Ali Cohen
@aliocohen.bsky.social
asst prof at Emory University studying how motivation & emotion influence learning, memory, & brain function across development
https://thelumenlab.org/
https://thelumenlab.org/
Reposted by Ali Cohen
Goal selection through the lens of subjective functions:
arxiv.org/abs/2512.15948
I welcome any feedback on these preliminary ideas.
arxiv.org/abs/2512.15948
I welcome any feedback on these preliminary ideas.
Subjective functions
Where do objective functions come from? How do we select what goals to pursue? Human intelligence is adept at synthesizing new objective functions on the fly. How does this work, and can we endow arti...
arxiv.org
December 19, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Goal selection through the lens of subjective functions:
arxiv.org/abs/2512.15948
I welcome any feedback on these preliminary ideas.
arxiv.org/abs/2512.15948
I welcome any feedback on these preliminary ideas.
Reposted by Ali Cohen
AS A PROFESSOR, I AM ASKING
HOW ARE OUR STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO LEARN IN THESE CONDITIONS?
HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GO TO SCHOOL AND TAKE EXAMS KNOWING SOMEONE MIGHT JUST SHOW UP WITH AN EASY TO ACQUIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPON?
HOW??????????
HOW ARE OUR STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO LEARN IN THESE CONDITIONS?
HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GO TO SCHOOL AND TAKE EXAMS KNOWING SOMEONE MIGHT JUST SHOW UP WITH AN EASY TO ACQUIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPON?
HOW??????????
Longer statement from Brown University:
"We are very sorry to share that we have confirmed reports of multiple shooting victims, but we are not able to share their condition. They have been transported to local hospitals."
"We are very sorry to share that we have confirmed reports of multiple shooting victims, but we are not able to share their condition. They have been transported to local hospitals."
December 13, 2025 at 11:23 PM
AS A PROFESSOR, I AM ASKING
HOW ARE OUR STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO LEARN IN THESE CONDITIONS?
HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GO TO SCHOOL AND TAKE EXAMS KNOWING SOMEONE MIGHT JUST SHOW UP WITH AN EASY TO ACQUIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPON?
HOW??????????
HOW ARE OUR STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO LEARN IN THESE CONDITIONS?
HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GO TO SCHOOL AND TAKE EXAMS KNOWING SOMEONE MIGHT JUST SHOW UP WITH AN EASY TO ACQUIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPON?
HOW??????????
Reposted by Ali Cohen
Welcome to the first (happy) faces of #Emory2030 and thanks for giving us our favorite video of the year 💙 💛
Meet the Class of 3030 (so far) ➡️ https://bit.ly/48wlyxQ
Meet the Class of 3030 (so far) ➡️ https://bit.ly/48wlyxQ
December 11, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Welcome to the first (happy) faces of #Emory2030 and thanks for giving us our favorite video of the year 💙 💛
Meet the Class of 3030 (so far) ➡️ https://bit.ly/48wlyxQ
Meet the Class of 3030 (so far) ➡️ https://bit.ly/48wlyxQ
Reposted by Ali Cohen
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Interactive Cognition Lab | USC
Interactive Cognition Lab at USC, led by principal investigator, Dr. Nina Rouhani.
rouhanilab.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Reposted by Ali Cohen
I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Square News about the government's attempt to extort universities. nyunews.com/opinion/gues...
Guest Essay: Unity is the only way out of Trump’s ‘compact’ - Washington Square News
Grace Lindsay is an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Data Science at New York University. Nine universities received an Oct. 1 letter from the Trump administration with an offer: If you agree to a ...
nyunews.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:27 AM
I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Square News about the government's attempt to extort universities. nyunews.com/opinion/gues...
Reposted by Ali Cohen
We are hiring at Emory Psychology in Developmental!
Come join a wonderful department in a great city ☀️
apply.interfolio.com/173594
Come join a wonderful department in a great city ☀️
apply.interfolio.com/173594
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
We are hiring at Emory Psychology in Developmental!
Come join a wonderful department in a great city ☀️
apply.interfolio.com/173594
Come join a wonderful department in a great city ☀️
apply.interfolio.com/173594
Reposted by Ali Cohen
My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:
Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
October 6, 2025 at 11:48 PM
My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:
Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Ali Cohen
Dartmouth says no.
October 4, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Dartmouth says no.
