own research group: the Neuroethology and Spatial Cognition lab @ University of Glasgow
Publication bias is bad, sure.
But has anyone studied publication bias in studies on publication bias?
(They have. There isn’t.)
doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
Next up: publication bias in studies on studies on studies of publication bias.
#AcademicHumor #metascience #nerdhumor
But has anyone studied publication bias in studies on publication bias?
(They have. There isn’t.)
doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
Next up: publication bias in studies on studies on studies of publication bias.
#AcademicHumor #metascience #nerdhumor
Systematic review of publication bias in studies on publication bias
Publication bias is a well known phenomenon in clinical literature,1 2 in which positive results have a better chance of being published, are published earlier, and are published in journals with high...
doi.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Publication bias is bad, sure.
But has anyone studied publication bias in studies on publication bias?
(They have. There isn’t.)
doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
Next up: publication bias in studies on studies on studies of publication bias.
#AcademicHumor #metascience #nerdhumor
But has anyone studied publication bias in studies on publication bias?
(They have. There isn’t.)
doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
Next up: publication bias in studies on studies on studies of publication bias.
#AcademicHumor #metascience #nerdhumor
Anecdote from Innis (1992)
To quell his anxiety, a group of Tryon's students conducted an Ocean's Eleven style operation to deconstruct and transport a huge rat maze from one building to another while a second group of students distracted him on an out of town trip.
doi.org/10.1037//000...
To quell his anxiety, a group of Tryon's students conducted an Ocean's Eleven style operation to deconstruct and transport a huge rat maze from one building to another while a second group of students distracted him on an out of town trip.
doi.org/10.1037//000...
November 10, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Anecdote from Innis (1992)
To quell his anxiety, a group of Tryon's students conducted an Ocean's Eleven style operation to deconstruct and transport a huge rat maze from one building to another while a second group of students distracted him on an out of town trip.
doi.org/10.1037//000...
To quell his anxiety, a group of Tryon's students conducted an Ocean's Eleven style operation to deconstruct and transport a huge rat maze from one building to another while a second group of students distracted him on an out of town trip.
doi.org/10.1037//000...
Reposted by Roddy Grieves
🚨 Journal of Comparative Physiology A #JCP-A has published a collection on "The #Honeybee #Odometer Controversy" 🐝
↘️ link.springer.com/collections/... ↙️ Read and discuss the issue of the "most serious allegation of scientific misconduct in the history of #neuroethology" with students & colleagues 💬
↘️ link.springer.com/collections/... ↙️ Read and discuss the issue of the "most serious allegation of scientific misconduct in the history of #neuroethology" with students & colleagues 💬
The Honeybee Odometer Controversy
Research around the turn of the millennium showed that honeybees use the amount of optic flow during foraging flights to estimate the distance between a food ...
link.springer.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:58 AM
🚨 Journal of Comparative Physiology A #JCP-A has published a collection on "The #Honeybee #Odometer Controversy" 🐝
↘️ link.springer.com/collections/... ↙️ Read and discuss the issue of the "most serious allegation of scientific misconduct in the history of #neuroethology" with students & colleagues 💬
↘️ link.springer.com/collections/... ↙️ Read and discuss the issue of the "most serious allegation of scientific misconduct in the history of #neuroethology" with students & colleagues 💬
Nice paper from Fuentealba et al. (2025) looking at the involvement of hippocampus in the emulation of conspecifics: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #PlaceCells #SpatialLearning
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #PlaceCells #SpatialLearning
Emulation as a behavioral strategy underlying spatial observational learning in rats
Humans and several non-human species have shown the ability to learn by observing an experimented conspecific. A basic form of this learning is spatia…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Nice paper from Fuentealba et al. (2025) looking at the involvement of hippocampus in the emulation of conspecifics: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #PlaceCells #SpatialLearning
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #PlaceCells #SpatialLearning
Reposted by Roddy Grieves
We are recruiting for 5 permanent staff positions (Prof, Senior-, Lecturer) including for 7T-MRI. Please have a look and share widely.
