Sometimes we know an experience is important in the moment. Other times, its importance only becomes clear after the fact. Do these two cases have different consequences for memory? In our new paper we found that both kinds of prioritization impact memory in different ways! doi.org/10.1162/OPMI...

Prioritizing Detailed Item Memories Through Post-Encoding Motivation Requires Consolidation

Abstract. Prioritizing memories that are motivationally salient is adaptive for goal-directed behavior, ensuring that information being retained is the most relevant to future goals. Past research dem...

doi.org

Check out our new paper! 🧠 Me, @xiongbowu.bsky.social and @fuentemilla.bsky.social review how reactivation at the end of events support memory formation and propose it serves multiple functions from preventing interference to helping preserve temporal continuity! ✨ www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

Neural reactivation supports memory formation when events end

Memory routinely transforms continuous experience into discrete episodes that support flexible retrieval. We propose that these structured representations are established via rapid neural reactivation...

cell.com

A *super* exciting new paper from @lizsiefert.bsky.social!! Human hippocampal ripple rates track very closely with several indicators of low arousal, during both sleep and wake. This is probably the most compelling data I have ever been associated with.

Liz Siefert@lizsiefert.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New preprint! We show low arousal states promote hippocampal ripple genesis in sleep and wake. This bridges rodent work, where ripples predominate during sleep, with human studies reporting ripples during active behavior, identifying low arousal as a common mechanism www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

This work is now published in Nature Communications! We were able to train participants to have near-perfect memory for lists of 40 words - they added creative details to their memory representations that we could measure in their behavior and brains 🧠 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Binding items to contexts through conjunctive neural representations with the method of loci - Nature Communications

This study of a mnemonic technique found that highly effective memory is supported by “conjunctive” representations in the brain’s Default Mode Network, which reflects the unique, creative details use...

doi.org

Jiawen Huang@huangjiawen.bsky.social · 2y ago

New preprint with Akshay Manglik, Nick Dutra, Hannah Tarder-Stoll, @tchamberlain.bsky.social, Robert Ajemian, @qiongzhang.bsky.social, @ptoncompmemlab.bsky.social, @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social looking at conjunctive representation during Method of Loci! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our new paper is out this week in Nature Neuroscience! www.nature.com/articles/s41... We built a BCI that works with the brain's natural geometry — and we found that people could learn to play a video game with their brains in <1 hr of training. This efficiency is groundbreaking & here's why:

Human learning of noninvasive brain–computer interfaces via manifold geometry - Nature Neuroscience

Busch et al. use nonlinear neural manifolds to help humans gain rapid control over a noninvasive brain–computer interface, allowing them to learn how to play a video game with real-time fMRI neurofeed...

nature.com

Which factors are more vs. less important in predicting memory? We systematically investigated the contributions of image memorability, valence, arousal, attention, and test delay. Image memorability was the strongest predictor of memory. Proud of this work led by @hartwakeland.bsky.social!

🎊New Lab Alert! I'll be starting at the 🧡University of Texas at Austin🧡 this August! More info to come. thesonglab.github.io I send my deep gratitude to my mentors, Monica @monicarosenb.bsky.social, YC @ycleong.bsky.social, ShiNung @shinung.bsky.social & Zach @zreagh.bsky.social, for everything.

How do the brain’s event representations change as we gain familiarity with an experience? Brain regions’ representations can become coarser or finer as events become familiar. Slow-timescale structure predicts memory. Excited to share this work w/ Narjes Al-Zahli & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!

Repeated Viewing of a Film Clip Changes Event Timescales in The Brain

Many everyday experiences share a recurring structure: routines, familiar routes, rewatched films, and replayed songs. How do repeated encounters with such structure alter the brain’s representations ...

jneurosci.org

👋 Happy to see this paper published in PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2529176123 Asking: is curiosity a homeostatic drive, or a policy learned through reinforcement? How can we tell, and why does it matter? 🧵👇 With Jane Mok, @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social, Caroline Marvin, and Daphna Shohamy 🙏

Learning reinforces curiosity for related information | PNAS

Human curiosity is dynamic, however the principles governing its fluctuations remain debated. Here, we test two competing hypotheses about how past...

pnas.org

Yaniv Abir@yanivabir.bsky.social · last yr.

