Steven Meisler
@stevenmeisler.com
NIMH Postdoctoral Fellow at Penn Medicine; Harvard/MIT PhD alum; Neuroimager; Jazz vibraphonist; Wannabe BBQ pit-master. stevenmeisler.com
New dataset out in Data in Brief 🧠 We're releasing an open, test-retest neuroimaging dataset built for directly comparing single-echo vs. multi-echo fMRI, head-to-head, in the same people. 1/
A single-echo/multi-echo BOLD fMRI test-retest dataset
Functional MRI (fMRI) remains one of the primary tools for non-invasive studies of brain activity and organization in humans. Recently, multi-echo ima…
sciencedirect.com
How much does the childhood environment shape the brain? In our new preprint, we study the exposome (300+ environmental exposures) and link it to white matter structure in 8,000+ kids. 🧠✨ 🔗 Read the preprint: bit.ly/4wfsybZ 🧵 Thread below
White matter reflects the childhood exposome
The childhood environment is critical for brain development. However, most neuroimaging studies examine individual environmental measures (e.g., socioeconomic status) or a limited set of exposures, obscuring how the combination of complex, real-world exposures jointly influence brain development. Here we investigated how white matter shape and tissue properties are linked to the childhood exposome, a multidimensional measure capturing over 300 environmental exposures. Using multi-shell diffusion MRI from 8,183 children (ages 9-10) in the ABCD study, we quantified microstructural and macrostructural properties across 62 person-specific white matter tracts. The exposome showed widespread and highly replicable associations with both white matter microstructure and macrostructure: more advantaged environments were associated with larger tract macrostructure and lower orientation dispersion. Principal component analysis revealed that the dominant axis of exposome-white matter covariation aligns with the cortical sensorimotor-association hierarchy, such that tracts spanning this hierarchy exhibit the strongest associations with the exposome. Multivariate models demonstrated that patterns of white matter features explained 25% of the variance in the exposome in unseen individuals. Notably, white matter-based prediction of cognition was markedly reduced after accounting for the exposome (~82% reduction in explained variance), indicating that brain-cognition associations overlap substantially with variance captured by the exposome. These findings generalized to independent data from the Healthy Brain Network (n=869), which differs substantially from ABCD in MRI acquisition, participant selection, and childhood environments. Together, these results suggest that white matter architecture strongly reflects the childhood environment. ### Competing Interest Statement A.A.B. has consulted for Octave Bioscience and holds equity in Centile Bioscience. RB is on the Advisory Board and holds equity in Taliaz Health. D.A.F. is a founder of Turing Medical. Any potential conflict of interest has been reviewed and managed by the University of Minnesota. D.A.F. is an inventor of the FIRMM Technology 2198 (FIRMM, real-time monitoring and prediction of motion in MRI scans, exclusively licensed to Turing Medical). Any potential conflict of interest has been reviewed and managed by the University of Minnesota. This research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (T32MH019112 to S.L.M.; R37MH125829 to D.A.F. and T.D.S.; 2R01MH112847 to R.T.S. and T.D.S.; R01MH120482 to T.D.S.; 2R01MH113550 to T.D.S.; R01MH123550 to R.T.S; F30MH138048 to K.Y.S.; RF1MH121868, RF1MH121867, RF1MH126699, R01AG060942, U19AG066567, R01EY033628, and R01EB027585 to A.R.; R01MH134886 to R.B.; T32MH016804 and T32MH018951 to V.J.S; R01MH133843 to A.A.B.; F31MH136685 to J.B.). S.L.M. was supported by the Hartwell Foundation (S.L.M.); G.S. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). A.S.K. is supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. M.D.H. was supported by the German Research Foundation (project number 572317568). LMS was supported by a NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (#2507497).
bit.ly
OHBM Hackathon 2026 | June 11–13 | Bordeaux Come spend three days coding and learning! The OHBM Hackathon takes place right before the OHBM Meeting at Campus Victoire, University of Bordeaux, and it's a great chance to work on projects, pick up new skills, and meet researchers.