(Closing date: May 12)
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
(Closing date: May 12)
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Professor, Senior Lecturer/Lecturer and Lecturer posts - Glasgow City (GB) job with University of Glasgow | 12838283
University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences School of Psychology & Neuroscience Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience/Psy...
www.nature.com
April 5, 2025 at 9:18 PM
We are recruiting for 5 permanent staff positions (Prof, Senior-, Lecturer) including for 7T-MRI. Please have a look and share widely.
(Closing date: May 12)
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
(Closing date: May 12)
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Rate adaptation in a continuous attractor predicts the alternating left/right theta sweeps observed in hippocampus and mEC.
Really nice computational model, backed up with a reanalysis of ephys data, from Widloski, Theurel and Foster:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Really nice computational model, backed up with a reanalysis of ephys data, from Widloski, Theurel and Foster:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Spontaneous alternation of place-cell sequences in the open field through spike frequency adaptation
Spatial sequences encoded by cells in the hippocampal-entorhinal region have been observed to spontaneously alternate across the animal’s midline duri…
www.sciencedirect.com
April 8, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Rate adaptation in a continuous attractor predicts the alternating left/right theta sweeps observed in hippocampus and mEC.
Really nice computational model, backed up with a reanalysis of ephys data, from Widloski, Theurel and Foster:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Really nice computational model, backed up with a reanalysis of ephys data, from Widloski, Theurel and Foster:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In 1950s/60s "curiosity" was one of the theories proposed for exploration in animals.
The issue was that the theory (curiosity) could only be measured using the thing it was supposed to explain (exploration).
Makes sense to look at this in humans, where you can just ask them how curious they are!
The issue was that the theory (curiosity) could only be measured using the thing it was supposed to explain (exploration).
Makes sense to look at this in humans, where you can just ask them how curious they are!
This is a great (and accessible) summary of our latest @commspsychol.bsky.social paper, which examines the link between curiosity, spatial exploration, and memory within virtual environments.
www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/29...
Paper link 👉🏻: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/29...
Paper link 👉🏻: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Virtual reality research explores curiosity and spatial memory
Virtual reality research reveals that curiosity is key in spatial memory and mental map formation.
www.cardiff.ac.uk
April 8, 2025 at 9:42 AM
In 1950s/60s "curiosity" was one of the theories proposed for exploration in animals.
The issue was that the theory (curiosity) could only be measured using the thing it was supposed to explain (exploration).
Makes sense to look at this in humans, where you can just ask them how curious they are!
The issue was that the theory (curiosity) could only be measured using the thing it was supposed to explain (exploration).
Makes sense to look at this in humans, where you can just ask them how curious they are!
Reposted by Roddy Grieves
Ethologists and neuroscientists: What is a theoretical ethology paper that has shaped the way you think about behaviour? Here I'm not thinking experimental papers with a point, or even tools that are developed to prove a point - purely theoretical, making conceptual, general points.
April 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Ethologists and neuroscientists: What is a theoretical ethology paper that has shaped the way you think about behaviour? Here I'm not thinking experimental papers with a point, or even tools that are developed to prove a point - purely theoretical, making conceptual, general points.
Paper from Mainali et al. modelling place cells "across species and dimensionalities" doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Unfortunately it overlooks our rodent place cell results in 3D:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Which arguably make the best comparison to flying bats 🤦
#Neuroscience #CognitiveNeuroscience
Unfortunately it overlooks our rodent place cell results in 3D:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Which arguably make the best comparison to flying bats 🤦
#Neuroscience #CognitiveNeuroscience
The place-cell representation of volumetric space in rats - Nature Communications
How the brain represents 3D space is poorly understood but important for understanding spatial cognition. Here the authors record place cells in rats climbing through a 3D environment and report that ...
doi.org
April 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Paper from Mainali et al. modelling place cells "across species and dimensionalities" doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Unfortunately it overlooks our rodent place cell results in 3D:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Which arguably make the best comparison to flying bats 🤦
#Neuroscience #CognitiveNeuroscience
Unfortunately it overlooks our rodent place cell results in 3D:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Which arguably make the best comparison to flying bats 🤦
#Neuroscience #CognitiveNeuroscience
Nice paper from Subramanian & David Smith looking at time cells in the retrosplenial cortex: doi.org/10.1002/hipo...
