Ken Paller
@paller.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern U investigating memory, sleep, consciousness, other stuff
http://kenpaller.com
http://kenpaller.com
Pinned
Ken Paller
@paller.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Do House-Elves Clean Your Brain While You Sleep?
Sleep will consume one-third of your life. You can’t avoid it, nor should you. Sound slumber can make you feel wonderful. But there’s more to it. Sleep is also essential for learning. Much of who you ...
kids.frontiersin.org
Do House-Elves Clean Your Brain While You Sleep?
-- the title of a fun paper I wrote covering memory and sleep from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, intended for young readers... and for the young at heart
kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
-- the title of a fun paper I wrote covering memory and sleep from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, intended for young readers... and for the young at heart
kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
Reposted by Ken Paller
Very well done story on 60 Minutes about the harms of grant terminations and freezes at Harvard with Joan Brugge, Don Engbar, David Liu, and a very compelling young cancer patient, now cured with Liu's technology.
Transcript and video here
www.cbsnews.com/news/researc...
Transcript and video here
www.cbsnews.com/news/researc...
Battle between Trump and universities hurting scientific research in need of federal funding
Federal research funding to universities has fueled breakthroughs for years. The White House is pressuring universities to align with the president's political agenda, or risk losing their funding.
www.cbsnews.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Very well done story on 60 Minutes about the harms of grant terminations and freezes at Harvard with Joan Brugge, Don Engbar, David Liu, and a very compelling young cancer patient, now cured with Liu's technology.
Transcript and video here
www.cbsnews.com/news/researc...
Transcript and video here
www.cbsnews.com/news/researc...
Reposted by Ken Paller
There is no room for apathy right now.
We must do what we can to peacefully resist the brutal and violent abuses of power meant to intimidate and terrify our communities.
We must do what we can to peacefully resist the brutal and violent abuses of power meant to intimidate and terrify our communities.
Evanston mayor @danielbiss.bsky.social is launching investigations into reports of immigration agents brutalizing community members.
“They appear to have just started beating people up for no reason.”
“They appear to have just started beating people up for no reason.”
November 6, 2025 at 2:52 PM
There is no room for apathy right now.
We must do what we can to peacefully resist the brutal and violent abuses of power meant to intimidate and terrify our communities.
We must do what we can to peacefully resist the brutal and violent abuses of power meant to intimidate and terrify our communities.
Reposted by Ken Paller
Trump and the federal government continue to brutally violate protestors' rights. But don't take it from me -- hear it straight from Jennifer, an Evanston resident violently detained for hours on Halloween.
Watch the full interview on youtube.com/@bissforcongress
Watch the full interview on youtube.com/@bissforcongress
November 6, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Trump and the federal government continue to brutally violate protestors' rights. But don't take it from me -- hear it straight from Jennifer, an Evanston resident violently detained for hours on Halloween.
Watch the full interview on youtube.com/@bissforcongress
Watch the full interview on youtube.com/@bissforcongress
Reposted by Ken Paller
Today, I went on CNN to inform people of the ways ICE is tormenting our communities with unwarranted violence and I will not let it stand.
Watch the full interview on YouTube ➡️ youtu.be/G_g7VD5mzWs?...
Watch the full interview on YouTube ➡️ youtu.be/G_g7VD5mzWs?...
November 3, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Today, I went on CNN to inform people of the ways ICE is tormenting our communities with unwarranted violence and I will not let it stand.
Watch the full interview on YouTube ➡️ youtu.be/G_g7VD5mzWs?...
Watch the full interview on YouTube ➡️ youtu.be/G_g7VD5mzWs?...
Reposted by Ken Paller
Registration is now! Come one, come all
#CNS2026 Satellite - International Sleep Replay Workshop, Friday, March 6, 2026, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Grand Ballroom
CNS 2026 will be preceded by a one-day satellite event focusing on sleep and memory - the 5th International Sleep Replay Workshop. Learn more: isrw.bio.uci.edu
@cnsnews.bsky.social
CNS 2026 will be preceded by a one-day satellite event focusing on sleep and memory - the 5th International Sleep Replay Workshop. Learn more: isrw.bio.uci.edu
@cnsnews.bsky.social
October 23, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Registration is now! Come one, come all
Reposted by Ken Paller
#CNS2026 Satellite - International Sleep Replay Workshop, Friday, March 6, 2026, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Grand Ballroom
CNS 2026 will be preceded by a one-day satellite event focusing on sleep and memory - the 5th International Sleep Replay Workshop. Learn more: isrw.bio.uci.edu
@cnsnews.bsky.social
CNS 2026 will be preceded by a one-day satellite event focusing on sleep and memory - the 5th International Sleep Replay Workshop. Learn more: isrw.bio.uci.edu
@cnsnews.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
#CNS2026 Satellite - International Sleep Replay Workshop, Friday, March 6, 2026, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Grand Ballroom
CNS 2026 will be preceded by a one-day satellite event focusing on sleep and memory - the 5th International Sleep Replay Workshop. Learn more: isrw.bio.uci.edu
@cnsnews.bsky.social
CNS 2026 will be preceded by a one-day satellite event focusing on sleep and memory - the 5th International Sleep Replay Workshop. Learn more: isrw.bio.uci.edu
@cnsnews.bsky.social
“For the first time” say these authors in 2025 — but what about glowacki et al 2022 www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/06/1...
