Helen Blank
@helenblank.bsky.social
Professor of Predictive Cognition at Faculty of Psychology @ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Emmy Noether Research Group Leader
PI @sfb-trr-289.bsky.social @ UKE Hamburg
https://blanklab.eu/
Emmy Noether Research Group Leader
PI @sfb-trr-289.bsky.social @ UKE Hamburg
https://blanklab.eu/
Pinned
Helen Blank
@helenblank.bsky.social
· Feb 14
Keen on doing a PhD or Postdoc in predictive cognition at THINK? www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/think/index.... I'll be hiring for positions starting this summer/fall—reach out if you're interested!
Reposted by Helen Blank
@dotproduct.bsky.social's first first author paper is finally out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! Her findings show that content-specific predictions fluctuate with alpha frequencies, suggesting a more specific role for alpha oscillations than we may have thought. With @jhaarsma.bsky.social. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
Contents of visual predictions oscillate at alpha frequencies
Predictions of future events have a major impact on how we process sensory signals. However, it remains unclear how the brain keeps predictions online in anticipation of future inputs. Here, we combin...
www.jneurosci.org
October 21, 2025 at 11:05 AM
@dotproduct.bsky.social's first first author paper is finally out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! Her findings show that content-specific predictions fluctuate with alpha frequencies, suggesting a more specific role for alpha oscillations than we may have thought. With @jhaarsma.bsky.social. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
Reposted by Helen Blank
🧠 Regularization, Action, and Attractors in the Dynamical “Bayesian” Brain
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
(still uncorrected proofs, but they should post the corrected one soon--also OA is forthcoming, for now PDF at brainandexperience.org/pdf/10.1162-...)
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
(still uncorrected proofs, but they should post the corrected one soon--also OA is forthcoming, for now PDF at brainandexperience.org/pdf/10.1162-...)
Regularization, Action, and Attractors in the Dynamical “Bayesian” Brain
Abstract. The idea that the brain is a probabilistic (Bayesian) inference machine, continuously trying to figure out the hidden causes of its inputs, has become very influential in cognitive (neuro)sc...
direct.mit.edu
October 22, 2025 at 8:59 AM
🧠 Regularization, Action, and Attractors in the Dynamical “Bayesian” Brain
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
(still uncorrected proofs, but they should post the corrected one soon--also OA is forthcoming, for now PDF at brainandexperience.org/pdf/10.1162-...)
direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...
(still uncorrected proofs, but they should post the corrected one soon--also OA is forthcoming, for now PDF at brainandexperience.org/pdf/10.1162-...)
Reposted by Helen Blank
Delighted to share our new paper, now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary 👇
1/8
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary 👇
1/8
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 22, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Delighted to share our new paper, now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary 👇
1/8
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary 👇
1/8
Reposted by Helen Blank
Just came across this face image database that lists different databases from A-Z libguides.princeton.edu/facedatabases A very nice collection, thanks to
@mtesterman.bsky.social
@mtesterman.bsky.social
Research Guides: Face Image Databases: Databases (A-Z)
An A-Z directory of databases of face stimulus images for use in behavioral research
libguides.princeton.edu
September 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Just came across this face image database that lists different databases from A-Z libguides.princeton.edu/facedatabases A very nice collection, thanks to
@mtesterman.bsky.social
@mtesterman.bsky.social
Reposted by Helen Blank
In meinem Team an der Universität Göttingen ist eine PhD Stelle (3 Jahre, 75%) ausgeschrieben – bitte gerne teilen bzw. bei Fragen melden!
www.uni-goettingen.de/de/644546.ht...
www.uni-goettingen.de/de/644546.ht...
Stellenanzeigen - Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Webseiten der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
www.uni-goettingen.de
September 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
In meinem Team an der Universität Göttingen ist eine PhD Stelle (3 Jahre, 75%) ausgeschrieben – bitte gerne teilen bzw. bei Fragen melden!
www.uni-goettingen.de/de/644546.ht...
www.uni-goettingen.de/de/644546.ht...