#Neuroscience #Neurobiology #Neurons #hippocampus
#Neuroscience #Neurobiology #Neurons #hippocampus
Time cells in the retrosplenial cortex
The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is a key component of the brain's memory systems, with anatomical connections to the hippocampus, anterior thalamus, and entorhinal cortex. This circuit has been implic...
doi.org
March 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Nice paper from Subramanian & David Smith looking at time cells in the retrosplenial cortex: doi.org/10.1002/hipo...
#Neuroscience #Neurobiology #Neurons #hippocampus
#Neuroscience #Neurobiology #Neurons #hippocampus
I enjoyed this preprint from Ottaviani et al. a lot. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
"we found that the relative frequency of novelty terms (e.g. groundbreaking, innovative) nearly doubled" between 1997 and 2017.
#Ecology #Metascience #AcademicChallenges
"we found that the relative frequency of novelty terms (e.g. groundbreaking, innovative) nearly doubled" between 1997 and 2017.
#Ecology #Metascience #AcademicChallenges
On the quest for novelty in ecology
The volume of scientific publications continues to grow, making it increasingly challenging for scholars to publish papers that capture readers’ attention. While making a truly significant discovery…
www.biorxiv.org
March 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I enjoyed this preprint from Ottaviani et al. a lot. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
"we found that the relative frequency of novelty terms (e.g. groundbreaking, innovative) nearly doubled" between 1997 and 2017.
#Ecology #Metascience #AcademicChallenges
"we found that the relative frequency of novelty terms (e.g. groundbreaking, innovative) nearly doubled" between 1997 and 2017.
#Ecology #Metascience #AcademicChallenges
Ji et al, Burgess lab: phase precession, theta skipping & theta modulation of head direction cells in the anteroventral thalamic nucleus (AVN).
Explained using a ring attractor model with theta input and firing rate adaptation:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#Neuroscience #Neurons
Explained using a ring attractor model with theta input and firing rate adaptation:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#Neuroscience #Neurons
Phase Precession Relative to Turning Angle in Theta‐Modulated Head Direction Cells
Grid and place cells typically fire at progressively earlier phases within each cycle of the theta rhythm as rodents run across their firing fields, a phenomenon known as theta phase precession. Here...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Ji et al, Burgess lab: phase precession, theta skipping & theta modulation of head direction cells in the anteroventral thalamic nucleus (AVN).
Explained using a ring attractor model with theta input and firing rate adaptation:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#Neuroscience #Neurons
Explained using a ring attractor model with theta input and firing rate adaptation:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#Neuroscience #Neurons
Quite a nice paper/model.
I really like that it doesn't explain place cells in a vacuum - it incorporates place/boundary/pbject/grid cells into a holistic representation of space that can be used for planning.
Definitely check it out.
I really like that it doesn't explain place cells in a vacuum - it incorporates place/boundary/pbject/grid cells into a holistic representation of space that can be used for planning.
Definitely check it out.
We are extremely grateful to Brad Pfeiffer and David Foster for sharing their data to enable these results. And to Éléonore Duvelle, @roddy-grieves.bsky.social and @hugospiers.bsky.social who shared another amazing dataset for us to reanalyse. doi.org/10.25493/7NJ... 8/9
EBRAINS
EBRAINS is building the platform needed to enable a new era in brain research.
doi.org
March 17, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Quite a nice paper/model.
I really like that it doesn't explain place cells in a vacuum - it incorporates place/boundary/pbject/grid cells into a holistic representation of space that can be used for planning.
Definitely check it out.
I really like that it doesn't explain place cells in a vacuum - it incorporates place/boundary/pbject/grid cells into a holistic representation of space that can be used for planning.
Definitely check it out.
Short preprint from Soldi et al. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... which I found quite interesting.
