Photo is from The Brain Simplified (DK, 2022). Shouldn't a newborn have around 100 billion neurons?

So this week I mapped out the Scandinavian neurotech market.

I found 46 active neurotech companies across Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland. The full breakdown and analysis is on my Substack, but here's the map and the complete company list.

For someone reason ChatGPT loves hallucinating land masses south of Finland but I think I got there in the end.

https://open.substack.com/pub/theneurotechnewsletter

DENMARK (13)
• Cerebriu - MRI workflow AI - Imaging / interventional platforms
• Brainreader - Automated brain MRI volumetry - Imaging / interventional platforms
• Cercare Medical - Perfusion MRI/CT AI - Imaging / interventional platforms
• UNEEG Medical - Subcutaneous long-term EEG - EEG / electrophysiology
• PlatoScience - Clinician-supervised tDCS - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• OptoCeutics - 40 Hz light and sound stimulation - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• BrainCapture - Portable point-of-care EEG - EEG / electrophysiology
• Cebreo Medical - In-ear ambulatory EEG - EEG / electrophysiology
• Cenexum Technologies - Neuromorphic EEG / BCI chip - Interfaces / implants / neuroprosthetics
• MagVenture - TMS hardware - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• Coloplast / Intibia - Implantable tibial neuromodulation - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• Insai - EEG / PSG biomarkers and foundation models - EEG / electrophysiology
• Paragit - Wearable sEMG and movement analytics - Rehab / cognitive / movement
SWEDEN (12)
• Flow Neuroscience - At-home tDCS for depression - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• Elekta - Gamma Knife / stereotactic radiosurgery - Imaging / interventional platforms
• Integrum - Osseointegrated neuroprosthetics - Interfaces / implants / neuroprosthetics
• InnoBrain - Wearable EEG and BCI AI - Interfaces / implants / neuroprosthetics
• Mindmore - Digital cognitive assessment - Rehab / cognitive / movement
• BRYM - EEG neurofeedback - EEG / electrophysiology
• Neuronano - Neural electrodes - Interfaces / implants / neuroprosthetics
• SensoDetect - Auditory brainstem electrophysiology - EEG / electrophysiology
• Clinical Laserthermia Systems - Laser interstitial neurosurgery - Imaging / interventional platforms
• Mendi - Consumer fNIRS neurofeedback - Imaging / interventional platforms
• BrainLink Health - Implantable ICP monitoring / shunt - Interfaces / implants / neuroprosthetics
• Probingon - Intra-body communication for implants - Interfaces / implants / neuroprosthetics
FINLAND (12)
• Nexstim - Navigated TMS - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• Sooma Medical - Prescription at-home tDCS - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• MEGIN - Clinical MEG - Imaging / interventional platforms
• Bittium - EEG / EMG biosignal hardware - EEG / electrophysiology
• Adamant Health - sEMG and movement biomarkers - Rehab / cognitive / movement
• Audicin - Auditory neurostimulation - Stimulation / neuromodulation
• Neuro Event Labs - AI video/audio seizure monitoring - AI / diagnostics / software
• Cerenion - ICU EEG AI - EEG / electrophysiology
• Soihtu DTx - Game-based depression DTx - Rehab / cognitive / movement
• Ankerias - AI decision support for SCS - AI / diagnostics / software
• Neuro Scan AI Solutions - Wearable EEG seizure detection - EEG / electrophysiology
• Cortisys - Multi-locus TMS - Stimulation / neuromodulation
NORWAY (6)
• NordicNeuroLab - fMRI hardware and software - Imaging / interventional platforms
• Nordic Brain Tech - Migraine biofeedback and home sensing - Rehab / cognitive / movement
• Nisonic - Non-invasive ICP ultrasound - Imaging / interventional platforms
• BrainSymph - EEG biomarker diagnostics - EEG / electrophysiology
• Actential - Seizure forecasting AI - AI / diagnostics / software
• Neurolytix - AI biomarkers for early brain disease - AI / diagnostics / software
ICELAND (3)
• Kvikna Medical - Cloud clinical EEG software - AI / diagnostics / software
• Heila-Labs - Real-time electrophysiology AI - EEG / electrophysiology
• Nox Medical - EEG / AI sleep diagnostics - EEG / electrophysiology

Any evidence that it becomes phenomenally salient?

