MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
@mrccbu.bsky.social
A new perspective on the confusing term of “cognitive reserve” from Rik Henson the importance of multiple brain measures in explaining why some people maintain their cognition into late life: https://doi.org/10.1177/23982128261422282
February 16, 2026 at 12:02 PM
A new perspective on the confusing term of “cognitive reserve” from Rik Henson the importance of multiple brain measures in explaining why some people maintain their cognition into late life: https://doi.org/10.1177/23982128261422282
Do novel experiences shortly before or after learning improve memory for what was learned?
They don’t according to Raza et al., but simply resting might.
Read about novel VR experiences versus wakeful rest as ways to improve memory: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218251346156
They don’t according to Raza et al., but simply resting might.
Read about novel VR experiences versus wakeful rest as ways to improve memory: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218251346156
February 5, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Do novel experiences shortly before or after learning improve memory for what was learned?
They don’t according to Raza et al., but simply resting might.
Read about novel VR experiences versus wakeful rest as ways to improve memory: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218251346156
They don’t according to Raza et al., but simply resting might.
Read about novel VR experiences versus wakeful rest as ways to improve memory: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218251346156
Do metabolic rewards drive action?
New study by Fleming et al. finds they shape preferences but not behaviour – a surprising dissociation with implications for understanding metabolic interoception in health and disease.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109187
New study by Fleming et al. finds they shape preferences but not behaviour – a surprising dissociation with implications for understanding metabolic interoception in health and disease.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109187
February 2, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Do metabolic rewards drive action?
New study by Fleming et al. finds they shape preferences but not behaviour – a surprising dissociation with implications for understanding metabolic interoception in health and disease.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109187
New study by Fleming et al. finds they shape preferences but not behaviour – a surprising dissociation with implications for understanding metabolic interoception in health and disease.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109187
Are episodic and semantic memory really that different? Using closely matched tasks, we found no substantial neural differences between recalling personal experiences and general knowledge: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02390-4
January 29, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Are episodic and semantic memory really that different? Using closely matched tasks, we found no substantial neural differences between recalling personal experiences and general knowledge: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02390-4
Reposted by MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
Newly accepted 🎉 Decoding of speech acoustics from EEG: Going beyond the amplitude envelope doi.org/10.1088/1741... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social @tobiasgoehring.bsky.social @mrccbu.bsky.social
Decoding of speech acoustics from EEG: Going beyond the amplitude envelope
Decoding of speech acoustics from EEG: Going beyond the amplitude envelope, MacIntyre, Alexis Deighton, Gaultier, Clément, Goehring, Tobias
doi.org
January 21, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Newly accepted 🎉 Decoding of speech acoustics from EEG: Going beyond the amplitude envelope doi.org/10.1088/1741... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social @tobiasgoehring.bsky.social @mrccbu.bsky.social
Reposted by MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
Professor @orbenamy.bsky.social from @mrccbu.bsky.social will co-lead the world’s first major trial to test whether reducing social media use can improve teen mental health.
Find out more about the IRL Trial: https://bit.ly/4a2FZmB
#socialmedia #research
Find out more about the IRL Trial: https://bit.ly/4a2FZmB
#socialmedia #research
Thousands of UK schoolchildren to take part in major study of social media use and teen mental health
A trial that will put a daily limit on the social media use of thousands of Bradford teenagers is set to begin this year. It will be the largest study yet to investigate whether use of these online pl...
bit.ly
January 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Professor @orbenamy.bsky.social from @mrccbu.bsky.social will co-lead the world’s first major trial to test whether reducing social media use can improve teen mental health.
Find out more about the IRL Trial: https://bit.ly/4a2FZmB
#socialmedia #research
Find out more about the IRL Trial: https://bit.ly/4a2FZmB
#socialmedia #research
You still have two weeks to register for COGNESTIC, 14-25 September 2026. We provide training in state-of-the-art methods for neuroimaging analysis and great opportunities for professional networking, especially for early-career researchers. For more info:
www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/events/cogne...
www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/events/cogne...
January 15, 2026 at 9:41 AM
You still have two weeks to register for COGNESTIC, 14-25 September 2026. We provide training in state-of-the-art methods for neuroimaging analysis and great opportunities for professional networking, especially for early-career researchers. For more info:
www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/events/cogne...
www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/events/cogne...