Inactivation of dentate gyrus did not impact performance very much in a spatial task with overlapping elements.
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainResearch #AnimalNavigation
Inactivation of dentate gyrus did not impact performance very much in a spatial task with overlapping elements.
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainResearch #AnimalNavigation
The dentate gyrus provides flexibility for efficient spatial navigation
The hippocampus plays a critical role in spatial navigation and declarative memory. The dentate gyrus is the neurogenic region of the hippocampal formation and it has long been implicated in the fine ...
www.biorxiv.org
March 17, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Short preprint from Soldi et al. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... which I found quite interesting.
Inactivation of dentate gyrus did not impact performance very much in a spatial task with overlapping elements.
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainResearch #AnimalNavigation
Inactivation of dentate gyrus did not impact performance very much in a spatial task with overlapping elements.
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainResearch #AnimalNavigation
Interesting commentary onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... on a paper that was published a little while ago (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...) which claimed mice were taking shortcuts based on self-motion information alone.
#AnimalNavigation #BehavioralNeuroscience #Shortcutting #AnimalBehavior
#AnimalNavigation #BehavioralNeuroscience #Shortcutting #AnimalBehavior
Geometry as a Guide: Enclosure Effects on Spatial Mapping (Commentary on Xu et al. 2024)
Geometry, rather than path integration, plays a central role in cognitive map formation. The interaction between grid and place cells relates to geometry coding. Experiments focusing on spatial navig...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Interesting commentary onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... on a paper that was published a little while ago (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...) which claimed mice were taking shortcuts based on self-motion information alone.
#AnimalNavigation #BehavioralNeuroscience #Shortcutting #AnimalBehavior
#AnimalNavigation #BehavioralNeuroscience #Shortcutting #AnimalBehavior
Really nice experiment from Zutshi et al. looking at how the hippocampus encodes non-spatial variables, like auditory cue tones, while animals solve a spatial task: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainScience
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainScience
Hippocampal neuronal activity is aligned with action plans - Nature
Using high-density electrophysiological recordings, how internally generated cell assemblies are updated by action plans to meet external goals is explored.
doi.org
March 10, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Really nice experiment from Zutshi et al. looking at how the hippocampus encodes non-spatial variables, like auditory cue tones, while animals solve a spatial task: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainScience
#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #BrainScience
A nice discussion and comparison of the 'natural history' and 'natural philosophy' approaches to the study of animal behaviour: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#AnimalBehaviour #BehavioralScience #Neuroethology
#AnimalBehaviour #BehavioralScience #Neuroethology
Two paradigms of research and their influence on the study of animal behaviour
Taxonomist Roy Crowson identified a fundamental difference among sciences. What he called “natural history” is exemplified by classical biology; it be…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 3, 2025 at 10:40 AM
A nice discussion and comparison of the 'natural history' and 'natural philosophy' approaches to the study of animal behaviour: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#AnimalBehaviour #BehavioralScience #Neuroethology
#AnimalBehaviour #BehavioralScience #Neuroethology
"Nine rats were trained in an olfactory discrimination task (go/no-go) using a specific wine variety (Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc from different winemakers)" 😂
From: Rats can distinguish (and generalize) among two white wine varieties doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
From: Rats can distinguish (and generalize) among two white wine varieties doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Redirecting
doi.org
February 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
"Nine rats were trained in an olfactory discrimination task (go/no-go) using a specific wine variety (Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc from different winemakers)" 😂
From: Rats can distinguish (and generalize) among two white wine varieties doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
From: Rats can distinguish (and generalize) among two white wine varieties doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Hi Bluesky! It's been a long time since I used any social media but I thought I would give this community a go. I'm here mainly for the neuroscience chat and to see all the cool papers coming out. I'll probably occassionally post about cool papers I've read...
November 27, 2024 at 1:22 PM
Hi Bluesky! It's been a long time since I used any social media but I thought I would give this community a go. I'm here mainly for the neuroscience chat and to see all the cool papers coming out. I'll probably occassionally post about cool papers I've read...