Tom Possidente (He/Him)
@tom-poss.bsky.social
3rd Year Doctoral Candidate at Boston University
Brain, Behavior, & Cognition | Somers Lab
memory, perception, fMRI, computational neuroscience
B.A. Vassar College - Cognitive Science
M.A. BU - Psych. and Brain Sciences
Brain, Behavior, & Cognition | Somers Lab
memory, perception, fMRI, computational neuroscience
B.A. Vassar College - Cognitive Science
M.A. BU - Psych. and Brain Sciences
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
There's been much talk about the "Just a Job" piece in Nature Human Behavior — absent an ability of many to read it. The author is here, @laraffington.bsky.social. In the post below, she shares a link available to all.
December 9, 2025 at 12:58 AM
There's been much talk about the "Just a Job" piece in Nature Human Behavior — absent an ability of many to read it. The author is here, @laraffington.bsky.social. In the post below, she shares a link available to all.
Presenting a poster on the interactions between sensory-biased and supramodal working memory networks the frontal cortex at #SfN this Saturday. Come by and learn about how content-specific and domain-general frontal networks connect up at rest and during WM tasks!
11/15 from 1-5pm session PSTR041
11/15 from 1-5pm session PSTR041
November 13, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Presenting a poster on the interactions between sensory-biased and supramodal working memory networks the frontal cortex at #SfN this Saturday. Come by and learn about how content-specific and domain-general frontal networks connect up at rest and during WM tasks!
11/15 from 1-5pm session PSTR041
11/15 from 1-5pm session PSTR041
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
My lab at Boston University has open positions for a postdoc and PhD students. We study visual perception, attention, and decision making with a focus on temporal dynamics. Check out our recent work here sites.bu.edu/denisonlab/ and email me if you're interested in learning more
November 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
My lab at Boston University has open positions for a postdoc and PhD students. We study visual perception, attention, and decision making with a focus on temporal dynamics. Check out our recent work here sites.bu.edu/denisonlab/ and email me if you're interested in learning more
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Amazing work led by Jingnan! Pooling in task and rest data can give us a lot of discovery potential like discovering hard to find networks in the thalamus (bulk of my postdoc work with Randy). Task data can be used to define networks and activations from left out runs can be investigated. Cool work!
Our new paper is out now in Neuron! 🎉 With @vaibhavtripathi.bsky.social @maxwellelliott.bsky.social Joanna Ladopoulou, Wendy Sun, Mark Eldaief, and Randy Buckner
Paper link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Paper link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 26, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Amazing work led by Jingnan! Pooling in task and rest data can give us a lot of discovery potential like discovering hard to find networks in the thalamus (bulk of my postdoc work with Randy). Task data can be used to define networks and activations from left out runs can be investigated. Cool work!
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
1/11 Very excited to say that our preprint, Precision functional mapping reveals less inter-individual variability in the child vs. adult human brain, is up on biorxiv!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Precision functional mapping reveals less inter-individual variability in the child vs. adult human brain
Human brain organization shares a common underlying structure, though recent studies have shown that features of this organization also differ significantly across individual adults. Understanding the...
www.biorxiv.org
July 28, 2025 at 9:54 PM
1/11 Very excited to say that our preprint, Precision functional mapping reveals less inter-individual variability in the child vs. adult human brain, is up on biorxiv!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
My 1st first (co)author paper is up on BioRxiv!
How does functional connectivity in the human cortex differ during visual and auditory working memory (WM) tasks? Do those changes correlate with behavior? We take a stab at some answers:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
How does functional connectivity in the human cortex differ during visual and auditory working memory (WM) tasks? Do those changes correlate with behavior? We take a stab at some answers:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Dynamic task-based reorganization of sensory-biased and supramodal working memory networks in the human cerebral cortex
Sensory working memory is supported by a distributed set of brain regions. Visual working memory and auditory working memory recruit different networks, which include posterior sensory cortices and mu...
doi.org
July 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
My 1st first (co)author paper is up on BioRxiv!
