Constantina Theofanopoulou

Group photograph of faculty and participants of the very first Cold Spring Harbor summer course on Genetics and Neurobiology of Language in 2014, taken as the sun was going down at the Banbury Campus, Lloyd Harbor.

Please tell friends & colleagues about our unique course “Genetics & Neurobiology of Language” July 27-Aug 3 2026. Expert tutors, interactive talks, panel discussions, all in a beautiful setting. Scholarships available: meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...
@cshlnews.bsky.social @cshlbanbury.bsky.social

This complex brain network may explain many of Parkinson's stranger symptoms Parkinson's disease appears to disrupt a brain network involved in everything from movement to memory.

Parkinson's disease appears to disrupt a brain network involved in everything from movement to memory. n.pr/4kpKWtv

We are recruiting participants for a new study, Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, exploring how dance impacts brain function and behavior in people with Parkinson’s Disease! Spread the news to anyone who might be a good fit.

Sign up here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

📌  NEW PREPRINT OUT 📌

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A new paper from the lab, using 7T fMRI and MEG to shed light on how we read, specifically how the visual system encodes strings of letters and moves from retinotopic to ordinal neural codes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

AZA Stephen Allsop, David Leventhal, Mai Lê Hô, curated and moderated by Nisha Sajnani.

For those who cannot make it in person, our conversation will be livestreamed and recorded so you can watch along.

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Festival Orchestra Pre-Show Discussion · Lincoln Center In what ways do the arts foster belonging, resilience, and healing within communities? Join leading artists, researchers, and lived experience experts in a 3-part series of…

If you are in NYC, join us tonight at the @lincolncenter.bsky.social (Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts) for a conversation on arts and collective wellbeing. I am looking forward to -what is meant to be- an inspiring conversation with colleagues:

lincolncenter.org/series/summe...

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Take a peek at our recent publication through the lens of a visual summary creatively crafted by the Jameel Arts and Health Lab.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Huge thanks to Vicky Karkou, who brought the team together, and to the rest of the co-authors: Pierluigi Sacco, Matthew Pelowski, Catherine Carr, Val Huet, Jane Bourne, @robynd.bsky.social, and Helen Chatterjee.

We highlight the limitations of narrow neuroscientific framings and call for more inclusive, context-sensitive standards of evidence.

We welcome every effort to bring rigor to arts and health research (e.g., powered trials with well-defined control groups) but argue that such rigor must also reflect the complexity and ecological validity of real-world practices.

Comment on 'Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological critique' by Skov and Nadal - A critique of the critique: Towards a more nuanced evaluation of current research...

In this piece just published in Physics of Life Reviews, we came together as an interdisciplinary team of artists, art therapists, arts educators, and theoretical and clinical researchers to respond to Skov & Nadal’s recent critique of arts-based interventions.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Check out the latest -From Our Neurons To Yours- podcast episode! I discuss my work using large speech and language systems as "model species" to understand how the human brain processes language 🧠

A blue book cover of 'Evolutionary and Comparative Neuroendocrinology'

Paper abstract: Oxytocin is a neuromodulator and hormone that helps coordinate a variety of physiological and behavioural functions. Oxytocin exerts its diverse effects by binding to oxytocin receptors throughout the brain and the periphery, which initiates various signalling cascades. The location and distribution of oxytocin receptors can differ between species, which can facilitate species-specific behaviours that promote survival and reproduction. Yet, despite the increasing interest in the oxytocin signalling system, the extent of its functions in human health and wellbeing are currently not well understood. Pinpointing the evolutionary trajectory of the oxytocin receptor is one approach that can help unravel the current purpose of the oxytocin signalling system. Here, we demonstrate three analytical approaches that help uncover the evolutionary history of the oxytocin receptor: sequence homology searches, synteny mapping, and positive selection analysis. Our non-technical guide includes suggestions for software packages

Very happy to have contributed a chapter on the evolution of oxytocin receptor signalling for a new book on evolutionary and comparative neuroendocrinology. Great work from @aisartorius.bsky.social and @constantinatheo.bsky.social! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

🚨 I’m hiring a full-time lab manager to help me build my lab start in July or August 2025! 🚨

If you know any stellar candidates who might be interested, please send this their way.

