James Antony
@jameswardantony.bsky.social
asst prof of cog neuro at cal poly | dad | formerly uc davis, princeton, northwestern, lawrence | graying child | he/him | blm | dm for papers
Pinned
James Antony
@jameswardantony.bsky.social
· Jan 24
I want to draw attention to a special issue that Lila Davachi and I put together to memorialize our friend and colleague Sarah DuBrow. It’s full of papers inspired by her work and her being from a group of collaborators, friends, and fans! Thanks @bradpostle.bsky.social for helping make this happen.
I want to highlight a special issue in honor of Sarah DuBrow, a brilliant scientist and dear friend who passed away in 2022.
We contributed a paper in which we disentangled the importance of temporal and causal relationships while participants recalled the non-linear narrative, Memento. 🧵 ⬇️ 1/9
We contributed a paper in which we disentangled the importance of temporal and causal relationships while participants recalled the non-linear narrative, Memento. 🧵 ⬇️ 1/9
Reposted by James Antony
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 James Antony
Out now in @nathumbehav.nature.com! We applied graph theoretic analyses to fMRI data of participants watching movies/listening to stories. Integration across large-scale functional networks mediates arousal-dependent enhancement of narrative memories. Open access link: rdcu.be/eKKAw
October 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Out now in @nathumbehav.nature.com! We applied graph theoretic analyses to fMRI data of participants watching movies/listening to stories. Integration across large-scale functional networks mediates arousal-dependent enhancement of narrative memories. Open access link: rdcu.be/eKKAw
Reposted by James Antony
You learn better when you test yourself on an answer before you study it? Even more counterintuitive, our findings showcase that there is not one direct mechanism to this effect.
Thank you @charan-neuro.bsky.social , @xiaonanl.bsky.social , and @jameswardantony.bsky.social !
doi.org/10.1037/xlm0...
Thank you @charan-neuro.bsky.social , @xiaonanl.bsky.social , and @jameswardantony.bsky.social !
doi.org/10.1037/xlm0...
APA PsycNet
doi.org
October 7, 2025 at 5:59 PM
You learn better when you test yourself on an answer before you study it? Even more counterintuitive, our findings showcase that there is not one direct mechanism to this effect.
Thank you @charan-neuro.bsky.social , @xiaonanl.bsky.social , and @jameswardantony.bsky.social !
doi.org/10.1037/xlm0...
Thank you @charan-neuro.bsky.social , @xiaonanl.bsky.social , and @jameswardantony.bsky.social !
doi.org/10.1037/xlm0...
Reposted by James Antony
How does the brain🧠 make causal inferences and use memories to understand narratives🎬?
We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do!
Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do!
Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
A neural network with episodic memory learns causal relationships between narrative events
Humans reflect on past memories to make sense of an ongoing event. Past work has shown that people retrieve causally related past events during comprehension, but the exact process by which this causa...
www.biorxiv.org
September 5, 2025 at 12:26 PM
How does the brain🧠 make causal inferences and use memories to understand narratives🎬?
We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do!
Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do!
Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
Reposted by James Antony
How do the brain’s event representations change as we gain familiarity with an experience?
Brain regions’ representations can become coarser or finer as event familiarity increases. Fine-tuning predicts memory recall.
Excited to share this work with Narjes Al-Zahli & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!
Brain regions’ representations can become coarser or finer as event familiarity increases. Fine-tuning predicts memory recall.
Excited to share this work with Narjes Al-Zahli & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!
Repeated Viewing of a Narrative Movie Changes Event Timescales in The Brain
Many experiences occur repeatedly throughout our lives: we might watch the same movie more than once and listen to the same song on repeat. How does the brain modify its representations of events when...
www.biorxiv.org
September 2, 2025 at 1:37 PM
How do the brain’s event representations change as we gain familiarity with an experience?
Brain regions’ representations can become coarser or finer as event familiarity increases. Fine-tuning predicts memory recall.
