Jon Simons
@jonsimons.bsky.social
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, and Head of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge. Husband, father of two boys and one dog, half-pint rower and ex-cricketer
www.memlab.psychol.cam.ac.uk
www.memlab.psychol.cam.ac.uk
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Blimey!
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Blimey!
November 8, 2025 at 7:06 AM
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Blimey!
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Blimey!
So lucky to work in this beautiful place
From the spires to the River Cam, beautiful #Cambridge glows in the autumn light 🍂
For everyone who studies, works, visits or lives here, this is your Cambridge from above.
For everyone who studies, works, visits or lives here, this is your Cambridge from above.
November 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
So lucky to work in this beautiful place
Reposted by Jon Simons
The podcast is now available on Spotify!
You can still take part in our survey here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
You can still take part in our survey here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
October 31, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The podcast is now available on Spotify!
You can still take part in our survey here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
You can still take part in our survey here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Reposted by Jon Simons
Image of the Sun.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
November 1, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Image of the Sun.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Reposted by Jon Simons
One in four comatose (behaviourally non-responsive) patients in the ICU following a serious brain injury show us they are aware using fNIRS - published today. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:04 PM
One in four comatose (behaviourally non-responsive) patients in the ICU following a serious brain injury show us they are aware using fNIRS - published today. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Jon Simons
You'd get to work a lot with me as I'm research director!
We're hiring!
Join the University of Cambridge as a School Research Grant Administrator in the School of the Humanities & Social Sciences.
Primarily support research grants at the Bennett School of Public Policy & beyond.
Apply by 2 Nov 2025
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/school-...
Join the University of Cambridge as a School Research Grant Administrator in the School of the Humanities & Social Sciences.
Primarily support research grants at the Bennett School of Public Policy & beyond.
Apply by 2 Nov 2025
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/school-...
October 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
You'd get to work a lot with me as I'm research director!
Reposted by Jon Simons
New preprint! What happens in the brain when people offload memories into external reminders? Using fMRI decoding, we found that the corresponding neural trace fades until it becomes statistically absent.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
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osf.io/preprints/ps...
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OSF
osf.io
October 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
New preprint! What happens in the brain when people offload memories into external reminders? Using fMRI decoding, we found that the corresponding neural trace fades until it becomes statistically absent.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
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osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Reposted by Jon Simons
Do you have a memory so vivid you can relive it?
@campsydept.bsky.social and @durham.ac.uk are exploring how vivid human memories work across our lives – and how ideas about them have evolved over time.
Your experiences could help us understand memory better.
Take our survey: bit.ly/3J1FQ8y
@campsydept.bsky.social and @durham.ac.uk are exploring how vivid human memories work across our lives – and how ideas about them have evolved over time.
Your experiences could help us understand memory better.
Take our survey: bit.ly/3J1FQ8y
October 24, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Do you have a memory so vivid you can relive it?
@campsydept.bsky.social and @durham.ac.uk are exploring how vivid human memories work across our lives – and how ideas about them have evolved over time.
Your experiences could help us understand memory better.
Take our survey: bit.ly/3J1FQ8y
@campsydept.bsky.social and @durham.ac.uk are exploring how vivid human memories work across our lives – and how ideas about them have evolved over time.
Your experiences could help us understand memory better.
Take our survey: bit.ly/3J1FQ8y
Reposted by Jon Simons
Released today! My new album, North, has been nearly three years in the making. Listen for free on Bandcamp, or buy a copy to download and help me with the mastering costs. #PopUpKings #nordicjazz #ambient #postrock #instrumental
popupkings.bandcamp.com/album/north
popupkings.bandcamp.com/album/north
North, by Pop-Up Kings
9 track album
popupkings.bandcamp.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Released today! My new album, North, has been nearly three years in the making. Listen for free on Bandcamp, or buy a copy to download and help me with the mastering costs. #PopUpKings #nordicjazz #ambient #postrock #instrumental
popupkings.bandcamp.com/album/north
popupkings.bandcamp.com/album/north
Vivid memories are all over the BBC website front page! It takes just a few minutes to complete our public survey: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
October 21, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Vivid memories are all over the BBC website front page! It takes just a few minutes to complete our public survey: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
The brilliant @kasiamojescik.bsky.social and Martha McGill join @claudiahammond.bsky.social and @catherineloveday.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4 All in the Mind this morning to launch our new public survey of vivid memories. You can take part here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
BBC Radio 4 - All in the Mind, Are there multiple subtypes of autism, and how vivid are your memories?
