Lina Skora
@linaskora.bsky.social
Postdoc @HHU Düsseldorf, formerly MPI_CBS Leipzig & Sussex Centre for Consciousness Sci, Sussex Uni | Consciousness, adaptive behaviour, learning, brain-body interaction, taVNS
Reposted by Lina Skora
Out now in Communications Biology 🧠 🫀We show that cardiac oscillations associated with vagal tone influence the strength of the heartbeat as sensed at brain level. We hypothesize that the heart may send information to the brain, encoded by the heartbeat strength doi.org/10.1038/s420...
Cardiac-vagal rhythm echoes on the heartbeat’s mechanosensory imprint in the brain - Communications Biology
Vagal-driven heart rhythm fluctuations modulate the heartbeat strength sensed in the head, linking cardiac rhythms to brain mechanosensation. These findings highlight vagal tone’s role in shaping brai...
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Out now in Communications Biology 🧠 🫀We show that cardiac oscillations associated with vagal tone influence the strength of the heartbeat as sensed at brain level. We hypothesize that the heart may send information to the brain, encoded by the heartbeat strength doi.org/10.1038/s420...
Excellent theme issue - a much needed spotlight on the functions of consciousness!
New theme issue of #PhilTransB on the evolutionary functions of #consciousness. Read: buff.ly/blMm4eR
November 17, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Excellent theme issue - a much needed spotlight on the functions of consciousness!
Reposted by Lina Skora
So happy this paper is now out in @plosbiology.org! We investigated whether fluctuations in MEPs can be explained by phasic influences from internal bodily rhythms, and whether this might happen independently per organ system.
#interoception #neuroskyence
#interoception #neuroskyence
How do internal bodily rhythms influence #brain activity & motor function? @tahnee-engelen.bsky.social &co show that #cardiac, #respiratory & #gastric rhythms independently modulate motor excitability, revealing distinct #interoceptive profiles across individuals @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4nMtpLT
November 13, 2025 at 11:01 AM
So happy this paper is now out in @plosbiology.org! We investigated whether fluctuations in MEPs can be explained by phasic influences from internal bodily rhythms, and whether this might happen independently per organ system.
#interoception #neuroskyence
#interoception #neuroskyence
Reposted by Lina Skora
Complete this sentence, "The brain is ...".
What's your favorite answer? I'm team cluster 17/18.
Taken from this delightful paper by Taylor Bolt and @lucinauddin.bsky.social; results of text in >4 million peer-reviewed articles + text analytic tools.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39798046/
What's your favorite answer? I'm team cluster 17/18.
Taken from this delightful paper by Taylor Bolt and @lucinauddin.bsky.social; results of text in >4 million peer-reviewed articles + text analytic tools.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39798046/
September 28, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Complete this sentence, "The brain is ...".
What's your favorite answer? I'm team cluster 17/18.
Taken from this delightful paper by Taylor Bolt and @lucinauddin.bsky.social; results of text in >4 million peer-reviewed articles + text analytic tools.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39798046/
What's your favorite answer? I'm team cluster 17/18.
Taken from this delightful paper by Taylor Bolt and @lucinauddin.bsky.social; results of text in >4 million peer-reviewed articles + text analytic tools.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39798046/
Reposted by Lina Skora
Are interoception and mental health linked? Many assume so, with interoception even described as a psychiatric “p-factor.” But in our latest preprint, we were surprised to find little evidence for such a connection. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵 Thread with our reflections on the matter 👇
Interoceptive Ability is Unrelated to Mental Health Symptoms: Evidence From a Large Scale Multi-Domain Psychophysical Investigation
Interoception-the sensing and perception of the internal viscera-is widely cast as a transdiagnostic mechanism linking brain-body interaction to mental illness. Prevailing models propose that altered ...
www.medrxiv.org
August 27, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Are interoception and mental health linked? Many assume so, with interoception even described as a psychiatric “p-factor.” But in our latest preprint, we were surprised to find little evidence for such a connection. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵 Thread with our reflections on the matter 👇
Reposted by Lina Skora
Could the diversity of findings in heartbeat-evoked response (HER) research be due to variability in methods?
In our new preprint my co-first authors, Maria Azanova and @willenjoy.bsky.social, and me systematically reviewed 132 M/EEG HER studies and found:
In our new preprint my co-first authors, Maria Azanova and @willenjoy.bsky.social, and me systematically reviewed 132 M/EEG HER studies and found:
August 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Could the diversity of findings in heartbeat-evoked response (HER) research be due to variability in methods?
