Ella Striem-Amit
striemamit.bsky.social
Ella Striem-Amit
@striemamit.bsky.social
Cognitive+systems neuroscientist, studying brains/abilities in blindness, deafness or handlessness to probe brain plasticity & development. Opinions are my own.
samp-lab.facultysite.georgetown.edu
Pinned
I’ll soon(ish) post an ad for a postdoc position in my lab to study individual differences in brain plasticity following blindness or deafness, with a start date of spring/summer 2026. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Looking for graduate students for next year! We have fully-funded positions open to study signed languages, cognitive/educational neuroscience, development, and educational technology! Email me for more info or see here: tinyurl.com/EdNeuro2026

Please share!!
Educational Neuroscience PhD: Application Information
Fully-Funded Ph.D. Positions in Educational Neuroscience At Gallaudet University in Washington, DC The Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) Program at Gallaudet University invites prospective st...
docs.google.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
It’s grad school application season, and I wanted to give some public advice.

Caveats:
-*-*-*-*


> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees

> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases
November 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
AND If you’re interested in language-related aspects of individual differences for blindness or deafness, you can also already apply through neurolang.georgetown.edu/admission
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’ll soon(ish) post an ad for a postdoc position in my lab to study individual differences in brain plasticity following blindness or deafness, with a start date of spring/summer 2026. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.

The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.

Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
🏆 #CNS2026 Young Investigator Award Winners 🏆

Congratulations to Monica Rosenberg and Samuel D. McDougle, recipients of the 2026 Young Investigator Award! 🎉

We look forward to their award lectures at the CNS 2026 Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada! 🇨🇦✨

@cogneuronews.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
“Revealing Key Dimensions Underlying the Recognition of Dynamic Human Actions”
New work led by Andre Bockes and Angelika Lingnau - with some small support from me - on dimensions underlying the mental representation of dynamic human actions.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Revealing Key Dimensions Underlying the Recognition of Dynamic Human Actions - Communications Psychology
Large-scale similarity ratings of 768 short action videos uncover 28 interpretable dimensions—such as interaction, sport, and craft—offering a framework to quantify and compare human actions.
www.nature.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/
AI Surrogates and illusions of generalizability in cognitive science
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have generated enthusiasm for using AI simulations of human research participants to generate new know…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Emmorey et al (2008) was wrong (underpowered)! New paper by Asanowicz et al. shows that bimodal bilinguals (Codas), like unimodal bilinguals, exhibit enhancements in specific aspects of executive control. Codas also showed unique effects of visuospatial attention.
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
October 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Great review on The Genetics of Human Handedness: Microtubules and Beyond www.cell.com/trends/genet... - handedness is such an interesting phenotype!
Genetics of human handedness: microtubules and beyond
Handedness (i.e., the preference to use either the left or the right hand for fine motor tasks) is a widely investigated trait. Handedness heritability is consistently estimated to be 25%. After decad...
www.cell.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Why do brain networks vary? Do these differences shape behavior? If every 🧠 is unique, how can we detect common features of brain organization?
@rodbraga.bsky.social and I dig in, in @annualreviews.bsky.social (ahead of print):
go.illinois.edu/Gratton2025-...

#neuroskyence #psychscisky #MedSky
🧵👇
Dense Phenotyping of Human Brain Network Organization Using Precision fMRI
The advent of noninvasive imaging methods like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) transformed cognitive neuroscience, providing insights into large-scale brain networks and their link to cog...
go.illinois.edu
October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
If you're interested, we have a virtual information session today, 6-8 PM EDT: sign up at
neuroscience.georgetown.edu/admissions/ (next one on Nov 6th)
October 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
(please repost) If you're looking for a #neuroscience PhD program - and interested in human brain plasticity and reorganization (neuroimaging in people born with blindness, deafness or without hands), my lab is accepting students this cycle. Email me!
Home Page - Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
The Georgetown Difference We are invested in providing a transformative experience through holistic training, accessible resources, and personalized career strategies to help you reach your aspiration...
neuroscience.georgetown.edu
October 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Long-term outcomes and patient experiences with the Argus II retinal prosthesis system journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... "Argus II provided potential benefits but also presented significant challenges related to device performance, cognitive demands, and long-term support"; retinal implant
Long-Term Outcomes and Patient Experiences With the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System - Jonathan D. Shirian, Alex Yuan, Aleksandra Rachitskaya, 2025
Purpose: To evaluate the long-term outcomes and experiences of patients with the Argus II retinal prosthesis in individuals with advanced-stage retinitis pigmen...
journals.sagepub.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Skilled deaf readers exhibit BILATERAL hierarchical tuning in the visual word form system, unlike matched hearing readers. We suggest a shift from bilateral to left-lateralized processing is not necessary for successful reading. New paper led by Laurie Glezer. direct.mit.edu/nol/article/...
Bilateral Word Selectivity Gradients in the Visual Word Form System in Skilled Deaf Readers
Abstract. In hearing people visual word recognition relies on a hierarchical organization in left ventral occipitotemporal (vOT) cortex. While right hemisphere recruitment has been implicated in poor ...
direct.mit.edu
October 6, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
👁️🧠 New preprint: We demonstrate the first data-driven neural control framework for a visual cortical implant in a blind human!

TL;DR Deep learning lets us synthesize efficient stimulation patterns that reliably evoke percepts, outperforming conventional calibration.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 27, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io
September 25, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Looking forward to #SNL2025!
Be sure to catch the #SNL2025 Panel Session: Neuroplasticity in Action – Diversity in Language and Reading. Join us on Friday, September 12, 2025, in Great Hall 1, Elstad Auditorium.

More details available at: 2025.neurolang.org/panel-session/
September 9, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
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
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Now out in @natneuro.nature.com

What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?

Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation

www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7

🧵1/18
August 21, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Excited to share our new paper w/ @cibaker.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com linking active vision & memory!

We provide evidence that gaze reinstatement & neural reactivation are deeply related phenomena that jointly reflect the experiences constructed during recall. doi.org/10.1038/s414...
🧵1/9
Neural and behavioral reinstatement jointly reflect retrieval of narrative events - Nature Communications
When people recall a movie, their eye movements and brain activity resemble those observed during the viewing. These behavioral and neural reactivations are linked through a common process, likely ref...
doi.org
August 25, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Preprint out -- using intramuscular microelectrode arrays to detect residual motoneuron activity in tetraplegic spinal cord injury, and then using that activity for control
Credit to my other co-first authors Agnese Grison and Ciara Gibbs
1/n
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Multidimensional motoneuron control using intramuscular microelectrode arrays in tetraplegic spinal cord injury
Loss of hand function after spinal cord injury (SCI) significantly impairs independence and quality of life. Although residual muscle activity recorded on the skin can provide intuitive control signal...
www.medrxiv.org
July 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit
Check out our latest preprint! BlueSky-less Gayathri Subramanian tried combining odor & sound presentation during sleep to shape memories and discovered that multisensory cuing of unassociated memories nullified the benefits of reactivation. @paller.bsky.social
Concurrent presentation of memory-related odors and sounds nullified sleep reactivation benefits
Reactivation of recently acquired memories during sleep supports their longevity. Reactivation can be biased during sleep using odors or sounds through a technique termed targeted memory reactivation ...
biorxiv.org
August 19, 2025 at 3:17 PM