How does functional connectivity in the human cortex differ during visual and auditory working memory (WM) tasks? Do those changes correlate with behavior? We take a stab at some answers:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
How does functional connectivity in the human cortex differ during visual and auditory working memory (WM) tasks? Do those changes correlate with behavior? We take a stab at some answers:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Finally published:
“Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Looking for ways to better understand different neuroscientific perspectives and enable productive collaborations
“Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Looking for ways to better understand different neuroscientific perspectives and enable productive collaborations
Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
As scientists, we want solid answers, but we also want to answer questions that matter. Yet, the brain’s complexity forces trade-offs between these desiderata, bringing about two distinct research app...
www.nature.com
July 22, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Finally published:
“Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Looking for ways to better understand different neuroscientific perspectives and enable productive collaborations
“Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Looking for ways to better understand different neuroscientific perspectives and enable productive collaborations
Does anyone have a good go-to white matter tract atlas? I would love something analogous to Neurosynth but where you can input coordinates and get out white matter connectivity profiles/papers/etc.
Best I could find quickly so far is: dmri.mgh.harvard.edu/tract-atlas/
@mpascale.psyc.dev
Best I could find quickly so far is: dmri.mgh.harvard.edu/tract-atlas/
@mpascale.psyc.dev
July 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Does anyone have a good go-to white matter tract atlas? I would love something analogous to Neurosynth but where you can input coordinates and get out white matter connectivity profiles/papers/etc.
Best I could find quickly so far is: dmri.mgh.harvard.edu/tract-atlas/
@mpascale.psyc.dev
Best I could find quickly so far is: dmri.mgh.harvard.edu/tract-atlas/
@mpascale.psyc.dev
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Absolutely insane www.science.org/content/arti...
‘It’s a nightmare.’ U.S. funding cuts threaten academic science jobs at all levels
“There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research,” one Ph.D. student says
www.science.org
July 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Absolutely insane www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
🚨 Dataset & Manuscript alert! 🚨 The Transdiagnostic Connectome Project (TCP) manuscript is now available @natureportfolio.nature.com Scientific Data! 🎉
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵1👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵1👇
The Transdiagnostic Connectome Project: an open dataset for studying brain-behavior relationships in psychiatry - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - The Transdiagnostic Connectome Project: an open dataset for studying brain-behavior relationships in psychiatry
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
🚨 Dataset & Manuscript alert! 🚨 The Transdiagnostic Connectome Project (TCP) manuscript is now available @natureportfolio.nature.com Scientific Data! 🎉
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵1👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵1👇
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
"We introduce PECANS (Preferred Evaluation of Cognitive And Neuropsychological Studies)" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40447861/ I love scientific acronyms
May 31, 2025 at 10:16 AM
"We introduce PECANS (Preferred Evaluation of Cognitive And Neuropsychological Studies)" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40447861/ I love scientific acronyms
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
"Institution-led investigations (into academic misconduct) are fundamentally conflicted" - we need independent expert investigations for significant misconduct allegations pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40401705/
May 23, 2025 at 10:20 AM
"Institution-led investigations (into academic misconduct) are fundamentally conflicted" - we need independent expert investigations for significant misconduct allegations pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40401705/
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
I just learned that there's a national graduate student crisis line - gradresources.org. Might be worth spreading the word as I'm pretty sure exactly *checks notes* zero grad students are doing well emotionally right now.
Grad Resources
Encouraging and equipping graduate students for impact.
gradresources.org
April 3, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I just learned that there's a national graduate student crisis line - gradresources.org. Might be worth spreading the word as I'm pretty sure exactly *checks notes* zero grad students are doing well emotionally right now.
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Excited to share this new preprint from the lab introducing a highly general spatiotemporal normalization modeling framework that handles continuous dynamic visual input. Beautiful work by Angus Chapman @afchapman.bsky.social Science continues!!
recently posted a new preprint (the first of my postdoc 🎉) where we implemented normalization across space *and* time, allowing us to capture several neural and behavioral findings! I'll be presenting this work at VSS in a couple of months too for those attending
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A dynamic spatiotemporal normalization model for continuous vision
Perception and neural activity are profoundly shaped by the spatial and temporal context of sensory input, which has been modeled by divisive normalization over space or time. However, theoretical wor...
www.biorxiv.org
April 1, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Excited to share this new preprint from the lab introducing a highly general spatiotemporal normalization modeling framework that handles continuous dynamic visual input. Beautiful work by Angus Chapman @afchapman.bsky.social Science continues!!
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Excited to share our paper on the Connectome based predictive modeling in individuals with Autosomal Dominant AD with amazing collaborators @ytquiroz.bsky.social, David Somers, @joshfoxfuller.bsky.social and team!
