Our latest MBI Researcher Highlight features Dr. Tracy Centanni Rosen. Her research aims to better understand the root causes of dyslexia and spur the brain’s ability to adapt using noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation to improve reading and language skills.

MBI Researcher Highlight: Dr. Tracy Centanni Rosen » McKnight Brain Institute » University of Florida

Her research aims to better understand the root causes of dyslexia and spur neural plasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt, using noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation to improve reading and languag...

mbi.ufl.edu

Enjoying that moment when the pilot data look exactly the way you hoped 😁 before forcing yourself back to reality and the long wait to get the full dataset 🫡

Nothing like spending an entire semester up to your eyeballs in teaching and grading to make you miss writing. Working on student manuscripts this week and loving seeing these stories start to come together!

Been a while, BlueSky! Just got back from the #INS2026 meeting in Lisbon. The science and the country did not disappoint!

🚨Open postdoc position 🚨supporting my upcoming project on non invasive vagus nerve stimulation for improvement of speech production and respiratory control in individuals post brain injury. Reach out with questions and interest!

It’s been a roller coaster of a year. At some point, I’ll post a by-the-numbers for the lab, but right now I’m going to take a step back and reset for the new year. I hope everyone is able to do the same as we prepare for 2026!

Career Advice | 10 Dos and Don’ts for Ph.D. Applications Common mistakes can undermine your chances for admission. https://bit.ly/442KytF #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Good for you, MIT! Proud to have spent some of my postdoc years there.

Postdoc opening!! We’re looking for a postdoc to support our DoD funded study, using noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation and EEG to study speech in noise perception in veterans with TBI. Please share and reach out to start the conversation if interested! bit.ly/478e3ME

GAPPLab_PostDoc_opening

Classification Title: Postdoctoral Associate Job Description: The Genetics of Auditory and visual Perception and Plasticity (GAPP Lab) Lab in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences...

bit.ly

Congrats to @drsrishtin.bsky.social and team!!!

Simon Fisher@profsimonfisher.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper alert! Systematic epidemiological analyses of up to 39,000 people illuminate biological/clinical links between impaired musical rhythm abilities & disorders affecting speech-language development. International collaboration led by @drsrishtin.bsky.social, out in @natcomms.nature.com. 👇🧪

The world continues to make my heart hurt. To fill my cup and bring back some optimism, I’m excited to attend my favorite conference @snlmtg.bsky.social Search my last name to find the lab’s two EEG + dyslexia posters, one on musical training and one on inverted text processing.

Delighted that PINE Lab will be accepting applications for PhD students to start Fall 2026! Please share with applicants looking for developmental & neuroscience programs? Our website is updated with current studies, questions, and guidance about fit: www.plasticityinneurodevelopmentlab.com/join-us

Say it again.

PapaJ@michiganpapa.bsky.social · last yr.

"Any book worth banning is a book worth reading." Isaac Asimov

In typical fashion, I couldn’t help myself and looked at the data from the first three participants in our new taVNS optimization study. The data fall exactly as I expected. I know, I know, WAY. TOO. SOON…but still kinda nice to have some validation of the hypothesis, right?

We now have a Society for the Neurobiology of Language Bluesky account @snlmtg.bsky.social! Follow for updates on the meeting. I'm really excited for our fantastic lineup of speakers! #SNL2025

SNL Annual Meeting@snlmtg.bsky.social · last yr.

Explore the #SNL2025 Keynote Speakers lineup! Find full details at: 2025.neurolang.org

The danger of the “at first I said nothing because they came for someone else…” policy. Eventually, they will come for everyone.

Chronicle of Higher Education@chronicle.com · last yr.

Trump Administration Freezes Research Grants to UCLA chroni.cl/4lVkVC4

Another reason open science is important!

Jonathan Peelle@jpeelle.bsky.social · last yr.

