The remarkable progress in neural-network-driven visual data generation, especially with neural rendering techniques like Neural Radiance Fields and 3DGaussian splatting, offers a powerful alternative to GANs and diffusion models. These methods can generate high-fidelity images and lifelike avatars, highlighting the need for robust detection methods. However, the lack of any large dataset containing images from neural rendering methods becomes a bottleneck for the detection of such sophisticated fake images. To address this limitation, we introduce NeuroRenderedFake, a comprehensive benchmark for evaluating emerging fake image detection methods. Our key contributions are threefold: (1) A large-scale dataset of fake images synthesized using state-of-the-art neural rendering techniques, significantly expanding the scope of fake image detection beyond generative models; (2) A cross-domain evaluation protocol designed to assess the domain gap and common artifacts between generative and neural rendering-based fake images; and (3) An in-depth spectral energy analysis that reveals how frequency domain characteristics influence the performance of fake image detectors. We train representative detectors, based on spatial, spectral, and multimodal architectures, on fake images generated by both generative and neural rendering models. We evaluate these detectors on 15 groups of fake images synthesized by cutting-edge neural rendering models, generative models, and combined methods that can exhibit artifacts from both domains. Additionally, we provide insightful findings through detailed experiments on degraded fake image detection and the impact of spectral features, aiming to advance research in this critical area.

In recent years, the alignment between artificial neural network (ANN) embeddings and blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) via neural encoding models has significantly advanced research on neural representation mechanisms and interpretability in the brain. However, these approaches remain limited in characterizing the brain's inherently nonlinear response properties. To address this, we propose the Jacobianbased Nonlinearity Evaluation (JNE), an interpretability metric for nonlinear neural encoding models. JNE quantifies nonlinearity by statistically measuring the dispersion of local linear mappings (Jacobians) from model representations to predicted BOLD responses, thereby approximating the nonlinearity of BOLD signals. Centered on proposing JNE as a novel interpretability metric, we validated its effectiveness through controlled simulation experiments on various activation functions and network architectures, and further verified it on real fMRI data, demonstrating a hierarchical progression of nonlinear characteristics from primary to higher-order visual cortices, consistent with established cortical organization. We further extended JNE with Sample-Specificity (JNE-SS), revealing stimulus-selective nonlinear response patterns in functionally specialized brain regions. As the first interpretability metric for quantifying nonlinear responses, JNE provides new insights into brain information processing.

Translating brain activity into meaningful visual content has long been recognized as a fundamental challenge in neuroscience and brain-computer interface research. Recent advances in EEG-based neural decoding have shown promise, yet two critical limitations remain in this area: poor generalization across subjects and constraints to specific visual tasks. We introduce NEED, the first unified framework achieving zero-shot cross-subject and cross-task generalization for EEG-based visual reconstruction. Our approach addresses three fundamental challenges: (1) cross-subject variability through an Individual Adaptation Module pretrained on multiple EEG datasets to normalize subject-specific patterns, (2) limited spatial resolution and complex temporal dynamics via a dual-pathway architecture capturing both low-level visual dynamics and high-level semantics, and (3) task specificity constraints through a unified inference mechanism adaptable to different visual domains. For video reconstruction, NEED achieves better performance than existing methods. Importantly, Our model maintains 93.7% of within-subject classification performance and 92.4% of visual reconstruction quality when generalizing to unseen subjects, while achieving an SSIM of 0.352 when transferring directly to static image reconstruction without fine-tuning, demonstrating how neural decoding can move beyond subject and task boundaries toward truly generalizable brain-computer interfaces.