Excited to share this work with Narjes Al-Zahli & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!
Brain regions’ representations can become coarser or finer as event familiarity increases. Fine-tuning predicts memory recall.
Excited to share this work with Narjes Al-Zahli & @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social!
Reposted by James Antony
Here is a gift link. I know people have feelings about the times but this is free and reading this should make you very very mad and then you should do something:
In Trump’s Federal Work Force Cuts, Black Women Are Among the Hardest Hit
www.nytimes.com
August 31, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Here is a gift link. I know people have feelings about the times but this is free and reading this should make you very very mad and then you should do something:
Reposted by James Antony
New opinion piece!
@amirtal.bsky.social and I argue that "wake reactivation" is not a scientifically useful construct; It encompasses nonconscious & conscious processes w/ varying levels of elaboration & diverging consequences, leading to conflicting results
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lgli4sIRvW-LQ
@amirtal.bsky.social and I argue that "wake reactivation" is not a scientifically useful construct; It encompasses nonconscious & conscious processes w/ varying levels of elaboration & diverging consequences, leading to conflicting results
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lgli4sIRvW-LQ
authors.elsevier.com
August 28, 2025 at 3:26 PM
New opinion piece!
@amirtal.bsky.social and I argue that "wake reactivation" is not a scientifically useful construct; It encompasses nonconscious & conscious processes w/ varying levels of elaboration & diverging consequences, leading to conflicting results
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lgli4sIRvW-LQ
@amirtal.bsky.social and I argue that "wake reactivation" is not a scientifically useful construct; It encompasses nonconscious & conscious processes w/ varying levels of elaboration & diverging consequences, leading to conflicting results
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lgli4sIRvW-LQ
Reposted by James Antony
Excited to present our new work reading minds!
Ok, not *that* kind of mind reading, but we have created a deep learning method capable of using single neuron recordings from people watching episodes of TV that can predict when they recall specific memories from the episode. 1/6
Ok, not *that* kind of mind reading, but we have created a deep learning method capable of using single neuron recordings from people watching episodes of TV that can predict when they recall specific memories from the episode. 1/6
August 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Excited to present our new work reading minds!
Ok, not *that* kind of mind reading, but we have created a deep learning method capable of using single neuron recordings from people watching episodes of TV that can predict when they recall specific memories from the episode. 1/6
Ok, not *that* kind of mind reading, but we have created a deep learning method capable of using single neuron recordings from people watching episodes of TV that can predict when they recall specific memories from the episode. 1/6
Reposted by James Antony
For >5 years, the International Sleep Replay Workshops (ISRW) have brought together scientists studying sleep & memory. The next ISRW will be on March 6th in Vancouver (before @cogneuronews.bsky.social). Follow the link for details and to join the mailing list.
isrw.bio.uci.edu
Pls repost! #sleep
isrw.bio.uci.edu
Pls repost! #sleep
August 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
For >5 years, the International Sleep Replay Workshops (ISRW) have brought together scientists studying sleep & memory. The next ISRW will be on March 6th in Vancouver (before @cogneuronews.bsky.social). Follow the link for details and to join the mailing list.
isrw.bio.uci.edu
Pls repost! #sleep
isrw.bio.uci.edu
Pls repost! #sleep
Reposted by James Antony
Suspension of all grants to UCLA www.latimes.com/california/s...
Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism
The Trump administration has frozen roughly $200 million in National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agency-funded research at UCLA, citing allegations the school d...
www.latimes.com
August 1, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Suspension of all grants to UCLA www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by James Antony
What's cool about looking back at the history of college protests is that 19 year old students have been right about every single American war, and the esteemed Harvard educated opinion writers at the New York Times have been wrong about every single American war.
April 30, 2024 at 9:59 PM
What's cool about looking back at the history of college protests is that 19 year old students have been right about every single American war, and the esteemed Harvard educated opinion writers at the New York Times have been wrong about every single American war.