Reposted by Helen Blank
For the laminauts. @layerfmri.bsky.social
Vascular draining confounds laminar decoding in fMRI https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.26.672278v1
August 30, 2025 at 11:06 AM
For the laminauts. @layerfmri.bsky.social
Reposted by Helen Blank
🚨 We’re hiring! 🚨
The Social&Environmental Psychology Group @ruhr-uni-bochum.de is recruiting 2 PhDs and 1 Postdoc
as part of the ERC-funded SUSCON project on sustainable consumption.
Details here:
PhDs:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/7...
Postdoc:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/e...
The Social&Environmental Psychology Group @ruhr-uni-bochum.de is recruiting 2 PhDs and 1 Postdoc
as part of the ERC-funded SUSCON project on sustainable consumption.
Details here:
PhDs:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/7...
Postdoc:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/e...
Doctoral Researcher (m,f,x)
jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
August 26, 2025 at 7:41 AM
🚨 We’re hiring! 🚨
The Social&Environmental Psychology Group @ruhr-uni-bochum.de is recruiting 2 PhDs and 1 Postdoc
as part of the ERC-funded SUSCON project on sustainable consumption.
Details here:
PhDs:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/7...
Postdoc:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/e...
The Social&Environmental Psychology Group @ruhr-uni-bochum.de is recruiting 2 PhDs and 1 Postdoc
as part of the ERC-funded SUSCON project on sustainable consumption.
Details here:
PhDs:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/7...
Postdoc:👉 jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/e...
Reposted by Helen Blank
Tenure-track job in audiology at Western's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, in beautiful Ontario, Canada -- work with a great team, benefit from all the resources that a large research-intensive uni can supply -- and enjoy amazing quality of life!
August 28, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Tenure-track job in audiology at Western's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, in beautiful Ontario, Canada -- work with a great team, benefit from all the resources that a large research-intensive uni can supply -- and enjoy amazing quality of life!
Reposted by Helen Blank
Looking Ahead: The New Science of the Predictive Mind. New book by @falkhuettig.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1017/9781....
Looking Ahead
Cambridge Core - Cognition - Looking Ahead
doi.org
August 31, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Looking Ahead: The New Science of the Predictive Mind. New book by @falkhuettig.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1017/9781....
Layer-specific changes in sensory cortex across the lifespan in mice and humans - Big congratulations @estherkuehn.bsky.social and team!!
Thanks to all (co)authors & reviewers for their contribution to this study on #layer specific changes in #sensory #cortex across the #lifespan in #humans & #mice now out in @natneuro.nature.com Here is a short summary of our findings 1/6
🧠 The human brain ages less than thought and in layers – at least in the area of the cortex responsible for the sense of touch. See study @natneuro.nature.com by @estherkuehn.bsky.social and colleagues at DZNE, @hih-tuebingen.bsky.social and @uni-magdeburg.de:
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 11, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Layer-specific changes in sensory cortex across the lifespan in mice and humans - Big congratulations @estherkuehn.bsky.social and team!!
How do speaker priors shape speech perception? Meet @fabianschneider.bsky.social @ #CCN2025! For a sneak peek at our new findings, see below👇
🚨 Fresh preprint w/ @helenblank.bsky.social!
How does the brain acquire expectations about a conversational partner, and how are priors integrated w/ sensory inputs?
Current evidence diverges. Is it prediction error? Sharpening?
Spoiler: It's both.👀
🧵1/16
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How does the brain acquire expectations about a conversational partner, and how are priors integrated w/ sensory inputs?
Current evidence diverges. Is it prediction error? Sharpening?
Spoiler: It's both.👀
🧵1/16
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
How do speaker priors shape speech perception? Meet @fabianschneider.bsky.social @ #CCN2025! For a sneak peek at our new findings, see below👇
Reposted by Helen Blank
Fascinating sounding preprint by @fabianschneider.bsky.social and @helenblank.bsky.social on the role of predictions along the speech perception processing hierarchy. #neuroskyence
Sensory sharpening and semantic prediction errors unify competing models of predictive processing in communication https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.23.666354v1
July 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Fascinating sounding preprint by @fabianschneider.bsky.social and @helenblank.bsky.social on the role of predictions along the speech perception processing hierarchy. #neuroskyence
Reposted by Helen Blank
🚨Great work led by @esterner.bsky.social showing that individuals with higher schizotypal or autistic traits produce less stable semantic predictions over time, potentially showing the impact of exaggerated belief updating!