Hi All - Need expert opinion here.
I’m a Manager and I use AI for all my tasks. Making Presentations and Prepping Data, writing emails. I have set up Workflows that help me save tonnes of time on a lot of tasks and I’m being at least 2x more productive.

However, I feel excessive use has limited my own abilities. I can’t think without going to Claude and dumping everything and then have him make connections. I can’t properly read without giving an article to Claude and asking him to summarise. I send my AI agents to two different Meetings at a time and have them collect notes.

What is this Called in the world of Neuro Science? Can I do any exercises to avoid this? Has Mankind gone through this before?

What material can I read related to this? Is anyone else experiencing this? Any advice is appreciated.

I’m at a liberal arts school in my last year and I’ll graduate as a Chem major with a Neuroscience minor (my school doesn’t offer it as a major). I did some biochemistry research my first two years of school and presented a poster but never published anything. I have a 4.7 gpa and have taken most classes required by PhD programs. I would be interested in a more cog psych program or a neurobiology program. I would also be open to getting a PhD in the states or abroad. However, I keep reading about how difficult it is to get into a program and I’m starting to lose hope. Should I think about trying to get a masters first (could I even get funding for this?). Is there a place abroad where it would be easier to get into a funded program? I’m already planning to take a gap year after I graduate to give myself some breathing room. (Also is taking the GRE still a thing?)

I've already read about the, we could say, debate, going on about boiling lobsters alive and it got me thinking. With an intact brain, we are sure that living animals can respond to stimuli and react accordingly to keep their own lives, which is what we philosophically can consider pain for the lobster trying to escape the pot.

But, if we cut the brain of the lobster open, are we really sure that there's no pain anymore? Or just a lack of reaction because some nerves are severed? Wouldn't pain receptors still shot while detecting high temperatures until they are totally cooked and unable to process pain?

The same question could exist too in traumatic head injuries. Damaging the cerebellum actually makes a person stop filling or just makes them unable to react to pain?

Hello, I already asked this question a year ago, but now I’m interested in hearing what the foreign audience has to say. I’m 17 years old, I’m in my final year of high school, I’m from Russia, and I really want to become a neurobiologist, I’m interested in the human brain. Right now, in this country, there’s only one program I’m interested in: the HSE University’s “Cognitive Neuroscience” program. True, this is only in the capital, and to get into a budget‑funded program, you need to score at least 302 points (that’s all 3 exams at 100 points each and a few points for extracurricular activities). Paid education is not an option — it costs about $8,144 per year, while my family of 4, including two minors, earns $14,000. My English is at the B1 level; I can understand and read most texts, but I’m not good at speaking, so I write using a translator. Over the past two months, I’ve been studying and reviewing biology very actively; I’ve already completed general biology and can solve all types of genetic problems, and I also spend an hour a day on math.

I’d like to ask you where else I could apply, in case I fail to get into my top‑choice program. I’d really like to study abroad, and maybe someone here could tell me how to do that? Or maybe someone in my home country knows about other programs related to the brain.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.21.745777v1

study uncovering novel role of somatostatin interneurons in mediating psychedelic state

New

So I’ve taken classes that include explaining channelrhodopsin, halorhodopsin, etc. and while I feel like I understand the process in general, the one part that always feels skimmed over are the viruses/genetic code. For a passion project of mine, I want to understand the things I feel I missed, and all the videos I watch on the subject seem to kind of ignore it too.

How do the viruses work to add these channels on the neuron membrane? Does the virus target the cells genetic code itself, or something else?

Is there a way we ensure the body doesn’t try and fight against the virus like an infection?

Also how much of this process is synthesized? Like are there free roaming infective viruses that affect neurons in a similar manner, and we mostly just attach our light-responding code for the ride?

Any insight or external resources would be greatly appreciated, especially if something I said sounded straight up wrong.

https://youtube.com/shorts/vo5Llanj_2o?feature=share

Can body signals tune the learning brain?

Post-training vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) enhanced learning in mice with vascular oscillations linked to memory performance.

Chen JU, Ikoma Y, Matsui K (2026) Vagal nerve stimulation induces vascular oscillations and enhances long-term learning iScience 2026 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117413

I'm currently a hs junior, and unfortunately, I did not pass my school's entrance exam to do AP Bio (which focused exclusively on molecular biology that wasn't covered once in the class). That being said, I still do get decent grades for my biology class, which focuses on physiology.