In our new preprint my co-first authors, Maria Azanova and @willenjoy.bsky.social, and me systematically reviewed 132 M/EEG HER studies and found:
In our new preprint my co-first authors, Maria Azanova and @willenjoy.bsky.social, and me systematically reviewed 132 M/EEG HER studies and found:
Reposted by Lina Skora
The first step to publishing null results is to learn about equivalence testing, so that you can design studies that statistically support the conclusion that there is no meaningful effect. lakens.github.io/statistical_.... If you are a statistics teacher, include this into 2nd year courses.
July 25, 2025 at 3:52 AM
The first step to publishing null results is to learn about equivalence testing, so that you can design studies that statistically support the conclusion that there is no meaningful effect. lakens.github.io/statistical_.... If you are a statistics teacher, include this into 2nd year courses.
Reposted by Lina Skora
Undoubtedly the most massive group effort I was ever lucky to be involved in. Led by the ever-unwavering
@annekeitel.bsky.social, this preprint synthesizes the status quo of what we (don't) know about neural oscillations. Grateful to be part of the @scone-neuro.bsky.social network. #neuroskyence
@annekeitel.bsky.social, this preprint synthesizes the status quo of what we (don't) know about neural oscillations. Grateful to be part of the @scone-neuro.bsky.social network. #neuroskyence
Our oscillations consensus paper is finally out as a preprint 🤩 thanks to everyone involved
arxiv.org/abs/2507.15639
arxiv.org/abs/2507.15639
July 24, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Undoubtedly the most massive group effort I was ever lucky to be involved in. Led by the ever-unwavering
@annekeitel.bsky.social, this preprint synthesizes the status quo of what we (don't) know about neural oscillations. Grateful to be part of the @scone-neuro.bsky.social network. #neuroskyence
@annekeitel.bsky.social, this preprint synthesizes the status quo of what we (don't) know about neural oscillations. Grateful to be part of the @scone-neuro.bsky.social network. #neuroskyence
Reposted by Lina Skora
New preprint with amazing work from @nchalas.bsky.social:
How does respiration influence (un-)predictable near-threshold perception? MEG, arousal modulation, excitability states, respiration phase-resolved connectivity changes - it's all there :)
#neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How does respiration influence (un-)predictable near-threshold perception? MEG, arousal modulation, excitability states, respiration phase-resolved connectivity changes - it's all there :)
#neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Respiration as a dynamic modulator of sensory sampling
Respiration dynamically modulates sensory perception by orchestrating transient states of the brain and the body. Using simultaneous recordings of high-density magneto-encephalography (MEG), respirati...
www.biorxiv.org
June 30, 2025 at 12:20 PM
New preprint with amazing work from @nchalas.bsky.social:
How does respiration influence (un-)predictable near-threshold perception? MEG, arousal modulation, excitability states, respiration phase-resolved connectivity changes - it's all there :)
#neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How does respiration influence (un-)predictable near-threshold perception? MEG, arousal modulation, excitability states, respiration phase-resolved connectivity changes - it's all there :)
#neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Lina Skora
'Mental health diagnoses are not just misapplied, but invented.'
Camilla Nord on the mental illness epidemic
Camilla Nord on the mental illness epidemic
Are you hurting?
www.the-tls.com
June 19, 2025 at 3:22 PM
'Mental health diagnoses are not just misapplied, but invented.'
Camilla Nord on the mental illness epidemic
Camilla Nord on the mental illness epidemic
Reposted by Lina Skora
Out in Cognitive Psychology, led by @maxmaier.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A new lottery task with choices that matter across trials; the risky option has a chance of going extinct, which ends the study. We derive optimal policies and develop a strategy-classification model.
A new lottery task with choices that matter across trials; the risky option has a chance of going extinct, which ends the study. We derive optimal policies and develop a strategy-classification model.
June 24, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Out in Cognitive Psychology, led by @maxmaier.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A new lottery task with choices that matter across trials; the risky option has a chance of going extinct, which ends the study. We derive optimal policies and develop a strategy-classification model.
A new lottery task with choices that matter across trials; the risky option has a chance of going extinct, which ends the study. We derive optimal policies and develop a strategy-classification model.