Was a fun project und a fantastic team 🤩
Was a fun project und a fantastic team 🤩
⏳ How stable are semantic predictions over time? And how do autistic and schizotypal traits influence this stability?
Excited to see our new paper on the temporal stability of semantic predictions published - together with my supervisor @franziskaknolle.bsky.social and Andrea Greve: rdcu.be/ewV32
Excited to see our new paper on the temporal stability of semantic predictions published - together with my supervisor @franziskaknolle.bsky.social and Andrea Greve: rdcu.be/ewV32
rdcu.be
July 23, 2025 at 7:01 AM
🚨Great work led by @esterner.bsky.social showing that individuals with higher schizotypal or autistic traits produce less stable semantic predictions over time, potentially showing the impact of exaggerated belief updating!
Was a fun project und a fantastic team 🤩
Was a fun project und a fantastic team 🤩
Reposted by Helen Blank
Serious concerns about a new cortical biomarker for pain sensitivity
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
We (with @tspisak.bsky.social, @christianbuchel.bsky.social) published a commentary on Chowdhury, Bi et al. (2025, JAMA Neurology) raising serious concerns about their reported results.
👇 1/13
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
We (with @tspisak.bsky.social, @christianbuchel.bsky.social) published a commentary on Chowdhury, Bi et al. (2025, JAMA Neurology) raising serious concerns about their reported results.
👇 1/13
Concern About Predictive Performance of a Pain Sensitivity Biomarker
To the Editor Chowdhury et al1 evaluated a biomarker for pain sensitivity, combining peak alpha frequency and corticomotor excitability. The authors report outstanding performance (validation set area...
jamanetwork.com
July 22, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Serious concerns about a new cortical biomarker for pain sensitivity
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
We (with @tspisak.bsky.social, @christianbuchel.bsky.social) published a commentary on Chowdhury, Bi et al. (2025, JAMA Neurology) raising serious concerns about their reported results.
👇 1/13
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
We (with @tspisak.bsky.social, @christianbuchel.bsky.social) published a commentary on Chowdhury, Bi et al. (2025, JAMA Neurology) raising serious concerns about their reported results.
👇 1/13
👀
In a study of professors, women got 378 new work requests over 4 weeks vs 118 for men. Women spent more time on service, advising & teaching; men on research. Orgs should track who is taking extra duties & ensure they are rewarded and distributed fairly. www.forbes.com/sites/kimels...
Being Too Helpful At Work Can Hurt Your Career—Here’s How To Say No
Women are more likely to take on behind-the-scenes duties at work—extra tasks like onboarding or event planning—and it's hurting their careers. Here's how to say no.
www.forbes.com
July 8, 2025 at 9:40 AM
👀
Are you a specialist in the physics behind MRI and want to work at THINK @ruhr-uni-bochum.de? Apply: jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/4... Thanks for sharing with potential candidates!🧠🙏
MRI Physicist (m/f/x)
jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
June 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Are you a specialist in the physics behind MRI and want to work at THINK @ruhr-uni-bochum.de? Apply: jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/4... Thanks for sharing with potential candidates!🧠🙏
Reposted by Helen Blank
The beta release of SPM-Python is out now! Amazing work by Johan Medrano @johmedr.bsky.social , Yael Balbastre, Yulia Bezsudnova @ybezs.bsky.social and other members of their team. A new era for SPM! #OHBM2025
Drumroll... The SPM team will announce that SPM is now fully accessible from Python! 🐍 Learn more about SPM-Python at the SPM roundtable event (Friday, 1pm) and poster number 1841 at #OHBM2025. Try the beta for yourself at github.com/spm/spm-python [2/7]
GitHub - spm/spm-python: The Python interface to SPM
The Python interface to SPM. Contribute to spm/spm-python development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:22 AM
The beta release of SPM-Python is out now! Amazing work by Johan Medrano @johmedr.bsky.social , Yael Balbastre, Yulia Bezsudnova @ybezs.bsky.social and other members of their team. A new era for SPM! #OHBM2025
Reposted by Helen Blank
The #PuG2025 final program is online! Browse it or download the PDF version 👇 www.pug2025.org
PuG2025 | Psychologie und Gehirn
Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to invite you to the 50th Annual Conference on “Psychology and the Brain (PuG2025),” held from June 18–21, 2025, at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg!
