Sangyu Xu 徐桑榆
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Sangyu Xu
Sangyu Xu 徐桑榆

Computational Behaviour Scientist

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I’m a computational behavior scientist modeling complex behavior and physiology systems. I specialize in neuromodulation, longitudinal behavior and physiology tracking, learning mechanisms, estimation statistics, large-dimensional data analysis and visualization, reproducible analysis workflows, and I think about AI agent workflows and evaluation. My work asks how we infer hidden states from noisy, high-dimensional evidence. Hunger, satiety, impulsivity, attention, social influence, and model capability are not directly visible.

I am currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Adam Claridge-Chang Lab. Previously I was a PhD student at the Tonegawa Lab at MIT.

Recent

  • Jul 2026Ethomics paper posted to bioRxiv.
  • Apr 2026LSSmScarlet3 paper posted to bioRxiv.
  • Mar 2026Octopamine-driven feeding paper posted to bioRxiv.
  • Jan 2026DABEST 2.0 paper posted to bioRxiv.

Read This Now · Neuroscience · Methods

What Is a Hungry Fly?

Clustering ethomics phenovectors

When one metric lies, the whole behavioral profile tells the truth.

A hungry fly does not only eat more. It searches differently, climbs differently, loiters near food differently, takes bigger meals, and changes how it moves after eating. Hunger and satiety are coordinated internal states, expressed across many behavioral dimensions at once.

Read essay bioRxiv

DABEST delta-delta estimation graphic

Statistics · Visualization

Getting Over ANOVA

See the effect, not just the P value.

Read essay Demo

Whorlmap grid visualization

Visualization · Uncertainty

Whorlmap: An Uncertainty-aware Heatmap

An uncertainty-aware heatmap cell that keeps the distribution visible.

Read essay Project

Lanting state graph for an LLM writing loop

AI Workflows · Evaluation

Four Agents, No Ground Truth

Designing an inspectable loop for scientific judgment, critique, and repair.

Read essay Repo

Pregnancy state space from Apple Watch data

Quantified Self · Measurement

Pregnancy according to My Apple Watch

Health is multidimensional; recovery is not a single number.

Read essay

 

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