Between #Matlab and #Python, which one would you recommend to learn, for a student who wants to learn programming (from scratch) to do data analysis? And why?

I am conflicted because I think Matlab is maybe slightly more straightforward to learn, but Python should be more useful in the long term (I know both and need to decide which one to teach my student).

I think answers might differ depending on whether you're in academia or not so I'm also asking about your occupation in the poll:

#Academia #AcademicChatter #Coding #Programming #Neuroscience (in this case)

• I recommend Matlab (as an academic) (1%, 3 votes)
• I recommend Python (as an academic) (54%, 90 votes)
• I recommend Matlab (as a non-academic) (0%, 1 vote)
• I recommend Python (as a non-academic) (38%, 63 votes)
• don't know / see results (4%, 7 votes)

_cool, but also concerning... _
sciencealert.com/computers-mad…

#technology #brain #computers #computing #bio-hybrid #stemcells #ai #neuroscience #organoid #transhumanism

Computers Made From Human Brain Tissue Are Coming. Are We Prepared? : ScienceAlert

As prominent artificial intelligence (AI) researchers eye limits to the current phase of the technology, a different approach is gaining attention: using living human brain cells as computational hardware.

^{The Conversation (ScienceAlert)}

@elduvelle
Not entirely; perhaps you feel strongly about it because you also work on hippocampus and spatial navigation.

To me, cell types are a useful categorisation, but not a determining one. In some ways I'm reminded of the use of brain regions and their functional relationships as a surrogate for the actual synaptic connectivity diagrams, or connectomes.

Cells as entities can be genetically and experimentally manipulated, so we tend to assign attributes and properties to them, when they in good part only have those properties as a function of the inputs they receive and the specific position in the circuit that they hold.

There's also an absurd amount of plasticity at the circuit level when some neurons are missing or inactivated. That is one characteristic of biological networks: robustness to perturbation and graceful degradation of system function rather than catastrophic.

#neuroscience #CellTypes

What an incredible week at #SfN2025!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the Neuromatch booth, joined our sessions, and came to our social event. It was great to connect with our amazing community of students, alumni, TAs, and volunteers! It’s been such a pleasure meeting you all in person!

➡️ If you didn’t get a chance to visit us, you can still join our mailing list & leave us a note here: airtable.com/appWO8lu7xm3VSdVj…

#Neuromatch #Neuroscience #ComputationalNeuroscience #NeuroscienceCommunity