Temporal-interference (TI) stimulation promises what other non-invasive methods cannot: focal, steerable stimulation deep in the brain, produced where two high-frequency currents overlap and their amplitudes beat at a low difference frequency. Yet a puzzle sits at its core. An amplitude-modulated field carries no power at that beat frequency, so no passive, linear part of a neuron can follow it; recovering the beat requires a nonlinearity, usually sought in single-cell ion channels. Here we show that the recovery, and its tuning, are properties of the neural population rather than the single cell. In a neural mass—the $ $$104$-neuron unit that generates the EEG—the firing-rate nonlinearity acts as a square-law detector that demodulates the beat, while the recurrent synaptic network, poised near a Hopf bifurcation, resonantly amplifies the recovered rhythm at its own natural frequency. Detection is inherited from the single neuron; the sharp, frequency-selective amplification is emergent—set by how near the network sits to criticality, and tunable by its own connectivity. Demonstrated in a heuristic cortical column and in an exact next-generation mean field, the mechanism reproduces TI’s known behavior: it is independent of the carrier once the membrane polarization is matched, largest when the beat matches a region’s intrinsic rhythm, and—because the resonance amplifies oscillatory timing far more than mean rate—locks spike timing without changing firing rate, as observed in vivo. Because the gain depends on brain state, TI efficacy should be as much a property of the brain as of the device: the cortical column behaves as a tuned AM radio receiver.: temporal interference; transcranial stimulation; neural mass model; amplitude demodulation; Hopf bifurcation; cross-frequency coupling; Jansen–Rit; LaNMM.
Category: neuroscience
The same sounds are mapped similarly in the human and mouse brain, study finds
While exploring the world around them, both humans and other animals continuously interpret information they pick up with their sight, hearing, touch and other senses. Neuroscience research suggests that the brain does not individually process every single sensory experience, but rather organizes information into mental models known as internal representations.
Internal representations can help recognize familiar patterns or relationships between different stimuli and experiences. While many past studies have explored the role of these perceptual “maps,” fewer have looked at how stimuli are represented in the brains of different species and how they influence learning and decision-making.
Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz recently carried out experiments aimed at better understanding how humans and mice perceive, mentally represent and distinguish the same sounds. Their paper, published in Communications Psychology, suggests that sounds are organized similarly in the human and mouse brain, but also that auditory maps tend to remain surprisingly stable during learning and decision-making.
AIE Webinar — Making Horsegirls
Go behind the scenes of the acclaimed independent film Horsegirls with the creative team that brought this remarkable story to life. Join moderator, Devin Morrissey as he is joined by writer and director Lauren Meyering, lead actress Lillian Carrier, producers Michael Sherman, Mackenzie Breeden, and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Autism Sensitivity Coordinator Chloe Estelle for an engaging conversation about the filmmaking process—from developing the story and creating authentic performances to producing, promoting, and ensuring an inclusive production environment.
Whether you’re interested in filmmaking, storytelling, or advancing authentic representation of neurodivergent individuals in entertainment, this webinar offers a unique opportunity to hear directly from the talented team behind Horsegirls.
Is AI making us stupid?
Not exactly—but how we use it matters.
A new Trends in Cognitive Sciences perspective argues that AI doesn’t inherently erode human intelligence. Instead, it highlights a well-known principle in cognitive psychology: cognitive offloading.
When we let AI perform tasks that require reasoning, writing, memory, or problem-solving, we reduce the amount of mental practice our brains receive. Like physical exercise, cognitive skills strengthen through use and weaken through disuse.
Skills: learned abilities such as writing, mathematical reasoning, diagnosis, or programming. These are most vulnerable if AI consistently replaces the learning process.
Basic cognitive abilities: foundational functions like working memory, attention, and executive control. Current evidence suggests these may be more resistant to decline, although more research is needed.
The key message isn’t that AI makes people “stupid.” Rather: AI can improve immediate performance. Overreliance may reduce long-term learning and skill retention.
AI is most beneficial when it augments human thinking instead of replacing it. This fits with decades of neuroscience showing that practice drives neuroplasticity. The brain adapts to the cognitive demands we place on it. If.
Shown are neural connections between the lateral habenula and ventral tegmental area (VTA) of a mouse revealed by transsynaptic tracing and immunostaining
In green are VTA neurons receiving inputs from the lateral habenula, in red are VTA neurons projecting back to the lateral habenula, and in blue are dopaminergic (TH+) VTA neurons. Approximately 25% of VTA neurons exhibit both presynaptic and postsynaptic connectivity with the lateral habenula. Lateral habenula neurons projecting to the VTA encode unpleasant signals that are necessary for learning to avoid or respond to threats.
