Nancy Kanwisher

@nancykanwisher.bsky.social

3.1K followers 450 following 490 posts

Scientist, mentor, activist, explorer.

Nancy Gail Kanwisher FBA is the Walter A Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a researcher at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. She studies the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying human visual perception and cognition. .. more

Neuroscience 75%

Computer science 12%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 1d

Power is waning for one of the most insidious forces in US politics: AIPAC

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

A Pro-Israel Group’s Move Backfires as Gaza Tensions Flare in Midterms

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · 1d

Setting back neurological studies for years doesn't make America healthy. Use this link to help us #RemoveRFKJr standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr

Top of the photo in white text reads: "NEUROLOGICAL ISSUES LIKE CTE DON'T JUST AFFECT NFL PLAYERS." Below that is a photo of two NFL players clashing helmets. Below that is a news clipping reading: "How possible NIH cuts could threaten future treatment for neurological disease". Below that in bold white text reads: "SAVE LIVES. REMOVE RFK JR.". Below that in white text is a link reading: "standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr".

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d

When I was a new assistant professor and first ran across Grossberg's writings, which I found difficult to understand, I asked a highly respected senior vision scientist field whether I should invest the time and energy necessary to udnerstand this stuff. his answer: No! I heeded his advice.

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · 2d

The lesson for all the students out there is that science is a community project. Most of us make individually small contributions to this project. Success is measured at the collective level. Many of our professional (and personal) dysfunctions could be fixed by more fully embracing this view.

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Peter Thorne, Rosemary A. Joyce

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 3d

Re: Science Mag editorial celebrating mainly the inside/quiet advocacy done this year, I offer this in lighthearted response. 🧪

This is a Myanmar woman doing her usual, longstanding dance routine while black cars speed by to carry out a coup. 1/4

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 3d

A region in the cerebellum is language-selective—something previously found only in the cortex, a new study suggests.

By @natmesanash.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/language/cer...

Cerebellum responds to language like cortical areas

One of four language-responsive cerebellar regions may encode meaningful information, much like the cortical language network in the left hemisphere, according to a new study.

www.thetransmitter.org

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Mike Frank @mcxfrank.bsky.social · 4d

I am flabbergasted I am by how much vibe coding has expanded my capacities as a scientist and teacher.

In the last few weeks, I've mocked up class demos of a live turing test, generated cross-references for an encyclopedia, and prototyped new tablet tasks for developmental psych.

It's wild.

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · 4d

My lab is looking to recruit 1-2 paid summer interns to do wet lab work on learning in a unicellular organism (Stentor coeruleus). You can apply here:
forms.gle/b47WpSobjFjo...

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 5d

Wow. Totally worth a listen.

Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 5d

Sharing one of the most powerful videos I've seen in our fight against Trump....

Watch this incredible testimony from a citizen making the case against ICE's building of a "detention" center in Surprise, Arizona. Watch, and then share, and share again.....
www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/we-know-en...

"We Know Enough" - Powerful Testimony From Arizona Against ICE's Building Of A Massive "Detention" Center There

Watch and share this incredible video from an Arizona town meeting last night

www.hopiumchronicles.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 5d

"We Know Enough" - Powerful Testimony From Arizona Against ICE's Building Of A Massive "Detention" Center There

Watch and share this incredible video from an Arizona town meeting last night

www.hopiumchronicles.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Tim Hirschel-Burns @timhirschelburns.bsky.social · 5d

A year ago Elon Musk tweeted that he had fed USAID "into the wood chipper."

It was an act that killed people. We don't know most of their names, but we know 27. I've listed them below.

Much like with Renee Good + Alex Pretti, we should also remember these lives taken by the cruel men who lead us

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 7d

Fighting wins!
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Trump Drops Demand for Cash From Harvard After Stiff Resistance

www.nytimes.com

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 7d

That radical rag the NYT warns:

If you are somebody who has previously dismissed talk of election interference as overwrought, we understand where you are coming from. Yet we urge you not to assume that the past will repeat itself
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

Opinion | Trump Could Interfere With the Midterm Elections. You Can Help Defend Them.

www.nytimes.com

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 8d

Hats off to the great Anne "I don't do fancy" Treisman!