Reposted by Ali Cohen
Indeed! What a gift to spend a week in such a delightfully collaborative and thoughtful community ☺️ 🙏
#Neuro4Pros 4ever 🧠🤓
Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer
📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer
📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
September 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Indeed! What a gift to spend a week in such a delightfully collaborative and thoughtful community ☺️ 🙏
#Neuro4Pros 4ever 🧠🤓
Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer
📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer
📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
September 1, 2025 at 10:02 PM
#Neuro4Pros 4ever 🧠🤓
Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer
📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer
📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
Reposted by Ali Cohen
Run don’t walk to the #Neuro4Pros summer school if it happens again and you’re an early career prof
Thanks again for the absolute best time ⭐️ @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social, and Hannah Bayer
Thanks again for the absolute best time ⭐️ @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social, and Hannah Bayer
Having fun facilitating this amazing group of young Profs at the #Neuro4Pros workshop with @kordinglab.bsky.social and @meganakpeters.bsky.social, @yaelniv.bsky.social, and Hannah Bayer.
Watch out world: this is the next generation of leaders!
compneurosci.com/Neuro4Pros/i...
Watch out world: this is the next generation of leaders!
compneurosci.com/Neuro4Pros/i...
August 30, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Run don’t walk to the #Neuro4Pros summer school if it happens again and you’re an early career prof
Thanks again for the absolute best time ⭐️ @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social, and Hannah Bayer
Thanks again for the absolute best time ⭐️ @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social, and Hannah Bayer
Reposted by Ali Cohen
🐤Promise you this is one you'll want to say you were a part of...
Help us get our 'ducks in a row' and IMPEACH AND REMOVE THAT DANG QUACK!!!! 📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆
Link here: tinyurl.com/sufsci
Help us get our 'ducks in a row' and IMPEACH AND REMOVE THAT DANG QUACK!!!! 📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆
Link here: tinyurl.com/sufsci
August 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
🐤Promise you this is one you'll want to say you were a part of...
Help us get our 'ducks in a row' and IMPEACH AND REMOVE THAT DANG QUACK!!!! 📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆
Link here: tinyurl.com/sufsci
Help us get our 'ducks in a row' and IMPEACH AND REMOVE THAT DANG QUACK!!!! 📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆
Link here: tinyurl.com/sufsci
Reposted by Ali Cohen
It is impossible to explain to civilians how it feels to finally, FINALLY, land a clearly within-payline NIH grant score and then have it go unfunded because of all this regime bullshit.
You all have my sympathies. Unfair doesn’t even begin to describe it.
You all have my sympathies. Unfair doesn’t even begin to describe it.
August 18, 2025 at 4:14 AM
It is impossible to explain to civilians how it feels to finally, FINALLY, land a clearly within-payline NIH grant score and then have it go unfunded because of all this regime bullshit.
You all have my sympathies. Unfair doesn’t even begin to describe it.
You all have my sympathies. Unfair doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Sound Science Saves Lives. Following the attack on our neighbors at the CDC and the lockdown here at Emory, this message feels more important than ever.
Will you join the GA scientific community @ossoff.senate.gov @warnock.senate.gov @repnikema.bsky.social
www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
Will you join the GA scientific community @ossoff.senate.gov @warnock.senate.gov @repnikema.bsky.social
www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
Rally: Sound Science Saves Lives · Mobilize
Science and public research are under attack in this country. Indiscriminate cuts to federal research agencies and political interference are causing research studies to be paused, programs halted, an...
www.mobilize.us
August 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Sound Science Saves Lives. Following the attack on our neighbors at the CDC and the lockdown here at Emory, this message feels more important than ever.
Will you join the GA scientific community @ossoff.senate.gov @warnock.senate.gov @repnikema.bsky.social
www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
Will you join the GA scientific community @ossoff.senate.gov @warnock.senate.gov @repnikema.bsky.social
www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
Reposted by Ali Cohen
I have an incentive for rich people like you @mcuban.bsky.social
Federally funded R&D has fueled the innovation that drives American prosperity. Scores of billionaires owe their fortunes to advancements made in labs across the nation.
An investment in @standupforscience.bsky.social to help save…
Federally funded R&D has fueled the innovation that drives American prosperity. Scores of billionaires owe their fortunes to advancements made in labs across the nation.
An investment in @standupforscience.bsky.social to help save…
Want to use rich people like me to your advantage? Incent us to help those who need it the most. Lower corp taxes for comps that pay a min of $25 per hour. Lower corp taxes if employees get stock at the same pct as the CEO.
Bottom up incentives work. Dems never innovate. They bitch
Bottom up incentives work. Dems never innovate. They bitch
August 10, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I have an incentive for rich people like you @mcuban.bsky.social
Federally funded R&D has fueled the innovation that drives American prosperity. Scores of billionaires owe their fortunes to advancements made in labs across the nation.
An investment in @standupforscience.bsky.social to help save…
Federally funded R&D has fueled the innovation that drives American prosperity. Scores of billionaires owe their fortunes to advancements made in labs across the nation.
An investment in @standupforscience.bsky.social to help save…
Reposted by Ali Cohen
There is nothing normal about this. We refuse to allow this to be the norm.
We will not stick our heads in the sand because it’s comfortable.
Today we need to rest and recover, but we will never stop fighting for what is right.
