Sensing your body (‘Interoception’) is everywhere in theories of mental health. But when we tested how well hundreds of people sensed their heart and lungs, the link to symptoms was almost nowhere to be found. 💣 🚨New @natmentalhealth.nature.com paper 🚨🎉 asks why 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s44...

🧠 New work showing prominent and widespread 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰 pre-synaptic terminal reductions in people with schizophrenia.🧠 nature.com/articles/s41... Strongest effects in left hemisphere, but synaptic loss didn't track with MRI grey matter alterations, but did align with..👇1/4

Widespread synaptic density loss in schizophrenia follows molecular and network architecture - Molecular Psychiatry

Molecular Psychiatry - Widespread synaptic density loss in schizophrenia follows molecular and network architecture

nature.com

A recent paper by Epp et al. in NN claimed that ~40% of reported BOLD findings could be misinterpreted. In our reanalysis, we identified several statistical issues that, in our view, undermine these conclusions. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 👇 1/11

🎉 Excited to share our publication in PNAS! 🎉 What happens when our stream of consciousness turns towards the body? Our fMRI study of 536 individuals finds that 'body-wandering' is associated with patterns of brain connectivity, physiology, affect, and mental health: www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

🧠 Resting-state fMRI is often treated as the gold standard for studying the brain’s intrinsic organization. But is it actually the best way to estimate functional architecture? We tested this directly. 🧵1/8

Our latest work on the neurobiology of subjective emotional experience in anxiety is out now in SCAN 🧠 Brief summary below 👇 doi.org/10.1093/scan...

Linking subjective experience of anxiety to brain function using natural language processing

Abstract. Research on anxiety focuses on clinically relevant behaviours and neurophysiological responses, particularly emphasizing recruitment of amygdala,

doi.org

Excited to share our new paper in Scientific Reports. Pre-scanning state anxiety was associated with reduced rs-FC in the DMN in a trait-anxious community sample, underscoring how children’s MRI scanning experiences may be associated with rs-FC. Grateful for mentorship from @UCRiverside and @NIH.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Children’s state anxiety before MRI scanning and resting state functional connectivity in large scale brain networks - Scientific Reports

Introduction Most resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) research does not consider the participant’s subjective state during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Heightened anxiety before an MRI ...

nature.com

Controversial? Classic? What if rest is not best? 🤔 Congrats to @halleeshearer.bsky.social for this thoughtful commentary, and thanks to @ninetlab.bsky.social for the 🎬 movie x rTMS 🧲 collaboration. doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

Considering brain state for individualized functional connectivity-based rTMS

Abstract. Recent endeavors to optimize the efficacy of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) treatment have focused on locating individualized stimulation targets using functional connec...

doi.org

Want to learn about FMRI visualization, processing and group analysis? Join us for the next AFNI Bootcamp (Jan. 27-29, 2026) for a fun few days of theory and interactive practicals. Details+registration for this virtual course: afni.nimh.nih.gov/bootcamp

This paper had a pretty shocking headline result (40% of voxels!), so I dug into it, and I think it is wrong. Essentially: they compare two noisy measures and find that about 40% of voxels have different sign between the two. I think this is just noise!

Eiko Fried@eikofried.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Would love to hear expert views on this paper. It appears to show that the operationalization of brain activity the field has relied on for 3 decades—the BOLD response—is not actually a sensible measure of brain activity. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our latest study led by @purnimaqamar.bsky.social on avoidance in pediatric anxiety is out now in Mental Health Science 🎉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Assessing Behavioral Threat Avoidance in Pediatric Anxiety With Naturalistic Games

Behavioral avoidance exacerbates anxiety symptoms. Capturing and identifying maladaptive avoidance patterns holds clinical utility. However, effective assessment tools which provide unique informatio...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)

Excited to share our manuscript about BrainEffeX, a tool for exploring fMRI effect sizes. Includes why we made it, how to use it + contribute, and how we made it. @sneuroble.bsky.social @psychonetrics.bsky.social @alexkfischbach.bsky.social @nichols.bsky.social @dscheinost.bsky.social & MINDS Lab

Aperture Neuro@apertureohbm.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Shearer et al. introduce an interactive web application for exploring fMRI effect maps: doi.org/10.52294/001... @halleeshearer.bsky.social @sneuroble.bsky.social @ohbmossig.bsky.social #OpenDatasets #SpecialIssue

Data only shows associations. Turning those into claims about mechanism or causation? That requires a Rosetta Stone of prior knowledge + theory. Resting-state fMRI is purely observational; correlation is its currency. From this, plenty of "theoretical toys" about brain function can be built...