Reposted by James Antony
Happy to announce that my lab @ Yale Psychology (actcompthink.org) will be accepting PhD applications this year (for start in Fall '26)!
Come for the fun experiments on human learning, memory, & skilled behavior, stay for the best 🍕 in the US.
Please reach out if you have any questions!
Come for the fun experiments on human learning, memory, & skilled behavior, stay for the best 🍕 in the US.
Please reach out if you have any questions!
Homepage of the Action, Computation, & Thinking (ACT) Lab, Yale department of psychology
actcompthink.org
July 24, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Happy to announce that my lab @ Yale Psychology (actcompthink.org) will be accepting PhD applications this year (for start in Fall '26)!
Come for the fun experiments on human learning, memory, & skilled behavior, stay for the best 🍕 in the US.
Please reach out if you have any questions!
Come for the fun experiments on human learning, memory, & skilled behavior, stay for the best 🍕 in the US.
Please reach out if you have any questions!
Reposted by James Antony
"this deal is unlikely to end the attacks. The federal government, and this administration, is simply too powerful and too arbitrary to be credibly bargained with."
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves
www.nytimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 10:26 AM
"this deal is unlikely to end the attacks. The federal government, and this administration, is simply too powerful and too arbitrary to be credibly bargained with."
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Reposted by James Antony
The assault on higher education is not just about coastal elite schools. "Federal agencies terminated or were attempting to terminate more than 4,000 grants across over 600 institutions. These grants are worth between $6.9 billion and $8.2 billion combined." www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Feds Axed Grants Across Red, Blue States, Report Finds
The Center for American Progress says the Trump administration has targeted for termination more than 4,000 grants across over 600 institutions. Adjusting for statewide enrollment, South Dakota is hit...
www.insidehighered.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The assault on higher education is not just about coastal elite schools. "Federal agencies terminated or were attempting to terminate more than 4,000 grants across over 600 institutions. These grants are worth between $6.9 billion and $8.2 billion combined." www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Reposted by James Antony
🧪 BREAKING (good news): Senate subcommittee says NO! to Trump's proposed slashes to NASA & NSF funding.
Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24.
See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it.
🧵 1/3
Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24.
See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it.
🧵 1/3
Subcommittee Markup of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
www.appropriations.senate.gov
July 10, 2025 at 12:23 AM
🧪 BREAKING (good news): Senate subcommittee says NO! to Trump's proposed slashes to NASA & NSF funding.
Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24.
See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it.
🧵 1/3
Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24.
See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it.
🧵 1/3
Reposted by James Antony
🚨This is the most exciting step of my scientific career🚨
25 yrs ago I started a life long interest in navigation, maps & brains
I've collected data from >4 m people in 195 nations in SeaHeroQuest
In 3 weeks we set off on an ocean voyage to study the amazing spatial skills of Marshallese sailors:
25 yrs ago I started a life long interest in navigation, maps & brains
I've collected data from >4 m people in 195 nations in SeaHeroQuest
In 3 weeks we set off on an ocean voyage to study the amazing spatial skills of Marshallese sailors:
World-leading scientists will set out on a unique research voyage, joining Indigenous Pacific sailors to investigate the centuries-old skill of wave piloting: www.stir.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...