Reposted by Lina Skora
Pulsed taVNS elicits pupil dilation. However, if sham feels as intense, there is not much left. Based on our comparatively large sample (94 participants, single-blind crossover), we show that a highly variable sham response explains this.
#neuroskyence 🩺
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence 🩺
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 16, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Pulsed taVNS elicits pupil dilation. However, if sham feels as intense, there is not much left. Based on our comparatively large sample (94 participants, single-blind crossover), we show that a highly variable sham response explains this.
#neuroskyence 🩺
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence 🩺
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Lina Skora
Thanks I hate it. This "let's settle things in the ring once and for all" approach to science is weird as hell. There are no easy formulas, no promised answers, and science isn't to be determined by an agreement between two parties.
Make science more collegial: why the time for ‘adversarial collaboration’ has come
Bringing together proponents of rival theories to test their ideas against each other can advance science — but only if all sides can accept that they might be wrong.
www.nature.com
May 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Thanks I hate it. This "let's settle things in the ring once and for all" approach to science is weird as hell. There are no easy formulas, no promised answers, and science isn't to be determined by an agreement between two parties.
Reposted by Lina Skora
Mind-wandering is associated with late modulation of the heartbeat-evoked potential; mind-blanking is associated with greater decoupling of heart-brain phase coupling.
New findings from our radically-revised study of spontaneous cognitive & physiological dynamics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
New findings from our radically-revised study of spontaneous cognitive & physiological dynamics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
When your heart isn't in it anymore: Cardiac correlates of task disengagement
Neuroscience is beginning to uncover the role of interoceptive feedback in perception, learning, and decision-making; however, the relation between spontaneous visceral and cognitive dynamics has rece...
www.biorxiv.org
May 19, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Mind-wandering is associated with late modulation of the heartbeat-evoked potential; mind-blanking is associated with greater decoupling of heart-brain phase coupling.
New findings from our radically-revised study of spontaneous cognitive & physiological dynamics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
New findings from our radically-revised study of spontaneous cognitive & physiological dynamics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Lina Skora
The Cruel Fantasies of Well-Fed People. A couple of years old now, from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social A long read so get yourself a cuppa. TLDR = 8 billion+ people need an efficient food system not a rural fantasy. #food #sustainability #doughnuteconomics www.monbiot.com/2023/10/04/t...
The Cruel Fantasies of Well-Fed People
The astonishing story of how a movement’s quest for rural simplicity drifted into a formula for mass death
www.monbiot.com
April 17, 2025 at 7:06 AM
The Cruel Fantasies of Well-Fed People. A couple of years old now, from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social A long read so get yourself a cuppa. TLDR = 8 billion+ people need an efficient food system not a rural fantasy. #food #sustainability #doughnuteconomics www.monbiot.com/2023/10/04/t...
Reposted by Lina Skora
The fun thing abt my job is sometimes I have no idea what will be plopped onto my agenda—which is to say, I got roped into writing about the new wolves. They're neither dire wolves nor "de-extincted," & they have more to do w/ enacting human fantasies than helping animals
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
These fluffy white wolves explain everything wrong with bringing back extinct animals
Don’t buy the hype about “de-extinction.”
www.vox.com
April 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The fun thing abt my job is sometimes I have no idea what will be plopped onto my agenda—which is to say, I got roped into writing about the new wolves. They're neither dire wolves nor "de-extincted," & they have more to do w/ enacting human fantasies than helping animals
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Lina Skora
1. One of capitalism’s greatest successes is to shut down our imaginations. With the help of its favoured tools - neoliberalism and fascism - it persuades us that “there is no alternative”. Our first task is to re-ignite our moral imaginations and name our alternatives. 🧵
March 28, 2025 at 8:08 AM
1. One of capitalism’s greatest successes is to shut down our imaginations. With the help of its favoured tools - neoliberalism and fascism - it persuades us that “there is no alternative”. Our first task is to re-ignite our moral imaginations and name our alternatives. 🧵
Reposted by Lina Skora
Can we enhance interoception by controlling the heart? Thrilled to share our new study, led by @ashleytyrer.bsky.social , where we use computational modeling to show that blockading peripheral noradrenaline uniquely alters awareness of heart rate & breathing! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵👇
March 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Can we enhance interoception by controlling the heart? Thrilled to share our new study, led by @ashleytyrer.bsky.social , where we use computational modeling to show that blockading peripheral noradrenaline uniquely alters awareness of heart rate & breathing! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵👇
An important thread on a straggeringly irresponsible Nature(?!) piece ⬇️
Let's talk about this Nature piece in more detail.