Lauren Aulet @laurenaulet.bsky.social · 8d

I was curious about the fact that there were seemingly no women scientists mentioned, even of equivalent caliber, and came across what is, seemingly, beef between Epstein and Brockman debating whether "the women are all weak" or not

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Calvin K. Lai

Lauren Aulet @laurenaulet.bsky.social · 8d

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 9d

At least 150 of us were out at our weekly standout today in 20 degree weather. The church behind me has a bell made by Paul Revere, and we are standing 1 block form where Katherine Lee Bates was born. And in the middle of the demo a bald eagle flew over head!

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 9d

If this doesn't make you cry you need to seek counseling.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

Opinion | ICE Took Their Classmate. They Started Writing Letters.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

Julie Beck @julieebeck.bsky.social · 9d

a tribute to everyone who hasn’t forgotten how to love their neighbors 💙

www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...

Americans Love Their Neighbors

Statistics say this is a time of disconnection. Minnesota’s response to ICE shows otherwise.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, John McLaren, Joseph Schafer

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 10d

I’m a NO — not one more penny for ICE without stopping this violence. Two American citizens were killed by federal agents.

No more roving patrols. No more secret masked police. No more warrantless raids. Investigate and prosecute ICE crimes.

Get ICE out of Minnesota.

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Nancy Kanwisher

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 10d

A truly unacceptable assault on the First Amendment.

Federal Agents Arrest Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Timothy Snyder, Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders , and 9 more Timothy Snyder, Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, Nancy Kanwisher, Erica Chenoweth, Aaron Sojourner, Nancy Langston, Raúl Pacheco-Vega, Aviel Roshwald, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Dunlap, David Darmofal

The Letterhack @theletterhack.bsky.social · 10d

Minnesota based Independent Journalist GEORGIA FORT has been arrested for filming a protest of the church pastor that works as an ICE manager. SPREAD THE WORD! Georgia has been doing outstanding reporting from ground zero!

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 12d

Encouraging news from the great Raj Chetty via @nickkristof.bsky.social‬

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 12d

Here's some good news for a change. One of America's most intractable problems is intergenerational poverty. Now a major new study from @harvard and @OppInsights shows one path to break these cycles of poverty: harness kids to influence kids. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/o...

Opinion | How to Bring Back the American Dream

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Lawrence F. Katz, Nancy Kanwisher

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 12d

Opinion | How to Bring Back the American Dream

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

HCR HQ @hcrhq.bsky.social · 12d

Today with @hcrichardson.bsky.social & American Promise’s Jeff Clements on Citizens United and Campaign Spending Reform
www.youtube.com/live/RWhSVDC...

American Conversations: Jeff Clements on Citizens United and Campaign Spending Reform

YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Mariana Mazzucato, Stephen M. Walt , and 181 more Anne Applebaum, Mariana Mazzucato, Stephen M. Walt, Michael E. Mann, Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Marc Lynch, Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit, Archon Fung, Nandita Sharma, Matthew Bunn, Nancy Kanwisher, Yadvinder Malhi, Michael Wagner, John T. Jost, Stephan Lewandowsky, Robbert Sanderman, David M. Schultz, Simon Burgess, Marco Festa‐Bianchet, David M. Farrell, Will Jennings, Ashish Arora, Peter Thorne, Martin J. Attrill, Jesse M. Shapiro, Christina C. Hicks, Richard Betts, Richard J. Butler, Mattias Hallquist, Patrick A. Jansen, Jonathan A. Foley, Michael T. Meyer, Joshua S. Weitz, John R. Hutchinson, Mieke Van Houtte, Steve Peers, John McLaren, Andrew Watt, Andreas Ortmann, Tim Bale, Tom Shakespeare, Valerie P. Hans, Mark D. White, Victor Asal, Steven S. Smith, Jill Marshall, Rosemary A. Joyce, Caroline Krafft, Jürgen Maier, Leigh Sparks, Marina Jirotka, David Rothschild, Martin Gaynor, Elizabeth Stokoe, Melissa Johnson, Vincent Tiberj, Michael J. Allen, Rupert Read, Christian E. Weller, Ian M. Kinchin, Dawn J. Wright, Joseph Schafer, Hester Blum, Markus Jäntti, Anders Nilsson, Alison Phipps, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Ramón López Facal, Gerard H. Kuper, Libby Robin, David S. Cohen, Joni Lovenduski, Alan Stewart, Patrick Walsh, Sanford F. Schram, Kevin Carey, Shelly Lundberg, Inderjeet Parmar, Göran Bolin, Jussi T. Eronen, Marta Mìrazón Lahr, Raffaella Ravinetto, Smith, Peter Schöttler, Andrew Leyshon, Melanie C. Green, Janet Murray, Steven High, Jo Barraket, David R. Miller, Robert Wolfe, Duncan Bell, Jesús Rodríguez Pomeda, Patrick Svensson, Wilson McLeod, Stephen D. Murphy, Gerald Friedman, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Fabio Giglietto, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, Lyndsey Stonebridge, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Todd Pugatch, Howard Stevenson, Stephen Ryan, Elizabeth Stevenson, Michael D. McDonald, Anne Norton, Josef Früchtl, Manuel Puppis, Graeme Warren, Talia Schaffer, Graham Dutfield, Marco Haan, Antoine Bernard de Raymond, Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Paul Fisher, Michelle Williams, Alberto Corsín Jiménez, Christian Fisch, Lisa Diedrich, Nicola Carr, Enrique Fatás, Philipp Sarasin, Jessica Silbey, Feargal Cochrane, Stuart White, Mary Jane Curry, Susan Strasser, Marko Lindroos, Claire L. Adida, Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Caterina Froio, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, Patrick Meier, Vaughan S. Roberts, Raúl Pacheco-Vega, Ryan K. Brook, Florian Keusch, Andrew Rudalevige, James Connelly, Olivier Jourdan, Hisham Zerriffi, Sean P. Corcoran, Patrick Stokes, Cullen S. Hendrix, Jon Dean, Eric J. Sundquist, Guillaume Allègre, Eric J. Segall, Melanie O’Brien, Jason A. Heppler, Karen O’Leary, Uwe M. Martens, Almut Schulze, Alexander Woywodt, Thomas D. Carroll, David S. Tanenhaus, Kate Jackson, Pam Jarvis, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Mary McAuliffe, Aviel Roshwald, Pepper D. Culpepper, Émilien Ruiz, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Ryan Calo, Jaap Kooijman, Aidan O’Sullivan, Dan Immergluck, Jeannette Sutton, Fiona Armstrong, Beth Tellman, Lorna Hughes, Fabian Holt, Ernesto Castañeda, David Spurrett, Dunlap, Stuart Shapiro, David Darmofal, Lars Gamfeldt

Bruce Springsteen @brucespringsteen.net · 12d

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

youtu.be

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Yue Wu

Edvard I Moser @edvardmoser.bsky.social · 12d

The hippocampal map has its own attentional control signal!
Our new study reveals that theta #sweeps can be instantly biased towards behaviourally relevant locations. See 📹 in post 4/6 and preprint here 👉
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵(1/6)

Attention-like regulation of theta sweeps in the brain's spatial navigation circuit

Spatial attention supports navigation by prioritizing information from selected locations. A candidate neural mechanism is provided by theta-paced sweeps in grid- and place-cell population activity, which sample nearby space in a left-right-alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. During exploration, this alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to locations of particular interest remains unclear. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely-behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: they track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion — without prior spatial learning. Similar modulation occurs during REM sleep. Canonical head-direction signals remain head-aligned. These findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, Synergy Grant 951319 (EIM) The Research Council of Norway, Centre of Neural Computation 223262 (EIM, MBM), Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex 332640 (EIM, MBM), National Infrastructure grant (NORBRAIN, 295721 and 350201) The Kavli Foundation, https://ror.org/00kztt736 Ministry of Science and Education, Norway (EIM, MBM) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; NTNU, Norway (AZV)

www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Will Jennings, Michael A. Clemens , and 6 more Nancy Kanwisher, Will Jennings, Michael A. Clemens, Kris Inwood, Robert Wolfe, Margot C. Finn, Karen O’Leary, Christina Pagel, Steven H. Seggie

Prof Sheena Cruickshank @sheencr.bsky.social · 13d

Moderna have announced that they won't run new phase three trials now with massive impacts for new vaccine development- why- its because of RFK Jr and his anti-vaccine campaigns and cancelling mRNA vaccine research which affect the sales the company can then make 🧪🧵 #PublicHealth