Photo credit: www.instagram.com/chewy_lin/
Photo credit: www.instagram.com/chewy_lin/
July 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
🚨This is the most exciting step of my scientific career🚨
25 yrs ago I started a life long interest in navigation, maps & brains
I've collected data from >4 m people in 195 nations in SeaHeroQuest
In 3 weeks we set off on an ocean voyage to study the amazing spatial skills of Marshallese sailors:
25 yrs ago I started a life long interest in navigation, maps & brains
I've collected data from >4 m people in 195 nations in SeaHeroQuest
In 3 weeks we set off on an ocean voyage to study the amazing spatial skills of Marshallese sailors:
Reposted by James Antony
Summary Table of the massive defunding of biomedical research in the United States
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
July 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Summary Table of the massive defunding of biomedical research in the United States
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by James Antony
Our new paper with @chrismlangdon is just out in @natureneuro.bsky.social! We show that high-dimensional RNNs use low-dimensional circuit mechanisms for cognitive tasks and identify a latent inhibitory mechanism for context-dependent decisions in PFC data.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Our new paper with @chrismlangdon is just out in @natureneuro.bsky.social! We show that high-dimensional RNNs use low-dimensional circuit mechanisms for cognitive tasks and identify a latent inhibitory mechanism for context-dependent decisions in PFC data.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by James Antony
Terry Moran worked at ABC for 28 years. Now, for calling Stephen Miller “hateful,” (which he 💯 is per his own family), ABC fired him to appease an authoritarian hypocrite who ran on “free speech.” This will have a chilling effect on all journalists. Fourth Estate fails. Authoritarianism advances.
June 11, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Terry Moran worked at ABC for 28 years. Now, for calling Stephen Miller “hateful,” (which he 💯 is per his own family), ABC fired him to appease an authoritarian hypocrite who ran on “free speech.” This will have a chilling effect on all journalists. Fourth Estate fails. Authoritarianism advances.
Reposted by James Antony
ngl this map of scheduled protests for this weekend is *wild*
June 10, 2025 at 10:26 PM
ngl this map of scheduled protests for this weekend is *wild*
Reposted by James Antony
I am in downtown Los Angeles right now and it is completely surreal to hear that Trump is sending Marines here. We are listening to mariachi music. People have dogs. There are teenagers here. It is utterly and completely peaceful. Please tell your friends.
June 9, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I am in downtown Los Angeles right now and it is completely surreal to hear that Trump is sending Marines here. We are listening to mariachi music. People have dogs. There are teenagers here. It is utterly and completely peaceful. Please tell your friends.
Reposted by James Antony
How bad will it be? Catastrophic.
Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.
But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.
Speak up now before it is too late.
(inflation adjusted $-s below)
Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.
But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.
Speak up now before it is too late.
(inflation adjusted $-s below)
May 31, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by James Antony
Sharing a new paper from the lab. This paper, led by Sangyoon Ko, represents a merging of two longstanding research themes in the lab-- adult neurogenesis and systems consolidation.
rdcu.be/el18q
A short thread follows for those interested.
1/n
rdcu.be/el18q
A short thread follows for those interested.
1/n
Systems consolidation reorganizes hippocampal engram circuitry
Nature - A study shows that loss of memory precision associated with systems consolidation can be explained by neurogenesis-dependent reorganization of engram circuitry within the hippocampus over...
rdcu.be
May 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Sharing a new paper from the lab. This paper, led by Sangyoon Ko, represents a merging of two longstanding research themes in the lab-- adult neurogenesis and systems consolidation.
rdcu.be/el18q
A short thread follows for those interested.
1/n
rdcu.be/el18q
A short thread follows for those interested.
1/n
Reposted by James Antony
The worst happened. We were DOGE’d. Our NSF funding is gone.
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
May 13, 2025 at 4:22 PM
The worst happened. We were DOGE’d. Our NSF funding is gone.
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
Reposted by James Antony
Join us in beautiful Santa Barbara! We're hiring a full-time junior specialist/research technician to play a central role in data collection & analysis of brain imaging studies of pregnancy & menopause.
Learn more & apply at: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02974
Or help us spread the word 💫
Learn more & apply at: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02974
Or help us spread the word 💫
May 12, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Join us in beautiful Santa Barbara! We're hiring a full-time junior specialist/research technician to play a central role in data collection & analysis of brain imaging studies of pregnancy & menopause.
Learn more & apply at: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02974
Or help us spread the word 💫
Learn more & apply at: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02974
Or help us spread the word 💫