Ben Alderson-Day
@aldersonday.bsky.social
Psychology prof at Durham + interdisciplinary stuff (usually psychosis, inner speech, a bit of neurodiversity). Author of "Presence: The Strange Science of the Unseen Other" (MUP).
Chair of @theichr.bsky.social
Chair of @theichr.bsky.social
Pinned
Welcome to Whitehaven. Absolutely no avian dancing allowed.
MORNING
New from the band formerly known as Hearing the Voice...a short paper about felt presence and early psychosis.
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis - Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis
www.nature.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:05 AM
MORNING
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Forthcoming Workshop on Varieties of Communication and Self-talk at the Department of Humanities @upf.edu, co-organised with @victormverdejo.bsky.social.
Everybody welcome!
Everybody welcome!
November 27, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Forthcoming Workshop on Varieties of Communication and Self-talk at the Department of Humanities @upf.edu, co-organised with @victormverdejo.bsky.social.
Everybody welcome!
Everybody welcome!
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Abstract deadline tomorrow if anyone is interested in joining us in Exeter in February to talk all things Social AI!
✨CFA✨
I’m hosting a workshop on Social AI at the Uni of Exeter, generously funded by the Society of Applied Philosophy (10&11 Feb). If you fancy joining us to present your work, please submit an abstract!
Confirmed speakers: Rob Clowes, Pii Telakivi, Joel Krueger, Tom Roberts, & me. #philsky
I’m hosting a workshop on Social AI at the Uni of Exeter, generously funded by the Society of Applied Philosophy (10&11 Feb). If you fancy joining us to present your work, please submit an abstract!
Confirmed speakers: Rob Clowes, Pii Telakivi, Joel Krueger, Tom Roberts, & me. #philsky
November 27, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Abstract deadline tomorrow if anyone is interested in joining us in Exeter in February to talk all things Social AI!
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
New preprint alert!
Cognitive maps are flexible, dynamic, (re)constructed representations
#psychscisky #neuroskyence #cognition #philsky 🧪
Cognitive maps are flexible, dynamic, (re)constructed representations
#psychscisky #neuroskyence #cognition #philsky 🧪
OSF
osf.io
November 26, 2025 at 6:11 PM
New preprint alert!
Cognitive maps are flexible, dynamic, (re)constructed representations
#psychscisky #neuroskyence #cognition #philsky 🧪
Cognitive maps are flexible, dynamic, (re)constructed representations
#psychscisky #neuroskyence #cognition #philsky 🧪
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
This has been a long time in the making, starting four years ago with an interdisciplinary project at Durham University at the Institute of Advanced Study. Massive thanks to all my collaborators on this. It has been a team effort.
November 26, 2025 at 6:18 PM
This has been a long time in the making, starting four years ago with an interdisciplinary project at Durham University at the Institute of Advanced Study. Massive thanks to all my collaborators on this. It has been a team effort.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
I only wish Simon James, one of our collaborators, was still here to see this out in the real world. I know how enthusiastic he'd have been to see this, as it was his genuine passion for interdisciplinary research that kept us going throughout.
November 26, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I only wish Simon James, one of our collaborators, was still here to see this out in the real world. I know how enthusiastic he'd have been to see this, as it was his genuine passion for interdisciplinary research that kept us going throughout.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Cognitive and affective neuroscientists, are you ready? @ESCAN Rome 2026 is live! 🎉 escan2026.eu
Our Rome hosts @AgliotiLab and the ESCAN board have put together an inclusive event of groundbreaking, rigorous science, and fun, set in the stunning Eternal City.
✨ Submissions open December 1st!
Our Rome hosts @AgliotiLab and the ESCAN board have put together an inclusive event of groundbreaking, rigorous science, and fun, set in the stunning Eternal City.
✨ Submissions open December 1st!
Home - ESCAN 2026
ESCAN 2026 is the 9th ESCAN Conference, the biennial meeting of the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
escan2026.eu
November 26, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Cognitive and affective neuroscientists, are you ready? @ESCAN Rome 2026 is live! 🎉 escan2026.eu
Our Rome hosts @AgliotiLab and the ESCAN board have put together an inclusive event of groundbreaking, rigorous science, and fun, set in the stunning Eternal City.
✨ Submissions open December 1st!
Our Rome hosts @AgliotiLab and the ESCAN board have put together an inclusive event of groundbreaking, rigorous science, and fun, set in the stunning Eternal City.
✨ Submissions open December 1st!
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
It has been so so fun to think with some of my favorite scientists about what it means to understand!
What does it mean to understand language? We argue that the brain’s core language system is limited, and that *deeply* understanding language requires EXPORTING info to other brain regions.
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
What does it mean to understand language?
Language understanding entails not just extracting the surface-level meaning of the linguistic input, but constructing rich mental models of the situation it describes. Here we propose that because pr...
arxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
It has been so so fun to think with some of my favorite scientists about what it means to understand!