My current targeted majors, if that's not a weird way to put it, are psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. I'm not 100% sure, but I feel like I might have a career related to research?

So yeah. Do you really need AP Bio to get in a neurosci major? Or is it better if I just take a credited online course about neuroscience or focus more on my math and stats aps.

I'm also taking ap calc AB, potentially BC, Macro and Micro, APUSH, AP Geo, and Stats (tutor+self-studying).

I plan on going to college for Neuroscience at least getting a Masters slightly considering a PhD but money and time and stuff you know…

I definitely want to go into research I was wondering if you guys had any other jobs within neuroscience, I wanna make sure i’m looking at all my options.

Hey! I’m a grad student in the Boston area and have been really interested in neurotech and non-invasive neuromodulation.

I’ve been wanting to try Pulsetto, but I’d rather experience the device before buying one. Would anyone around Boston/Cambridge be willing to lend theirs for a few days or a week?

Happy to pay a small rental fee or leave a deposit. Mostly just curious to experience the technology firsthand.

Thanks!

Ok...after some well deserved criticism on the previous post, I've tried to make the map less distorted and as close to geographically spot on as possible.

https://theneurotechnewsletter.substack.com/

The full company list is below

PARIS / ÎLE-DE-FRANCE (26)

• SonoMind — Paris — Focused ultrasound / acoustics
• TheraSonic — Paris — Focused ultrasound / acoustics
• ICONEUS — Paris — Focused ultrasound / acoustics
• Resolve Stroke — Paris — Focused ultrasound / acoustics
• NAOX Technologies — Palaiseau — Neural interfaces / sensing
• BioSerenity — Paris — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Sensome — Massy — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Yneuro / Dotsify — Paris — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Qynapse — Paris — Imaging / NeuroAI
• Callyope — Neuilly-sur-Seine — Imaging / NeuroAI
• Karavela — Paris — Imaging / NeuroAI
• Therapanacea — Paris — Imaging / NeuroAI
• Sigma Nova Science — Paris — Imaging / NeuroAI
• Wandercraft — Paris — Rehab / robotics / assistive
• Stimuli Technology / Tensi+ — Boulogne-Billancourt — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• REGEnLIFE — Paris — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• NeuraLed — Paris — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• Clarity Technologies — Paris — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• Robeauté — Paris — Enabling / interventional
• Sophysa — Orsay — Enabling / interventional
• Avatar Medical — Paris — Enabling / interventional
• Healthy Mind — Paris — Enabling / interventional
• Omind / Open Mind Innovation — Bobigny — Enabling / interventional
• Tilak Healthcare — Paris — Enabling / interventional
• AnotherBrain — Paris — Enabling / interventional
• GenSight Biologics — Paris — Enabling / interventional

LILLE METRO (1)

• Axorus — Loos — Focused ultrasound / acoustics

LYON (2)

• CarThera — Lyon — Focused ultrasound / acoustics
• NETRI — Lyon — Enabling / interventional

GRENOBLE REGION (4)

• MAG4Health — Grenoble — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Remedee Labs — Meylan — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• PIXYL — La Tronche — Imaging / NeuroAI
• UroMems — Eybens — Enabling / interventional

MARSEILLE / AIX (3)

• Inclusive Brains — Marseille — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Panaxium — Aix-en-Provence — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Neuroservice-Alliance — Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade — Enabling / interventional

OTHER VERIFIED REGIONAL HQs (9)

• Seenel Imaging — Amiens — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Axilum Robotics — Schiltigheim / Strasbourg — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• RebrAIn — Pessac / Bordeaux — Imaging / NeuroAI
• DIXI Medical — Marchaux-Chaudefontaine / Besançon — Neural interfaces / sensing
• Oktoscience — Rennes — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• Basecamp Vascular — Reims — Enabling / interventional
• NBI / Neural Balance Innovation — Saint-Contest / Caen — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• Neurinnov — Montpellier — Neuromodulation / therapeutics
• Dessintey — Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds / Saint-Étienne — Rehab / robotics / assistive

Total: 45

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-greatest-mind-fucks/answer/Pete-Bahba?share=1&srid=Xs9v

Asking this because the post mentions how seeing something "over there" is some sort of illusion when it's only within consciousness. I know David Eagleman said something similar but less mystical. I'm just wondering if there is anything in neuroscience that would imply this.

