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People have a remarkable ability to identify the objects that they are looking at, as well as remember the images that they have seen. Researchers know that high-level visual cortex contributes in important ways to supporting both of these functions, but developing models that describe how processing in high-level visual cortex supports these behaviors has been challenging. Recent breakthroughs in this modeling effort have arrived by way of the illustration that deep artificial neural networks trained to categorize objects, developed for computer vision purposes, reflect brainlike patterns of activity. Here we summarize how deep artificial neural networks have been used to gain important insights into the contributions of high-level visual cortex to object identification, as well as one characteristic of visual memory behavior: image memorability, the systematic variation with which some images are remembered better than others.

In addition to the role that our visual system plays in determining what we are seeing right now, visual computations contribute in important ways to predicting what we will see next. While the role of memory in creating future predictions is often overlooked, efficient predictive computation requires the use of information about the past to estimate future events. In this article, we introduce a framework for understanding the relationship between memory and visual prediction and review the two classes of mechanisms that the visual system relies on to create future predictions. We also discuss the principles that define the mapping from predictive computations to predictive mechanisms and how downstream brain areas interpret the predictive signals computed by the visual system.

Neuroscience has a long history of investigating the neural correlates of brain functions. One example is fear, which has been studied intensely in a variety of species. In parallel, unease about definitions of brain functions has existed for over 100 years. Because the translational impact of basic research hinges on how we define these functions, these definitions should be carefully considered.

When volcanic eruptions involve interaction with external water (hydrovolcanism), the result is an ash-rich and energetic volcanic plume, as illustrated dramatically by the January 2022 Tonga eruption. The origin of the high explosive energy of these events remains an important question. We investigate this question by studying Prince Rupert’s Drops (PRDs)—tadpole-shaped glass beads formed by dripping molten glass into water—which have long fascinated materials scientists because the great strength of the head contrasts with the explosivity of the metastable interior when the tail is broken. We show that the fragment size distribution (FSD) produced by explosive fragmentation changes systematically with PRD fragmentation in air, water, and syrup. Most FSDs are fractal over much of the size range, scaling that can be explained by the repeated fracture bifurcation observed in three-dimensional images from microcomputed tomography. The shapes of constituent fragments are determined by their position within the original PRD, with platey fragments formed from the outer (compressive) shell and blocky fragments formed by fractures perpendicular to interior voids. When molten drops fail to form PRDs, the glass disintegrates by quench granulation, a process that produces fractal FSDs but with a larger median size than explosively generated fragments. Critically, adding bubbles to the molten glass prevents PRD formation and promotes quench granulation, suggesting that granulation is modulated by heterogeneous stress fields formed around the bubbles during sudden cooling and contraction. Together, these observations provide insight into glass fragmentation and potentially, processes operating during hydrovolcanism.

Summary Aquifers are poroelastic bodies that respond to strain by changes in pore pressure. Crustal deformation due to volcanic processes induces pore pressure variations that are mirrored in well water levels. Here, we investigate water level changes in the Belham valley on Montserrat over the course of 2 yr (2004–2006). Using finite element analysis, we simulate crustal deformation due to different volcanic strain sources and the dynamic poroelastic aquifer response. While some additional hydrological drivers cannot be excluded, we suggest that a poroelastic strain response of the aquifer system in the Belham valley is a possible explanation for the observed water level changes. According to our simulations, the shallow Belham aquifer responds to a steadily increasing sediment load due to repeated lahar sedimentation in the valley with rising aquifer pressures. A wholesale dome collapse in May 2006 on the other hand induced dilatational strain and thereby a short-term water level drop in a deeper-seated aquifer, which caused groundwater leakage from the Belham aquifer and thereby induced a delayed water level fall in the wells. The system thus responded to both gradual and rapid transient strain associated with the eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano (Montserrat). This case study gives field evidence for theoretical predictions on volcanic drivers behind hydrological transients, demonstrating the potential of hydrological data for volcano monitoring. Interrogation of such data can provide valuable constraints on stress evolution in volcanic systems and therefore complement other monitoring systems. The presented models and inferred results are conceptually applicable to volcanic areas worldwide.

