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Ali Cohen

@aliocohen.bsky.social
1.3K followers 447 following 42 posts

asst prof at Emory University studying how motivation & emotion influence learning, memory, & brain function across development thelumenlab.org

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Reposted by Ali Cohen
Nora Harhen @noraharhen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
How do we make good decisions with little experience? Adults can rely on memories of past choices. In our new study in @pnas.org we show kids & teens do something similar–but what they remember turns out to be quite different! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Developmental changes in memory structure and precision alter the use of retrieved episodes during decisions for reward | PNAS
Most widely studied option evaluation strategies rely on knowledge accumulated across repeated experiences. But how should options be evaluated in ...
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Alison Preston @aliprestonphd.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Today we're highlighting our amazing Research Associate Nicole Varga! 🧠 Her work investigates how the brain processes overlapping experiences, whether it links them or holds them apart, and how that changes as we grow up. If you're at #APA2026, drop by her talk tomorrow!
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Camille Phaneuf-Hadd (she/her) @camillephaneuf.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
New paper alert! Time-Based Cognition and Working Memory Explain Changes in Delay Discounting Through Adolescence ⏳💰📈 It's available online now and will contribute to a Special Issue on Delay of Gratification, expected later this year: doi.org/10.1080/1524... (1/4)
tandfonline.com
Time-Based Cognition and Working Memory Explain Changes in Delay Discounting Through Adolescence: Journal of Cognition and Development: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access
Browse all journals
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Postdoc job ad is now live! faculty-emory.icims.com/jobs/168298/...
The Learning, Understanding, Memory, & Neurodevelopment Lab (LUMeN Lab, PI: Dr.
Alexandra Cohen) in the Department of Psychology at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on NIH-funded studies examining emotion-related learning, memory, and brain function across development.
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Postdoc job ad is now live! faculty-emory.icims.com/jobs/168298/...
The Learning, Understanding, Memory, & Neurodevelopment Lab (LUMeN Lab, PI: Dr.
Alexandra Cohen) in the Department of Psychology at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on NIH-funded studies examining emotion-related learning, memory, and brain function across development.
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The LUMeN Lab at Emory is hiring ✨ We’re seeking a full-time RA/lab manager and a postdoc to work on new NIH-funded studies! Formal job ads/apps forthcoming. We’re eager to hit the ground running so please share these flyers and/or reach out if interested!
The Learning, Understanding, Memory, & Neurodevelopment Lab (LUMeN Lab, Pl: Dr.
Alexandra Cohen) in the Department of Psychology at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) is seeking a full-time Research Assistant (RA) to work on studies examining how motivation and emotion influence learning, memory, and brain function across development. The RA will gain experience with all components of the research process, providing excellent preparation for graduate studies.

The expected start date for the position is Summer/Fall 2026. A two-year commitment is requested. Application review will take place on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Please reach out to
ali.cohen@emory.edu
with a CV and cover letter if you are interested
in this position.The Learning, Understanding, Memory, & Neurodevelopment Lab (LUMeN Lab, PI: Dr.
Alexandra Cohen) in the Department of Psychology at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on NIH-funded studies examining emotion-related learning, memory, and brain function across development.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Please reach out to
ali.cohen@emory.edu
with a CV and cover letter if interested.
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
It me (on the unfavorable side of the 2025 coin flip)
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Social Development and Wellbeing Lab @socialdevlab.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Dr. Alexandra Rodman seeks a postdoc (Fall ’26/Spring ’27) for the Social Development & Wellbeing Lab, focused on leading independent research on adolescent social neurodevelopment with a focus on fMRI pipelines, mentorship, & dissemination! Learn more here: www.socialdevlab.com/prospective-...
socialdevlab.com
Prospective Postdocs — Social Development and Wellbeing Lab
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Caroline Charpentier, PhD @carocharp.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
🚨🚨 The Social Learning and Decisions Lab is hiring! 🚨🚨 We're looking for a postbacc project coordinator/research assistant to join our team this summer. More details about the position and how to apply here: drive.google.com/file/d/1ySeA... Please share widely and reach out with any questions!
drive.google.com
RA_ad_2026-2027_Charpentier.pdf
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The past 15 months have marked a dark chapter in US science; one that will require significant effort to repair. But I'm not interested in duct tape and bandaid solutions. Our system had problems before Jan 20th, 2025. So, @standupforscience.net is doing what we do best: TAKING ACTION. 1/7
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Nora Verlaine @noraverlaine.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
96% of surveyed early career researchers on NIH K awards reported that federal changes in science funding has impacted their career stability
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted. What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards. Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.
Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success.

Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds. New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October. (h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)
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Cognition @cognitionjournal.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Changes in our feelings, or "affective surprise," may act as a learning signal that influences what we remember. Large magnitude deviations in experienced valence during encoding relate to better long-term associative memory.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 03/02/2026
There are approximately 1000 research groups on the #NIH campuses, including Steve Rosenberg's research group, which develops groundbreaking T-cell therapies for cancer. Effectively all of those groups were suddenly prohibited from buying any (!) supplies last year. That is on the leadership.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.
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Motivated Cognition Meetings @motcogmeet.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Check out our Spring 2026 lineup!
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Emily Liquin @emilyliquin.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
A few days left to apply to join my lab as a PhD student! We study how people explore, how new ideas form, and how thinking develops. Learn more at liquinlab.github.io. Application review begins 1/15. #PsychSciSky #CogPsyc #CogSci #DevPsyc
liquinlab.github.io
ELM Lab @ UNH
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Hey @aaas.org I am a member and Fellow and am appalled by that statement. The devastating impact on trainees and their fellowships, the anxiety all have felt, and the devastating cuts in some fields are just some examples. Perhaps you all could respond directly??
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Deepu Murty @vpmurty.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Fresh off the press from all-star post-doc Blake Elliott: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... We show that the HPC supports coincidence detection across VTA and lPFC in service of novelty-evoked invigoration. Stay-tuned for how these circuits are altered in psychosis risk.
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Goal selection through the lens of subjective functions: arxiv.org/abs/2512.15948 I welcome any feedback on these preliminary ideas.
arxiv.org
Subjective functions
Where do objective functions come from? How do we select what goals to pursue? Human intelligence is adept at synthesizing new objective functions on the fly. How does this work, and can we endow arti...
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 13/12/2025
AS A PROFESSOR, I AM ASKING HOW ARE OUR STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO LEARN IN THESE CONDITIONS? HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GO TO SCHOOL AND TAKE EXAMS KNOWING SOMEONE MIGHT JUST SHOW UP WITH AN EASY TO ACQUIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPON? HOW??????????
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Emory College of Arts & Sciences @emorycollege.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Welcome to the first (happy) faces of #Emory2030 and thanks for giving us our favorite video of the year 💙 💛 Meet the Class of 3030 (so far) ➡️ bit.ly/48wlyxQ
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Nina Rouhani @ninarouhani.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
rouhanilab.com
Interactive Cognition Lab | USC
Interactive Cognition Lab at USC, led by principal investigator, Dr. Nina Rouhani.
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Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Square News about the government's attempt to extort universities. nyunews.com/opinion/gues...
nyunews.com
Guest Essay: Unity is the only way out of Trump’s ‘compact’ - Washington Square News
Grace Lindsay is an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Data Science at New York University. Nine universities received an Oct. 1 letter from the Trump administration with an offer: If you agree to a ...
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Pete Hitchcock @pf-hitchcock.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
We are hiring at Emory Psychology in Developmental! Come join a wonderful department in a great city ☀️ apply.interfolio.com/173594
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social: Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain. Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
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Niles Donegan @happypig.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Dartmouth says no.
Dartmouth’s president declines trumps compact.
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Angela Radulescu @angelaradulescu.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Indeed! What a gift to spend a week in such a delightfully collaborative and thoughtful community ☺️ 🙏
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
#Neuro4Pros 4ever 🧠🤓 Grateful for a week of learning from & being in community with fellow early career profs & amazing facilitators @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social Hannah Bayer 📸: @mohebial.bsky.social
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Michelle Marneweck @mmarneweck.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
Run don’t walk to the #Neuro4Pros summer school if it happens again and you’re an early career prof Thanks again for the absolute best time ⭐️ @gunnarblohm.bsky.social @kordinglab.bsky.social @yaelniv.bsky.social @meganakpeters.bsky.social @patrickmineault.bsky.social, and Hannah Bayer
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 21/08/2025
🐤Promise you this is one you'll want to say you were a part of... Help us get our 'ducks in a row' and IMPEACH AND REMOVE THAT DANG QUACK!!!! 📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆📣🦆 Link here: tinyurl.com/sufsci
rainbow rubber duckies all in a line
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
It is impossible to explain to civilians how it feels to finally, FINALLY, land a clearly within-payline NIH grant score and then have it go unfunded because of all this regime bullshit. You all have my sympathies. Unfair doesn’t even begin to describe it.
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Sound Science Saves Lives. Following the attack on our neighbors at the CDC and the lockdown here at Emory, this message feels more important than ever. Will you join the GA scientific community @ossoff.senate.gov @warnock.senate.gov @repnikema.bsky.social www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
