Nicola Molinaro
@nicolaml.bsky.social
PI of the Brain Rhythms and Cognition group https://www.bcbl.eu/en/research/research-groups/brain-rhythms-cognition “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”
Our paper is finally out! 🥳 In this work, we explore how the experience of cognitive conflict can ultimately be engaging, emotionally positive and sought after, despite the effort associated with it. Go check it out! :) @manuruz.bsky.social , Marc-Lluís Vives, @nicolaml.bsky.social
Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL)@bcbl.bsky.social · 3mo ago✍️ #BCBLpaper in #CommunicationsPsychology | The experience of #cognitiveconflict is intrinsically rewarding. La Pietra, M., Vives, M.L., Molinaro, N. & Ruzzoli, M. +info ⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s44...
HOLY FUCKING HELL FINALLYYYYYYY WOUTJE VAN AERT 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Emma Bianchi 🍉🌈@cyclartist.bsky.social · 4mo agoInshallah this is the year Wout van Aert will win Paris Roubaix (inject that copium in my veins)
New preprint! 🧠 We show that neural synchronization to abstract linguistic structures is independent from acoustic processing, even with stimuli mirroring natural speech! w/ the dream team @diliberg.bsky.social @nicolaml.bsky.social @languagecycles.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
Bridging the neural synchronization to linguistic structures and natural speech comprehension
Speech comprehension involves the inference of abstract information from continuous acoustic signals. Prior work suggests that electrophysiological activity is synchronized with abstract linguistic structures (phrases and sentences) during the processing of isochronous syllable sequences. It is yet unclear whether this prior evidence generalizes to natural speech comprehension, which requires the flexible processing of continuous speech, where syllables and other types of linguistic units are anisochronous. Our magnetoencephalography experiment investigated neural synchronization to acoustic (syllables) and abstract units (phrases and sentences) using continuous speech ranging from artificial isochronous to more natural anisochronous. We find that neural synchronization to phrases and sentences, but not syllables, is resilient to naturalistic anisochrony. This suggests that linguistic structure processing reflects endogenous inferences that are fundamentally distinct from the exogenous processing of syllables driven by speech acoustics. Lateralization and linear regression results extend this functional dissociation as hemispheric asymmetry: stimulus-independent leftward lateralization for linguistic structure processing but stimulus-driven rightward lateralization (or bilaterality) for both syllable and acoustic processing. Our findings provide a more realistic characterization of the flexible neural mechanisms supporting the efficient comprehension of natural speech. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
doi.org
📖5th #iWORDD this October: 2 days of reading & dyslexia research, 1 on real-world impact! Join our outstanding keynote line-up + share your work here by April 15: shorturl.at/lSlBI @jyeatman.bsky.social @gaablab.bsky.social @drmluciano.bsky.social @standehaene.bsky.social @cassandrapw.bsky.social
REMINDER trying to stay calm and do work in a fascist world is itself a radical action a world that wants to destroy independent knowledge, universities, education, still contains people who want to gently think and teach without dehumanisation and destruction
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ@olivia.science · 5mo agosome resources for cognitive scientists — especially for junior scholars who ask me wonderful questions and want to learn more — on theorising and metatheorising olivia.science/theory/ (not 100% finished & more to come, but all my work is freely available here: olivia.science#publications as usual)
The BCBL would be an amazing place to work. Great colleagues in a gorgeous location with some of the finest food in the world.
Nicola Molinaro@nicolaml.bsky.social · 5mo ago📢 PhD position in Computational Neuroscience 🧠 Join the Deco-B project to decode bilingual speech (Spanish–Basque) using MEG/fMRI + multilingual AI models. Work at the intersection of neuroscience & machine learning at BCBL. More: tinyurl.com/2rnur82n
📢 PhD position in Computational Neuroscience 🧠 Join the Deco-B project to decode bilingual speech (Spanish–Basque) using MEG/fMRI + multilingual AI models. Work at the intersection of neuroscience & machine learning at BCBL. More: tinyurl.com/2rnur82n
JOB OFFER PhD RESEARCHER - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - BRAIN RHYTHMS AND COGNITION RESEARCH GROUP
at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL) in San Sebastian (Basque Country,...
tinyurl.com
❗ New preprint from the Brain and Cognition lab spearheaded by @irenetxeberria.bsky.social, Sage Boettcher, Kia Nobre and crafted together with friends from the Brain, Speech, and Language lab, @birtandemirel.bsky.social and @kateewatkins.bsky.social 🫂 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
biorxiv.org
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) Number maintenance in subject-verb agreement: evidence from Basque
PDF | In this paper, we investigate whether number is actively maintained as part of matrix subject-verb dependency establishment, and whether it is... | Find, read and cite all the research you need ...