www.pug2025.org
June 17, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The #PuG2025 final program is online! Browse it or download the PDF version 👇 www.pug2025.org
Reposted by Helen Blank
🧠♻️ IGOR Symposium
"Open Science Initiatives in Biopsychological Research"
🗓️ Fri, 20.06 | 🕥 10:30–12:00
📍 0.004
@ocklenburg.bsky.social C. Artemenko
@mariame.bsky.social @alinakoppold.bsky.social
@caggursoy.bsky.social @ufangyang.bsky.social
@mreutter.bsky.social @mklingelhoeferj.bsky.social [3/6]
"Open Science Initiatives in Biopsychological Research"
🗓️ Fri, 20.06 | 🕥 10:30–12:00
📍 0.004
@ocklenburg.bsky.social C. Artemenko
@mariame.bsky.social @alinakoppold.bsky.social
@caggursoy.bsky.social @ufangyang.bsky.social
@mreutter.bsky.social @mklingelhoeferj.bsky.social [3/6]
June 17, 2025 at 12:29 PM
🧠♻️ IGOR Symposium
"Open Science Initiatives in Biopsychological Research"
🗓️ Fri, 20.06 | 🕥 10:30–12:00
📍 0.004
@ocklenburg.bsky.social C. Artemenko
@mariame.bsky.social @alinakoppold.bsky.social
@caggursoy.bsky.social @ufangyang.bsky.social
@mreutter.bsky.social @mklingelhoeferj.bsky.social [3/6]
"Open Science Initiatives in Biopsychological Research"
🗓️ Fri, 20.06 | 🕥 10:30–12:00
📍 0.004
@ocklenburg.bsky.social C. Artemenko
@mariame.bsky.social @alinakoppold.bsky.social
@caggursoy.bsky.social @ufangyang.bsky.social
@mreutter.bsky.social @mklingelhoeferj.bsky.social [3/6]
Reposted by Helen Blank
As many of you know, I’ve been fascinated by brain attractor dynamics lately.
Thrilled to share a new preprint on their link to orthogonal neural representations, co-authored with Karl Friston:
arxiv.org/abs/2505.22749
- with implications for both neuroscience & AI!
First in a series - stay tuned!
Thrilled to share a new preprint on their link to orthogonal neural representations, co-authored with Karl Friston:
arxiv.org/abs/2505.22749
- with implications for both neuroscience & AI!
First in a series - stay tuned!
Self-orthogonalizing attractor neural networks emerging from the free energy principle
Attractor dynamics are a hallmark of many complex systems, including the brain. Understanding how such self-organizing dynamics emerge from first principles is crucial for advancing our understanding ...
arxiv.org
May 30, 2025 at 7:14 AM
As many of you know, I’ve been fascinated by brain attractor dynamics lately.
Thrilled to share a new preprint on their link to orthogonal neural representations, co-authored with Karl Friston:
arxiv.org/abs/2505.22749
- with implications for both neuroscience & AI!
First in a series - stay tuned!
Thrilled to share a new preprint on their link to orthogonal neural representations, co-authored with Karl Friston:
arxiv.org/abs/2505.22749
- with implications for both neuroscience & AI!
First in a series - stay tuned!
Reposted by Helen Blank
Patients' treatment expectations may crucially affect their treatment outcomes.☝️
Our new piece in "@jama.com Insights" explores how to help patients have a better experience and better outcomes with their treatments! 🤕
Read it here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Our new piece in "@jama.com Insights" explores how to help patients have a better experience and better outcomes with their treatments! 🤕
Read it here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
June 10, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Patients' treatment expectations may crucially affect their treatment outcomes.☝️
Our new piece in "@jama.com Insights" explores how to help patients have a better experience and better outcomes with their treatments! 🤕
Read it here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Our new piece in "@jama.com Insights" explores how to help patients have a better experience and better outcomes with their treatments! 🤕
Read it here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reposted by Helen Blank
Chancengleichheit von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern hat die DFG als Ziel in ihrer Satzung verankert. Mit dem Monitoring stellen wir jährlich Statistiken bereit, die den Frauenanteil bei Antragstellung und -erfolg, Begutachtungen und DFG-Gremien abbilden. 1/2
www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles...
www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles...