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Connectome‐based predictive modeling of brain pathology and cognition in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease
INTRODUCTION Autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD) through genetic mutations can result in near complete expression of the disease. Tracking AD pathology development in an ADAD cohort of Pre...
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 20, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Excited to share our paper on the Connectome based predictive modeling in individuals with Autosomal Dominant AD with amazing collaborators @ytquiroz.bsky.social, David Somers, @joshfoxfuller.bsky.social and team!
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Are short-term memories just noisier versions of what we perceive? Are they fundamentally different? We (Chaipat Chunharas, @mjwolff.bsky.social, @meikehettwer.bsky.social and myself) delved into this in a paper out now in #elife: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre.... For a quick summary, a 🧵 below:
a black and white image of the inside of a human brain
ALT: a black and white image of the inside of a human brain
media.tenor.com
March 17, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Are short-term memories just noisier versions of what we perceive? Are they fundamentally different? We (Chaipat Chunharas, @mjwolff.bsky.social, @meikehettwer.bsky.social and myself) delved into this in a paper out now in #elife: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre.... For a quick summary, a 🧵 below:
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
If, like me, you (a) oppose research funding cuts to US institutions and (b) are Jewish, please consider signing this open letter: forms.gle/prnRbq69a6YN...
March 11, 2025 at 2:35 AM
If, like me, you (a) oppose research funding cuts to US institutions and (b) are Jewish, please consider signing this open letter: forms.gle/prnRbq69a6YN...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
If you are a neuroscientist, please use SFN's site to write to your reps about the importance of funding for science (they have letters ready to go, you can just use theirs or write/edit as you see fit): www.sfn.org/advocacy/adv...
Available Actions
www.sfn.org
February 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM
If you are a neuroscientist, please use SFN's site to write to your reps about the importance of funding for science (they have letters ready to go, you can just use theirs or write/edit as you see fit): www.sfn.org/advocacy/adv...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
👉 "We ... consider two requirements of group-to-individual generalizability ... and suggest that most processes in cognitive neuroscience do not meet these assumptions. Consequently, interindividual findings are inappropriate for intraindividual inferences"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Group-to-individual generalizability and individual-level inferences in cognitive neuroscience
Much of cognitive neuroscience research is focused on group-averages and interindividual brain-behavior associations. However, many theories core to t…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 3, 2025 at 10:43 PM
👉 "We ... consider two requirements of group-to-individual generalizability ... and suggest that most processes in cognitive neuroscience do not meet these assumptions. Consequently, interindividual findings are inappropriate for intraindividual inferences"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
"Don’t hide the good stuff: Scientific advancement in task-based fMRI is slowed by not showing event-related BOLD (erBOLD) changes alongside anatomical patterns" (new[ish] on @jocnforum.bsky.social ] doi.org/10.21428/8e6...
doi.org
February 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
"Don’t hide the good stuff: Scientific advancement in task-based fMRI is slowed by not showing event-related BOLD (erBOLD) changes alongside anatomical patterns" (new[ish] on @jocnforum.bsky.social ] doi.org/10.21428/8e6...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
Academic workers across the country are organizing to call on our congressional representatives on Thursday, 1/30, at 3pm ET / 12pm PT to demand these restrictions be lifted immediately.
There will be a training over zoom at the beginning of the event.
Join us!
form.jotform.com/250226137228...
There will be a training over zoom at the beginning of the event.
Join us!
form.jotform.com/250226137228...
Join researchers across the country in fighting restrictions on the NIH
Please click the link to complete this form.
form.jotform.com
January 28, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Academic workers across the country are organizing to call on our congressional representatives on Thursday, 1/30, at 3pm ET / 12pm PT to demand these restrictions be lifted immediately.
There will be a training over zoom at the beginning of the event.
Join us!
form.jotform.com/250226137228...
There will be a training over zoom at the beginning of the event.
Join us!
form.jotform.com/250226137228...
Reposted by Tom Possidente (He/Him)
So glad this review paper on the possible use of Default Mode Network functional connectivity as a transdiagnostic biomarker was published in Biological Psychiatry: CNNI.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Default mode network functional connectivity as a transdiagnostic biomarker of cognitive function
The default mode network (DMN) is intricately linked with processes such as self-referential thinking, episodic memory recall, goal-directed cognition…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 12, 2025 at 11:03 PM
So glad this review paper on the possible use of Default Mode Network functional connectivity as a transdiagnostic biomarker was published in Biological Psychiatry: CNNI.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...