A new study suggests that autism’s genetic profile differs with age at diagnosis.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 8:24 AM
The brilliant @kasiamojescik.bsky.social and Martha McGill join @claudiahammond.bsky.social and @catherineloveday.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4 All in the Mind this morning to launch our new public survey of vivid memories. You can take part here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Reposted by Jon Simons
It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social
Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
October 7, 2025 at 5:49 PM
It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social
Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
Reposted by Jon Simons
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Jane Goodall.
Jane was a much-loved member of the conservation community in Cambridge and worldwide. She completed her PhD at @darwincollegecam.bsky.social and was an Honorary Fellow at @newnhamcollege.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzR...
Jane was a much-loved member of the conservation community in Cambridge and worldwide. She completed her PhD at @darwincollegecam.bsky.social and was an Honorary Fellow at @newnhamcollege.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzR...
Jane Goodall - Finding our way to a better future
YouTube video by Cambridge University
www.youtube.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Jane Goodall.
Jane was a much-loved member of the conservation community in Cambridge and worldwide. She completed her PhD at @darwincollegecam.bsky.social and was an Honorary Fellow at @newnhamcollege.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzR...
Jane was a much-loved member of the conservation community in Cambridge and worldwide. She completed her PhD at @darwincollegecam.bsky.social and was an Honorary Fellow at @newnhamcollege.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzR...
Reposted by Jon Simons
Can reading a book make you a better person?
Reading books is declining. But people who read weekly book excerpts & podcasts instead of meditating had the greatest reductions in aggression and growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes & altruism
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/can-readin...
Reading books is declining. But people who read weekly book excerpts & podcasts instead of meditating had the greatest reductions in aggression and growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes & altruism
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/can-readin...
Can reading a book make you a better person?
Research from our lab investigates if reading non-fiction books can make us more prosocial and less polarized.
www.powerofusnewsletter.com
September 11, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Can reading a book make you a better person?
Reading books is declining. But people who read weekly book excerpts & podcasts instead of meditating had the greatest reductions in aggression and growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes & altruism
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/can-readin...
Reading books is declining. But people who read weekly book excerpts & podcasts instead of meditating had the greatest reductions in aggression and growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes & altruism
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/can-readin...
Reposted by Jon Simons
Invitation to a potential replication project. rolfzwaan.substack.com/p/memory-mis...
September 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Invitation to a potential replication project. rolfzwaan.substack.com/p/memory-mis...
Reposted by Jon Simons
A review just in time for our 59th Wedding Anniversary on 1st September
Scenes from a Marriage: How We Found Our Way from Experimental Psychology to Social Neuroscience | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Scenes from a Marriage: How We Found Our Way from Experimental Psychology to Social Neuroscience | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Scenes from a Marriage: How We Found Our Way from Experimental Psychology to Social Neuroscience | Annual Reviews
Looking back on our life and work, we reflect on the changes in our thinking due to three scientific and technological revolutions. These are information processing, computers, and brain imaging, and ...
www.annualreviews.org
August 27, 2025 at 9:33 AM
A review just in time for our 59th Wedding Anniversary on 1st September
Scenes from a Marriage: How We Found Our Way from Experimental Psychology to Social Neuroscience | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Scenes from a Marriage: How We Found Our Way from Experimental Psychology to Social Neuroscience | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Jon Simons
THIS
An abbreviation (ABB) in a journal article (JA) or Grant Application (GA) is rarely worth the words it saves. Every ABB requires cognitive resources (CR) and at my age by the time I'm halfway through a JA or GA I no longer have the CR to remember what your ABB stood for.
August 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
THIS
Very sad to hear this news. The Creative Mind one of the books that inspired me to study cognition and the brain. Lucky to meet Maggie a couple of times years later, emphasised value of conversations across disciplines. Didn’t understand everything, but learned a lot!
Maggie Boden's passing is a sad loss to many of us personally, and to cognitive science and philosophy as a whole. This obituary, by Michael Rosenwald, was published the other day in @nytimes.com
Margaret Boden, Philosopher of Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 88
www.nytimes.com
August 16, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Very sad to hear this news. The Creative Mind one of the books that inspired me to study cognition and the brain. Lucky to meet Maggie a couple of times years later, emphasised value of conversations across disciplines. Didn’t understand everything, but learned a lot!