🗓 Application review begins April 15
⏰ Final deadline is April 25
📎 Apply here ➡️ lnkd.in/evhfqzTP

Global coordination of brain activity by the breathing cycle - Nature Reviews Neuroscience Synchrony between neuronal activity and the respiratory cycle has been observed in numerous brain regions and across many species. Tort et al. discuss the mechanisms by which brain activity is modulat...

Global coordination of brain activity by the breathing cycle
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our flamenco/jazz event is just ONE WEEK AWAY (and it is free and open to everyone)!
RSVP: lnkd.in/e5g5duZY

Music and Health: Dancing Together How can dancing help Parkinson's patients regain their ability to walk? What does neuroscience say about the healing power of dance?

It was a huge pleasure to discuss with the amazing JD Talasek and David Leventhal about how dance is helping patients regain movement and other abilities, and what neuroscience research says about dance as a form of healing. Links to several podcast platforms:
issues.org/music-and-he...

Thanks to the New York Academy of Sciences for this interview!
www.nyas.org/ideas-insigh...

Wonderful work and so revelant to our efforts to understand the neurobiology of speech & dance.

Cerebellar output shapes cortical preparatory activity during motor adaptation - Nature Communications Functional role of the cerebellum in motor adaptation is not fully understood. The authors show that cerebellar signals act as low-dimensional feedback which constrains the structure of the preparator...

🚨 Paper Alert! 🚨
1/n Thrilled to share our latest research, now published in Nature Communications! 🎉 This study dives deep into how the cerebellum shapes cortical preparatory activity during motor adaptation.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroskyence #motorcontrol #cerebellum #motoradaptation

To the brain, Esperanto and Klingon appear the same as English or Mandarin MIT research finds the brain’s language-processing network also responds to artificial languages such as Esperanto and languages made for TV, such as Klingon on “Star Trek” and High Valyrian and Dothr...

So excited to have our work on conlangs out in PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Congrats, Saima, Maya, and the rest of the crew -- well done!
Here is the MIT news story:
news.mit.edu/2025/esperan...

This event is sponsored by the Rockefeller University Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s Microgrant Program.

Artistic team:
Alfonso Cid (flute and vocals), Tim Ferguson (double bass), Jesús Hernández (piano), Alberto Muñoz Sánchez (cajón and drums), and Constantina Theofanopoulou (flamenco dance).

💃🏽 FLAMENCO/JAZZ EVENT in NYC 🪭

📅 Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025 
⏰ Time/📍Location:
5 PM – Wine/beer reception at Abby
5:30 PM – Event at Caspary Auditorium
The Rockefeller University (1230 York Ave, New York, NY
10065)
🎟 Audience: Free and open to the public
🔗 RSVP: lnkd.in/e5g5duZY

It is great to see dance being highlighted for its brain benefits in Discover magazine this month. Also delightful to see our research featured alongside that of superb collaborators.

#dance #neuroscience

🚨New Preprint! 🎵🧠 Joint music listening enhances interpersonal affective and neural synchrony. A huge fNIRS hyperscanning study on shared music listening & pleasure with @federicocurzel.bsky.social , @giacomonovembre.bsky.social, Barbara Tillmann and Arnaud Fournel. 👉 osf.io/preprints/os...

Thanks, Lucas!

Constantina Theofanopoulou — WISeR WISeR: “What sparked your initial interest in science, and what drew you to your specific field?” CT: “Since the beginning, my main driving force has been an unceasing passion for uncovering truth t...

Hugely indebted to Women in Science at Rockefeller for making me part of this Women's History Month Celebration. This initiative has made such an important impact on the university's culture, and I cannot wait to witness and contribute to what comes next.
www.wiseratrockefeller.com/womens-histo...

🎶 Everything you ever wanted to know about Joint Music Making—but were afraid to ask! 🎶

A comprehensive review by Sara Abalde, @neuromusicnerd.bsky.social , @perikeller.bsky.social rikeller.bsky.social & me, bridging behavioural findings, neural processes, and computational models (link below).