🔗 Use the link in our bio to see the article by Marina R. Ihidoype et al. in the July 8, 2026, issue of #JNeurosci for more information. ㅤ 📸 Cover image: Marina Ihidoype.
UCSF and Samsung launch remote study on aging brain health
An innovative new study from the Neuroscape research center at UCSF, and consumer electronics giant Samsung seeks to understand decade-by-decade changes in brain health.
The Neuroscape Technology for Aging Health — Digital Approaches (TAH-DA) longitudinal study, seeks to identify biometric predictors of cognitive decline over the course of a year, using Samsung wearable technology.
Samsung fosters innovation and transformational health research in collaboration with leading institutions to explore new health technologies and a novel prescriptive on wellness. The TAH-DA study is another example of Samsung’s work to understand the unique connection between the brain and wellness.
New soft wearable device could support at-home sleep monitoring
Good sleep is essential for brain health. During sleep and rest, the glymphatic system, the brain’s waste-clearing process, helps remove metabolic waste that accumulates during waking hours. This activity is linked to memory processing, cognitive function and neural recovery. When sleep quality is poor, metabolic waste may accumulate, potentially disrupting cognitive function and memory formation.
Traditional approaches to brain monitoring are often invasive, costly and limited to clinical settings. New research from Georgia Tech points to a more accessible approach. A study published in Science Advances shows that a soft, wireless wearable device could help enable home-based monitoring of physiological changes associated with sleep and brain health.
The research team, led by W. Hong Yeo, Peterson Endowed Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Wearable Intelligent Systems and Healthcare Center and the Korea KIAT-Georgia Tech Semiconductor Electronics Center, developed a wearable device that uses light-based sensing and wireless communication to support natural sleep monitoring at home.
Discoveries: Short Takes on Cutting-Edge Research
Scientists Reveal a Hidden “Smell Map” Connecting the Nose and Brain.
Harvard Medical School researchers have created the first detailed spatial map of how more than 1,100 types of olfactory receptors are organized in the mouse nose. Contrary to the long-standing idea that smell receptors are scattered somewhat randomly within broad regions, the team found that receptor-expressing neurons occupy precise, overlapping bands across the olfactory epithelium.
Using single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and advanced microscopy, researchers analyzed millions of olfactory sensory neurons from hundreds of mice. Each sensory neuron expresses one receptor type, and its position within the developing nasal tissue helps influence which receptor it selects. The signaling molecule retinoic acid appears to help establish this spatial organization.
Remarkably, this map in the nose aligns with the organization of corresponding neurons in the olfactory bulb—the brain’s first major processing center for smell. This suggests that olfaction, like vision, hearing, and touch, relies on an orderly topographic system linking sensory receptors to specific neural destinations.
The findings provide a new framework for studying how odors are encoded, how olfactory circuits develop, and why the sense of smell may be disrupted by infections, aging, injury, medications, or cancer treatments. The research could eventually inform strategies for treating anosmia and other smell disorders, although the work was conducted in mice and researchers have not yet established whether the same detailed organization exists in humans.
Study: Brann et al., Cell DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.03.
#Neuroscience #Olfaction #SenseOfSmell #BrainResearch #SensoryNeuroscience #HarvardMedicalSchool #Neurobiology #SpatialTranscriptomics
How Infrasound Rewires Ear Mechanics
From the article
“Low-frequency infrasound waves bypass standard sensory receptors to vibrate cochlear support cells, proving that these structural units generate local alternative electric fields that trigger unique, non-linear nerve pathways straight to the human brain.”
Summary: Researchers have demonstrated that the human brain processes low-frequency infrasound using an entirely unique biological mechanism. When acoustic waves drop too low for standard auditory hair cells to register, the energy bypasses them completely, hijacking the inner ear’s structural support cells instead. These support units generate alternative electric fields that fire off unique nerve pathways, explaining why infrasound registers more as a raw physical sensation or internal hum than a standard audible sound.
The Non-Linear Volume Spike: This unique biological pathway explains a well-known acoustic puzzle: when infrasound levels creep up even slightly, the perceived volume escalates at an incredibly rapid, non-linear rate. Small steps in environmental pressure instantly make the sound feel overwhelmingly louder.
“Humans can actually perceive infrasound if the sound level is high enough,” says Carlos Jurado, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Some are more sensitive to low-frequency noise. For example, it can come from ventilation systems, heat pumps, wind turbines, industry, transport, generators or transformers. But this is difficult to measure, because the sound is often perceived more as a hum or physical sensation than more high-frequency sound does.