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Yuhua Yu

@yuhuay.bsky.social

310 followers 150 following 13 posts

Postdoc at U. of Arizona. Creative Cognition, Spontaneous Thoughts, Dynamic Modelling, EEG & fMRI

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Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Feb 14

My latest installment of brain state modeling in creativity is out @ Psychophysiology! We found generating novel metaphors is associated with widespread alpha-band synchronization early on in ideation and, paradoxically, alpha-desynch right before response. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

<em>Psychophysiology</em> | SPR Journal | Wiley Online Library

Verbal creativity in generating novel metaphors is widely recognized, but its electrophysiological basis has not been investigated. By applying brain state analysis to EEG data, we identify oscillato...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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John Kounios @johnkounios.bsky.social · Sep 5

@sciam.bsky.social has a new special edition entitled The Conscious Brain (www.scientificamerican.com/issue/specia...). It contains our feature article "The Brain Science of Elusive 'Aha moments'" from the March 2025 issue which you can read here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

Scientific American Volume 34, Issue 3s

"The Brain Science of Elusive ‘Aha! Moments’", "The Quest to Build a Truly Intelligent Machine Helps Us Learn about Our Own Intelligence", "Lifting the Veil on Near-Death Experiences" and more

www.scientificamerican.com

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Yanliang Shi @shiyanliang.bsky.social · Sep 2

Excited to share our new preprint on the brain-wide organization of intrinsic timescales at single neuron resolution. Work w/ @roxana-zeraati.bsky.social, @intlbrainlab.bsky.social, Anna Levina, @engeltatiana.bsky.social : www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Cody Dong @codydong.bsky.social · Jul 26

My first, first author paper, comparing the properties of memory-augmented large language models and human episodic memory, out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social!

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lV174sIRv...

Here’s a quick 🧵(1/n)

authors.elsevier.com

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chenhaotan.bsky.social @chenhaotan.bsky.social · Jul 2

When you walk into the ER, you could get a doc:
1. Fresh from a week of not working
2. Tired from working too many shifts

@oziadias.bsky.social has been both and thinks that they're different! But can you tell from their notes? Yes we can! Paper @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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John Kounios @johnkounios.bsky.social · Jun 25

"Eureka! The brain science behind lightbulb moments" - Excellent coverage in Nature of research on the neuroscience of Aha moments, including our research on this phenomenon. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Eureka! The brain science behind lightbulb moments

Experiences of insight come with a burst of brain activity — and a memory boost.

www.nature.com

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Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Jun 8

This is cool!

Neuroskeptic @neuroskeptic.bsky.social · Jun 7

On the Robustness and Provenance of the Gambler's Fallacy pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40472199/ If the gambler's fallacy doesn't replicate this time, it will next time.

Reposted by Yuhua Yu

@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · Jun 7

I helped explain to the Chicago Tribune the enourmous and irrational damage the NIH funding freeze is causing at Northwestern. “You’re at risk of losing an entire next generation of scientists" "it’s terrifying; it’s completely senseless." www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/07/w...

Worried Northwestern lab directors describe ‘bleak’ atmosphere in wake of Trump research funding freeze

The Trump administration’s freezing of $790 million in federal research funding for Northwestern University has left concerned lab directors without key grants and forced the university to spend mi…

www.chicagotribune.com

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PsyPost @psypost.bsky.social · May 22

Neuroscientists discover how “aha” moments rewire the brain to enhance memory

A study using brain scans shows that flashes of insight reorganize neural patterns in the visual cortex and engage memory and emotion regions, helping embed the solution more deeply in long-term memory.

www.psypost.org

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Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · May 20

@viclai.bsky.social

PsyPost @psypost.bsky.social · May 19

Brain oscillations reveal dynamic shifts in creative thought during metaphor generation

A new study reveals that creative metaphor generation involves shifting patterns of brain activity, with alpha oscillations playing a key role at different stages of the process, offering fresh insight into the neural dynamics behind verbal creativity.

www.psypost.org

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Simon W Davis @woodforbrains.bsky.social · May 12

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Insight predicts subsequent memory via cortical representational change and hippocampal activity - Nature Communications

Insight, involving representational change, can boost long-term memory. Here, in an fMRI study, the authors show that insight triggers stronger conceptual shifts in solution relevant brain regions and...

www.nature.com

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Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity @tsfnc.bsky.social · May 13

SfNC 2025 is NEXT WEEK in Paris! 🧠

Check our FAQ for full schedule, maps, poster printing info & more: www.tsfnc.org/sfnc2025-faq.

Register by Thursday 5/15 to join our biggest and best meeting yet (and 10th anniversary péniche party)!

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Kathleen Belew @kathleenbelew.bsky.social · Apr 17

Northwestern has a great new website explaining why the federally-funded research we do benefits everybody: www.northwestern.edu/research-nu/...

