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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Zsuzsa Kaldy @zsuzsakaldy.bsky.social · 2d

Have you ever wondered whether going to school IN AND OF ITSELF improves children’s thinking skills? We found that it does! But not by much (about 1/4 standard deviations). Meta-analysis with Jamie Donenfeld and @erikblaser.bsky.social #DevPsySky #PsySciSky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

School changes minds: A meta-analysis shows that schooling modestly improves children’s executive functions

Formal schooling places new demands on young children, requiring the inhibition of prepotent responses, sustained attention to instructions, and compl…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Samson Nivins @samsonnivins.bsky.social · 5d

About 30–40% of children born preterm (<34 weeks) develop cognitive problems, a rate unchanged for decades. We show these difficulties are related with distinct brain differences by gestational age, interventions should be tailored, not ‘one-size-fits-all’.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Distinct neural mechanisms underlying cognitive difficulties in preterm children born at different stages of prematurity

To examine associations between low cognitive-performance and regional-and network-level brain changes at ages 9–10 in very-preterm, moderately-preter…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Saloni Krishnan @salonikrishnan.bsky.social · 7d

October is an exciting month - it includes Dyslexia Awareness week (#DAW25), ADHD Awareness Month, and DLD Awareness Day - and I thought it was a great time to raise awareness of #neurodiversity - and talk about a new project thats close to my heart..

Card with UK young Academy branding asking neurodivergent people to share their experiences at work

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Antonia Hamilton @antoniahamilton.bsky.social · Jun 23

new preprint - do you use #fnirs to study cognition? do you want to learn how to design better studies? our primer aims to get you started on using #fnirs for real-world #cognitive #neuroscience

osf.io/preprints/ps...

OSF

osf.io

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Maternal Mental Health Alliance @mmhalliance.bsky.social · 18d

Black Maternal Mental Health Week begins today, returning for its 5th year, led by MMHA Member The Motherhood Group.

This week is about more than awareness. We'll be highlighting new research, sharing insights from lived experiences, and discussing how we translate evidence into action.
#BMMHW2025

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Janik Goltermann @janikgoltermann.bsky.social · 23d

🧠Out now @natcomms.nature.com !
Brain changes linked to childhood maltreatment are among the field's most published findings. Yet, we find extensive replication failure of gray matter correlates in three large cohorts (N=3225), consistent across subsamples, models and operationalizations🧵

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Jonathan F. Kominsky @jfkominsky.bsky.social · 23d

Very excited to announce my student Andreas Arslan's first paper, "Causal coherence improves episodic memory of dynamic events" in Cognition!

Out now open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Andreas isn't on bsky, but he very kindly wrote a summary thread for me to share.

🧵 (1/24)

Causal coherence improves episodic memory of dynamic events

“Episodes” in memory are formed by the experience of dynamic events that unfold over time. However, just because a series of events unfold sequentiall…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Andrew Reid @reid-lab.org · 24d

📣 PhD opportunity with my colleague Marieke van der Schaaf, here at @tilburguniversity.bsky.social (in collaboration with @dondersinst.bsky.social).

Analysis of #MRI, #cognitive, and #immunometabolic data in ppl w/ Myalgic encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

More: tinyurl.com/3dhkv5n6

Job opening: PhD student: Investigating Metabolic and Neuropathological interactions (22947)

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

International Congress of Infant Studies @infantstudies.bsky.social · Jul 31

Lazarus et al. (2025): A simple act with a lasting impact: Holding babies skin-to-skin in the NICU helped support their development and reduced differences linked to family income. Early touch can be a powerful way to promote equity from the very start #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

doi.org

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Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar @drswijeakumar.bsky.social · Sep 4

@notts-psych.bsky.social

aimeetheyer.bsky.social @aimeetheyer.bsky.social · Sep 4

My second paper is out now! Interesting work with @drswijeakumar.bsky.social from our NeuroSync dataset looking at brain-behaviour associations during caregiver-infant play interactions. 🧠

Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar @drswijeakumar.bsky.social · Sep 4

We just published a new paper from our NeuroSync dataset in Infancy. Led by @aimeetheyer.bsky.social. We looked at brain function in caregivers and infants during joint and continued attention periods, and links to infant visual short-term/working memory.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

aimeetheyer.bsky.social @aimeetheyer.bsky.social · Sep 4

My second paper is out now! Interesting work with @drswijeakumar.bsky.social from our NeuroSync dataset looking at brain-behaviour associations during caregiver-infant play interactions. 🧠

Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar @drswijeakumar.bsky.social · Sep 4

We just published a new paper from our NeuroSync dataset in Infancy. Led by @aimeetheyer.bsky.social. We looked at brain function in caregivers and infants during joint and continued attention periods, and links to infant visual short-term/working memory.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Brain‐Behavior Associations During Interactions Between Caregivers and Infants

Previous research has shown that infants' abilities to sustain attention are influenced by caregivers' attentional behaviors. Here, we inquired whether brain function in infants was linked to brain f...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar @drswijeakumar.bsky.social · Sep 4

We just published a new paper from our NeuroSync dataset in Infancy. Led by @aimeetheyer.bsky.social. We looked at brain function in caregivers and infants during joint and continued attention periods, and links to infant visual short-term/working memory.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Brain‐Behavior Associations During Interactions Between Caregivers and Infants

Previous research has shown that infants' abilities to sustain attention are influenced by caregivers' attentional behaviors. Here, we inquired whether brain function in infants was linked to brain f...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Mark Haselgrove @markhaselgrove.bsky.social · Aug 29

Learned Predictiveness in Children.