Interactions between lava flows and surface water are not always considered in hazard assessments, despite abundant historical and geological evidence that they can create significant secondary hazards (e.g., floods and steam explosions). We combine contemporary accounts of the 1783–1784 Laki fissure eruption in southern Iceland with morphological analysis of the geological deposits to reconstruct the lava–water interactions and assess their impact on residents. We find that lava disrupted the local river systems, impounded water that flooded farms and impeded travel, and drove steam explosions that created at least 2979 rootless cones on the lava flow.Using aerial photographs and satellite-derived digital terrain models, we mapped and measured 12 of the 15 rootless cone groups on the Laki lava field. We have identified one new rootless cone group and provide data that suggest another cone group previously attributed to the 939–940 CE Eldgjá eruption was created by the Laki eruption. We then use contemporary accounts to estimate formation dates and environments for each cone group, which formed in wetland/lake areas, on riverbeds, and near areas of impounded water. Furthermore, comparison with previous field studies shows that assessments using remote sensing can be used to identify and map meter-scale and larger features on a lava flow, although remote mapping lacks the detail of field observations.Our findings highlight the different ways in which lava can interact with surface water, threatening people, property, water supplies, and infrastructure. For these reasons, anticipation of such interactions is important in lava flow hazard assessment in regions with abundant surface water; we further demonstrate that remote sensing can be an effective tool for identifying lava–water interactions in past lava flows.

Causal perturbations provide the strongest tests of the relationships between brain mechanism and brain function. In cognitive neuroscience, persuasive causal perturbations are difficult to achieve. In a recent paper, Ni et al. cleverly use the neuropsychiatric drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) to causally test the brain mechanisms that support goal-directed attention.

The breaking apart of magma into fragments is intimately related to the eruptive style and thus the nature and footprint of volcanic hazards. The size and shape distributions of the fragments, in turn, affect the efficiency of heat transfer within pyroclastic plumes and currents and the settling velocity, and so the residence time, of particles in the atmosphere. Fundamental work relating the glass transition to the fragmentation of magmas remains at the heart of conceptual and numerical models of volcanic eruptions. Current fragmentation criteria, however, do not predict the sizes and shapes of the resulting fragments, or fully account for the multiphase nature of magmas or ways in which magma can break in a fluidal manner or by thermal stress. The pulsatory, non-steady state nature of some eruptions, and related interactions with these fragmentation criteria, also requires further investigation. Here, we briefly review some recent advances in the field of magma fragmentation and provide a perspective on how integrated field, experimental and numerical modelling studies can address key outstanding challenges.

Searching for a specific visual object requires our brain to compare the items in view with a remembered representation of the sought target to determine whether a target match is present. This comparison is thought to be implemented, in part, via the combination of top-down modulations reflecting target identity with feed-forward visual representations. However, it remains unclear whether top-down signals are integrated at a single locus within the ventral visual pathway (e.g. V4) or at multiple stages (e.g. both V4 and inferotemporal cortex, IT). To investigate, we recorded neural responses in V4 and IT as rhesus monkeys performed a task that required them to identify when a target object appeared across variation in position, size and background context. We found non-visual, task-specific signals in both V4 and IT. To evaluate whether V4 was the only locus for the integration of top-down signals, we evaluated several feed-forward accounts of processing from V4 to IT, including a model in which IT preferentially sampled from the best V4 units and a model that allowed for nonlinear IT computation. IT task-specific modulation was not accounted for by any of these feed-forward descriptions, suggesting that during object search, top-down signals are integrated directly within IT.NEW & NOTEWORTHYTo find specific objects, the brain must integrate top-down, target-specific signals with visual information about objects in view. However, the exact route of this integration in the ventral visual pathway is unclear. In the first study to systematically compare V4 and IT during an invariant object search task, we demonstrate that top-down signals found in IT cannot be described as being inherited from V4, but rather must be integrated directly within IT itself.

Many volcanoes around the world are persistently active with continuous degassing for years or even centuries, sometimes exceeding historic records. Such long-term stability contrasts with short-term instability, reflected in eruptive episodes that punctuate passive degassing. These two aspects of persistent activity, long-term stability as opposed to short-term instability, are often conceptualized through two distinct model frameworks: Exchange-flow in volcanic conduits is commonly invoked to explain the long-term thermal balance and sustained passive degassing, while the ascent of large gas slugs is called upon to understand explosive eruptions. While typically considered separately, we propose here that both flow processes could occur jointly in the conduits of persistently active volcanoes and in transient connections between subvolcanic melt lenses. To understand the dynamic interplay between exchange flow and slug ascent, we link analogue laboratory experiments with direct numerical simulations. We find that the two flows superimpose without creating major disruptions when only considering the ascent of a single gas slug. However, the sequential ascent of multiple gas slugs is disruptive to the ambient exchange flow, because it may entail continual buildup of buoyant magma at depth. While our study focuses on the laboratory scale, we propose that the dependence of exchange-flow stability on sequential slug ascent is relevant for understanding why explosive sequences are sometimes followed by effusive eruptions. Taken together, our work suggests that integrating exchange flow and slug ascent could provide a more complete understanding of persistently active volcanoes than either model framework offers in isolation.

