// BigCat's Learning Hub

NeuroscienceNEUROSCIENCE

The mechanistic layer of the brain as a physical + computational system. Cognition and consciousness first, motivation up front, with an AI cross-read running through every issue — biological brains and artificial networks mapped point by point.

Two kinds of page: Main Track is read in order (cognition → consciousness → self-modulation → clinical → computational); Reference Library holds mechanism pages for building blocks / systems — the main track links to them with → ref and they're written on demand.

// Main Track

Left: each topic's neuroscience principle. Right ↔: its cross-read with AI (marked only where there's a genuine match).

A · CognitionCognition Topic 1–9

T1Perception as Inference — predictive processing · Bayesian brain↔ generative models T2Attention — biased competition · thalamic gating↔ Transformer attention T3Working memory — capacity · persistent firing vs synapses↔ context window / KV cache T4Long-term memory & consolidation — encoding/reconsolidation·separation & completion↔ replay / RAG T5Spatial navigation & cognitive maps (place/grid cells)↔ SR/TEM T6Decision-making — drift-diffusion · value coding · dopamine prediction error↔ RL / TD / bandit T7The language brain — Broca/Wernicke revised · language network · N400 prediction↔ LLM next-word prediction T8The construction of emotion — Barrett · interoception · granularity↔ reward/valence modeling T9The social brain & theory of mind — mentalizing · mirror-system myth · empathy vs compassion↔ agent ToM / opponent modeling

B · ConsciousnessConsciousness Topic 10–17

T10The hard problem · qualia T11The neural correlates of consciousness (NCC · Cogitate) T12Higher-order theories & attention schema (HOT/AST)↔ self-model T13Global workspace (Dehaene)↔ global workspace T14Integrated information theory (IIT · Φ · irreducibility)↔ Φ vs feedforward T15Predictive processing & free energy↔ active inference T16The consciousness switch: anesthesia · sleep · dreaming · lucid dreams T17The neuroscience of the self — bodily · narrative · ego dissolution↔ self-model / persona

C · Self-modulationHacking your nervous system Topic 18–25

T18How exercise reshapes the brain (BDNF · neurogenesis)↔ learning rate / continual learning T19Nutrition & the brain — the barrier · blood sugar · DHA · where the evidence stops T20The neuroscience of meditation — the four-beat loop · DMN · where the evidence stops↔ agent metacognition T21Awe & the overview effect — vastness+non-fit · small self · DMN↔ confidence calibration T22Sleep as active intervention — nested rhythms · two processes · the emotional brake↔ offline / prioritised replay T23Light · circadian rhythm · vagal modulation — ipRGCs · phase response · the vagal brake T24Prevention ① · depression & bipolar — the circuit view · three levers · bipolar as a rhythm disorder↔ RL exploration collapse T25Prevention ② · Alzheimer's & neurodegeneration — cognitive reserve · mixed pathology · reading the 45%↔ pruning tolerance

D · Clinical/FrontierClinical & Frontier Topic 26–34

T26Mental illness as circuit dysregulation — cracked categories · RDoC · gain, balance, switching↔ mis-set hyperparameters T27The neuroscience of addiction — wanting ≠ liking · hijacked cues · incubated craving↔ reward channel tampering T28Neurodegeneration — misfolds as templates · spread along wiring · the biggest bills fall first↔ model collapse / graph diffusion T29Brain-computer interfaces — intercepted commands·population vector·who learns whom↔ neural decoding / co-adaptation T30Neuroplasticity & rehabilitation — learned non-use·map redrawing·the brakes↔ fine-tuning / catastrophic forgetting T31Psychedelics & neuroscience — one lock·flattened hierarchy·plasticity window↔ temperature / learning rate T32Sleep & glymphatic clearance — a drain built from vessels·runs only at night·the dispute↔ weight decay T33The gut-brain axis — the second brain·a vagus running 80% upward·where the microbiome evidence stops↔ edge autonomy / sparse reporting T34Neuromyths & the limits of reductionism — reverse inference·the dead salmon·Marr's levels↔ probing ≠ causation

E · ComputationalComputational (finale)Topic 35–42

T35Neural coding — the all-or-none letter·rate vs timing·population vector·sparse dictionary↔ distributed representations / sparse autoencoders T36Single-neuron computation — dendrites aren't wires·branch ignition·XOR in one cell↔ the artificial neuron challenged T37Neural dynamics & neural manifolds — the low-dimensional sheet·attractors·computation as trajectory↔ RNN dynamics / fixed-point analysis T38Brain oscillations & synchrony — inhibition keeps the beat·phase as timestamp·hit the beat to get through↔ sinusoidal positional encoding / time multiplexing T39Is backprop biologically plausible — weight transport·feedback alignment·error folded into activity↔ biologically plausible backprop T40Spiking networks & neuromorphic computing — event-driven·moving beats computing·event cameras↔ energy-efficient compute T41The 20-watt miracle — paying to move ions back·only 1% lit·the brain's dark energy↔ cost tracking activity vs size T42Connectomics — 40 years of unreadable worm·structure ≠ circuit·small-world & the rich club↔ GNNs / mechanistic interpretability

// Reference Library

Mechanism pages for building blocks and systems, linked on demand by the main track and filling in naturally as it grows (not read in order).

Building blocks

refNeurons & action potentials refSynaptic transmission refNeurotransmitter systems refSerotonin system refSynaptic plasticity (LTP/STDP) refInhibitory interneurons refGlial cells refProteostasis (folding / clearance) refNeural development

Systems