researchgate.net
📢 New in Trends in Neurosciences Dyslexia shows atypical phonological processing and speech tracking, yet comprehension is preserved. We argue this reflects adaptive compensation, via hemispheric rebalancing and greater reliance on lexico-semantic processing. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
"these findings suggest a causal compensatory pathway in #dyslexia, supported by a rebalanced and more bilaterally connected #language network that can be actively trained (for instance, through musical experience or #bilingual exposure" #brain #research www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Dyslexia: a window into the cortical mechanisms of adaptive speech analysis
Atypical phonological processing is at the core of developmental dyslexia and is linked to aberrant tracking and analysis of auditory information in t…
sciencedirect.com
This is Alex Pretti. This morning he was murdered by ICE. Six ICE agents held him down and shot him at point blank range. Alex was a nurse and researcher at the VA. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and we stand united in action calling for the abolishment of ICE. #ScientistsAgainstICE
So happy to see this nice collaborative work out now! @nicolaml.bsky.social @anaklimovichgray.bsky.social @mirjanabozic.bsky.social #Dyslexia #TINS
Ana Klimovich-Gray@anaklimovichgray.bsky.social · 6mo agoSpeech processing is adaptive, shaped by development and experience. Studying speech processing in dyslexia gives us a unique window into the neural mechanisms of this flexibility. @nicolaml.bsky.social @marielallierbcbl.bsky.social @mirjanabozic.bsky.social #Neuroscience #Language #Dyslexia #TINs
Speech processing is adaptive, shaped by development and experience. Studying speech processing in dyslexia gives us a unique window into the neural mechanisms of this flexibility. @nicolaml.bsky.social @marielallierbcbl.bsky.social @mirjanabozic.bsky.social #Neuroscience #Language #Dyslexia #TINs
Nicola Molinaro@nicolaml.bsky.social · 7mo ago📢 New in Trends in Neurosciences Dyslexia shows atypical phonological processing and speech tracking, yet comprehension is preserved. We argue this reflects adaptive compensation, via hemispheric rebalancing and greater reliance on lexico-semantic processing. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
📢 New in Trends in Neurosciences Dyslexia shows atypical phonological processing and speech tracking, yet comprehension is preserved. We argue this reflects adaptive compensation, via hemispheric rebalancing and greater reliance on lexico-semantic processing. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
main goal for this year: find a new job! 🙂 looking for a role with fun & complex technical challenges & within a great community. my main expertise is in signal processing/EEG/MEG, but topic-wise I am quite flexible. science/industry both great! starting mid-year. nschawor.github.io/cv
This story is full of gems. Read the whole thing. Here's just one:
Justin@ediparolev.bsky.social · 7mo ago“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”
🧠 How strong is speech decoding from MEG signals? Much stronger during speech production (73% accuracy) than comprehension (~51%) (& Delta & Theta bands carry most relevant information). More discussion in our recent decoding study: doi.org/10.1016/j.cs...
Redirecting
doi.org
Christmas dinner with an amazing research team 🎄✨ So thankful for the people behind the work—and excited for what the new year will bring!
OPEN PHD POSITION - Come join our group! The IMPRS at @mpi-nl.bsky.social is offering an PhD position on modelling structured meaning in the brain, supervised by me and Helen De Hoop at the Centre for Language Studies in the @dondersinst.bsky.social - www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe... #NeuroJobs #cogsci
IMPRS PhD Fellowships 2026 | Max Planck Institute
mpi.nl
Solo nel ricordo il tempo smette di fuggire e diventa nostro
🎓✨ So proud of my PhD student for brilliantly defending her thesis today! Years of hard work, resilience, and curiosity have paid off — welcome, Dr. Fernández-Merino! 👩🎓👏
Gave my talk at #ICON2025 today 🎤✨ Great discussions about music and speech and lots of inspiring science all around. Feeling energized by this community!
... and delivered. Thanks to @manuruz.bsky.social - @eegmanylabs.bsky.social, @alinakoppold.bsky.social - @igor-dgps.bsky.social, Elena Cesnaite - @eegmanypipes.bsky.social and @lauraklatt.bsky.social - @scone-neuro.bsky.social for holding a mirror to cog #neuroskyence #ICON2025 🙌
Christian Keitel@ckeitelsci.bsky.social · 11mo agoPOV: Expecting a large crowd for the symposium...
New paper out: available online the "Tracking Umbrella": ⛱️ Get some shade in the late summer time 😎 doi.org/10.1111/nyas...
NYAS Publications
This paper critically examines neural tracking from both theoretical and methodological perspectives, highlighting how its interpretation varies across studies. A central debate concerns whether neur...
doi.org
📢 PhD opening @bcbl_ (San Sebastián, Spain) Join our ERC project CORTICAL RHYTHMS 🧠 to study how brain rhythms shape second language learning (spoken & signed) with MEG/MRI. 📅 Start Jan 2026 | ⏳ Apply by Sept 15, 2025 👉 tinyurl.com/bdwkumn3
PhD CANDIDATE POSITION – ERC ADVANCED GRANT PROJECT - CORTICAL RHYTHMS (Second Language Learning)
at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu
tinyurl.com
📢 PhD opening @bcbl_ (San Sebastián, Spain) Join our ERC project CORTICAL RHYTHMS 🧠 to study how brain rhythms shape second language learning (spoken & signed) with MEG/MRI. 📅 Start Jan 2026 | ⏳ Apply by Sept 15, 2025 👉 tinyurl.com/bdwkumn3
PhD CANDIDATE POSITION – ERC ADVANCED GRANT PROJECT - CORTICAL RHYTHMS (Second Language Learning)
at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu
tinyurl.com
Still playing the waiting game with the publication process 🤐😪😑 … but in the meantime, here’s some fresh evidence showing that cognitive conflict might actually feel rewarding. Who knew it could be fun? osf.io/c75tj @mlapietra.bsky.social @MarcLluisVives @nicolaml.bsky.social
OSF
osf.io
Neural tracking: evoked or oscillatory? 🎧🧠 The #TrackingUmbrella paper argues it’s not either/or — both perspectives reveal how our brains align with speech, music, and more. Method matters. Let’s rethink how we measure and interpret tracking! tinyurl.com/ywbe7rrz
(PDF) The Tracking Umbrella: Diverse Interpretations Under a Common Neural Term
PDF | Neural tracking, the alignment of brain activity with the temporal dynamics of sensory input, is a crucial mechanism underlying perception,... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ...
tinyurl.com