The Cortex special issue on Conceptual Knowledge, co-edited by Emiko Muraki (@emij.bsky.social), Richard Binney (@rjbinney.bsky.social), Penny Pexman (@pennypexman.bsky.social) and myself is still accepting submissions.
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
* Language-specific concepts form the core of shared cultural knowledge, shaping the DMN’s role in interpersonal communication.
* These concepts are also used in inner speech, and may even serve as default representations for some seemingly non-linguistic cognitive processes.
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The authors discuss the significance of cross-linguistic semantic variation for understanding DMN function, suggesting that:
* Every language enhances cognition with its own inventory of concepts, which the DMN represents.
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The authors review two key literatures:
1️⃣ Neuroimaging investigations of DMN involvement in word, sentence, and narrative processing;
2️⃣ Cross-linguistic studies of semantic variation.
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The first paper from the Cortex Special Issue on Conceptual Knowledge is out!
🧠 In this perspective piece, David Kemmerer and Guy Dove propose that what’s truly “default” about the Default Mode Network is its role in representing language-specific, culturally diverse concepts.
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Save the date 👆🧵 Neuroimaging Statistics Workshop, 12-13 June, @ohbmofficial.bsky.social 2026 satellite meeting, w/ @ohbmossig.bsky.social's BrainHack. Keith Worsley lecture by Sir. John Aston, + great work at Neuro/Stats/ML/AI interface. Registration opens soon! sites.google.com/view/nsw2026
Call for Papers for a new Special Issue of Cortex on Concept Knowledge
The editors, Penny Pexman, Richard Binney, Veronica Diveica, and Emiko Muraki welcome original empirical research articles, as well as reviews and perspectives.
The last date for submissions will be March 10th 2026.
Huge congratulations, Pablo! 🌟
New paper w/ @ryskin.bsky.social in Open Mind!
Words change: “broadcast” once meant scattering seeds; “tweet” was just a bird sound. Do older adults keep earlier meanings, or update as language evolves?
Our new paper investigates how semantic representations differ across age groups. 🧵👇
Major new study isolating the amodal language network from non-linguistic domains 🧠 📐 💭
Languages of the brain: fMRI dissection of the amodal networks for language, mathematics, and social knowledge
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
It has been a while since @flavioazevedo.bsky.social asked me to take over the Reversals project at @forrt.bsky.social...
It has since evolved beyond my wildest dreams, mostly thanks to @aufdroeseler.bsky.social & @lukaswallrich.bsky.social.
We are very proud of the Replication Hub & Database ♥️
We just published a paper in PNAS, showing microstructural changes to the hippocampus in aging and presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease - in humans, in vivo.
We continue to show the value of structural MRI beyond simply measuring large-scale atrophy!
Read here: ow.ly/1NvV50XkXnX
Very excited to share @landrybulls.bsky.social's 1st lead-author preprint in my lab! Using datasets from MySocialBrain.org we measured people's beliefs about how mental states change in intensity over time, the dimensional structure of those beliefs, and their correlates: osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵👇
🧠 Interested in how the brain constructs and uses meaning?
In my Journal Club piece for @natrevpsychol.nature.com, I summarize the Controlled Semantic Cognition Framework by Lambon Ralph et al. — a leading model of how the brain represents and flexibly applies semantic knowledge.
👉🏼 rdcu.be/eE31i
Some scientists haven't yet internalized the "why" behind science writing for the public - not just as a service, but for themselves. (I didn't always get it). In this piece for @natrevneuro.nature.com, I draw on the neuroscience of curiosity & decision making to unpack its value.
rdcu.be/eCGr7
This was a fun paper to write, and one that fits nicely with some recent work I've been doing on the role of counterfactual simulation in memory encoding. link.springer.com/article/10.3...
The OHBM Open Science SIG is looking for new leadership! Self-nominations are now open! If you're passionate about open science in neuroimaging, get involved.
Multiple roles are available, with nominations reviewed in rolling rounds through October. ossig.netlify.app/elections/
Super interesting! Congratulations, Irina! 🌟
✨️Excited to share my first paper is out in Behavior Research Methods with @rjbinney.bsky.social and @pennypexman.bsky.social! We quantified the association of a word's meaning with reward, showing that it is a dimension relevant to semantic processing.
📄🔗Link: rdcu.be/eyqvn
Finally published:
“Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Looking for ways to better understand different neuroscientific perspectives and enable productive collaborations
🧠 Just out with @pennypexman.bsky.social “Simulation in the ‘Blind’ Mind”.
We found that even without conscious imagery (aphantasia), people still simulate sensorimotor info when processing language. 💭🔤
Tired of mismatched brain maps? 🧠
The Network Correspondence Toolbox (NCT) brings consistency to neuroimaging by aligning findings across atlases. A big leap toward reproducible brain science! @lucinauddin.bsky.social
www.ohbm-com.com/brain-bites/...
#OHBM2025 #BrainBites #neuroscience
Proud to be an alumnus of the Bangor Imaging Unit 🎓 The knowledge and skills I gained over four years there shaped my career and how I approach 🧠 research.
Amazing to see the work the team has been doing since I graduated in 2023—still raising the bar for neuroimaging in Wales and beyond! 🚀
🚨 Apply NOW for the 2025 Neuro–Irv & Helga Cooper Foundation Open Science Prizes!
Rewarding #OpenScience in neuroscience - the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute
💡 $80K Main Prize
🎓 $10K Intl. Trainee Prize
🍁 $5K Canadian Trainee Prize
🔗 www.mcgill.ca/neuro/open-s...)
🗓️ Aug 15
Had a fantastic time presenting our work on the shared neural substrate of autobiographical, semantic, and social cognition at #OHBM2025 @ohbmofficial.bsky.social 🧠🫂 Check out the poster below 📈
Come by my poster on network controllability in aging and MCI!
Poster #1228 today and tomorrow
#OHBM2025
🚨📄 New paper!
Abstract words are hard to acquire: Does social relevance help?
We tested if social experience helps children learn words—analyzing >4,000 words by socialness, valence, and concreteness.
👬 More social words were learned earlier
💭 Socialness particularly helped abstract words, but…
Excited to announce a call for papers for a new virtual special issue in Cortex on Concept Knowledge.
Our opening editorial, plus further information and guidance for authors can be found here:
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
OHBM Lunch with Mentors will be happening in Brisbane! Fill out the registration form below to enter a lottery draw. Registration closes May 25th 12pm AEST.
Register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/1vuF...
Information on this year's Mentors is available here: www.ohbmtrainees.com/lunch-with-m...
