Wesley J. B. Vaught
@wjbvaught.bsky.social
73 followers 76 following 17 posts
a wannabe physician-neuroscientist (mdphd) with stops in cognition, emotion, neuropsychopharmacology, and critiques of (psychedelic and beyond) science. Views are own.
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wjbvaught.bsky.social
I am hoping to use this platform as a way to connect and journal my thoughts, so that I continue to grow intellectually outside of my research job right now. I plan on posting any papers and books I read alongside how I have engaged with them. Plus, if I drop a paper, y’all will see it first!
wjbvaught.bsky.social
Check out our new paper, “Attention to Alcohol Cues is Related to Alcohol-Related Problems in College Students with Low Distress tolerance.” Attached is the abstract, main figure, the link to the paper and Kudos for a layman summary:

psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/...

link.growkudos.com/1dykz5dg268
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
jasonluoma.bsky.social
Great to see a study come out with null results for psilocybin-assisted therapy. It's not gonna work for everyone, everywhere-these kinds of studies are important in figuring out how and where to deploy it. This is a pretty small sample for an rct with an active control. #psychedelicscience
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
cdelawalla.bsky.social
None of this “I’m too busy”, “science isn’t political”, or “I’m tired”…

We are on the front lines of a descent into fascism. Put the pipette down. It’s go time.
wjbvaught.bsky.social
#standupforscience2025 in Tulsa, OK yesterday. As @awiglesworth.bsky.social said, we (and the folks driving by) learned something.
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
aoc.bsky.social
Medicaid is not for sale.
NASA is not for sale.
The Post Office is not for sale.
America is not for sale.

We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.
wjbvaught.bsky.social
Thinking a lot about these brilliant papers by @neselsd.bsky.social, @brianpace.bsky.social, and Jac Lewis. Feels VERY relevant to the moment and Elon/RFK Jr.’s obsession with psychedelics. Seems they are having a White suprematist typa existentialism and hoping everyone will jump on board!
wjbvaught.bsky.social
Anti-psychiatry is on the rise from all political positions. A great book that I have begun to read, but was introduced to by @drrobertchapman.bsky.social’s book Empire of Normality, is PsychoPolitics by Peter Sedewick from the @plutopress.bsky.social. It is a MUST HAVE critique of anti-psychiatry.
samschuelstein.bsky.social
Why do I #standupforscience2025? Because as a new mom with PPD during peak COVID, SSRIs brought me back from the depths of darkness. Now this administration wants to "reassess" the efficacy/safety of these CRUCIAL medications. Not on my watch! ✊🏼❤️
Before vs. after ⬇️ @standupforscience.bsky.social
Before SSRIs, black and white photo of a mother nursing her baby and looking miserable. After SSRIs, that same mother is standing in front of a vineyard wearing her baby in an onbuhimo and smiling radiantly.
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Just in case anybody has doubts about what "Make America Healthy Again" really means, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. filed a trademark request to use the slogan to market supplements, essential oils & cryptocurrency. Scammity scam-scam scamming scammer. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
RFK Jr. sought to trademark MAHA for vaccine marketing, transferred to ally
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. transferred ownership of the trademark application in December and its abbreviation — MAHA — to an LLC managed by Del Bigtree.
www.washingtonpost.com
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
marisakabas.bsky.social
🚨 BREAKING: OMB has just issued a memo *rescinding* the previous memo freezing all federal financial assistance programs.

Full text, per government source:
January 29, 2025
M-25-14
MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
FROM: Matthew J. Vaeth, Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget Me
SUBJECT: Rescission of M-25-13
OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded. If you have questions about implementing the
President's Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel.
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
naomiaklein.bsky.social
They know the executive order is illegal, it's not designed to survive a challenge.

They are blaring a message designed to get people to censor themselves and throw their colleagues under the bus and fall in line.

2/2
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
naomiaklein.bsky.social
If you have a smidge of power and you catch yourself thinking:

Maybe we'll be safe if we:
- tone this justice program a bit
- take that 'decolonization' reference off the website
- nix that grant for decarbonization...

know that you are playing your part in Trump's game perfectly.

1/2
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
theradr.bsky.social
Your regular reminder that the first known clinic to offer gender-affirming surgeries was … destroyed by Nazis.

In 1933.

(Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.)

They always come for trans people first.
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
emkultra64.com
Do you know why a president would do all the most evil and heinous shit via Executive Order? Because his party can't easily make it law. And if they can't make it law, they can't make it last.

Don't let anyone make you feel like this is The End. Do not let them demoralize you. Live to see them die.
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
aclu.org
ACLU @aclu.org · Jan 28
GOOD NEWS: A federal court temporarily halted President Trump's order to freeze all federal funding, including grants for public health, education, and safety.

Trump's order would have devastating consequences for communities in every corner of the nation. Our leaders must block it for good.
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
itsafronomics.bsky.social
If you are scientists, researcher, or scholar of any kind, it's time to invest HEAVILY in science communication. If the government won't let the people know the facts, we must.

And I already got you covered. #academicsky #science #phd #research
medium.com/educreation/...

bsky.app/profile/roxa...
Reposted by Wesley J. B. Vaught
delaneypeterson.bsky.social
Does loneliness correlate with support for the populist radical right? In the Netherlands, yes-lonelier individuals were more likely to support the PRR across 15 years of data (2008-2023), with effect sizes comparable to health correlates of loneliness. (1/9)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Loneliness is positively associated with populist radical right support
The mental and physical health consequences of loneliness are well documented. However, loneliness's socio-political ramifications have been largely u…
www.sciencedirect.com
wjbvaught.bsky.social
“What Should We Do with Our Brains?” by Catherine Malabou

Short answer: use it!

Long answer: neuroscientists and philosophers who do not engage in each others’ materials are damned to be stuck in the ideas that they aim to transcend - a much needed dialectal (neuro)plasticity
“What Should We Do with Our Brain?” by Catherine Malabou, forward by Marc Jeannerod, translated from the French by Sebastian Rand

A pink lava lamp, a record player to its side, and a bookshelf full of books
wjbvaught.bsky.social
An intra-action baddie, if you will.
wjbvaught.bsky.social
Not sufficiently focused on trauma, but I think Catherine Malabou does a decent job detangling “trauma” from the traditional Freudian perspective toward a more neurobiological/neuroplastic perspective in the New Wounded without getting too technocratic/materialist
The New Wounded: From Neurosis to Brain Damage by Catherine Malabou, translated by Steven Miller