Highly replicable multisite patterns of adolescent white matter maturation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.18.719321v1
Diffusion MRI (dMRI) is a powerful tool to study white matter maturation. In our new preprint, we process and distribute a new resource of >24,000 ABCD dMRI scans using open source tools! We then evaluate how methods shape inferences about development. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We think of white matter as the highways of the brain. But when we followed development along those highways, we were surprised. The journey is more complex than we thought. My final PhD paper, “Two Axes of White Matter Development”, is now out in @natcomms.nature.com! 🛣️🧠✨ 🔗 bit.ly/wm2axes
The OHBM OSSIG has been operating since 2016, hosting and promoting open science education for the OHBM community and beyond. SIGs must be renewed every 5 years. Please sign the following petition by Mon, Jan 26 to help us continue operating. Thank you! docs.google.com/document/d/1...
List of members who support the SIG renewal
List of members who support the SIG renewal Please provide the list of at least 12 OHBM members in good standing who support the SIG renewal and are willing to engage in the SIG activity. Name Email...
docs.google.com
#PenNLINC is recruiting a clinical coordinator / lab manager!!! Looking for someone who is good with both people + code, wants to learn to acquire + analyze imaging data. Alumni in this role have written 1st author papers + gone to top grad programs. Website: www.pennlinc.io Job: bit.ly/4ojvCir
neuroimaging | Satterthwaite Lab | UPenn
www.satterthwaitelab.com Homepage for Satterthwaite lab neuroimaging | neurodevelopment | adolescence | psychiatry | machine learning | network science
pennlinc.io
BIG news- applications for our hackathon are NOW OPEN🎉 Apply now to join us in Florida in January 2026! The deadline for applications is DECEMBER 1st🚨 so apply today! For more info & to apply, check out Hackathon.ABCD-ReproNim.org 🎊
Want to learn more about the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study?👀 Check out the ABCD-ReproNim course! The Fall 2025 course is going on NOW✨ Students may have the opportunity to participate in the 2026 hackathon in Miami🏝️ For more info: abcd-repronim.org 🎉
🧠I am excited to announce that our manuscript introducing a new data resource – PennLEAD (Penn Longitudinal Executive functioning in Adolescent Development) – is now available on bioRxiv. Below are some details highlighting our data resource🧵funded by NIMH R01MH113550 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
After years of development and testing, we are happy to present our work in "Diffusion MRI Processing in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study: Innovations and Applications"! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... A thread:
Diffusion MRI Processing in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study: Innovations and Applications
The landmark ongoing HEALthy Brain and Cognitive Development (HBCD) study will longitudinally chart brain development in a large sample (projected n=7,200) of infants through age 10 years with multimo...
biorxiv.org
🚨 New science alert! Our cross-species study, now in Nature Neuroscience, demonstrates psychedelics distort how we should interpret functional brain imaging. 👇🧵 nature.com/articles/s41... #Neuroscience #Psychedelics #BrainImaging
Psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonism alters neurovascular coupling and differentially affects neuronal and hemodynamic measures of brain function
Nature Neuroscience - Padawer-Curry et al. show that the hallucinogenic 5-HT2A receptor agonist DOI alters neurovascular coupling in mice, with implications for the interpretation of human fMRI...
nature.com
Excited to share that our work introducing the Reproducible Brain Charts (RBC) data resource is now published in Neuron!! 🎉 📚 Read the paper: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lpaF3BtfH... 🧠 Explore the RBC dataset: reprobrainchart.github.io
Golia Shafiei@goliashf.bsky.social · last yr.(1/18) Now out on BioRxiv‼️ Reproducible Brain Charts: An open data resource for mapping brain development and its associations with mental health | doi.org/10.1101/2025... Funded by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
New preprint from stellar IRTG PhD student Amelie Rauland + team on white matter bundle reconstruction! Shows that WM bundles can be reliably extracted from simple 32-direction dMRI & features predict cognition - huge potential for legacy and clinical data. Thread 👇 www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
🍄 Our new living systematic review and meta-analysis on psilocybin for depression is out. Here's what we found and the open science infrastructure we built to support it 🧪🧵 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Congrats @audreycluo.bsky.social!! Celebrating a wonderful dissertation defense that shed novel, fundamental, and convincing insights into white matter development.