New from the band formerly known as Hearing the Voice...a short paper about felt presence and early psychosis.
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis - Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:43 PM
New from the band formerly known as Hearing the Voice...a short paper about felt presence and early psychosis.
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Absolutely delighted to have won the FPA Media Award for Print & Web Story of the Year 2025. It’s for a piece I wrote for the FT Magazine on how Israeli is turning its dead soldiers into fathers. Read it free with this link
on.ft.com/486WawY
on.ft.com/486WawY
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Absolutely delighted to have won the FPA Media Award for Print & Web Story of the Year 2025. It’s for a piece I wrote for the FT Magazine on how Israeli is turning its dead soldiers into fathers. Read it free with this link
on.ft.com/486WawY
on.ft.com/486WawY
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
LAST CALL: Fourteenth Annual Essay Prize at the Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp
Topic: The philosophical implications of aphantasia/hyperphantasia
Length: 3000 words.
Deadline: December 1, 2025.
Prize money: 3,000 Euros.
Topic: The philosophical implications of aphantasia/hyperphantasia
Length: 3000 words.
Deadline: December 1, 2025.
Prize money: 3,000 Euros.
November 25, 2025 at 9:24 AM
LAST CALL: Fourteenth Annual Essay Prize at the Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp
Topic: The philosophical implications of aphantasia/hyperphantasia
Length: 3000 words.
Deadline: December 1, 2025.
Prize money: 3,000 Euros.
Topic: The philosophical implications of aphantasia/hyperphantasia
Length: 3000 words.
Deadline: December 1, 2025.
Prize money: 3,000 Euros.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Qualities of felt presence are described
November 13, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Qualities of felt presence are described
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
📆 🔊 ❗ Another date for your calendars
⭐ 16th January 2026 - 4h workshop ⭐
"Engaging meaning-making in delusions: the phenomenological toolbox"
Presented by myself & Dr. Elizabeth Pienkos
med.stanford.edu/inspire-trai...
⭐ 16th January 2026 - 4h workshop ⭐
"Engaging meaning-making in delusions: the phenomenological toolbox"
Presented by myself & Dr. Elizabeth Pienkos
med.stanford.edu/inspire-trai...
Master Clinician Series
med.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
📆 🔊 ❗ Another date for your calendars
⭐ 16th January 2026 - 4h workshop ⭐
"Engaging meaning-making in delusions: the phenomenological toolbox"
Presented by myself & Dr. Elizabeth Pienkos
med.stanford.edu/inspire-trai...
⭐ 16th January 2026 - 4h workshop ⭐
"Engaging meaning-making in delusions: the phenomenological toolbox"
Presented by myself & Dr. Elizabeth Pienkos
med.stanford.edu/inspire-trai...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)
November 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM
** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Check out our mixed methods experimental study examining a novel third wave virtual reality treatment for youth depression & anxiety. Lots of exciting developments for this therapy recently including a refined application & a hybrid trial in services. Watch this space. mental.jmir.org/2025/1/e70160
A Virtual Reality–Based Cognitive Defusion Application for Youth Depression and Anxiety: Mixed Methods Experimental Study
Background: Third-wave psychological treatments such as acceptance and commitment therapy can be effective for improving depression and anxiety in youth. However, third-wave therapeutic techniques suc...
mental.jmir.org
November 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Check out our mixed methods experimental study examining a novel third wave virtual reality treatment for youth depression & anxiety. Lots of exciting developments for this therapy recently including a refined application & a hybrid trial in services. Watch this space. mental.jmir.org/2025/1/e70160
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
📆 ‼️ Workshop announcement ‼️ 14th Jan 2026
⭐ Metaphorical Framings of Emotions in Mental Health ⭐
Organised by myself with Prof. Jeannette Littlemore
Please see here for the full schedule and to sign up (in-person places are limited):
lnkd.in/dZ57MKwt
⭐ Metaphorical Framings of Emotions in Mental Health ⭐
Organised by myself with Prof. Jeannette Littlemore
Please see here for the full schedule and to sign up (in-person places are limited):
lnkd.in/dZ57MKwt
November 22, 2025 at 6:18 PM
📆 ‼️ Workshop announcement ‼️ 14th Jan 2026
⭐ Metaphorical Framings of Emotions in Mental Health ⭐
Organised by myself with Prof. Jeannette Littlemore
Please see here for the full schedule and to sign up (in-person places are limited):
lnkd.in/dZ57MKwt
⭐ Metaphorical Framings of Emotions in Mental Health ⭐
Organised by myself with Prof. Jeannette Littlemore
Please see here for the full schedule and to sign up (in-person places are limited):
lnkd.in/dZ57MKwt
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
a new paper on mind, computation, and identity in large language models. with inspiration from raymond carver (title) and severance (thought experiments).
