Thoughts on what I learned at SfN this year

Let me take a moment to share with you some of the things I have learned at SfN 2016 (beyond all the exciting science), in the hope that you find this useful.

• Social media matters like never before. Some of the most robust discussions in our field (triggered by a tweet by the NIMH director) occurred during the meeting on Twitter. While the Frohlich Lab has a twitter feed (with a modest ~200 followers), we have not yet fully engaged in scientific conversations this way but I definitely understand its role much better know. And of course, our presidential election (no politics on this website) has made - I think - the same point about the importance of social media. Myabe I am the last person on earth to fully grasp this?
• Scouts from industry are everywhere and neuroscientists are incredibly open and happy to share their exciting results, often perhaps not realizing whom they are talking to and how their publicly funded work is of potential value to companies. I was told by several representatives of companies that they are shocked how forthcoming neuroscientists are and how easy it is for the companies to get hot new information from going to posters at SfN. I am not sure how to best handle this since I think that openness really makes our community special. I also feel that there is also substantial value of collaborating with industry, as I have started to do with my new neurotechnology company, Pulvinar Neuro. A new and exciting dimension to explore!
• We still do not value and cherish enough negative results as normal part of the scientific discovery process. Both "hiding" negative results and "overinterpreting" negative results should be avoided. For example, a single negative result should clearly not be interpreted as the end of an entire area of research. Also, negative results should be presented and published. My student who presented a negative result got explicit praise for presenting a very well-done, but negative study. There is hope!

Please comment below to share your thoughts and insights into how the (neuro-)scientific landscape is changing and how we can deal with it to advance science and humanity!