Ted Satterthwaite@ted-satterthwaite.bsky.social · 12mo agoCONGRATS TO DOCTOR @audreycluo.bsky.social !!! Last week, Dr. Luo knocked our collective socks off with a thesis defense for the ages. Her presentation on "Axes of Hierarchical Brain Development" was magnificent -- beautiful science, presented in an incredibly accessible and engaging way. WOO!!!!
Human thalamocortical connectivity matures along the cortex’s sensorimotor–association axis www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Human thalamocortical structural connectivity develops in line with a hierarchical axis of cortical plasticity - Nature Neuroscience
Sydnor et al. developed a new tractography atlas of thalamocortical structural connections and applied it to three youth samples. They uncovered coordinated development between thalamic connectivity a...
nature.com
How does the human brain coordinate hierarchical cortical development? Our work in Nature Neuroscience identifies a role for thalamocortical structural connectivity in the expression of hierarchical periods of cortical plasticity & environmental receptivity in youth 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
OK, It is not just the HBCD release... docs.hbcdstudy.org It’s the ABCD Release time too! docs.abcdstudy.org nbdc-datahub.org That means the ABCC 3.0.0 is live!!! The largest release yet from the ABCD-BIDS Community Collection. This is going to be fun!! 👇 Let’s dig in.
Damien Fair@drdamienfair.bsky.social · last yr.Alert! ... for the child development world! @fluxsociety.bsky.social @fitngin.bsky.social The Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study has released its first data wave - it’s massive. Check here: docs.hbcdstudy.org and here: nbdc-datahub.org Here’s why it matters 🧠🍼
Alert! ... for the child development world! @fluxsociety.bsky.social @fitngin.bsky.social The Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study has released its first data wave - it’s massive. Check here: docs.hbcdstudy.org and here: nbdc-datahub.org Here’s why it matters 🧠🍼
#OHBM2025 is here and the champs from @pennlinc.bsky.social have brought their freshest work express from Philly to Brisbane. Thread below . . .please reach out + come say hi -- always looking to talk science + make new friends!!!
a cartoon of snoopy dancing with the words oh yeah written above him
ALT: a cartoon of snoopy dancing with the words oh yeah written above him
media.tenor.com
@stevenmeisler.com is presenting "A quality-rated, analysis-ready release of 26,174 dMRI sessions from the ABCD Study" Friday / Saturday 1810. Wooo!!!!
The Baller Lab is thrilled to announce that @elenaccooper.bsky.social just had her first first-author publication! “Investigating mood and cognition in people with multiple sclerosis: a prospective cross-sectional study protocol” is now published on BMJ Open: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e094733! 🧠
Investigating mood and cognition in people with multiple sclerosis: a prospective cross-sectional study protocol
Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated neurological disorder that affects one million people in the USA. Up to 50% of patients with MS experience depression, yet the mechanisms of ...
bmjopen.bmj.com
Two Axes of White Matter Development https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.19.644049v1
We think of white matter as the brain's highways—uniform conduits between cortices. But what if we study development along tracts? Turns out the journey matters as much as the cortical destination! We're thrilled to share “Two Axes of White Matter Development” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/n
This paper is a huge one for me, taking years and years to get right. I can’t believe it’s finally out and I am so proud of the way it came together. Thank you to Dr Lebel for her unwavering support! www.biologicalpsychiatrycnni.org/article/S245...
We're excited to announce version 1.2.0 of CuBIDS, a Python library for organizing BIDS datasets.
CuBIDS: Curation of BIDS — CuBIDS 1.2.0 documentation
cubids.readthedocs.io
Psychedelic mental health research is booming—but how do we keep up with rapidly evolving evidence? 🌱 Our team proposes a living evidence synthesis approach to ensure clinicians, policymakers, and the public have access to the latest, most reliable data. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🧪🧵
An initiative for living evidence synthesis in clinical psychedelic research - Nature Mental Health
Renewed interest in psychedelics as treatments for mental disorders has recently emerged, but substantial challenges remain in obtaining evidence from available data to inform clinical decision-making...
nature.com
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