Recovery

One thing is true with any goal you set. There will be setbacks. I experienced a small setback this week as work and life picked up and I couldn't escape to my computer to write a couple sentences. However, I am back at it, and I actually don't feel bad about it. My goal now is beat my last streak of days where I was able to write everyday. It is being able to better schedule myself and plan the content out ahead of time. Thinking about the recovery, and the potential I have to continue where I left off quickly alleviated any disappointment I had by not being able to put my thoughts into text this time around.

Some things I look forward to writing about are:

1. Recovery (check)

2. Progress using the pomodoro method

3. Fmri Analysis

4. Acknowledgements for my thesis 

5. Getting my own place in houston

6. Continuing the fictional story I started writing a couple weeks back

7. The boondocks comic strip



Let the writing continue.

The pomodoro technique

The pomodoro technique is a study technique developed by an italian engineer Francesco Cirillo in the 80s, but I'm pretty sure that the basis for the technique has been around for a long time. Basically the concept is that you set a timer, and work undistracted for the duration of that timer. This is followed by a short break, then another work session. You work on a task for four work sessions before taking a long break. Usually when beginning, I start with 15 minutes work sessions and 3 minute short breaks. I also write down questions and distractions and deal with them later. As I get better I stretch the sessions out to 25 minutes.

At various times in my life I have tried to use this technique and to varying degrees of success it has worked. For example it works well for thesis writing, paper writing, studying for tests (combined with some other methods like reviewing what you learned in the worm sessions) and data analysis. The technique does not work so well for me when reading, coding ( it's hard to break the flow) or learning new methods.

The hardest parts about implmenting the technique are:

1) remaining undistracted
2) sticking to the short break times

This brings me to my challenge for the upcoming week. I want to be able to carve out 12 pomodoro sessions of 20 minutes per day and stick with it!!

Peer-reviewed journal articles are the perfect business

Think about it. If you own a peer-reviewed journal I want to be you. If you explain the peer-review system to anyone outside of academia it doesn't make sense. In fact, it makes us look like suckers. Not just suckers but unjust pretentious suckers. In my ends we have a word for this, but I want to maintain positivity.

Here is what I mean, an overview: Scientist conduct research, put many hours into doing this research, piloting experiments, conducting field work etc... At the end, sometimes after years and many person-hours of work, an article reporting the results of the experiments is written and submitted to a scientific journal. The work is then reviewed by others in the field to ensure rigour and quality. The reviewers (who also work for free) provide anonymous comments to the authors (which is another huge issue- but for another time). If the reviewers think the article has merit, then revisions are completed and eventually the manuscript reaches a point where it can be accepted for publication (in the best of cases).

What happens next is what is funny. The journal, without supporting the work or the people who did the work, then publishes the work along and obtains copyright on the article. They then charge exorbitant subscription fees to institutions for access to the work. At this point only a few select people have access to the completed work in its final form. This is Genius! Think about it - reviewers, authors, and sometimes editors are not supported by the journal. While there are some costs associated with post-productions, delivery, and the maintenance of online submission and revision systems, I am willing to bet publishers still make a healthy profit. This is messed up.

What's even more messed up is that, in some cases researchers and students are largely supported by public funds- that means my work was paid for by taxpayers (through the school and scholarships). Therefore when I submit to a journal- the people who supported the work now have to pay again to see it. Furthermore, they want embargos on anything that is published containing the same work (like a thesis). And I almost got one! I've made up my mind however- forget your embargo son!!- I'mma let the people see what they paid for (don't worry I did some technical stuff so I'm protected- shout out to my law crew, and get at me).

New project: Life as a playlist- 2018

Okay, so our auditory and memory systems may be linked to memory. Although this might be a logical fallacy (see previous post) it is fun to think of your life in timelines. But what if you think of your life in terms of a playlist. When I listen to songs, I tend to remember situations that surrounded me when I was listening to that song. You put these songs together and you have a playlist of emotions that defines a time in your life. If you have access to a spotify/ streaming music service and wondered what my 2018 looked like - well here it is:


1. Know no better- major lazer

2. Run Up - major lazer

3. Rolex - Ayo and Teo

4. Thinking about you - Calvin Harris

5. Story of OJ - JayZ

6. To U - Skrillex and Diplo

7. Miss You - Tory Lanez

8. Slide- Calvin Harris

9. Angels - Chance the Rapper

10. Gods Plan - Drake

11. Congratulations - Post Malone

12. Freaky- Friday - lil dicky

13. Playin wit me - Kyle and Kehlani

14. Wrote my way out - Nas

15. I see fire - Ed Sheeran

16. No problems  - Chance the rapper

17. Do what I want - Lil Uzi Vert

18. Particula - major lazer

19. Lost- Major Lazer

20. Ikuyo- Kyle

21. Brocolli - DRAM

22. I spy - Kyle

23. Mixtape- Chance the rapper

24. In my feelings - Drake

25. Good life- Kanye West

26. Sunflower - Post Malone

Logical Fallacies in Neuroscience (Neuroimaging) Research

So last night I spent time reviewing an article. I previously wrote some code for the analysis of these data. The code was designed to compute average source activities in different regions of interest. Source localization of EEG data involves computing the possible cortical sources of electrical activity seen at EEG electrodes. Source localization tries to solve an inverse problem using different mathematical methods. A great description of sources localization procedures could be found here.