The Cambridge Alumni Magazine wanted to find out what a few MemLab researchers are up to. Read about Martha McGill, Will Duckett and Julia Maybury and their fascinating research in this article from the latest issue.
Remember this...
Memory is strange: sometimes crystal clear on people and places we came across years ago, often much more cloudy on things that happened just last week.
www.alumni.cam.ac.uk
August 13, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The Cambridge Alumni Magazine wanted to find out what a few MemLab researchers are up to. Read about Martha McGill, Will Duckett and Julia Maybury and their fascinating research in this article from the latest issue.
Reposted by Jon Simons
Could Cambridge be your next career move?
Hear what attracted three international academics to come to Cambridge, and explore 150+ vacancies on our new look website at cam.ac.uk/jobs
#HEjobs #Careers #UniJobs #AcademicJobs #ResearchJobs #PhDChat #Hiring #UniversityJobs #Careers
Hear what attracted three international academics to come to Cambridge, and explore 150+ vacancies on our new look website at cam.ac.uk/jobs
#HEjobs #Careers #UniJobs #AcademicJobs #ResearchJobs #PhDChat #Hiring #UniversityJobs #Careers
Jobs
Job opportunities at the University of Cambridge, Colleges and affiliated institutions.
cam.ac.uk
July 18, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Could Cambridge be your next career move?
Hear what attracted three international academics to come to Cambridge, and explore 150+ vacancies on our new look website at cam.ac.uk/jobs
#HEjobs #Careers #UniJobs #AcademicJobs #ResearchJobs #PhDChat #Hiring #UniversityJobs #Careers
Hear what attracted three international academics to come to Cambridge, and explore 150+ vacancies on our new look website at cam.ac.uk/jobs
#HEjobs #Careers #UniJobs #AcademicJobs #ResearchJobs #PhDChat #Hiring #UniversityJobs #Careers
Reposted by Jon Simons
Happy birthday Brenda Milner! 🧠🎉
Today is her 107th birthday, she's a legend, a superhero.
Today is her 107th birthday, she's a legend, a superhero.
My favorite account of the early history is this one:
www.jneurosci.org/content/jneu...
ALSO: AWARD BRENDA MILNER THE NOBEL PRIZE (for work with H.M. and the discovery that the hippocampus the structure that stores memories) - SHE'S 106!)
www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=25635
www.jneurosci.org/content/jneu...
ALSO: AWARD BRENDA MILNER THE NOBEL PRIZE (for work with H.M. and the discovery that the hippocampus the structure that stores memories) - SHE'S 106!)
www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=25635
July 15, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Happy birthday Brenda Milner! 🧠🎉
Today is her 107th birthday, she's a legend, a superhero.
Today is her 107th birthday, she's a legend, a superhero.
I'm proud that @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social is leading the way in advancing our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of women's biology, which is essential to improving lifelong health and supporting intergenerational health outcomes
Putting women’s health in the spotlight
Cambridge researchers are working to undo a longstanding male bias in health research, to help drive more effective healthcare for all.
www.cam.ac.uk
July 2, 2025 at 11:24 AM
I'm proud that @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social is leading the way in advancing our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of women's biology, which is essential to improving lifelong health and supporting intergenerational health outcomes
So very sorry to hear this news. Simon was a regular contributor to our Subjective Experience of Remembering workshops, and was always so warm and supportive and full of interesting things to say. I'm very sorry to think that our paths won't cross again. Sincere condolences to all who knew him.
Absolutely heartbroken to learn that Professor Simon James has passed away after a short illness. Simon was a stalwart union rep in the English Department, and a personal friend to many of us in the branch. We'll miss his humour, his passion, and his dedication to making things better for people.
June 16, 2025 at 10:33 AM
So very sorry to hear this news. Simon was a regular contributor to our Subjective Experience of Remembering workshops, and was always so warm and supportive and full of interesting things to say. I'm very sorry to think that our paths won't cross again. Sincere condolences to all who knew him.
I am recruiting a postgraduate research assistant to work in the Cambridge Memory Lab, administering cognitive tasks and helping with lab administration. Would suit someone who's just finished their degree and wants to gain research experience before further study. Please apply!
Research Assistant (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge
Research Assistant (Fixed Term) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge.
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk
June 11, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I am recruiting a postgraduate research assistant to work in the Cambridge Memory Lab, administering cognitive tasks and helping with lab administration. Would suit someone who's just finished their degree and wants to gain research experience before further study. Please apply!