📢Registration is NOW OPEN for the 36th annual Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar CNS2026!

This meeting is open to neuroscientists of every discipline and all career stages, both from Cambridge and beyond!

🎟️Register: lnkd.in/dWEvgCzW
🧠Check out our programme: lnkd.in/dT2NnnnG
🤝Share📨

See you there!

New preprint 🎉 Psych constructs are complex. Symptoms overlap, people rarely fit neat categories, and patterns are non-linear. Most methods compromise this richness. Self-Organising Maps don't. We provide a step-by-step tutorial with annotated R code to make them accessible.

doi.org/10.31234/osf...

Under emotion-guided attention, fearful targets, presented in high (compared to low) spatial frequency, were better detected. This was also reflected in enhanced evidence accumulation, using drift diffusion modelling.

@pandmlabhku.bsky.social
@jingwenfrancesjin.bsky.social
@hcp4715.bsky.social

👉 doi.org/10.1037/emo0001595

In a series of experiments, we studied emotion-related decision making, namely the interaction of top-down (attention) and bottom-up (emotion expression, and spatial frequency) factors.

This new paper is dedicated to Ramesh Ramchand Karnani—a friend, colleague, and brilliant mind—whom I deeply miss.

His invaluable contributions to the development of the experimental paradigm have profoundly influenced this paper.

May he be remembered through this work.

This work is now out in Nature Communications! 🎉

Computational signatures of uncertainty are reflected in motor cortex excitatory neurochemistry: www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64702-6

Huge thanks to our amazing team! @beckyneuro.bsky.social @campsydept.bsky.social @camneuro.bsky.social

Cortical and subcortical mapping of the human allostatic–interoceptive system using 7 Tesla fMRI - Nature Neuroscience The brain is constantly monitoring the systems in the body. Here the authors use 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging to map a large-scale brain system for body regulation in humans, includin...

Cortical and subcortical mapping of the human allostatic–interoceptive system using 7 Tesla fMRI

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

🚨 New Preprint 🚨

Some people are at greater risk of experiencing negative mental health outcomes of social media use than others, but why?

🧵

We examined whether individual differences in cognitive processes shape risk and resilience to mental health effects on social media: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Scholars like Jane Goodall first inspired me to apply to Newnham, a college for "strong, witty and rebellious" women.

In our studies and actions, let her vision ignite, a world where compassion and science unite.
🧬🌱

@newnhamcollege.bsky.social
@cam.ac.uk

An interoceptive model of energy allostasis linking metabolic and mental health Interactions between metabolic interoception and regulation may drive comorbidity between mental and metabolic ill-health.

What drives the bidirectional relationship between metabolic and mental ill-health?

Read our new metabolic psychiatry paper, “An interoceptive model of energy allostasis linking metabolic and mental health” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... led by @saramehrhof.bsky.social @hugofleming.bsky.social

Teen loneliness triggers ‘reward seeking’ behaviour A study has found that adolescents become highly motivated to seek rewards after just a few hours of social isolation. This may be beneficial in driving them

Press release on our new paper

Acute isolation is associated with increased reward seeking and reward learning in human adolescents.

www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...

My pre-PhD work with @noham-wolpe.bsky.social is finally out! doi.org/10.1037/mot0000411

How does progress feedback influence effort-based decision-making? Our study involved a novel effort manipulation designed for online testing and mouse-tracking. The results came with a twist on apathy… (🧵1/3)

How uncertainty affects our mental health - Gates Cambridge Friederike Hedley talks about her research into the impact of uncertainty on cognitive and neural processing, with a focus on the mental health impact on adolescents.

Friederike Hedley talks about her research into the impact of uncertainty on cognitive & neural processing, with a focus on the mental health impact on adolescents - www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/h...

#MentalHealth #uncertainty

@uniofcam.bsky.social @newnhamcollege.bsky.social

I still get chills

Meet Mike
*30+ years severe depression
*first hospitalized @ 13y
*20 meds
*3 rounds of ECT
*2 near-fatal suicide attempts

Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE

see videos, read paper, follow thread
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

🚨Thrilled to share a new paper on emotion ensemble processing in anxiety.

Threat biases arose in dual fashion, such that individuals with anxiety displayed:
• an attentional bias indicating threat avoidance
• a judgemental bias favouring threat
➡️ doi.org/10.1037/abn0...
🧠 @pandmlabhku.bsky.social

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 🧠🍼

An all-female lineup of Cambridge students discusses uncertainty.

Read more: newn.cam.ac.uk/newnham-news...

