🚨 New preprint out! 🚨 We’ve spent years assuming liberals and conservatives prioritize fundamentally different moral values—and designing persuasive messages based on that assumption. Our data suggest there's more to the story, and that making that assumption can backfire.

🚨 HIRING! 🚨 Are you passionate about using science to help society? We’re hiring a Civic Science Fellow to develop civically oriented projects on topics like climate and health comms, civic engagement and climate action, and social connection and resilience. Apply here: tinyurl.com/CCDCivicScience

Recruiting participants aged 18-35 that can come to Penn's campus for a 2-session study! Fill out the screening survey here: tinyurl.com/neuronewsinfo

Check out Emily's interview on @whyy.org's "The Pulse" where she discusses why nurturing connections is essential for health and wellbeing: whyy.org/episodes/wha...

Why Nurturing Connection is Good for Your Health

What new research shows about why relationships matter, and how to prioritize them amid life’s competing demands.

whyy.org

Emily discusses how different regions of the brain shape the big and small decisions we make every day with Marty Moss-Coane on @whyy.org. Listen to the podcast here: whyy.org/episodes/the...

The Neuroscience of decision-making - WHYY

Why don’t we always prioritize what matters most—like making time for family and friends or fitting in a workout during a busy day? Emily Falk believes that understanding how our brain works can help ...

whyy.org

It was a delight to share insights from our research on youth voting with @asc.upenn.edu on behalf of my fabulous collaborators @curse10.bsky.social @asinclair.bsky.social @diegoreinero.bsky.social @falklab.bsky.social!

Annenberg School at Penn@asc.upenn.edu · 9mo ago

Annenberg researcher @dcosme.bsky.social examines ways to motivate and support youth to vote. We spoke to her about a recent commentary she and her team wrote on how to support youth in overcoming voting barriers:

🚨📣 We’re recruiting a postdoc! 📣🚨 Are you curious about how the environments in which people spend time influence their health? Are you motivated by research that promotes climate action, resilience, and wellbeing? Read more and apply here: www.asc.upenn.edu/node/5905

Postdoctoral Researcher

asc.upenn.edu

Young voters played a key role in elections across the country last week. It’s fantastic to see record turnout in so many communities AND we still have so much room to grow! For ideas on how to motivate and support youth to vote check out our new commentary: osf.io/kyzh9_v1 Key points in 🧵

🗳️📣Happy election day!! What motivates young people to vote? In a new preprint, we share key findings from our collaboration with undergraduate students where we developed and tested a theory-guided GOTV messaging campaign doi.org/10.31234/osf... (1/5)

Recruiting PhD students for Fall 2026! The Coupled Minds Lab at @tamu.bsky.social will use a multimodal approach combining fMRI hyperscanning, computational modeling, and natural language processing to study how conversations transform minds. Learn more: coupled-minds.github.io Due Date Dec 1

Researchers from Annenberg's @falklab.bsky.social have found that smokers report higher levels of craving and smoked more cigarettes on days when their exposure to tobacco retail is higher:

How Tobacco Retail Exposure Impacts Smoking Behavior

asc.upenn.edu

@falklab.bsky.social wrote a nice summary of our hyperscanning work on how people form social connection and find agreement through conversation: www.scientificamerican.com/article/good...

Good Conversations Don’t Require Everybody to Agree, Neuroscience Shows

Brain imaging is illuminating the patterns linked to productive, positive dialogue, and those insights could help people connect with others

scientificamerican.com

Penn has launched a new website to share climate insights, available to PennKey holders. Our post-doc @asinclair.bsky.social and Emily shared their first insight here: climateinsights.upenn.edu/insights/wha...

Reminder: BCFG is co-hosting a conversation between @katymilkman.bsky.social & Team Scientist Emily Falk on her new book. @falklab.bsky.social 📅 TOMORROW, Sept 10 | 4–5:30PM 📍 The Agora, Annenberg Public Policy Center Co-hosted with @appc.upenn.edu, @asc.upenn.edu, @pennmindcore.bsky.social

📢 Our awesome post-doc is recruiting for her Learning & Behavior Change Lab! 📢

Allie Sinclair@asinclair.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🌟 Excited to share that I'm recruiting PhD students in Psychology for my new lab at Rice University this cycle (Signal boost appreciated!) To learn more, check out the Learning & Behavior Change Lab website: www.sinclairlab-rice.com Applications are due Dec 1st: psychology.rice.edu/graduate/pro...