Research Impact : Northwestern University

www.northwestern.edu

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simoneluchini.bsky.social @simoneluchini.bsky.social · Apr 8

Enhancing creativity through neurofeedback:
Check out our recent paper where we use covert neurofeedback to entrain default-executive coupling during creative thinking!

Xinbing (Jack) Zhang, Jack White, Michael Luehrs, Michal Ramot, & @roger-beaty.bsky.social

t.co/glnpPNmJ6R

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Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Apr 1

Such an honor to be part of this symposium with @neuroperson.bsky.social , Julia Kam, Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva, Matthias Mittner

Kun Dong @kundong.bsky.social · Apr 1

#CNS2025 | Happening now
Talk 4 by Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social
They use a think-aloud paradigm and a hidden-Markov model to investigate the temporal dynamics of spontaneous thoughts to address the challenges of integrating content and dynamics across time✨

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Kun Dong @kundong.bsky.social · Apr 1

#CNS2025 Symposium Session 9 | Happening now
Hosted by Aaron Kucyi kicking-off immerging cool research area in “Decoding spontaneous thought from neural activity.”

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Nature @nature.com · Mar 7

The mood was defiant at many of the rallies, where chants of “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear” and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!” were heard.

https://go.nature.com/3F8T6FX

‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts

Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

go.nature.com

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Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity @tsfnc.bsky.social · Mar 7

Registration is OPEN for SfNC 2025 in Paris on our member site! tsfnc.org/sfnc2025-creativity-changing-brains

Please note the following additions to our program when you register:
📅 May 21 | AI, Creativity & a Changing World symposium
🎉 May 23 | 10th Anniversary Soirée on the Seine (ticketed)

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Todd Woodward @twoodward.bsky.social · Mar 6

8/11 are completed and the last 3 (DMB, Response, Visual), will be completed soon, and compiled into a free book "Cognitive Modes Detectable by fMRI", complete with anatomical doodles, ***and a way to determine function using task-induced BOLD changes for evidence***
jocnf.pubpub.org/pub/wck63qhg...

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

jocnf.pubpub.org

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Hannah Merseal @hannahmerseal.bsky.social · Feb 28

We get a WHOLE EXTRA DAY OF SFNC THIS YEAR

Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity @tsfnc.bsky.social · Feb 28

The schedule is out for our biggest meeting yet as we celebrate 10 years! 🥳

We’ve added a Day Zero symposium on May 21 focused on Creativity & AI, so mark your calendars.📆

Keynotes from Anna Abraham & Andreas Fink and much more - registration opens next week with more info to come! #SfNC2025

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Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity @tsfnc.bsky.social · Feb 28

Join us on May 21 for AI, Creativity & a Changing World, a special symposium on the latest in Creativity & AI research:
🔹 AI & Human Co-Creativity
🔹 Advances in Automated Creativity Scoring
🔹 Expert panel on future trends led by @roger-beaty.bsky.social

Registration opens next week!
#SfNC2025

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Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Feb 21

Intriguing findings!

Doby Rahnev @dobyrahnev.bsky.social · Feb 20

New paper alert! Have you ever looked at single-trial fMRI activation maps? If so, you know that they are super variable. Here we show that the variability is not just noise. In fact, the same task can consistently elicit different activation patterns. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Multiple brain activation patterns for the same perceptual decision-making task - Nature Communications

Here, the authors show the brain uses multiple activation patterns to perform the same task. Even the default mode network, which is often inactive during focus, plays a role.

www.nature.com

Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Feb 18

My favorite midwest event + my favorite oscillationist 😍

Joel Voss @vosstacular.bsky.social · Feb 17

Announcing - the 3rd annual Midway Meeting of the Memory Minds (Mmmm)! Chicago-area memory neuroscientists, please join us for a day of talks, discussions, and a keynote by none other than @earlkmiller.bsky.social ! Registration is free, but space is limited. forms.office.com/r/rMxqDQ4sZF

Reposted by Yuhua Yu

John Kounios @johnkounios.bsky.social · Feb 18

Yvette Kounios (my wife) and I wrote the cover story about the science of insight (i.e., the "Aha! moment") for the March issue of @sciam which is available now. #ahamoment #insight #creativity static.scientificamerican.com/dam/m/4da289...

static.scientificamerican.com

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Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Feb 17

All in all, it seems insight in open-ended ideation may differ from insight in convergent, problem-solving, both in terms of phenomenology and response quality. Thanks to my incredible collaborators for tackling this interdisciplinary inquiry @viclai.bsky.social, Lindsay Krebs and Dr. Beeman.

Yuhua Yu @yuhuay.bsky.social · Feb 17

Metaphors generated via analysis did not differ from metaphors generated via insight in quality (aptness or novelty) nor in how well they were remembered. However, the manner of generation modulated participants’ self-evaluations

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