The remarkable progress in neural-network-driven visual data generation, especially with neural rendering techniques like Neural Radiance Fields and 3D Gaussian splatting, offers a powerful alternative to GANs and diffusion models. These methods can generate high-fidelity images and lifelike avatars, highlighting the need for robust detection methods. However, the lack of any large dataset containing images from neural rendering methods becomes a bottleneck for the detection of such sophisticated fake images. To address this limitation, we introduce NeuroRenderedFake, a comprehensive benchmark for evaluating emerging fake image detection methods. Our key contributions are threefold: (1) A large-scale dataset of fake images synthesized using state-of-the-art neural rendering techniques, significantly expanding the scope of fake image detection beyond generative models; (2) A cross-domain evaluation protocol designed to assess the domain gap and common artifacts between generative and neural rendering-based fake images; and (3) An in-depth spectral energy analysis that reveals how frequency domain characteristics influence the performance of fake image detectors. We train representative detectors, based on spatial, spectral, and multimodal architectures, on fake images generated by both generative and neural rendering models. We evaluate these detectors on 15 groups of fake images synthesized by cutting-edge neural rendering models, generative models, and combined methods that can exhibit artifacts from both domains. Additionally, we provide insightful findings through detailed experiments on degraded fake image detection and the impact of spectral features, aiming to advance research in this critical area.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) promise to enable vital functions, such as speech and prosthetic control, for individuals with neuromotor impairments. Central to their success are neural decoders, models that map neural activity to intended behavior. Current learning-based decoding approaches fall into two classes: simple, causal models that lack generalization, or complex, non-causal models that generalize and scale offline but struggle in real-time settings. Both face a common challenge, their reliance on power-hungry artificial neural network backbones, which makes integration into real-world, resource-limited systems difficult.

In recent years, the alignment between artificial neural network (ANN) embeddings and blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) via neural encoding models has significantly advanced research on neural representation mechanisms and interpretability in the brain. However, these approaches remain limited in characterizing the brain's inherently nonlinear response properties. To address this, we propose the Jacobian-based Nonlinearity Evaluation (JNE), an interpretability metric for nonlinear neural encoding models. JNE quantifies nonlinearity by statistically measuring the dispersion of local linear mappings (Jacobians) from model representations to predicted BOLD responses, thereby approximating the nonlinearity of BOLD signals. Centered on proposing JNE as a novel interpretability metric, we validated its effectiveness through controlled simulation experiments on various activation functions and network architectures, and further verified it on real fMRI data, demonstrating a hierarchical progression of nonlinear characteristics from primary to higher-order visual cortices, consistent with established cortical organization. We further extended JNE with Sample-Specificity (JNE-SS), revealing stimulus-selective nonlinear response patterns in functionally specialized brain regions. As the first interpretability metric for quantifying nonlinear responses, JNE provides new insights into brain information processing.

Molecular Representation Learning (MRL) has emerged as a powerful tool for drug and materials discovery in a variety of tasks such as virtual screening and inverse design. While there has been a surge of interest in advancing modelcentric techniques, the influence of both data quantity and quality on molecular representations is not yet clearly understood within this field.

Representing 3D scenes from multiview images remains a core challenge in computer vision and graphics, requiring both reliable rendering and reconstruction, which often conflicts due to the mismatched prioritization of image quality over precise underlying scene geometry. Although both neural implicit surfaces and explicit Gaussian primitives have advanced with neural rendering techniques, current methods impose strict constraints on density fields or primitive shapes, which enhances the affinity for geometric reconstruction at the sacrifice of rendering quality. To address this dilemma, we introduce GSDF, a dual-branch architecture combining 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) and neural Signed Distance Fields (SDF). Our approach leverages mutual guidance and joint supervision during the training process to mutually enhance reconstruction and rendering. Specifically, our method guides the Gaussian primitives to locate near potential surfaces and accelerates the SDF convergence. This implicit mutual guidance ensures robustness and accuracy in both synthetic and real-world scenarios. Experimental results demonstrate that our method boosts the SDF optimization process to reconstruct more detailed geometry, while reducing floaters and blurry edge artifacts in rendering by aligning Gaussian primitives with the underlying geometry.

While neural rendering techniques have made significant strides in driving scenarios, existing methods are primarily designed for videos collected by autonomous vehicles. However, these videos are limited in both quantity and diversity compared to dash cam videos, which are more widely used across various types of vehicles and capture a broader range of scenarios. Dash cam videos often suffer from severe obstructions such as reflections and occlusions on the windshields, which significantly impede the application of neural rendering techniques. To address this challenge, we develop DC-Gaussian based on the recent real-time neural rendering technique 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS). Our approach includes an adaptive image decomposition module to model reflections and occlusions in a unified manner. Additionally, we introduce illumination-aware obstruction modeling to manage reflections and occlusions under varying lighting conditions. Lastly, we employ a geometry-guided Gaussian enhancement strategy to improve rendering details by incorporating additional geometry priors. Experiments on self-captured and public dash cam videos show that our method not only achieves state-of-the-art performance in novel view synthesis, but also accurately reconstructing captured scenes getting rid of obstructions.