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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · 19h

(please repost) If you're looking for a #neuroscience PhD program - and interested in human brain plasticity and reorganization (neuroimaging in people born with blindness, deafness or without hands), my lab is accepting students this cycle. Email me!

Home Page - Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

The Georgetown Difference We are invested in providing a transformative experience through holistic training, accessible resources, and personalized career strategies to help you reach your aspiration...

neuroscience.georgetown.edu

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

The vOICe vision BCI 🧠🇪🇺 @seeingwithsound.bsky.social · 2d

Long-term outcomes and patient experiences with the Argus II retinal prosthesis system journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... "Argus II provided potential benefits but also presented significant challenges related to device performance, cognitive demands, and long-term support"; retinal implant

Long-Term Outcomes and Patient Experiences With the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System - Jonathan D. Shirian, Alex Yuan, Aleksandra Rachitskaya, 2025

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term outcomes and experiences of patients with the Argus II retinal prosthesis in individuals with advanced-stage retinitis pigmen...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Karen Emmorey @kemmorey.bsky.social · 2d

Skilled deaf readers exhibit BILATERAL hierarchical tuning in the visual word form system, unlike matched hearing readers. We suggest a shift from bilateral to left-lateralized processing is not necessary for successful reading. New paper led by Laurie Glezer. direct.mit.edu/nol/article/...

Bilateral Word Selectivity Gradients in the Visual Word Form System in Skilled Deaf Readers

Abstract. In hearing people visual word recognition relies on a hierarchical organization in left ventral occipitotemporal (vOT) cortex. While right hemisphere recruitment has been implicated in poor ...

direct.mit.edu

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Michael Beyeler @mbeyeler.bsky.social · 12d

👁️🧠 New preprint: We demonstrate the first data-driven neural control framework for a visual cortical implant in a blind human!

TL;DR Deep learning lets us synthesize efficient stimulation patterns that reliably evoke percepts, outperforming conventional calibration.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Diagram showing three ways to control brain activity with a visual prosthesis. The goal is to match a desired pattern of brain responses. One method uses a simple one-to-one mapping, another uses an inverse neural network, and a third uses gradient optimization. Each method produces a stimulation pattern, which is tested in both computer simulations and in the brain of a blind participant with an implant. The figure shows that the neural network and gradient methods reproduce the target brain activity more accurately than the simple mapping.

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Jason Williams @jasonwilliamsny.bsky.social · 13d

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · 29d

Looking forward to #SNL2025!

SNL Annual Meeting @snlmtg.bsky.social · Aug 4

Be sure to catch the #SNL2025 Panel Session: Neuroplasticity in Action – Diversity in Language and Reading. Join us on Friday, September 12, 2025, in Great Hall 1, Elstad Auditorium.

More details available at: 2025.neurolang.org/panel-session/

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Ingrid Johnsrude @ingridjohnsrude.bsky.social · Aug 28

Tenure-track job in audiology at Western's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, in beautiful Ontario, Canada -- work with a great team, benefit from all the resources that a large research-intensive uni can supply -- and enjoy amazing quality of life!

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Hunter Schone @hunterschone.bsky.social · Aug 21

Now out in @natneuro.nature.com

What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?

Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation

www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7

🧵1/18

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Matthias Nau @matthiasnau.bsky.social · Aug 25

Excited to share our new paper w/ @cibaker.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com linking active vision & memory!

We provide evidence that gaze reinstatement & neural reactivation are deeply related phenomena that jointly reflect the experiences constructed during recall. doi.org/10.1038/s414...
🧵1/9

Neural and behavioral reinstatement jointly reflect retrieval of narrative events - Nature Communications

When people recall a movie, their eye movements and brain activity resemble those observed during the viewing. These behavioral and neural reactivations are linked through a common process, likely ref...

doi.org

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Vishal Rawji @vishrawji.bsky.social · Jul 18

Preprint out -- using intramuscular microelectrode arrays to detect residual motoneuron activity in tetraplegic spinal cord injury, and then using that activity for control
Credit to my other co-first authors Agnese Grison and Ciara Gibbs
1/n
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Multidimensional motoneuron control using intramuscular microelectrode arrays in tetraplegic spinal cord injury

Loss of hand function after spinal cord injury (SCI) significantly impairs independence and quality of life. Although residual muscle activity recorded on the skin can provide intuitive control signal...

www.medrxiv.org

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 20

Super thankful to all our collaborators on this project, and to the help of our amazing participants.