i'll be talking about this on saturday at the eleos AI conference on AI consciousness and welfare in berkeley.
philpapers.org/rec/CHAWWT-8
i'll be talking about this on saturday at the eleos AI conference on AI consciousness and welfare in berkeley.
philpapers.org/rec/CHAWWT-8
David J. Chalmers, What we talk to when we talk to language models - PhilPapers
When we talk to large language models, who or what is our interlocutor? First, I address some issues about how best to characterize the interlocutor in terms of mental states. Second, ...
philpapers.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:41 PM
a new paper on mind, computation, and identity in large language models. with inspiration from raymond carver (title) and severance (thought experiments).
i'll be talking about this on saturday at the eleos AI conference on AI consciousness and welfare in berkeley.
philpapers.org/rec/CHAWWT-8
i'll be talking about this on saturday at the eleos AI conference on AI consciousness and welfare in berkeley.
philpapers.org/rec/CHAWWT-8
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Ella Striem-Amit (@striemamit.bsky.social) at Georgetown University is looking for a postdoc interested in brain plasticity and behavior in people born with blindness, deafness, or without hands, using behavioral paradigms, computational methods, and fMRI. Details at: apply.interfolio.com/177838 🧠🧪
November 20, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Ella Striem-Amit (@striemamit.bsky.social) at Georgetown University is looking for a postdoc interested in brain plasticity and behavior in people born with blindness, deafness, or without hands, using behavioral paradigms, computational methods, and fMRI. Details at: apply.interfolio.com/177838 🧠🧪
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Some lovely news. Somewhere Bobby and Robert are celebrating!
Congratulations to everyone shortlisted and thank you to the judges and Nero and to @canongate.co.uk and my agent Clare Conville and to every bookseller, librarian and reader for giving my story space.
Congratulations to everyone shortlisted and thank you to the judges and Nero and to @canongate.co.uk and my agent Clare Conville and to every bookseller, librarian and reader for giving my story space.
November 20, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Some lovely news. Somewhere Bobby and Robert are celebrating!
Congratulations to everyone shortlisted and thank you to the judges and Nero and to @canongate.co.uk and my agent Clare Conville and to every bookseller, librarian and reader for giving my story space.
Congratulations to everyone shortlisted and thank you to the judges and Nero and to @canongate.co.uk and my agent Clare Conville and to every bookseller, librarian and reader for giving my story space.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Delighted to share the news that Damian Barr @damianbarr.bsky.social's THE TWO ROBERTS has been shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards in the fiction category, congratulations Damian!
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
November 20, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Delighted to share the news that Damian Barr @damianbarr.bsky.social's THE TWO ROBERTS has been shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards in the fiction category, congratulations Damian!
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
I will not fight with people on Threads about Makaton. I will not fight with people on Threads about Makaton. I will not thebaffler.com/outbursts/si...
Signed Away | Sara Nović
The hearing world continues to pillage and caricature the deaf community—most recently with the proprietary, sign-based system Makaton.
thebaffler.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:03 AM
I will not fight with people on Threads about Makaton. I will not fight with people on Threads about Makaton. I will not thebaffler.com/outbursts/si...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Interested in doing a PhD on how #psychedelics (or other psychoactive substances) impact psychological or social processes @durhampsych.bsky.social ?
Have a look at the NINE DTP scheme, now open. DM me if interested.
Have a look at the NINE DTP scheme, now open. DM me if interested.
November 19, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Interested in doing a PhD on how #psychedelics (or other psychoactive substances) impact psychological or social processes @durhampsych.bsky.social ?
Have a look at the NINE DTP scheme, now open. DM me if interested.
Have a look at the NINE DTP scheme, now open. DM me if interested.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
🧠🔊 New preprint!
How does the brain organise natural sound categories?
In our new fMRI study, we show that auditory cortex arranges sounds along continuous functional gradients, where acoustic and semantic structure are integrated into a shared representational space.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
How does the brain organise natural sound categories?
In our new fMRI study, we show that auditory cortex arranges sounds along continuous functional gradients, where acoustic and semantic structure are integrated into a shared representational space.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Auditory Cortical Gradients Integrate Bottom-Up and Top-Down Structure During Natural Sound Categorisation
Understanding how the brain organises natural categories is a central challenge in neuroscience. While prior work has shown that categories can be decoded from distributed activity patterns in auditor...
doi.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:29 AM
🧠🔊 New preprint!
How does the brain organise natural sound categories?
In our new fMRI study, we show that auditory cortex arranges sounds along continuous functional gradients, where acoustic and semantic structure are integrated into a shared representational space.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
How does the brain organise natural sound categories?
In our new fMRI study, we show that auditory cortex arranges sounds along continuous functional gradients, where acoustic and semantic structure are integrated into a shared representational space.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...