After 3 years of testing children at @notts-psych.bsky.social annual public engagement event "Summer Scientist week", we have finally collated all the data from 161 children between the ages of 4 and 14 who completed a "magical potions task"

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Christopher Madan @engra.me · Aug 29

I've made this pretty poster of my books, so far, for an upcoming event. Maybe one looks relevant to you? :)

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Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar @drswijeakumar.bsky.social · Aug 15

❗️New brief report❗️Using data from our NeuroSync dataset, we showed that life stress moderates the link between caregiver metacognition and infant sustained attention. @ghadasaleem.bsky.social @linecaes.bsky.social @alexhendry.bsky.social

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

Household stress moderates the association between caregiver metacognition and infant sustained attention

Previous work has shown that caregiver executive functions (EFs) are robustly linked to EFs in children. However, existing evidence has used mixed methods approaches combining questionnaires and expe...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Tess Forest @tessforest.bsky.social · Aug 6

Happy to share "The Dynamics of Caregiver Unpredictability Shape Moment-to-Moment Infant Looking During Dyadic Interaction," out now in Child Development thanks to a large team of people I worked on this with! srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...

<em>Child Development</em> | SRCD Journal | Wiley Online Library

Cognitive development is associated with how predictable caregivers are, but the mechanisms driving this are unclear. One possibility is caregiver predictability initially shapes how infants gather i...

srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Fetal, Infant, & Toddler Neuroimaging Group—FIT’NG @fitngin.bsky.social · Jul 17

🔊 Final Call for Late Breaking Abstracts
▶️ Due to the extenuating circumstances of the current uncertainties surrounding travel and funding this year, FIT’NG is offering a final extension for abstract submissions.
🗓️ Submission deadline: July 24
fitng.org/late-breakin...

Late breaking poster abstracts | fitng.org

fitng.org

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · Jul 8

A new paper shows that pediatric deaths in the US are significantly higher than in comparable countries, but what is driving this?

“Premature births, sudden unexpected infant deaths, congenital anomalies for infants; firearms, motor vehicle crashes, substance use, and homicide for ages 1-19”.

Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms

This study aims to determine how US children’s health has been changing from 2007 to 2023 using multiple data collection methods and a comprehensive set of health indicators.

jamanetwork.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · Jul 7

Abstract rule learning promotes cognitive flexibility in complex environments across species
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience

Abstract rule learning promotes cognitive flexibility in complex environments across species - Nature Communications

Whether neurocomputational mechanisms that speed up human learning in changing environments also exist in other species remains unclear. Here, the authors show that both rats and humans sequentially t...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Dr Eve Holden (she/her) @chimpanzeve.bsky.social · Jul 4

Want a summary of our new paper on the impact of delayed ADHD diagnosis in women?

Well I have just the ticket! Perfect for people who don't have an academic background, or those looking for a lighter read :)

otherprimates.wordpress.com/2025/07/04/u...

#ADHD #DelayedDiagnosis #WomensHealth

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Peel Autism Resource 🇨🇦 @peelautismresource.bsky.social · Jul 3

Often autistic kids are put in challenging social situations where it's noisy & there's too many people

They struggle & then are reprimanded for not "behaving"

They shouldn't be punished for an adult's error in judgment

Support them by understanding & accommodating their sensory needs

#autism

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Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar @drswijeakumar.bsky.social · Jul 4

Enjoyed being at #ECP2025. Got some really thoughtful questions at our talks on caregiver-infant interactions, cross-cultural findings in UK and India and computational modelling of caregiver and infant visual cognition.

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Edwin Dalmaijer @dalmaijer.bsky.social · Jul 2

Help me name a thing!

I wrote an in-house #Python package for recording and analysing data from #OpenBCI boards. Primarily electrogastrography, but useful for all human electrophysiology. I’d like to open-source it for a tutorial, but it there are MANY "openbci"-named packages. Suggestions please!

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Reposted by Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar

Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · Jun 28

Abstract rule learning promotes cognitive flexibility in complex environments across species
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience

Abstract rule learning promotes cognitive flexibility in complex environments across species - Nature Communications

Whether neurocomputational mechanisms that speed up human learning in changing environments also exist in other species remains unclear. Here, the authors show that both rats and humans sequentially t...

www.nature.com

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