Zeeshan Haqqee

PhD candidate at McGill University. Studying the neurophysiology and population dynamics of multiple memory systems in the brain.

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

If you're curious what I've been up to this past year in Montréal, check out this preprint! Our research platform aims to visualize and record thousands of individual neurons across multiple brain regions in freely behaving animals using automated touchscreen behavioural tasks 🧠

[Mark Brandon, PhD. @markbrandonlab]

1/ At McGill University we have now established a high-throughput platform to record large ensembles of neurons throughout the brain during standardized touchscreen-based tasks. Our new preprint describes this platform, it’s vision, and long-term goals.
https://t.co/yc4iYNd5mB

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

TODAY all crowdfunding donations are matched 1:1 by McGill! Please consider supporting us!

We want to thank all of our speakers, hosts, and attendees for their involvement with Integrate and Fire over the past three years and seven seminars counting!

https://t.co/KNxBhqZZ1X

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Our final seminar of the year! Hope to see there! 🧠

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

We're excited to announce our next seminar on May 14th! Bonding Brains: Is health contagious? Sign up here to be a host or speaker at this event: https://t.co/hc6CFkQ2gT

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Sponsored by @HBHLMcGill CONNECT initiative, we're proud to have brought our neuroscience community together with sold-out seminars totalling 100-200 *unique* attendees spanning graduates, postdocs, and faculty at @IPNMcGill
Help keep us going today! https://t.co/lTwnhh9ZDW

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

Today is #McGill24. Please help support another year of discussions on the 'Big Questions in Neuroscience' by donating if you can or sharing our message. We really appreciate all of your support! Find out more here: https://t.co/I6uN85IbSo

[TheExistentialistRobot @eden_redman]

Fantastic talk from @JeffreyMogil at the @ifss_mcgill Seminar on Sex and Gender!

Sparked some great discussion over beers afterwards.

The folks over at @ifss_mcgill are putting on events that support meaningful dialogue, on important topics that need it.

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

We are excited to announce that our next seminar "Conjunctive brains: Untangling Sex and Gender”, will take place at the Thomson House Ballroom on Tuesday 20th February at 5:30pm (doors open at 5:15pm). Tickets are limited, so get yours soon! https://t.co/0LabjVfY4Z

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Only a handful of spots left!! Register now ⏳

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

We are excited to announce our first seminar of the year "Connected brains: Why are we social?”, will take place at the Thompson House Ballroom on Thursday November 2nd at 6:00pm (doors open at 5:30pm). Tickets are limited, so get yours soon!
https://t.co/oODBuoLSbY

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

Join us as a speaker or seminar host for our first event, Connected brains: Why are we social? https://t.co/nfxXiilRWg

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

We're recruiting speakers for a new year of exciting seminars on social cognition! Sign up below to speak or host at our event!

Also checkout our cool new website https://t.co/lTwnhh9ZDW

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

We are excited to announce speaker and seminar host recruitment for our events this year. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here: https://t.co/nfxXiilRWg

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Second seminar happening today! Exciting lineup of speakers. Just a handful of tickets left so get yours soon!

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

There is still time to sign up to our next seminar: Evolving Brains: How and Why?
The seminar will take place on Wednesday May 10th at 6pm in the Thomson House Ballroom
https://t.co/CB3Iq9vVeU

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

There is still time to sign up to be a speaker at our next seminar! If you are interested in contributing to one of our suggested themes or have an idea for your own seminar topic, then please register here:
https://t.co/SqNoQDpAuf

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Our first event was a great success! If you or anyone you know is interested in talking about their research at a discussion-focused seminar, please apply!

Results not necessary; we focus on overlapping research perspectives to help us understand broad questions in neuro!

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

We are excited to announce speaker registration for our next Integrate and Fire Seminar! If you are interested in contributing to one of our suggested themes or have an idea for your own seminar topic, then please register here: https://t.co/SqNoQDpAuf

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Featuring presentations and in depth discussions with @dongyanl1n @dlevenstein @jqlearner @KAsumbisa and Austin Cooper (from the lab of @AmirShmuel at @TheNeuro_MNI)

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Over 80% sold out! Only a handful of tickets left. Register now for an exciting new seminar series at McGill focused on discussing the big, broad questions about the brain that keep us neuroscientists up at night.

[Integrate and Fire @ifss_mcgill]

We are excited to announce our first seminar "Representations in Neural Systems - the Key to Cognition?”, will take place at the Thompson House Ballroom on Wednesday, February 22nd at 6:00pm (doors open at 5:30pm).
Tickets are limited, so get yours soon!
https://t.co/vxHy2H3ORv

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

Good God.. I was not ready for that last zoom-out 🤯

[Alyssa A. Goodman @AlyssaAGoodman]

Here's a 1-minute video showing--in the words of visualization hero @EdwardTufte--the "compared to what" factor for today's amazing @NASAWebb image. Thanks to the @WWTelescope for making this possible, and @ADavidWeigel. I only wish @NASA and @POTUS had shown the image this way!

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

@Richard48371898 @karpathy Absolutely. But the attention signal doesn't move like a spotlight over a pixel perfect image. If that were the case, we wouldn't be so bad at simple spatial working memory tasks (see YouTube video). Brains abstract what they remember because it's more efficient than pixels.

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

It's fun to read the comments claiming to have detailed generative representations when studies have repeatedly shown it's exceptionally rare, and in fact chimps outperform us in spatial working memory even when we're given ample time to memorize https://t.co/2oKfVWWIjP

[Andrej Karpathy @karpathy]

Do brains build generative models all the way down to pixel level? I happened to get woken up this morning just as I was scrutinizing a visual detail in the dream, which gave me a strong sense that it does. Previously I've been less sure. Anyone else try to debug?

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

@karpathy Doesn't fully disprove lack of pixel representation, but I'm not aware of research supporting why we'd need it. Pattern completion does just fine for our visual memory.

[Zeeshan Haqqee @ZHaqqee]

@karpathy This suggests that brains are good at pattern completion, but not necessarily pixel representation. Youtube video shows that when working with randomly placed numbers on a screen (no familiar pattern like with natural images) we can't even remember 9 arbitrary points on a screen.