I've rarely read something so anti-scientific anywhere short of the National Review.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I've rarely read something so anti-scientific anywhere short of the National Review.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Three AI-powered steps to faster, smarter peer review
Tired of spending countless hours on peer reviews? An AI-assisted workflow could help.
www.nature.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:18 AM
An important thread on a straggeringly irresponsible Nature(?!) piece ⬇️
Reposted by Lina Skora
Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
March 6, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
Reposted by Lina Skora
Almost no papers using the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) report cardiovascular features, like blood pressure or stroke volume. When done, clear correlations appear. Another one here: doi.org/10.1016/j.bb...
If not properly processed or controlled, HEPs are not measures of brain-heart interaction
If not properly processed or controlled, HEPs are not measures of brain-heart interaction
Redirecting
doi.org
March 4, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Almost no papers using the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) report cardiovascular features, like blood pressure or stroke volume. When done, clear correlations appear. Another one here: doi.org/10.1016/j.bb...
If not properly processed or controlled, HEPs are not measures of brain-heart interaction
If not properly processed or controlled, HEPs are not measures of brain-heart interaction
Reposted by Lina Skora
Published now in Psychophysiology:
We show that taVNS decreases HRV independent of a caloric load. This suggests that acute taVNS does not increase cardiovagal activity ("vagal tone"). #neuroskyence 🩺
Led by @kristinkaduk.bsky.social w/ @koeniglab.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We show that taVNS decreases HRV independent of a caloric load. This suggests that acute taVNS does not increase cardiovagal activity ("vagal tone"). #neuroskyence 🩺
Led by @kristinkaduk.bsky.social w/ @koeniglab.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
<em>Psychophysiology</em> | SPR Journal | Wiley Online Library
Heart rate variability, measured by HF-HRV and RMSSD, is conventionally used to index cardiac vagal activity. Our study demonstrates that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) decr...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 26, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Published now in Psychophysiology:
We show that taVNS decreases HRV independent of a caloric load. This suggests that acute taVNS does not increase cardiovagal activity ("vagal tone"). #neuroskyence 🩺
Led by @kristinkaduk.bsky.social w/ @koeniglab.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We show that taVNS decreases HRV independent of a caloric load. This suggests that acute taVNS does not increase cardiovagal activity ("vagal tone"). #neuroskyence 🩺
Led by @kristinkaduk.bsky.social w/ @koeniglab.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Lina Skora
The Department of Government Efficiency isn't interested in efficiency. Or transparency, or cutting costs. It's real goal is to destroy the federal civil service. In other words, regime change. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing
How regime change happens in America
www.theatlantic.com
February 13, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The Department of Government Efficiency isn't interested in efficiency. Or transparency, or cutting costs. It's real goal is to destroy the federal civil service. In other words, regime change. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Lina Skora
Does tVNS elicit replicable effects beyond BOLD responses in the brainstem? Yes, pulsed, but not conventional tVNS leads to robust pupil dilation in our new meta-analysis.
Published in Brain Stim w/ @cecivez.bsky.social @akuehnel.bsky.social #neuroskyence 🩺
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Published in Brain Stim w/ @cecivez.bsky.social @akuehnel.bsky.social #neuroskyence 🩺
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 29, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Does tVNS elicit replicable effects beyond BOLD responses in the brainstem? Yes, pulsed, but not conventional tVNS leads to robust pupil dilation in our new meta-analysis.
Published in Brain Stim w/ @cecivez.bsky.social @akuehnel.bsky.social #neuroskyence 🩺
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Published in Brain Stim w/ @cecivez.bsky.social @akuehnel.bsky.social #neuroskyence 🩺
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Lina Skora
Would you like to see @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social add a share to blue sky button?! I know I would! Share this post to let @richardsever.bsky.social @erictopol.bsky.social and others at bioarxiv know!
December 2, 2024 at 12:10 PM
Would you like to see @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social add a share to blue sky button?! I know I would! Share this post to let @richardsever.bsky.social @erictopol.bsky.social and others at bioarxiv know!