38 research teams analyzed the same fNIRS data...Really nice visualization of the variety of processing pipelines people use from Meryem Yücel, Rob Luke, et al.: "fNIRS reproducibility varies with data quality, analysis pipelines, and researcher experience" www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Grant funding still exists! After many weeks of delays, I’m so relieved and excited to share that we just received NOA on a 2-year DoD project to investigate speech in noise deficits in veterans with TBI, and explore non-invasive vagus nerve stim as an intervention. 🍾🎉

Officially feel like faculty. My #SSSR2025 talk is tomorrow morning and it’s still not done. Come see me present about rat models of dyslexia genes in the 10:30 symposium!

It’s been a rainy but beautiful welcome in Calgary! Attending SSSR? Come see my talk on Saturday in the 10:30 panel on white matter structure and reading development!!

Great to see our work on taVNS highlighted in this new article! Some exciting projects ongoing - can’t wait to share findings!

UF McKnight Brain Institute @ufmbi.bsky.social · last yr.

Vagus nerve stimulation is touted as a potential treatment for a wide range of conditions from inflammatory bowel disease to autism spectrum disorder. But does it really work? MBI researchers weigh in. @tmcentanni.bsky.social Learn more: bit.ly/3FTsEkm

Never thought I’d see the day where I regularly watch c-span…yet here we are.

Max Kozlov@maxkozlov.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya is testifying before the US Senate Appropriations Committee today. The hearing is bound to be spicy, after more than 300 agency staff wrote him a letter decrying his leadership and actions as director. 🔥 I'll be live-posting the hearing, so follow along here.

#JobPosting for a full-time OPS Laboratory Technician. This position will mainly support two projects, both of which evaluate the effect of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation on speech in noise perception. Please share! For more details, please see bit.ly/4jdiEjs

GAPPLab_LabTech_2025

The GAPP Lab is looking for a full-time research technician for 1-year to assist with two new projects. This OPS position reports to Professor Tracy Centanni. Please contact her with questions and/or ...

bit.ly

#Pitch perception deficits may interfere w/ complex #acoustic categorization & persist in some individuals w/ #dyslexia despite prior music experiences. on.asha.org/4moYaay @tmcentanni.bsky.social @sigperspectives.bsky.social @csdisseminate.bsky.social #AUDPeeps

Complex Pitch Perception Deficits in Dyslexia Persist Regardless of Previous Musical Experiences

Purpose: Pitch perception is important for speech sound learning, and reading acquisition requires integration of speech sounds and written lette...

on.asha.org

Congratulations to lab PhD student, Delaney Kelemen, on the publication of her first first-author paper in JSLHR! She found that young adults with dyslexia performed worse than their typically developing peers on both simple and complex pitch perception tasks. 1/n

Complex Pitch Perception Deficits in Dyslexia Persist Regardless of Previous Musical Experiences

Purpose: Pitch perception is important for speech sound learning, and reading acquisition requires integration of speech sounds and written lette...

pubs.asha.org

It always brightens my day when I get to pilot new things. Testing out our combined taVNS + EEG setup during a task so I can validate the artifact removal process. Now we just need the NOA for this project to officially come though….🤞🤞🤞

Applications for the MBI Gator Neuroscholars postdoc fellowship are due 7/13! I’d love to work with someone interested in non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation for communication or cognition. Please reach out if you’re interested in applying to work with me!

Neurons are so cool 🤓

Lisa S. Scott 🧠@lisascottbcd.bsky.social · last yr.

“Apical plasticity drives the formation of functional clusters of learning-related synapses for nonlinear integration, whereas basal plasticity favors the formation of Hebbian ensembles for reliable pattern completion” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The arcuate fasciculus = a key white-matter tract implicated in human language. A study of chimpanzees in @natcomms.nature.com links individual variation in anatomy & asymmetry of the tract to individual diffs in use of both communicative gestures & sounds under volitional orofacial motor control.👇🧪

Individual variation in the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus predicts vocal and gestural communication - Nature Communications

Here, authors reveal the anatomy of the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus predicts use of intentional, communicative gestures and sounds. The chimpanzee arcuate is not left-asymmetric at the population le...

nature.com

Took a few minutes today to join my kids for a nap in the sun while working from home. Time well spent.