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Anthony Vaccaro

@agvacca.bsky.social
136 followers 201 following 18 posts

Research Assistant Professor at UNC Psych & Neuro/Winston Center | Brains, Media-use, and Messy Feelings anthonygvaccaro.com

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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
What happens in the brain as content shown by algorithms shifts from generic to 'For You'? Excited to share our new preprint studying just this! Using fNIRS, we tracked neural connectivity while users freely scrolled on a new TikTok account for 35 minutes osf.io/preprints/ps....
osf.io
OSF
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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
We really need to move beyond dichotomizing brain function. Allostasis vs cognition, prediction vs feedforward, categorical representation vs dimensional processing. Arguing that the brain is “for” or “not for” something can’t be the best way to build insight-generating evolutionary frameworks.
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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
My new piece out in Scientific American!
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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Join us for the UNC Developmental Psychology Ph.D. Program Info Session! 🎓 Learn about curriculum, funding, application tips, and life in Chapel Hill from faculty and students. 🗓️ Oct 26 | 1–2:30 PM EST 🔗Register: tinyurl.com/uncdevpsych #UNC #PhD #DevelopmentalPsychology
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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
📢 I'll be recruiting a PhD student in Developmental Psychology for 2026 at UNC Chapel Hill! Student will be co-mentored with Dr. Eva Telzer at the Winston Center. Interests in naturalistic fMRI/fNIRS, developmental affective neuro, and behavioral addictions would be great fits.
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Reposted by Anthony Vaccaro
Alex Shackman @ajshackman.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
study emotion? sections of this are a v worthwhile read. no paywall. useful reminder that not everyone falls neatly into BET v constructionism buckets researchgate.net/publication/255522683_The_duration_of_affective_phenomena_or_emotions_sentiments_and_passions
researchgate.net
(PDF) The duration of affective phenomena or emotions, sentiments and passions
PDF | On Jan 1, 1991, Nico H. Frijda and others published The duration of affective phenomena or emotions, sentiments and passions | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Our new study in Emotion! Parents report higher satisfaction yet lower daily happiness- the 'parenting paradox'. So in the transition to parenthood, how do we study well-being? We studied how new fathers adapt by examining meaning/purpose and brain connectivity. psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
psycnet.apa.org
APA PsycNet
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Reposted by Anthony Vaccaro
phil newsome @philnewsomejr.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
🧠Out now in @ohbmofficial.bsky.social ! 🧠 We scanned 32 first-time dads (~8 mos postpartum) while they watched videos of their baby, an unfamiliar baby, their romantic partner, and an unfamiliar woman…1/8 doi.org/10.1002/hbm....
doi.org
My Baby Versus the World: Fathers' Neural Processing of Own‐Infant, Unfamiliar‐Infant, and Romantic Partner Stimuli
First-time fathers processed own-infant stimuli in mentalizing, emotion regulation, and reward processing regions, and posterior midline responses tracked with bonding and parental stress. Whole-brai....
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Reposted by Anthony Vaccaro
Darby Saxbe @darbysaxbe.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles just burned down months ago. Home owners are desperate to rebuild. Yet ICE is rounding up day laborers from HOME DEPOT - a place where construction crews hire short term help. The goal is to inflict maximum cruelty on a city already hurting.
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Large-scale projects run the risk of stifling scientific independence. Instead, let’s explore alternative mechanisms of collaboration, writes @neuralreckoning.bsky.social. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/funding/neur...
thetransmitter.org
Neuroscience needs to empower early-career researchers, not fund moon shots
Large-scale projects run the risk of stifling scientific independence. Instead, let’s explore alternative mechanisms of collaboration.
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Anthony Vaccaro @agvacca.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Loved being a part of this amazing article on how affective neuroscientists are grappling with conceptualizing mixed emotions! www.salon.com/2025/03/23/m...
salon.com
Why feeling mixed emotions can actually be healthy
Simultaneous joy and rage aren't contradictions — they're part of a spectrum of emotional intelligence
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Reposted by Anthony Vaccaro
Sarah Hennessy @hennessysarah.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Excited to share that dissertation work is published in Human Brain Mapping! Self-selected nostalgic music engaged the DMN, reward network, and MTL in younger and older adults. With @assalh.bsky.social, @jonaskaplan.bsky.social, Petr Janata, and Talia Ginsberg onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Music‐Evoked Nostalgia Activates Default Mode and Reward Networks Across the Lifespan
Music-evoked nostalgia activates the default mode network, reward network, medial temporal lobe, and supplementary motor regions of the brain more than non-nostalgic but familiar music that sounds mu....
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