🐶 Why do we use ‘baby voice’ with our pets? Read the article by Dr Antonia Goetz and Dr Jenny Zeng to find out more: ➡️ theconversation.com/why-do-human...

Why do humans use ‘baby voice’ when we speak to pets?

‘Who’s a good boy? Yes, you are!’

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🩸 "There are new blood tests for Alzheimer’s. Should I have one?" Read the latest article by A/Prof Joyce Siette to learn what these new tests can (and can't) tell us, who they're for, and why they're an important step forward in #Alzheimer's diagnosis & #dementia care. tinyurl.com/yc8hy6t4

There are new blood tests for Alzheimer’s. Should I have one?

New blood tests for Alzheimer’s won’t give you an instant diagnosis. Here’s what they’ll tell you instead.

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📢 Applications now open for the Anne Cutler International Visiting Fellowship 2027. Open to researchers in #Linguistics, #SpeechScience, #Developmental & #Experimental Psychology, #Psycholinguistics, #ComputationalLinguistics, & #CommunicationEngineering. Learn more: tinyurl.com/5fy6bmt2

🧠 Can your partner’s dementia diagnosis affect your own risk? A/Prof Joyce Siette’s latest article reminds us that #dementia does not emerge from a single decision or risk factor. It's from lives lived over decades. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2p3d92ez #WorldBrainDay #BrainHealth @westernsydneyu.bsky.social

Your dementia risk is higher if your spouse has it – but it’s more than shared lifestyle

A new study looked at almost one million married couples and found dementia clustered among couples. Shared lifestyle doesn’t explain everything.

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Sharing your work can be just as challenging as doing the work itself. This year’s HDR Forum explored what it means to be a researcher today – from building confidence in sharing ideas to communicating research beyond academia. #MARCSHDR #ScienceCommunication

📻 A radio + 🧸 a teddy + 🧩 a puzzle board = how babies learn language? Watch as Dr Antonia Goetz, researcher at MARCS, explains her research using 3 simple objects: a radio, a teddy bear, and a puzzle board. #MARCSresearch #ChildDevelopment #EarlyChildhood #LanguageDevelopment

Dear fellow and future PhD candidates.. 💌 #PhDLife #marcshdr #research #postgradlife

🧱 LEGO blocks + a deck of cards + a pair of headphones. What do they have to do with how we understand music? Meet Dr Gabriele Cecchetti, Music Science researcher at MARCS, who studies how our brains transform sequences of sounds into meaningful structures when listening to music. #MARCSresearch

🏡 Older adults living in residential aged care spend around 85% of their time engaged in sedentary activities. How can we better support participation and engagement in later life? 🎥 Watch this interview with @celiaharris.bsky.social & Ruth Brookman. #ARCLinkage #AgedCare #HealthyAgeing

MARCS #BabyLab and PlaygroupNSW explored how children's #temperament shapes #development - and what it means for everyday parenting. One 🔑 takeaway: While temperament's partly innate, nothing's set in stone. Pins and needles aside, it was refreshing to be on the ground sharing science.

🧠 Could your hobbies help reduce dementia risk? In their latest article, Dr Ruth Brookman & A/Prof Celia Harris explore what the evidence says about hobbies and brain health. Read article: tinyurl.com/3hwem8mh @westernsydneyu.bsky.social @celiaharris.bsky.social

🏆 Congratulations to A/Prof Celia Harris, Dr Ruth Brookman, & team on their ARC Linkage Grant success! Their project explores #MotivationScience & how it can be used in innovative ways to engage #AgedCare residents in #wellbeing programs. More updates coming soon. @westernsydneyu.bsky.social

Australian Research Council@arc-gov-au.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Over $99.8m awarded to 178 research partnerships aligned with Australia’s National Science Priorities. ‘Strong partnerships are essential to ensuring Australian research delivers benefits to industry and the community,’ ARC CEO Prof Ute Roessner. Read more: www.arc.gov.au/news-and-pub...

What happens to #cognition when we outsource language learning to #AI? Researchers at the MARCS Institute explore how learning a #language engages #memory, #attention, & #cognitive flexibility. 🔗 tinyurl.com/bdey7cv6 @oliviamaurice.bsky.social @markantoniou.bsky.social @westernsydneyu.bsky.social

If AI can translate instantly, why learn another language?

There’s a difference between using a tool to assist you, and using one to replace cognitive effort.

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From higher degree research to one of the world’s most competitive fellowships – congratulations to Dr Shavika Rastogi on securing the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for her project, “#Neuromorphic Touch”. #Neuroprosthetics #ResearchImpact #MarieCurie #MARCSHDR #StudentSuccess

How interdisciplinary are we? We're interested in #cognitive #neuroscience, #developmental #psychology, #agedcare, #communication, #assistive #technology, #neuromorphic systems - and beyond! Different expertise. Endless possibilities. ▶️ Follow us as we spotlight our research community.

Proud to see our #MARCSHDR students showcasing their research at #ADI2026. Eman Shatnawi presented on implementing person-centred care in #agedcare – and had the honour of meeting Princess Muna Al Hussein – while Mina Aghaei shared her work on AI-enhanced assistive technology in #dementiacare.