Generation of silicic magmas leads to emplacement of granite plutons, huge explosive volcanic eruptions and physical and chemical zoning of continental and arc crust1-7. While the time scales for silicic magma generation in the deep and middle crust are prolonged8 magma transfer into the upper crust followed by eruption is episodic and can be rapid9-12. Ages of inherited zircons and sanidines from four Miocene ignimbrites in the Central Andes indicate a gap of 4.6 Myr between the start of pluton emplacement and onset of super-eruptions, with a 1 Myr cyclicity. Here we show that inherited sanidine crystals were stored at temperatures

Memories of the images that we have seen are thought to be reflected in the reduction of neural responses in high-level visual areas such as inferotemporal (IT) cortex, a phenomenon known as repetition suppression (RS). We challenged this hypothesis with a task that required rhesus monkeys to report whether images were novel or repeated while ignoring variations in contrast, a stimulus attribute that is also known to modulate the overall IT response. The monkeys’ behavior was largely contrast-invariant, contrary to the predictions of an RS-inspired decoder, which could not distinguish responses to images that are repeated from those of lower contrast. However, the monkeys’ behavioral patterns were well-predicted by a linearly decodable variant in which the total spike count was corrected for contrast modulation. These results suggest that the IT neural activity pattern that best aligns with single-exposure visual recognition memory behavior is not RS but rather “sensory referenced suppression (SRS)”: reductions in IT population response magnitude, corrected for sensory modulation.Significance statementMemories of whether an image has been seen before are reflected in high-level visual cortex as “sensory referenced suppression (SRS)”: reductions in population response magnitude, corrected for sensory modulation.

Wound cleansing agents are routine in wound care, even in the absence of signs of infection. Antiseptic activity prevents contaminating microbes from establishing an infection while also raising concerns of cytotoxicity and delayed wound healing. Here, we used an ex vivo human skin excisional wound model to evaluate the cytotoxicity of five clinically-used wound cleaning agents (saline, povidone iodine, Dove® soap, Dial® soap, and chlorhexidine gluconate). We established a wound contamination model using ∼100 cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa per wound to evaluate antiseptic efficacy and microbial biofilm spatial organization. We found that Dial® soap and chlorhexidine gluconate significantly reduced metabolic activity of the biopsies, while all treatments except saline affected local cellular viability. Within the contamination model, only chlorhexidine gluconate treatment resulted in significantly lower P. aeruginosa counts at 24 hours post-treatment, driven by sub-limit-of-detection counts immediately post-treatment. Later applications of chlorhexidine gluconate had no effects on microbial growth, with microscopy showing extensive surface colonization of the wound bed. We present a clinically-relevant model for evaluating antiseptic cytotoxicity and efficacy, with the ability to resolve spatial localization and temporal dynamics of tissue viability and microbial growth.

Large earthquakes alter the crustal stress field across great distances (hundreds to thousands of kilometers) over geologically short timescales (seconds to years). These stress changes can affect magmatic systems, triggering (or suppressing) volcanic unrest and eruption, along with other deeper processes. We use simple kinematic source models in an isotropic elastic half‐space to assess earthquake‐induced static stress changes (>1 kPa) over the entire thickness of the lithosphere and consider the implications for magma ascent and storage. Modeling subduction zone earthquakes, we calculate static normal stress changes with depth on three mutually perpendicular end‐member magma pathways: vertical arc‐parallel, vertical arc‐perpendicular, and horizontal. From this, we define seven stress change regimes within the adjacent volcanic arc. Three of these regimes may strongly encourage magma ascent in dykes by inducing unclamping (decreased compressive normal stress) of vertical pathways which increases in magnitude toward the surface and clamping of horizontal pathways. Two of the regimes may encourage stalling and storage of magma in sills near the base of the crust by inducing unclamping of horizontal pathways at depth. The spatial distribution of the regimes is largely dependent on earthquake magnitude, but also varies with slip distribution and interface dip. We show how the responses of magmatic systems to earthquakes also depends on the stress change magnitude and the state of the magmatic system, with a greater impact expected for larger stress changes acting on weaker, more thermally mature systems.