Chancengleichheits-Monitoring
Das "Chancengleichheits-Monitoring" berichtet jährlich über die Beteiligung von Wissenschaftlerinnen an DFG-Projekten.
www.dfg.de
June 2, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Chancengleichheit von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern hat die DFG als Ziel in ihrer Satzung verankert. Mit dem Monitoring stellen wir jährlich Statistiken bereit, die den Frauenanteil bei Antragstellung und -erfolg, Begutachtungen und DFG-Gremien abbilden. 1/2
www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles...
www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles...
Reposted by Helen Blank
New paper from the lab!!
We add to the (lack of) evidence for expectation effects in carefully-controlled predictive cueing designs.
doi.org/10.1111/psyp...
Led by Carla den Ouden and Máire Kashyap, collaborating with Morgan Kikkawa
We add to the (lack of) evidence for expectation effects in carefully-controlled predictive cueing designs.
doi.org/10.1111/psyp...
Led by Carla den Ouden and Máire Kashyap, collaborating with Morgan Kikkawa
<em>Psychophysiology</em> | SPR Journal | Wiley Online Library
Stimulus expectations are widely assumed to modulate the responsiveness of neurons in the visual system. However, there is currently a lack of clear evidence from electrophysiological studies to supp....
doi.org
May 27, 2025 at 3:46 AM
New paper from the lab!!
We add to the (lack of) evidence for expectation effects in carefully-controlled predictive cueing designs.
doi.org/10.1111/psyp...
Led by Carla den Ouden and Máire Kashyap, collaborating with Morgan Kikkawa
We add to the (lack of) evidence for expectation effects in carefully-controlled predictive cueing designs.
doi.org/10.1111/psyp...
Led by Carla den Ouden and Máire Kashyap, collaborating with Morgan Kikkawa
Reposted by Helen Blank
One of this week's talks announced by the Center for Mind & Cognition:
📅May 28, 2025, 6pm CET: Karola Marky (Computer Science, Digital Sovereignty Lab, RUB): An Introduction Into Information Privacy
#computerscience #privacy #RuhrUniBochum
📅May 28, 2025, 6pm CET: Karola Marky (Computer Science, Digital Sovereignty Lab, RUB): An Introduction Into Information Privacy
#computerscience #privacy #RuhrUniBochum
May 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
One of this week's talks announced by the Center for Mind & Cognition:
📅May 28, 2025, 6pm CET: Karola Marky (Computer Science, Digital Sovereignty Lab, RUB): An Introduction Into Information Privacy
#computerscience #privacy #RuhrUniBochum
📅May 28, 2025, 6pm CET: Karola Marky (Computer Science, Digital Sovereignty Lab, RUB): An Introduction Into Information Privacy
#computerscience #privacy #RuhrUniBochum
Reposted by Helen Blank
#Evolution of #language revisited: Long arcuate fascicle was found in #chimpanzees using high-resolution diffusion MRI #tractography of animals that died naturally in the jungle.
Now in Nature Comm: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@ybecker.bsky.social @mpicbs.bsky.social @taichimpproject.bsky.social
Now in Nature Comm: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@ybecker.bsky.social @mpicbs.bsky.social @taichimpproject.bsky.social
May 15, 2025 at 12:24 PM
#Evolution of #language revisited: Long arcuate fascicle was found in #chimpanzees using high-resolution diffusion MRI #tractography of animals that died naturally in the jungle.
Now in Nature Comm: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@ybecker.bsky.social @mpicbs.bsky.social @taichimpproject.bsky.social
Now in Nature Comm: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@ybecker.bsky.social @mpicbs.bsky.social @taichimpproject.bsky.social