Reposted by MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
What should you stop doing in 2026? ⛔
Here are 12 ways to improve your wellbeing and productivity – based on decades of world-leading #research from experts at @mrccbu.bsky.social @eng.cam.ac.uk and @psychiatry-ucam.bsky.social 👇
https://bit.ly/49aIX8p
Here are 12 ways to improve your wellbeing and productivity – based on decades of world-leading #research from experts at @mrccbu.bsky.social @eng.cam.ac.uk and @psychiatry-ucam.bsky.social 👇
https://bit.ly/49aIX8p
January 7, 2026 at 8:00 AM
What should you stop doing in 2026? ⛔
Here are 12 ways to improve your wellbeing and productivity – based on decades of world-leading #research from experts at @mrccbu.bsky.social @eng.cam.ac.uk and @psychiatry-ucam.bsky.social 👇
https://bit.ly/49aIX8p
Here are 12 ways to improve your wellbeing and productivity – based on decades of world-leading #research from experts at @mrccbu.bsky.social @eng.cam.ac.uk and @psychiatry-ucam.bsky.social 👇
https://bit.ly/49aIX8p
New preregistered study: A week of cognitive training can reduce automatic avoidance tendencies—showing that Pavlovian biases aren’t fixed, but flexible and trainable: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2027-02467-001.html #CognitiveTraining #DecisionMaking #ComputationalPsychi
January 8, 2026 at 10:54 AM
New preregistered study: A week of cognitive training can reduce automatic avoidance tendencies—showing that Pavlovian biases aren’t fixed, but flexible and trainable: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2027-02467-001.html #CognitiveTraining #DecisionMaking #ComputationalPsychi
New paper alert: Comparing the effect of multi-gradient echo and multi-band fMRI during a semantic task: https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.1043
January 7, 2026 at 11:30 AM
New paper alert: Comparing the effect of multi-gradient echo and multi-band fMRI during a semantic task: https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.1043
Across three experiments, de Montpellier et al. (2025) report that negative emotion does not impair hippocampal-dependent associative memory, contrary to the Dual Representation Account of PTSD: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13415-025-01371-4
January 7, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Across three experiments, de Montpellier et al. (2025) report that negative emotion does not impair hippocampal-dependent associative memory, contrary to the Dual Representation Account of PTSD: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13415-025-01371-4
Congratulations to Dr Lewis Owens, leading CBU supporter and fundraiser, on his MBE in the New Year’s Honours List. Thoroughly deserved for his amazing amount of fundraising, volunteering and charitable work over so many years.
January 2, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Congratulations to Dr Lewis Owens, leading CBU supporter and fundraiser, on his MBE in the New Year’s Honours List. Thoroughly deserved for his amazing amount of fundraising, volunteering and charitable work over so many years.
Season's Greetings!
From all at the MRC CBU 🎄☃️🎅
From all at the MRC CBU 🎄☃️🎅
December 25, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Season's Greetings!
From all at the MRC CBU 🎄☃️🎅
From all at the MRC CBU 🎄☃️🎅
Reposted by MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
🚨new work with the dream team @danakarca.bsky.social @loopyluppi.bsky.social @fatemehhadaeghi.bsky.social @stuartoldham.bsky.social @duncanastle.bsky.social
We use game theory and show the brain is not optimally wired for communication and there’s more to its story:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We use game theory and show the brain is not optimally wired for communication and there’s more to its story:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 15, 2025 at 8:01 AM
🚨new work with the dream team @danakarca.bsky.social @loopyluppi.bsky.social @fatemehhadaeghi.bsky.social @stuartoldham.bsky.social @duncanastle.bsky.social
We use game theory and show the brain is not optimally wired for communication and there’s more to its story:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We use game theory and show the brain is not optimally wired for communication and there’s more to its story:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Fathers’ and Mothers’ support needs and support experiences after rapid genome sequencing: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fathers’ and Mothers’ support needs and support experiences after rapid genome sequencing
European Journal of Human Genetics - Fathers’ and Mothers’ support needs and support experiences after rapid genome sequencing
www.nature.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Fathers’ and Mothers’ support needs and support experiences after rapid genome sequencing: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Huge congratulations to @mrccbu.bsky.social's @charlottegarcia.bsky.social for receiving the “Outstanding Contributions to EDI in the Workplace” award at yesterday’s School of Clinical Medicine EDI event! So well-deserved.
December 10, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Huge congratulations to @mrccbu.bsky.social's @charlottegarcia.bsky.social for receiving the “Outstanding Contributions to EDI in the Workplace” award at yesterday’s School of Clinical Medicine EDI event! So well-deserved.