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Resting-State fMRI and the Risk of Overinterpretation: Noise, Mechanisms, and a Missing Rosetta Stone https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676611v1

Excited to share this new preprint on the Predictive Modelling of Depression Treatment Response using Individual Symptoms and Latent Factors with @clairegillan.bsky.social fresh up on @medrxivpreprint.bsky.social www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Predictive Modelling of Depression Treatment Response using Individual Symptoms and Latent Factors

Machine learning models have increasingly been used to identify predictors of treatment response in depression, and it is hoped that they may eventually help with clinical decision making. However, th...

medrxiv.org

Our latest work is now out in @natmentalhealth.nature.com! We examined the role of the basal forebrain and its influence on intrinsic brain networks in depressive and anxiety disorders. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s44... @psychunimelb.bsky.social, @mbciu.bsky.social, #UnimelbMDHS

Altered basal forebrain regulation of intrinsic brain networks in depressive and anxiety disorders - Nature Mental Health

Using 7T resting-state functional MRI data, the authors investigate the effective connectivity of basal forebrain areas in a transdiagnostic sample of patients with anxiety and depression and healthy ...

nature.com

The @cahbir.bsky.social and @rutgersbhi.bsky.social are hiring! Multiple open area and open rank faculty jobs, wonderful colleagues, amazing resources, and one of the largest communities of brain science research groups on the planet. Please apply and share widely. jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/209...

Launched in 2023, Imaging Neuroscience is now firmly established, with full indexing (PubMed, etc.) and 700 papers to date. We're very happy to announce that we are able to reduce the APC to $1400. Huge thanks to all authors, reviewers, editorial team+board, and MIT Press.

Excited to share that our work is now published in Imaging Neuroscience! 🧠🥳 We show how aging reshapes the brain’s language and memory networks, revealing striking shifts in hemispheric specialization across the lifespan. Check it out @imagingneurosci.bsky.social

Imaging Neuroscience@imagingneurosci.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Elise Roger, Gaelle E. Doucet, et al: When age tips the balance: A dual mechanism affecting hemispheric specialization for language doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

A great week of meetings and presenting in Melbourne, including a visit to @orygen.org.au hosted by @sidchop.bsky.social & Lianne Schmaal. Now off to Brisbane for #OHBM2025. I'll be presenting Tuesday and Wednesday, 9am in the Great Hall both days :)

Social anxiety may be related to physical avoidance of aversive stimuli in an interactive game. Our latest study, led by @purnimaqamar.bsky.social. osf.io/preprints/ps...

Check our latest work ‘Linking Subjective Experience of Anxiety to Brain Function using Natural Language Processing’. Our analyses link movie-evoked brain activity and subsequent interview recordings in a pediatric sample with and without anxiety disorders (doi.org/10.31234/osf...).

Check our latest work ‘Linking Subjective Experience of Anxiety to Brain Function using Natural Language Processing’. Our analyses link movie-evoked brain activity and subsequent interview recordings in a pediatric sample with and without anxiety disorders (doi.org/10.31234/osf...).

🚨 New #preprint: The molecular and cellular underpinnings of human brain lateralization 🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025... 🧠 We identify an acetylcholine-norepinephrine axis underlying functional lateralization, along with mitochondrial and cellular correlates. 🧵1/9👇 #neuroskyence

The molecular and cellular underpinnings of human brain lateralization

Hemispheric specialization is a fundamental characteristic of human brain organization, where most individuals exhibit left-hemisphere dominance for language and right-hemisphere dominance for visuosp...

doi.org

"To make a meaningful contribution to #neuroscience, #fMRI must break out of its silo." My latest attempt to convince you of the importance of multi-scale approaches for the study of the human brain.

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · last yr.

Until recently, in-vivo brain imaging has largely been absent from… integrative efforts, limiting the opportunities to contribute our discoveries, theories or vision toward a comprehensive view of brain function, writes @avramholmes.bsky.social. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/future-of-fm...

Is interoceptive sensing unified across internal organs? 🫀🫁 Our high-powered psychophysical study (N=241) suggests not. Bayesian evidence indicates interoceptive processes are largely modality-specific—challenging the idea of a unitary interoceptive sense. 🔗 Read here: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Our report on "The Relations Among Anxiety, Movie-Watching, and In-Scanner Motion" is out now in Human Brain Mapping. In short: even anxiety-evoking movies reduce pediatric in-scanner movement compared to 'rest', highlighting its benefit for developmental neuroimaging. doi.org/10.1002/hbm....

The Holmes Lab is #hiring a full-time research assistant/predoc! Our work focuses on functional brain networks-- how they change, how they are impacted in psychiatric illness, and much more! Unfortunately, we cannot sponsor visas for this position. Please rt and reach out if you're interested👀

Interested in #MRI and #psychiatry? Our lab is hiring a research assistant (@holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social)! Please RT and share. @geneticssociety.bsky.social @ohbmofficial.bsky.social @sfnjournals.bsky.social @pgcgenetics.bsky.social @hitop-system.bsky.social @blackinneuro.bsky.social