Check on Emily's episode on the Hidden Brain podcast where she talks about how we can regain control over our decisions! @hiddenbrain.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Winning the Battle Against Yourself

Podcast Episode · Hidden Brain · 09/08/2025 · 53m

podcasts.apple.com

In this @pnas.org Letter, we respond to a comment on our paper about behavioral interventions to motivate action on climate change. In new analyses exploring individual differences, we find that our leading interventions were effective across the political spectrum. 🧵⤵️ www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

Emily joins Matt Abrahams on "Think Fast Talk Smart: The Podcast" to discuss insights on relevance, storytelling, and what makes our brains sync up during great conversations. Watch/listen here: www.fastersmarter.io/guests/emily...

Check out Emily's op-ed for @nytimes.com on how small shifts in how we think can help us make choices that are better aligned with our values! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/o...

Opinion | Here Is the Science of Why You Doomscroll

nytimes.com

In this letter in @pnas.org, we respond to a comment on our recent paper. Although multiple factors shape whether we act on our intentions, intentions are valuable precursors of behavior that can guide the iterative development of behavior change interventions. www.pnas.org/doi/epub/10....

@sciam.bsky.social spoke with Emily for a What We Value Q&A! Check out their discussion here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/to-m...

To Make Better Choices, Understand How Your Brain Processes Values

The brain weighs factors based on their importance to oneself and one’s social world as part of a complex calculation that shapes behavior

scientificamerican.com

There is currently a lot of polarization about how we should think about what's right and wrong!💡 Neuroscientist Emily Falk drops some serious wisdom in our recent interview: bit.ly/emilyfalkdecisions

Watch or listen to Emily's Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim on the Behavioral Grooves Podcast, where they discuss real-world applications for the insights in What We Value! Find it here: behavioralgrooves.com/episode/the-...

Another great What We Value conversation, this time with Emily and Kerri Miller on @mprnews.org! Have a listen: www.mprnews.org/episode/2025...

Phenomenal health communication research panel hosted by CSAB which highlighted great research from the @falklab.bsky.social at #ica25! @xinyiwang.bsky.social on curiosity’s role in health info seeking, and Ben Muzekari on how ad cues spark smoking cravings (via experiments + fMRI). 🧠🚬

Attending #ICA25? I’m presenting twice! Today (Sat) 10:30-11:45: imagination interventions motivate pro-environmental behaviors Mon 12-1:15: affective framing of news headlines influences engagement, donations, and memory @falklab.bsky.social @asc.upenn.edu @penncssm.bsky.social @appc.upenn.edu

Emily shared five key insights from What We Value with @nextbigidea.bsky.social! Read and listen at nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/man...

Want your NIH and NSF program officers and division directors to be fired and turned into political appointees? Deadline extended: 3 days left! Already 33,000+ public comments Comments can tank a proposed rule in court. 📣 Oppose the rule with a brief comment: shorturl.at/WKuBj

Jon Freeman@freemanjb.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 A new rule would let career scientists like NSF/NIH program officers be replaced by political appointees Already 14,000+ public comments, deadline is Friday 📣 Comments can be short. Courts consider them—and scientists with NSF/NIH experience are especially impactful Speak up! shorturl.at/WKuBj

New! Emily Falk (@upenn.edu @asc.upenn.edu @falklab.bsky.social) is interviewed on @nextbigidea.bsky.social about her new book on the episode "The Neuroscience of Choice: Train Your Brain to Accomplish What Matters Most" bookoftheday.nextbigideaclub.com/p/the-neuros...

The Neuroscience of Choice: Train Your Brain to Accomplish What Matters Most

Discover how our brains shape our habits, our identity, and our capacity to change—for ourselves and the world around us.

bookoftheday.nextbigideaclub.com

A new study by @falklab.bsky.social and the @penncssm.bsky.social tested 17 strategies to motivate environmental action:

Anthropocene Magazine@anthropocenemag.bsky.social · last yr.

Many people believe climate change is happening, but most don't act. Why?. A new study looks systematically for what works—and what doesn’t—to overcome psychological barriers that keep people stuck in the carbon-emissions status quo. www.anthropocenemagazine.org/?p=237432