New paper introduces a novel way to study brain degeneracy: we identify group of people with distinct neural activation but similar task performance and demographics – showing that multiple brain activation patterns can support the same cognitive outcome: https://ow.ly/sX9O50XG7RM
December 9, 2025 at 11:00 AM
New paper introduces a novel way to study brain degeneracy: we identify group of people with distinct neural activation but similar task performance and demographics – showing that multiple brain activation patterns can support the same cognitive outcome: https://ow.ly/sX9O50XG7RM
Apathy is a common symptom in a wide range of conditions with limited treatment. In this opinion article, we highlight a novel approach to apathy based on a reduction in confidence on action outcomes, & include testable hypotheses at a cognitive & neuroanatomical level: www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Apathy as a failure of active inference
Apathy is a common symptom across a wide range of neurodegenerative and psychiatric
conditions, characterised by a loss of goal-directed action. It is associated with
faster rates of cognitive and fun...
www.cell.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Apathy is a common symptom in a wide range of conditions with limited treatment. In this opinion article, we highlight a novel approach to apathy based on a reduction in confidence on action outcomes, & include testable hypotheses at a cognitive & neuroanatomical level: www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Congratulations to MRC CBU’s PhD student Annalise Whines, who won the runner-up prize at the MRC Max Perutz Science Communication Awards in the video category. ‘Does motivation change across the menstrual cycle?’ https://www.ukri.org/publications/mrc-max-perutz-science-writing-award-2025/
December 5, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Congratulations to MRC CBU’s PhD student Annalise Whines, who won the runner-up prize at the MRC Max Perutz Science Communication Awards in the video category. ‘Does motivation change across the menstrual cycle?’ https://www.ukri.org/publications/mrc-max-perutz-science-writing-award-2025/
What if it’s not about having “too much” or “too little” empathy, but about the balance between understanding and sharing others’ emotions? A new paper review empathic disequilibrium in autism and mental health, moving beyond deficit-oriented narratives: https://ow.ly/p5lH50XzTUW
December 1, 2025 at 2:02 PM
What if it’s not about having “too much” or “too little” empathy, but about the balance between understanding and sharing others’ emotions? A new paper review empathic disequilibrium in autism and mental health, moving beyond deficit-oriented narratives: https://ow.ly/p5lH50XzTUW
A special issue of Neuropsychologia celebrates John Duncan’s career at the time of his retirement: https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/10QN6R7VQSM. Read the editorial by Daniel Mitchell, Moataz Assem and Alexandra Woolgar here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109323
December 1, 2025 at 10:04 AM
A special issue of Neuropsychologia celebrates John Duncan’s career at the time of his retirement: https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/10QN6R7VQSM. Read the editorial by Daniel Mitchell, Moataz Assem and Alexandra Woolgar here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109323
Why do some people lose memory faster with age? A mega-analysis of 13 longitudinal datasets (3,700+ adults, 10,000+ MRIs) shows that memory decline tracks brain atrophy, especially in the hippocampus, and that these links strengthen with age, but not APOE status: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Why do some people lose memory faster with age? A mega-analysis of 13 longitudinal datasets (3,700+ adults, 10,000+ MRIs) shows that memory decline tracks brain atrophy, especially in the hippocampus, and that these links strengthen with age, but not APOE status: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Researchers from MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge and University of Cambridge showed that the brain stays in the adolescent phase until our early thirties. Find out more in the BBC article 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl6klez226o
November 25, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Researchers from MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge and University of Cambridge showed that the brain stays in the adolescent phase until our early thirties. Find out more in the BBC article 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl6klez226o
We introduces Nonlinear TL-MDPC, a neural-network-based method to capture multidimensional, time-lagged brain connectivity in EEG/MEG data. While it outperforms linear methods in simulations, it only shows subtle gains in real data: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1533034
November 19, 2025 at 10:01 AM
We introduces Nonlinear TL-MDPC, a neural-network-based method to capture multidimensional, time-lagged brain connectivity in EEG/MEG data. While it outperforms linear methods in simulations, it only shows subtle gains in real data: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1533034
Happy LGBTQ+STEM Day! To mark the occasion, LGBTQ+ and ally scientists alike introduced our new pride flag to the @mrccbu.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Happy LGBTQ+STEM Day! To mark the occasion, LGBTQ+ and ally scientists alike introduced our new pride flag to the @mrccbu.bsky.social