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 20

Our daily conscious control of movement is naturally at this higher level - of coding for action types and goals.

So, more broadly, these findings suggest using a read-out of these higher-level motor areas for brain-machine interfaces and prostheses.

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 20

Last, our data shows that these functional roles (differing for primary and association motor areas) drive the brain’s ability to reorganize in people born without hands.

In other words: brain reorganization/plasticity is driven and is limited by the brain’s typical organization.

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 20

Our results also support a hierarchical organization of the motor system – with primary motor regions organized by body part, and association regions generalizing across them to support specific actions.

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 20

We showed that the tool-use network is recruited regardless of which body part (effector) uses the tool - a hand or foot, and even in people born without hands.

This shows that motor association areas code for the action we perform, not how we perform it.

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 20

Excited to share our (Flo Martinez Addiego @yuqiliu1179.bsky.social @culhamari-lab.bsky.social) paper, now published in PNAS!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
(or an easier read on medicine.georgetown.edu/news-release... )

Action-type mapping principles extend beyond evolutionarily conserved actions, even in people born without hands | PNAS

How are actions represented in the motor system? Although the sensorimotor system is broadly organized somatotopically, higher-level sensorimotor a...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Eitan Schechtman @eitans.bsky.social · Aug 19

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

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · Aug 19

Here's the schedule for the MIT Consciousness Club this year: sites.google.com/view/mit-con.... I'm looking forward to it! (Rooms will be announced soon; and we're currently working on a zoom option for those who would like to join online)

MIT Consciousness Club

The MIT Consciousness Club aims to foster interdisciplinary research on consciousness at MIT and in the broader Boston area by organizing a monthly event featuring an expert talk on consciousness foll...

sites.google.com

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Russell Epstein @russellepstein.bsky.social · Aug 19

Our new paper, “A neural compass in the human brain during naturalistic human navigation” is out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! First-author @zhenganglu.bsky.social led the charge, with Josh Julian and collaborator @gkaguirre.com.

www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Kristina Visscher @visscherlab.bsky.social · Aug 18

This one is me!

UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center @uabneuro.bsky.social · Aug 18

For our next Brain Chats, Dr. Kristina Visscher from UAB’s Dept of Neurobiology will bring the highly anticipated presentation “You CAN teach an old dog new tricks! Plasticity and the aging brain”. 🧠 Make plans to join us at Avondale Library on September 6th at 11AM! 😀
@visscherlab.bsky.social

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Lorna Quandt @lornaquandt.bsky.social · Aug 18

The SNL 2025 Access Award will waive registration fees for up to 20 students, trainees, and faculty who face barriers to attending the Society for Neurobiology of Language conference.

Apply by Aug 27; winners named Aug 28.

Pls share!

🔗 tinyurl.com/SNLAcessAward

#SNL2025 #NeurobiologyofLanguage

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Emily Kubota @emilykubota.bsky.social · Mar 17

The latest paper from my PhD is now out in Nature Human Behavior! rdcu.be/edRwQ

White matter connections of human ventral temporal cortex are organized by cytoarchitecture, eccentricity and category-selectivity from birth

Nature Human Behaviour - Kubota et al. find that white matter connections of ventral temporal cortex are innately organized by cytoarchitecture, category and eccentricity from birth, and also...

rdcu.be

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Ella Striem-Amit @striemamit.bsky.social · Aug 7

So much fun talking to classes about science - I highly recommend it!

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Aug 7

Scientists!

@skypeascientist.bsky.social matches scientists with classrooms, libraries, & more for virtual Q&As! It's easy and fun!

We are looking for 750 more volunteers by 8/15

If you're down to chat with 1-5 classrooms this semester, sign up here
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

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Reposted by Ella Striem-Amit

Olivier Collignon @olicolli.bsky.social · Aug 5

Happy our commentary of the paper of @gvallortigara.bsky.social et al. as Editor's Choice in CerCo. We agree that the number sense (NS) is indeed likely innate but not grounded in vision because the NS is supramodal and develops in congenitally blind people.

academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...

The number sense: likely innate, surely not visual. A commentary on “Is there an innate sense of number in the brain?”

Abstract. Lorenzi et al. (2025) convincingly support the idea of an innate number sense. However, in their paper, and in most of the commentaries it trigge

academic.oup.com

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