Mark Iskarous

At 10:30 AM, I will be speaking on "Multi-electrode ICMS in somatosensory cortex provides reliable tactile perception". This is discussing some of the BCI work I've started since joining the University of Chicago. @corticalbionics.bsky.social

#SfN #BCI

At SfN:
On 11/17, I will be speaking as part of the nanosymposium, "Ensuring Robust, Long-Term Performance of Brain-Computer Interfaces" organized by William Hockeimer.

The next day (11/12), I will be giving a talk at 9:15 AM on "Neuromorphic Compression of Tactile Data with Spiking Neural Networks" as part of the session on "Neural Computing and the Engineering of Adaptive Neural Systems". This is work started during my PhD at @jhu.edu with Vivek Chari.

Then from 1 to 5 PM, I will be a speaker for the workshop, "A Neuromorphic and Neurostimulation Approach for Sensorimotor Restoration" with @elisadonati.bsky.social and @losborn.bsky.social. I'll be giving the talk, "Neuromorphic encoding of tactile stimuli for neuroprostheses and neurorobotics".

Thank you to @johndowney.bsky.social and Nitish Thakor for their support in organizing this workshop!

* Denise Oswalt, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, “The Next Generation of Visual Cortical Prosthetics”

* Robert Gaunt, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, “Bidirectional BCIs - Improving function by restoring sensation”

* @chethanp.bsky.social, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Tech, “Complex neural population dynamics underlying multifunctional BCIs”

* Frank Willett, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, “Intracortical Speech BCIs – Challenges and Opportunities”

* @kevin-otto.bsky.social, Dane A. Miller Head and Professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, “Historical and future implanted interfaces for BCI”

#IEEE #EMBS #NER25 #NeuroEngineering #Neurotech #NeuroAI

At NER:
From 8 AM to 12 PM tomorrow (11/11), I'll be running a workshop, "Implanted BCIs: Technologies, Applications, and Future Directions". We have a great lineup of speakers and panelists.

It's going to be a great chance to learn about the latest in sensorimotor neuroscience, neuroengineering, and Brain-Computer Interfaces!

I'm very fortunate to have multiple chances to present my work.

I'm very excited to spend the next 10 days in San Diego attending the 12th Annual IEEE EMBS International Conference on Neural Engineering (@embs.org) and then the 2025 Society for Neuroscience (@sfn.org) Meeting!

If you are going to be at either conference, let me know, I'd love to see you!

Thank you to my workshop co-organizers @johndowney.bsky.social and Nitish Thakor! Thank you to IEEE and @embs.org!

You can find information about the conference (neuro.embs.org/2025/) and can register for the workshop and conference (web.cvent.com/event/fe673d...). Early-bird registration ends 9/23!

You can learn more about the workshop at drive.google.com/file/d/1brwc...

• Prof. Daniel Yoshor, M.D. Yoshor, University of Pennsylvania, "The Next Generation of Viusal Cortical Prosthetics"

• Prof. @chethanp.bsky.social, Emory University & Georgia Tech, "Complex neural population dynamics underlying multifunctional BCIs"

• Prof. Robert Gaunt Gaunt, University of Pittsburgh, "Bidirectional BCIs - Improving function by restoring sensation"

• Prof. @kevin-otto.bsky.social, Purdue University, "Historical and future implanted interfaces for BCI"

• Prof. Frank Willett, Stanford University, "Intracortical Speech BCIs - Challenges and Opportunities

This half-day workshop brings together leading researchers to examine the current state of implanted BCI technology, explore its translational potential, and critically assess the scientific and engineering challenges that will shape the field’s future. We have an amazing speaker and panel lineup.

I'm very excited to share the workshop "𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐂𝐈𝐬: 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬" which will be on November 11 at the IEEE/EMBS International Conference on Neural Engineering in San Diego!

#IEEE #NER25 #neurotech #BCI #iBCI

ATTN: #Postdocs - Your opportunity to lead the future of #science starts now! Applications for the 2025 #HannaGrayFellows Program are OPEN. 📢

Take your first step toward joining a community of changemakers in science. Applications are due 2.26.25, @ 3:00 p.m. ET. 💫

Apply today! hhmi.news/48n2lfh 👈

The coarse mental map of the breast is anchored on the nipple Touch plays a key role in our perception of our body and shapes our interactions with the world, from the objects we manipulate to the people we touch. While the tactile sensibility of the hand has be...

"The tactile acuity of the breast was even lower than that of the back... touches to different regions of the nipple were largely indistinguishable" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Meta has an AI for brain typing, but it’s stuck in the lab The social network company hopes neuroscience will give it an advantage in the AI race.

#Meta has an #AI for brain typing, but it's stuck in the lab www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/07/1... by @antonioregalado.bsky.social; "The social network company hopes #neuroscience will give it an advantage in the AI race"

Just finished a two week sprint to submit an NIH F32 Fellowship application! It was quite intense, but glad it's done 😊 and I actually feel good about the proposal. Hopefully things will he back to normal at the NIH by the time it gets reviewed

It was a real privilege to interview Daniel Dennett about his five favourite books for @five_books fivebooks.com/best-books/d...

Just out in J Neuromorph Comput & Eng: Loss shaping enhances exact gradient learning with Eventprop in Spiking Neural Networks doi.org/10.1088/2634.... With @neworderofjamie.bsky.social.
We report how Eventprop scales to harder learning tasks.
TL;DR: It works great but not without extra effort. 🧪🧵

Dendrites endow artificial neural networks with accurate, robust and parameter-efficient learning - Nature Communications Artificial neural networks, central to deep learning, are powerful but energy-consuming and prone to overfitting. The authors propose a network design inspired by biological dendrites, which offe...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I've never been directly funded by NIH, but in honor of this amazing organization with great people, here is my talk from last fall when they hosted me. One of the best visits I have had anywhere.

oir.nih.gov/wals/2024-20...

📢PSA: #NeurIPS2024 recordings are now publicly available!

The workshops always have tons of interesting things on at once, so the FOMO is real😵‍💫 Luckily it's all recorded, so I've been catching up on what I missed.

Thread below with some personal highlights🧵