@cam.ac.uk
@newnhamcollege.bsky.social
@gatescambridge.bsky.social

📸 Dasha Tenditna

From Oxford to Chile
OH BRC and @oxfordpsychiatry.bsky.social Prof Cathy Creswell is leading a new global project to adapt Oxford research on #childanxiety.

The OSI programme, supported by our BRC & NIHR ARC OxTV, is now being tailored for Chilean families.
🔗 Read more: tinyurl.com/ProfCCChile

Meet the engineer using deep learning to restore Renaissance art As a student, Alex Kachkine can only afford damaged art in need of repair. Here’s how they turned their conservation work into a science.

As a student, Alex Kachkine can only afford damaged art in need of repair. Nature describes how they turned their art conservation work into a science. go.nature.com/4kPemRd

Read their research paper: go.nature.com/43Wv35Y

#Academicsky 🧪

The Sunken Rose Garden, Newnham College - 28 May 2025

@newnhamcollege.bsky.social

PhD studentship available in developmental cognitive neuroscience, in Cambridge - please publicise.

Open to women candidates, as the student will be based at Newnham College.

Transcendence Through Art: Connecting with Higher Values | Simone Schnall, University of Cambridge YouTube video by Templeton Religion Trust

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOBv...

Europe’s choice is clear.

To put science at the heart of its economy.

To become the home of scientific freedom and collaboration.

And to welcome talent from all over the world.

I’m glad to present the first elements of our Choose Europe Initiative.

→ europa.eu/!TTbWbJ

🚨 We live in an era of global uncertainty. How do anxiety, depression and intolerance of uncertainty interact in this context? What are promising targets to alleviate mental distress?

Come and check out my poster #21 at CNS2025.
#CamNeuro2025 🧠🎓
@camneuro.bsky.social
@gatescambridge.bsky.social

Do smartphones and social media really harm teens’ mental health? Researchers are debating the strength of evidence connecting technology to surging rates of adolescent mental illness. But they have some clear advice for parents.

A feature in Nature explores the debate among researchers about the strength of scientific evidence connecting technology to surging rates of adolescent mental illness. Researchers do have some clear advice for parents. 🧪

With the 80th anniversary of the first two female Fellows being elected to the Royal Society, watch our short documentary on pioneering microbiologist Marjory Stephenson FRS with Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Professor Judy Armitage FRS: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK7B...

🚨In this new paper, we present a novel approach to integrating clinical theory and computational modelling.

Using social anxiety disorder (SAD) as an example, we combine cognitive-behavioural theory with an active inference approach.
➡️ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40048236/
🧠 @pandmlabhku.bsky.social

Kate Baker, Genetics, Infection and Immunity Research Theme Lead, smiling, wearing glasses, in a black shirt, with quote on Cambridge Blue background: 'True progress happens when leadership reflects the communities it impacts. Fairness isn’t about idealism – it’s smart strategy.'

Lida Derevnina, Plant Sciences, Crop Science MPhil Lead, smiling, in a plant laboratory with quote on Cambridge Blue background: 'The most powerful educational systems are built by diverse voices that challenge traditional boundaries. As women step into leadership roles, we're not just filling seats—we're fundamentally reshaping how we nurture future thinkers and leaders. Where I once saw few role models, I now see possibility. For the next generation, these leadership roles will be normal, expected, and simply the way the world should work. We are reimagining learning, potential, and success, one leadership position at a time.'

Rebecca Lawson, Psychology, Acting Deputy Head of School for Research Strategy, smiling, in a black shirt with quote on Cambridge Blue background: "Scientific progress thrives on diversity, and the inclusion of women in research strategy and leadership is not just about equity—it’s about excellence. A diverse research leadership enriches the way we approach problems, challenge assumptions, and translate discoveries into meaningful change. At Cambridge, we recognise that the future of biological sciences depends on fostering leadership that reflects the full breadth of talent in our community"

Laura Itzhaki, Pharmacology, Head of the Department of Pharmacology, smiling, in a black shirt with quote on Cambridge Blue background: "I have found being Head of Department great fun and rewarding. It has been exciting and empowering to see what can be done. Often women don't see themselves in leadership positions, but I'm sure they'd be pleasantly surprised if they tried, and the more diverse the leadership the better for everyone."

Happy International Women’s Day!

Today we are celebrating the Women in Leadership across the School of Biological Sciences driving Research and Education Strategy.

Read their reflections on the importance of involving women in leadership teams.

#IWD2025 #InternationalWomensDay

Very proud to have recently joined @newnhamcollege.bsky.social as a dining fellow. Newnham is the oldest college run by women, for women, and the only remaining women's college in Cambridge
newn.cam.ac.uk