Huge gratitude to @jordwynn.bsky.social and Anisha Khosla who led the research and to @shen4brains.bsky.social who ate lunch with me 10 years ago at a conference where we first dreamt up this line of work. 🤩

5/5

What does this mean? Two things.

1. When the hippocampus starts to become dysfunctional, this creates real-time changes in the the operations of other systems.

2. Tracking eye movements may be key for early detection of mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias.

4/5

With increasing hippocampal compromise, the information that is built up over time from eye movements becomes less distinct, leading to increasingly impoverished memories that likely become confusable with one another.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

3/5

People with memory problems have altered patterns of eye movements, even when they're looking at something new and we're not asking them to remember anything.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

This change in how the eyes move has consequences.

2/5

This job is HARD. So this article is incredibly validating that maybe there’s something to what we’re doing here. And if it sparks new ideas that generates success for others, then it’s definitely been worth it. Really appreciate you @mariamaly.bsky.social and everyone who has supported us ❤️ 3/3

Lots of challenges over the years getting people to consider that maybe there’s something more than attention that drives eye movements. My favorite grant on this topic never got funded (one reviewer hated it and wouldn’t budge); but we found ways to get some of the work done anyway.
2/n

Oh my goodness! 🥹❤️ This is quite the honour, thank you so much! I spent so many years wondering if I was just going to survive in this field. It’s really validating to know that someone amazing like you found inspiration in it. 😭

Congratulations!! So well-deserved!! 🎉

I’m so sorry, Anna. I would also add to the great advice from others to call or write your representatives and senators. Maybe an op-ed in local papers or radios to explain how these terminations impact local economies as well as the overall science.

One messy sentence at a time ☺️

Does writing suck for you? How do you make it better? Personally, I make my practice more enjoyable by writing in the morning with coffee and lo-fi music and, if I’m feeling particularly bougie, a fave candle burning. 🕯️ 3/3

This week, @shen4brains.bsky.social and I discuss one of the reasons why writing is so hard: because it’s personal and because it requires empathy for your reader. 2/3

drjenryan.com/the-keys-blo...

I appreciate your voice in this 🙏 we are quite alarmed up here and taking this very seriously.

Ahh thanks should have tagged Cognitive Neuroscience Society @cogneuronews.bsky.social in the original post.

Frustrating. 😣 I also heard that DOGE folks have been wandering around NASA HQ trying to sort out who everyone is and what they do, including whether they are a contractor or a direct employee. I can’t even imagine the stress everyone at NASA must be feeling 🥺

Awful and terrifying. At least it’s completely clear (not like it wasn’t before) that they’re not interested in preserving democracy anywhere.