"Not just living longer, but living better." Meet @oliviamaurice.bsky.social, one of MARCS Writing Fellowship awardees. Olivia is a cognitive neuroscientist exploring how #multilingualism shapes cognitive, sensory, and affective resilience as we age. #MARCSHDR #CognitiveNeuroscience #AgedCare

Amid growing public speculation about Donald Trump’s behaviour, researchers at Western Sydney University examine whether conditions like frontotemporal dementia can – or should – be used to explain it. tinyurl.com/23pv3946 @westernsydneyu.bsky.social #Dementia #PublicHealth

We can’t know if Donald Trump has dementia. Even if he did, it wouldn’t excuse his actions

Blaming behaviour we don’t like on a disease means less accountability, and is bad for those who live with dementia. It’s also often inaccurate.

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Even when progress is hard to see, learning may still be unfolding, preparing the ground for what comes next. Read the article by @eylemaltuntas.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/2afznyfc @westernsydneyu.bsky.social #EarlyLearning #SpeechDevelopment #ChildDevelopment #Education #Parenting

Babies learn a lot in their first year. But their behaviour doesn’t always tell the full story

If a baby doesn’t show a clear response at a particular age, it does not necessarily mean they have stopped learning or missed an important step.

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Research shows that #bilingual & #multilingual individuals are roughly half as likely to show signs of early #ageing. MARCS researcher, A/Prof Mark Antoniou, explains the science behind language learning: tinyurl.com/2mbyfv2f Connect & collaborate: tinyurl.com/MarkAntoniou #BrainHealth

A landmark study shows this one habit can slow brain ageing by half

This common mental challenge is "blood, sweat and tears" for your brain.

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Out in the community today! 🤝 Our Age Lab teams were across two locations for Seniors Week events. It was especially meaningful to hear participants reflect on their own memories and experiences while engaging in our #FoldingTime activity & #MemoryAid demo. #CommunityEngagement #agedcare #health

📢 We're hiring: Charter Hall Senior Research Fellow - #Neuroscience of #Ageing & #Dementia | Help shape healthier futures for older adults. 📆 Closes 24 Mar 2026 💰 $147,138–$169,011 + 17% Super 🌎 Visa sponsorship available 👉 Apply now: lnkd.in/gKX_XR8r @westernsydneyu.bsky.social

Congratulations to Martina Ventura on winning the Denis Burnham Award for Doctoral Student Career Transition! 🎉 Her research on object categorisation in the infant brain is helping us understand how young minds make sense of the world. | Award info: tinyurl.com/DenisBurnham... #CogNeuro #MARCSHDR

In a world facing conflict and uncertainty, we stand with those affected. 🌏 Today, our researchers reflected on science: it advances when we question and stay open to new evidence. We’re reminded that humility and the commitment to reflect and grow together matter now more than ever.

👏Congrats to this quarter's MARCS Writing Fellowship awardees, @oliviamaurice.bsky.social & @aramirezharo3.bsky.social! Proud to support our #PhD candidates in publishing their #research. Can't wait to see their work in print! #AcademicWriting #MARCSHDR #CogNeuro @westernsydneyu.bsky.social

Back to school = back to “I forgot…” 🙃 Forgetfulness is a part of development. Researchers explain what’s happening with #prospectivememory & #executivefunction in children's developing brain. Tips included in article for #parents & #educators: 🔗 tinyurl.com/mryku2ez | @celiaharris.bsky.social

MARCS Visiting Scholarship recipients, Alexis Kidder and Ling Guang, have published new research papers contributing valuable insights to #cognitive and #neuralscience. Read the papers here: 👉 direct.mit.edu/imag/article... 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mapping object space dimensions: New insights from temporal dynamics

Abstract. How is object information organized in high-level visual cortex? A recent comprehensive model of object space in macaques defines object space via orthogonal axes of animacy and aspect ratio...

direct.mit.edu

Thrilled to see Denise Moerel and colleagues featured on ScienceAlert: www.sciencealert.com/our-brains-r... Their study in PLOS Biology revealed that when people collaborate, their brains sync within milliseconds, processing information in strikingly similar ways: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Our Brains Really Do 'Sync Up' When We Collaborate, Study Reveals

Ever experienced a moment of flow when working with another human to achieve a common goal, almost as if you and your collaborator are tuned in to each other's brains? You may have literally been 'in ...

sciencealert.com

Pleased to share that our PhD Candidate, Florian Burger, has received the Best Poster Award at the Graduate Student Level at the 2025 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society (ACNS) Conference. A well-deserved recognition and a proud moment for their supervisor @tgro.bsky.social. #ACNS2025

Collaborating minds think alike, processing information in similar ways in a shared task | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release... New publication in PLOS Biology: plos.io/4hBhuPy Denise Moerel, with @tgro.bsky.social, @drquekles.bsky.social, Sophie Smit at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social

Collaborating minds think alike, processing information in similar ways in a shared task

Whether great minds think alike is up for debate, but the collaborating minds of two people working on a shared task process information alike, according to a study published November 25th in the open...

eurekalert.org