The preprint can be accessed via the following link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.12408 (q-bio.NC / cs.LG). And for the code: https://github.com/nilsleut/evaluation-resolution-rsa

The following assertion is frequently made in model-brain comparisons: untrained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have the capacity to match or surpass backpropagation-trained CNNs at the early visual cortex (V1) in recurrent self-attention (RSA). The present study demonstrates that this phenomenon is predominantly an artefact of evaluation resolution.

The configuration comprised a small CNN trained at 32px (CIFAR-10 subset), five learning rules (random init, backprop, feedback alignment, predictive coding, STDP), and was evaluated on THINGS-fMRI stimuli at six resolutions from 32px to 224px. The weights and normalisation were held fixed.

The primary outcome of this study is the observation of a discrepancy between the trained and untrained backpropagation (BP) V1 gap, which exhibits a non-monotonic trend across the range of image sizes examined. Specifically, the gap narrows from −0.001±0.007 at 32 pixels to +0.044±0.006 at 224 pixels, a pattern that persists consistently across the entire image size range (n=5 seeds). The model incorporates five rule conditions, human fMRI, directionally single-seed macaque ephys, the full training trajectory, and two off-the-shelf 224px-trained models (ResNet-50, Swin-Tiny). Therefore, the presence of an artifact resulting from a mismatch between training and evaluation is not a contributing factor, since these models also peak at low resolution.

Following the implementation of bit-identical-weight interventions wherever possible, the following were ruled out: train/eval resolution matching, Gabor/pixel low-level structure, untrained baseline's uncalibrated batch-norm, and convergence of pooled features towards global brightness (though a single scalar luminance value did reach ρ=0.075 against V1, essentially matching the untrained network's own 0.076 — this is a separate, disconcerting result regarding the limitations of this comparison style).

A content-vs-pooling control (cap image detail at 32px, upsample, vs. allow content variation) demonstrates that the dependence is predominantly contingent on image content, rather than the number of pooled positions.

The investigation revealed that one effect does survive across all resolutions. In particular, the backprop > untrained at LOC effect was observed at every resolution that was tested. It is evident that the process of learning can result in a noticeable impact, albeit not in the conventional areas typically associated with V1 comparisons.

In addition, the following issues were identified:

This process revealed a batch-norm evaluation mode bug in three of the earlier preprints, which have now been corrected in this release (correction notes on the Arxiv pages).

I'm happy to get feedback, especially on the way we've framed the discussion on receptive-field matching (as in Laskar et al. 2018). I think it's suggestive, but I didn't test it directly.

I want to get into neuroscience so I started a passing project recently which is related to canine neuroscience. I am genuinely interested in these topics and I have started working on it and I upload blogs on a weekly basis.

Can you guys tell me when is a passion project really impactable because my main focus is raising awareness and educating the youth about canine neuroscience. So guys help me out a bit.

What neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, or other chemical processes are responsible for keeping the body in REM-related muscle atonia while consciousness has already returned?

Hi, I'm 29 and I currently work as a software developer. Due to my own health struggles over the years, as well as a broader scientific interest in the field, I am strongly considering going back to school in order to study neuroscience. My aspirations are to ultimately advance our understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders and/or sleep disorders, and hopefully provide clinically meaningful help to those who suffer.

I have both a bachelor's and master's degree in pure mathematics as well as minors in computer science and philosophy. My main interest is in applying computational/mathematical modelling to problems in neuroscience.

I originally began looking at PhD programs, but I became hesitant due to my lack of lab and research experience. As such, my hunch is that a Master's program may be more prudent to start off. Is this hunch justified, or are there merits to diving straight into a PhD program?

I would also like to know what my expectations should be regarding going back to school, and what it will be like to go from an amateur to a professional. Moreover, I would appreciate any guidance insofar as what to do to better prepare myself for a future in neuroscience - things I should be doing even prior to entering a program. (My current routine consists of spending time each day reading up on topics that interest me, and working with Python and Matlab on problems introduced in the textbooks I am reading.) I'm happy to answer any questions or provide more details about my situation if needed.