We will not stick our heads in the sand because it’s comfortable.
Today we need to rest and recover, but we will never stop fighting for what is right.
August 9, 2025 at 3:10 PM
There is nothing normal about this. We refuse to allow this to be the norm.
We will not stick our heads in the sand because it’s comfortable.
Today we need to rest and recover, but we will never stop fighting for what is right.
We will not stick our heads in the sand because it’s comfortable.
Today we need to rest and recover, but we will never stop fighting for what is right.
Reposted by Ali Cohen
I've been trying to really gently move folks I know into understanding that we will not be going back to Before™. The amount of fundamental damage that has been done to our institutions can't simply be spackled up and painted over—the cracks are in the foundation and must be repaired.
I’ve been having a few too many conversations like this. Them: Hi Kate, how are things with your work, with the world? Me: the university is under attack, democratic norms being broken in half, so, pretty bad. Them: But everything is going to come back and be okay after the midterms. Me: Uhh, no.
August 4, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I've been trying to really gently move folks I know into understanding that we will not be going back to Before™. The amount of fundamental damage that has been done to our institutions can't simply be spackled up and painted over—the cracks are in the foundation and must be repaired.
Reposted by Ali Cohen
📣 New preprint from the SCIMaP team!
Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
August 4, 2025 at 9:52 PM
📣 New preprint from the SCIMaP team!
Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Ali Cohen
📣 ANNOUNCEMENT: 31 Days of Action – All August!
Funding cuts. Banned words. Fired public servants.
Trump & his cronies are dismantling America’s greatest experiment - our democracy - & with it, science.
Between now & Sept 30th we decide: Are we a democracy… or an oligarchy?
(1/4)
Funding cuts. Banned words. Fired public servants.
Trump & his cronies are dismantling America’s greatest experiment - our democracy - & with it, science.
Between now & Sept 30th we decide: Are we a democracy… or an oligarchy?
(1/4)
August 1, 2025 at 4:44 PM
📣 ANNOUNCEMENT: 31 Days of Action – All August!
Funding cuts. Banned words. Fired public servants.
Trump & his cronies are dismantling America’s greatest experiment - our democracy - & with it, science.
Between now & Sept 30th we decide: Are we a democracy… or an oligarchy?
(1/4)
Funding cuts. Banned words. Fired public servants.
Trump & his cronies are dismantling America’s greatest experiment - our democracy - & with it, science.
Between now & Sept 30th we decide: Are we a democracy… or an oligarchy?
(1/4)
Reposted by Ali Cohen
New press on our study linking the locus coeruleus to memory formation 🔵: newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/bra... .
“…at a time when legislation promises ‘big and beautiful change,’ it turns out one of the brain’s smallest players may have the biggest impact on how we understand and remember our lives.”
“…at a time when legislation promises ‘big and beautiful change,’ it turns out one of the brain’s smallest players may have the biggest impact on how we understand and remember our lives.”
Scientists unravel how a tiny region of the brain helps us form distinct memories, opening new avenues for PTSD, Alzheimer’s research
The locus coeruleus works like a “reset” button that separates the memory of one meaningful event from the next.
newsroom.ucla.edu
July 16, 2025 at 12:36 AM
New press on our study linking the locus coeruleus to memory formation 🔵: newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/bra... .
“…at a time when legislation promises ‘big and beautiful change,’ it turns out one of the brain’s smallest players may have the biggest impact on how we understand and remember our lives.”
“…at a time when legislation promises ‘big and beautiful change,’ it turns out one of the brain’s smallest players may have the biggest impact on how we understand and remember our lives.”
Reposted by Ali Cohen
A science fair of cancelled grants. The research that will be represented at this event (Tuesday) ranges from neuroscience, to astrophysics, to STEM education. The awarding agencies of the now-canceled grants include the EPA, DHS, NIH, NSF, USAID, and DOD. Open to the public.
Congressional Event: A Science Fair of Canceled Grants
The Things We’ll Never Know: A Science Fair of Canceled Grants.
nasawatch.com
July 6, 2025 at 11:15 PM
A science fair of cancelled grants. The research that will be represented at this event (Tuesday) ranges from neuroscience, to astrophysics, to STEM education. The awarding agencies of the now-canceled grants include the EPA, DHS, NIH, NSF, USAID, and DOD. Open to the public.
Reposted by Ali Cohen
Resistance is hard. It is likely better for my mental health to dissociate from the constant threats to my identity as a researcher and queer man. But dissociating also undermines my authenticity as a person. Maybe the solution is continued resistance but fostering joy and silliness along the way.
July 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Resistance is hard. It is likely better for my mental health to dissociate from the constant threats to my identity as a researcher and queer man. But dissociating also undermines my authenticity as a person. Maybe the solution is continued resistance but fostering joy and silliness along the way.