The structural form and elemental distribution of material originating from different Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant reactors (Units 1 and 3) is hereby examined to elucidate their contrasting release dynamics and the current in-reactor conditions to influence future decommissioning challenges. Complimentary computed X-ray absorption tomography and X-ray fluorescence data show that the two suites of Si-based material sourced from the different reactor Units have contrasting internal structure and compositional distribution. The known event and condition chronology correlate with the observed internal and external structures of the particulates examined, which suggest that Unit 1 ejecta material sustained a greater degree of melting than that likely derived from reactor Unit 3. In particular, we attribute the near-spherical shape of Unit 1 ejecta and their internal voids to there being sufficient time for surface tension to round these objects before the hot (and so relatively low viscosity) silicate melt cooled to form glass. In contrast, a more complex internal form associated with the sub-mm particulates invoked to originate from Unit 3 suggest a lower peak temperature, over a longer duration. Using volcanic analogues, we consider the structural form of this material and how it relates to its environmental particulate stability and the bulk removal of residual materials from the damaged reactors. We conclude that the brittle and angular Unit 3 particulate are more susceptible to further fragmentation and particulate generation hazard than the round, higher-strength, more homogenous Unit 1 material.

Appending a Citation Diversity Statement to a paper is a simple and effective way to increase awareness about citation bias and help mitigate it. Here, we describe why reducing citation bias is important and how to include a Citation Diversity Statement in your next publication.

Task performance is determined not only by the amount of task-relevant signal present in our brains but also by the presence of noise, which can arise from multiple sources. Internal noise, or “trial variability,” manifests as trial-by-trial variations in neural responses under seemingly identical conditions. External factors can also translate into noise, particularly when a task requires extraction of a particular type of information from our environment amid changes in other task-irrelevant “nuisance” parameters. To better understand how signal, trial variability, and nuisance variability combine to determine neural task performance, we explored their interactions, both in simulation and when applied to recorded neural data. This exploration revealed that trial variability is typically larger than a neuron’s task-relevant signal for tasks with fast reaction times, where spike count integration windows are short. In this low signal-to-trial variability regime, nuisance variability has the counterintuitive property of having a negligible impact on single-neuron task performance, even when it dominates the task-relevant signal. The inconsequential impact of nuisance variability on individual neurons also extends to descriptions of population performance, under the assumption that both trial and nuisance variability are uncorrelated between neurons. These results demonstrate that some basic intuitions about neural coding are misguided in the context of a fast-processing, low-spike-count regime. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Many everyday tasks require us to extract specific information from our environment while ignoring other things. When the neurons in our brains that carry task-relevant signals are also modulated by task-irrelevant “nuisance” information, nuisance modulation is expected to act as performance-limiting noise. Using both simulated and recorded neural data, we demonstrate that these intuitions are misguided when the brain operates in a fast-processing, low-spike-count regime, where nuisance variability is largely inconsequential for performance.

Aeroacoustic jet noise theory describes the relationship between acoustic signals and jet operating parameters. Based on empirical aeroacoustic relationships, a link between peak frequency and amplitude and jet diameter and velocity has been used by volcano acousticians to return the operating parameters of column generating volcanic eruptions. There are however significant differences between the nozzle geometries and structures of flows studied in the aeroacoustic literature and flows emitted from volcanic vents. These differences raise questions as to the validity of applying engineering relationships to volcanic eruptions. Combining particle image velocimetry and acoustic data we investigated the flow structures, acoustic signals and dominant source locations of jet flows emitted from three simple nozzle geometries (convergent, straight and divergent). Flows from the straight and divergent nozzles exited in a more developed flow regime than those emitted from convergent nozzles. While for the convergent nozzles dominant sound sources were located within the jet flow, the dominant signals from the straight and divergent nozzles were located in the region of the nozzle exit. Consequently, for the straight and divergent nozzles it was not possible to differentiate between signals generated by the jet flow and those generated by internal sound sources without beamforming analysis. In order to better replicate the volcanic case and in contrast to studies for industrial applications, our experimental test section was not engineered to minimise internal noise. Without acoustic treatment such as screens, choke plates and paddles, jet noise signals were contaminated by signals generated within the test rig and so, even for the convergent nozzles, the aeroacoustic relationships derived from engineering studies could not be used to retrieve the jet operating parameters. Our results indicate that in the volcanic case, the raw acoustic spectra will contain signals generated by both in-conduit and above-vent processes. Therefore inversions for volcanic jet parameters such as mass eruption rate from standard aeroacoustic relationships may be unreliable.