October 13, 2025 at 1:18 AM
“For the first time” say these authors in 2025 — but what about glowacki et al 2022 www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/06/1...
Reposted by Ken Paller
New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social
Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social
Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Ken Paller
Indiana (and any state) can #DitchDST in coordination with surrounding states. Tell your state legislators to file our pact bill now for this January! savestandardtime.com/legislation/...
DRAFT LEGISLATION TO DITCH DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME | Save Standard Time
Abolish Daylight Saving Time and restore permanent Standard Time.
savestandardtime.com
September 8, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Indiana (and any state) can #DitchDST in coordination with surrounding states. Tell your state legislators to file our pact bill now for this January! savestandardtime.com/legislation/...
New Speculative Article — I'm happy Andrew Budson invited me to write an article with him. We wondered what happens in our minds when we're sleeping? --> Memory, Sleep, Dreams, and Consciousness: A Perspective Based on the Memory Theory of Consciousness www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Memory, Sleep, Dreams, and Consciousness: A Perspective Based on the Memory Theory of Consciousness
Insights into the mysteries of dreaming and waking conscious experience can be gained by considering fundamental concepts in memory research. To support this assertion, we first provide an overview...
www.tandfonline.com
August 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
New Speculative Article — I'm happy Andrew Budson invited me to write an article with him. We wondered what happens in our minds when we're sleeping? --> Memory, Sleep, Dreams, and Consciousness: A Perspective Based on the Memory Theory of Consciousness www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Announcing the return of the ISRW, this time in Vancouver!
For >5 years, the International Sleep Replay Workshops (ISRW) have brought together scientists studying sleep & memory. The next ISRW will be on March 6th in Vancouver (before @cogneuronews.bsky.social). Follow the link for details and to join the mailing list.
isrw.bio.uci.edu
Pls repost! #sleep
isrw.bio.uci.edu
Pls repost! #sleep
August 29, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Announcing the return of the ISRW, this time in Vancouver!
Reposted by Ken Paller
New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated.
[Gift Link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
[Gift Link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
www.nytimes.com
August 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated.
[Gift Link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
[Gift Link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Reposted by Ken Paller
Thanks to Northwestern News for publishing an extended version of my @sufsnewmexico.bsky.social / @scholars.org op-ed! Grateful to have had an opportunity to speak in detail about memorable mentors @jnfrltackett.bsky.social & @cmbrandes.bsky.social 💜
news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025...
news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025...
This is why I’ll never stop fighting for science
Northwestern alum Felicia Tuchman chronicles her path from high school science student to pursuing a Ph.D. — and what she’s learning along the way
news.northwestern.edu
August 21, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Thanks to Northwestern News for publishing an extended version of my @sufsnewmexico.bsky.social / @scholars.org op-ed! Grateful to have had an opportunity to speak in detail about memorable mentors @jnfrltackett.bsky.social & @cmbrandes.bsky.social 💜
news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025...
news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025...
Reposted by Ken Paller
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
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
Reposted by Ken Paller
Interested in how emotions surface in dreams across the night? In this new paper, Jessica Palmieri, @valentinaelce.bsky.social and I report about the “Nightly dynamics of emotional content in dreams.”
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
August 15, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Interested in how emotions surface in dreams across the night? In this new paper, Jessica Palmieri, @valentinaelce.bsky.social and I report about the “Nightly dynamics of emotional content in dreams.”
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Reposted by Ken Paller
Dream start for database that aims to improve our understanding of conscious experience in sleep
Free link to the paper in Nature Communication is rdcu.be/eAwni !
Free link to the paper in Nature Communication is rdcu.be/eAwni !
A dream EEG and mentation database
Nature Communications - The authors present a multicenter database to investigate the neural correlates of dreaming, including physiological, behavioral and experiential data. This database could...
rdcu.be
August 14, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Dream start for database that aims to improve our understanding of conscious experience in sleep
Free link to the paper in Nature Communication is rdcu.be/eAwni !
Free link to the paper in Nature Communication is rdcu.be/eAwni !
After you fall asleep in the sleep lab, we can decide what you dream about — as Karen Konkoly showed in her PhD work and just published in this new paper:
“Investigating dreams by strategically presenting sounds during REM sleep to reactivate waking experiences”
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lWFU6TBG5...
“Investigating dreams by strategically presenting sounds during REM sleep to reactivate waking experiences”
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lWFU6TBG5...