What drives human curiosity? Is it a need to balance stimulation — or something we learn over time? In our 🚨 new preprint, we show that learning reinforces curiosity, especially for related content. osf.io/9bw6j_v2 w/ Jane Mok, @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social , Caroline Marvin, Daphna Shohamy 🧵👇

Attention fluctuates over time and across contexts—how is this reflected in the brain?🧠 Fitting a dynamical systems model to fMRI data, we show that the geometry of neural dynamics along the attractor landscape reflects changes in attention. Out in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very happy that this paper from our lab is now out in @pnas.org! What happens when the *same* person experiences the *same* information with a *different* interpretation? Nearly the whole 🧠—well, at least nearly all association cortex—changes how it represents that information! tinyurl.com/p8chj2j7

#CNS2026 Young Investigator Award Lecture 1 - Neural Signatures of Sustained Attention Across Time Scales and Individuals, Monica Rosenberg, Ph.D. Monday, March 9, 2026, 1:30 - 2:00 pm Find out more: www.cogneurosociety.org/young-invest... @cogneuronews.bsky.social

How does the brain🧠 make causal inferences and use memories to understand narratives🎬? We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do! Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇

A neural network with episodic memory learns causal relationships between narrative events

Humans reflect on past memories to make sense of an ongoing event. Past work has shown that people retrieve causally related past events during comprehension, but the exact process by which this causa...

biorxiv.org

New preprint! 🧠 Our mind wanders at rest. By periodically probing ongoing thoughts during resting-state fMRI, we show these thoughts are reflected in brain network dynamics and contribute to pervasive links between functional brain architecture and everyday behavior (1/10). doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Ongoing thoughts at rest reflect functional brain organization and behavior

Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC)-brain connectivity observed when people rest with no external tasks-predicts individual differences in behavior. Yet, rest is not idle; it involves streams...

biorxiv.org

#neuroskyence #academicsky #psychskyscience #psychology

Caterina Gratton@caterinagratton.bsky.social · 3y ago

🚨My lab is searching for 1-2 full-time research coordinator(s) and a full-time research tech to contribute to our studies on 🧠 human brain networks🧠 Deadline: Feb. 28 for full consideration Start date: as early as this summer Additional info: pics below and 👇 Pls share/RT! 🙏

New preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We’re surprised in many situations, like surprise parties, lab tasks, & suspenseful basketball games. Despite being in completely different situations, does our brain process unexpectedness similarly? 1/9

Brain network dynamics predict moments of surprise across contexts

bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

biorxiv.org

For my first post on bsky I am thrilled to advertise an NIMH-funded open postdoc position in my lab in collaboration with Jen Wildes at UChicago. Please spread the word! For more info and instructions to apply, please see: bakkourlab.uchicago.edu/join-us/post...

How do we resolve competition between memories to behave adaptively? Hippocampal differentiation of competing memories predicts the precision of preparatory coding in visual cortex during memory-guided attention Excited to share this work by the inimitable Serra Favila! #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky

Hippocampal differentiation of competing memories predicts the precision of preparatory coding in vi...

bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

biorxiv.org

Stress tends to enhance memory for emotional events. Yet stress is also thought to hurt the hippocampus (which supports episodic memory). With @evgoldfarb.bsky.social & others, we explore this paradox and demonstrate how cortisol can *enhance* hippocampal function to support emotional episodic mems!

Hippocampal mechanisms support cortisol-induced memory enhancements

Stress can powerfully influence episodic memory, often enhancing memory encoding for emotionally salient information. These stress-induced memory enhancements stand at odds with demonstrations that st...

jneurosci.org

First post! I'll be starting as an assistant professor at Northwestern next year! I'm recruiting PhD students this cycle! I'll be reviewing applications through the Brain, Behavior, and Cognition area in Northwestern's Department of Psychology. Apply! Learn more about the lab here: nucatslab.com

I’m excited to announce the Adaptive Memory Lab is moving to Univ. of Oregon summer 2024. I’ve been a lucky duck to forge such great relationships at Temple and am looking forward to developing new ones. I’ll be recruiting grad students next year so feel free to reach out. #OMG/OregonMemoryGroup

Resting state, or sleeping state? We know that wakefulness matters for adult functional brain network organization. In our new paper, we show that wakefulness can also be important in infant fMRI! 1/9

Functional networks in the infant brain during sleep and wake states

Abstract. Functional brain networks are assessed differently earlier versus later in development: infants are almost universally scanned asleep, whereas adults

academic.oup.com

First empirical pub from the lab! Fear generalization - spreading ⚡️ assoc to similar stimuli - characterizes anxiety. Here we show that 🍷 assoc also spread to similar stimuli for indiv engaging in risky drinking pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37682597/