EEG Source localization from one of my thesis studies.

As I made my way through the article, I realized something was off. Only after reading about fmri analysis (and the pitfalls) was I able to actually express what was wrong. So here it is. Many of the arguments we make in neuroimaging research are logical fallacies. The flaws in logic stem from two interconnected but separate ideas. The first idea is forward inference- that is, we induce some change and that change results in the activation of some areas of the brain. The second idea is reverse inference, that is, we see some activity in an area of the brain and based on the pattern of activity we say that a certain behaviour is occurring.


Both forward and reverse inferences are possible, and they can be expressed in relation to on another. The logical fallacy occurs when we take a forward inference from an experiment and then argue for using the evidence we obtained using statements that refer to a reverse inference.  An example of this is:

We found increased activity in the PPC when participants moved toward a visual targets. Increased PPC activity is associated visual processing and thus is  related to the encoding of space in a visual extrinsic reference frame. This activity thus could be related to the encoding of space in a visual reference frame when making movements to visual targets. 

This isn't as bad as some others- maybe because it is based on my work 😉. However, there is still something wrong here the increase in PPC activity was found when moving to targets. This last statement links processes associated with the activation to the behaviour. In isolation, this is an error in logic because there is an assumption that the function associated with the activity is directly linked to the behaviour that caused the activity. Although if you look at the results I chose to present, there is nothing indicating that this is the case.

This argument is just as flawed as saying: Dogs likes ice cream, Marlo likes ice cream. Therefore, Marlo is a dog.


This example was taken from a lecture on fmri data analysis- Principles of fmri analysis 1

101 ways to a better life: Be Goofy

I just finished reading 101 ways to better life (shout out to Cindy) for the book. I highly recommend reading it, it was insightful and real. The author is humble the poet, a local artist and rapper from Toronto. His style of writing is really cool, and each chapter contains short messages that are designed to boost you up and bring you back to reality. I don't want to spoil much of it, because I do think it is a book all people should check out. Here is the link for buying, and there are a few copies in the library!


The Last Chapter of the book, Humble encourages you to write something, your own way that you would share with the world. First I thought about writing a piece about coming back, about taking hits and then recovering. I started writing it and although it was cool and it has great personal significance, it didn't feel totally like me. Then I felt like writing about the importance of knowing owning up to things, and the lessons I learned about accepting the consequences of your choices. Again, same thing although I felt it, I didn't quite feel it. Last, I thought about the importance of showing gratitude and being there for the people you care about. This piece resulted in me making thinking about all the people I have to apologize to and contact. But again, same thing - I wasn't truly feeling it. After some thought I came up with the piece.


May way to a better life: Be Goofy

We spend so much time suppressing the quirks that make us who we are. This is not cool. I'm here to tell you one of my ways to a better life is to be quirky, embrace all your quirks, all of your quarks, and all of your quacks. A lot of life is serious, and a lot of what we do is serious, I'm not saying it's not good to be professional or serious about the many serious things. I'm saying that very few things are that serious, and most of the serious stuff is only serious because other people who don't give a crap about us make it serious.

I say that when you feel like it, forget the serious stuff and be goofy. You feel like playing tag on campus - do it! Physical activity is good for you! If you feel like convincing your family members to joke around on a guided tour-do it! You will create a lasting memory.  You feel like repeatedly stealing a coat-rack from the next office- do it! You could make a great friend that way (or end up with a coat rack). You feel like incorporating a Drake lyric into your weekly updates - do it! You could help relax a tense meeting mood. You feel like leaving a voicemail that is nothing kanye's newest song- do it! It'll show your homie you care and you're there fore them. You feel like leaving sticky notes on a co-workes desk,  setting a screenshot as a friend's computer background, or doing a random (unsolicited) guest post on your homie's insta- do it. Just because.

Being silly is good for you, I have made many great friends, many great memories, and got a coat-rack just because I wanted to be goofy. Sometimes it was not appreciated, but most of the times it was. Life is pretty short, and it should be fun :-D

Those moments....

You know the ones. It is those moments where you feel like man this if for real. They happen when things are really good, when things are really bad, when you're in a game, when you're making a change, and when something is quickly coming up, or when it is time to finally come clean. It's like in wolf on wall street when theh finally caught him. It's like when you're planning those events and then the day off happens. I love those moments. They are moments that help you live in the present. To realize everything is right now. You can no longer contemplate the past, and you don't know enough to worry about the future. You realize that what it is is now, what it was doesn't really count, and what it will be you can't predict. The last time I had one of those moments was today... I changed my phone number and realized I'm here now. I'm here. I wish y'all a life filled with those moments.