August 6, 2025 at 3:49 AM
After you fall asleep in the sleep lab, we can decide what you dream about — as Karen Konkoly showed in her PhD work and just published in this new paper:
“Investigating dreams by strategically presenting sounds during REM sleep to reactivate waking experiences”
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lWFU6TBG5...
“Investigating dreams by strategically presenting sounds during REM sleep to reactivate waking experiences”
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lWFU6TBG5...
What would you like to dream about? Here's a suggestion. Our new paper, co-first-authored by PhD students Daniel Morris and Blaise Elliott, describes a way to provoke lucid dreams about revisiting a profound Virtual-Reality experience - academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...
August 6, 2025 at 3:41 AM
What would you like to dream about? Here's a suggestion. Our new paper, co-first-authored by PhD students Daniel Morris and Blaise Elliott, describes a way to provoke lucid dreams about revisiting a profound Virtual-Reality experience - academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...
Reposted by Ken Paller
“Acquiescence to the administration’s tactics would make Northwestern complicit in an assault on institutions of higher education, which are an essential bulwark of civil society,”
www.wbez.org/education/20...
www.wbez.org/education/20...
Northwestern University professors urge campus leaders not to make deal with Trump
The university has had $800 million in federal funding frozen over accusations that fostered antisemitism. Northwestern faculty are worried the university will follow others and try to make a deal wit...
www.wbez.org
August 1, 2025 at 11:17 PM
“Acquiescence to the administration’s tactics would make Northwestern complicit in an assault on institutions of higher education, which are an essential bulwark of civil society,”
www.wbez.org/education/20...
www.wbez.org/education/20...
Reposted by Ken Paller
Important read on how the attacks on science are going to destroy a generation of scientists and a generation of opportunities to advance science.
@standupforscience.bsky.social
@standupforscience.bsky.social
"Science is not just something I do; it’s a core facet of who I am. If science is taken from me, an important piece of me will be gone."- @feliciatuchman.bsky.social
@sciforgood.bsky.social
Bravo, friend! So well done. We can't just switch off what inspires us, especially when it is under attack.
@sciforgood.bsky.social
Bravo, friend! So well done. We can't just switch off what inspires us, especially when it is under attack.
OPINION: Moments are being taken away from the next generation of scientists
I’m 17 years old. In AP Psychology, our final project is to design an experiment, collect data, and write up the results. My teacher suggests that our group, fascinated by
www.abqjournal.com
July 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Important read on how the attacks on science are going to destroy a generation of scientists and a generation of opportunities to advance science.
@standupforscience.bsky.social
@standupforscience.bsky.social
A very important message for people to see! Way to go @feliciatuchman.bsky.social
I wrote an op-ed for the Albuquerque Journal about moments that shaped my journey as a young scientist and are being taken away from the next generation of scientists. Because, as any passionate scientist knows, funding is not all that is at stake. www.abqjournal.com/opinion/arti...
OPINION: Moments are being taken away from the next generation of scientists
I’m 17 years old. In AP Psychology, our final project is to design an experiment, collect data, and write up the results. My teacher suggests that our group, fascinated by
www.abqjournal.com
July 21, 2025 at 4:42 PM
A very important message for people to see! Way to go @feliciatuchman.bsky.social
Reposted by Ken Paller
Interested in consciousness? The Landscape of Consciousness website has you covered. It has everything from science to not science.
loc.closertotruth.com
#neuroscience
loc.closertotruth.com
#neuroscience
Explore consciousness theories and implications
A global hub for theories of consciousness—authenticated by leading theorists, designed for professional consciousness communities, and open to all
loc.closertotruth.com
July 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Interested in consciousness? The Landscape of Consciousness website has you covered. It has everything from science to not science.
loc.closertotruth.com
#neuroscience
loc.closertotruth.com
#neuroscience
Reposted by Ken Paller
Collection of websites I've seen highlighting the impact of federally funded research at various institutions
First is Chicago's very own Northwestern University, which ended FY2024 with $>1 billion in research funding
Northwestern University: Research Impact
www.northwestern.edu/research-nu/...
First is Chicago's very own Northwestern University, which ended FY2024 with $>1 billion in research funding
Northwestern University: Research Impact
www.northwestern.edu/research-nu/...
Research Impact : Northwestern University
www.northwestern.edu
May 2, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Collection of websites I've seen highlighting the impact of federally funded research at various institutions
First is Chicago's very own Northwestern University, which ended FY2024 with $>1 billion in research funding
Northwestern University: Research Impact
www.northwestern.edu/research-nu/...
First is Chicago's very own Northwestern University, which ended FY2024 with $>1 billion in research funding
Northwestern University: Research Impact
www.northwestern.edu/research-nu/...
Mayor of Evanston
The Republicans just passed tax breaks for billionaires, and to pay for it, they’re cutting Medicaid and SNAP benefits and Planned Parenthood and clean energy programs and so much more.
It is an unprecedented betrayal of the American people.
It is an unprecedented betrayal of the American people.
July 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Mayor of Evanston