mobilize.us
Rally: Sound Science Saves Lives · Mobilize
Science and public research are under attack in this country. Indiscriminate cuts to federal research agencies and political interference are causing research studies to be paused, programs halted, an...
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
I have an incentive for rich people like you @mcuban.bsky.social Federally funded R&D has fueled the innovation that drives American prosperity. Scores of billionaires owe their fortunes to advancements made in labs across the nation. An investment in @standupforscience.bsky.social to help save…
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 09/08/2025
There is nothing normal about this. We refuse to allow this to be the norm. We will not stick our heads in the sand because it’s comfortable. Today we need to rest and recover, but we will never stop fighting for what is right.
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John Halloran @profhalloran.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
I've been trying to really gently move folks I know into understanding that we will not be going back to Before™. The amount of fundamental damage that has been done to our institutions can't simply be spackled up and painted over—the cracks are in the foundation and must be repaired.
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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
📣 New preprint from the SCIMaP team! Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8 osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 01/08/2025
📣 ANNOUNCEMENT: 31 Days of Action – All August! Funding cuts. Banned words. Fired public servants. Trump & his cronies are dismantling America’s greatest experiment - our democracy - & with it, science. Between now & Sept 30th we decide: Are we a democracy… or an oligarchy? (1/4)
A bold, patriotic-themed flyer for “31 Days of Action” by Stand Up for Science. The top half features red diagonal banners with white text reading “31 Days of Action” and the Stand Up for Science logo beneath it. The background includes blue ink splatters, red and white stars, and distressed textures evoking protest art. The right side prominently displays the Statue of Liberty in grayscale, holding her torch high. At the bottom, there is a red QR code and a blue banner with the URL: “standupforscience.net/31-DAYS-OF-ACTION”. The overall design conveys urgency, activism, and American iconography.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
WSJ story about OMB blocking NIH spending and grant making www.wsj.com/politics/pol... 1/n
wsj.com
Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding
The National Institutes of Health can’t award grants to outside researchers under a new White House restriction.
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Nobody wants this.
media.tenor.com
a man with a beard wearing a netflix shirt says no
Alt: Adam Brody shaking his head no in the netflix series Nobody Wants This
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David Clewett @davidclewett.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
New press on our study linking the locus coeruleus to memory formation 🔵: newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/bra... . “…at a time when legislation promises ‘big and beautiful change,’ it turns out one of the brain’s smallest players may have the biggest impact on how we understand and remember our lives.”
newsroom.ucla.edu
Scientists unravel how a tiny region of the brain helps us form distinct memories, opening new avenues for PTSD, Alzheimer’s research
The locus coeruleus works like a “reset” button that separates the memory of one meaningful event from the next.
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Dr. Rabbithole @drrabbithole.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
A science fair of cancelled grants. The research that will be represented at this event (Tuesday) ranges from neuroscience, to astrophysics, to STEM education. The awarding agencies of the now-canceled grants include the EPA, DHS, NIH, NSF, USAID, and DOD. Open to the public.
nasawatch.com
Congressional Event: A Science Fair of Canceled Grants
The Things We’ll Never Know: A Science Fair of Canceled Grants.
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Deepu Murty @vpmurty.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Resistance is hard. It is likely better for my mental health to dissociate from the constant threats to my identity as a researcher and queer man. But dissociating also undermines my authenticity as a person. Maybe the solution is continued resistance but fostering joy and silliness along the way.
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Yuan Chang Leong @ycleong.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Excited to share our new review on how neuroimaging and computational models can help uncover how people see what they want to see, now out at @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! It was a blast writing this with Haena Kim and @iancballard.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
A neurocomputational account of motivated seeing
Do goals, beliefs, and desires affect visual experience? This question has long been controversial in cognitive science. There exists extensive litera…
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Vlad Ayzenberg @vayzenb.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
In the discussion, we explore what kinds of developmental principles may need to be implemented for models to better align with humans. More generally, we argue that that insights from child development will be crucial for developing more advanced #AI over the long term.
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Vlad Ayzenberg @vayzenb.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
My paper with @stellalourenco.bsky.social ‬is now out in Science Advances! We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime doi.org/10.1126/scia...
doi.org
Fast and robust visual object recognition in young children
The visual recognition abilities of preschool children rival those of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models.
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
Still looking for a few WV scientists to join my non-scientist dad to advocate for NIH to Senator Capito, head of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee and key player for NIH budgeting. Please get in touch if interested or have any leads! prospect.org/politics/202...
prospect.org
Will the Senate Save NIH?
Rescuing biomedical research is every bit as important as saving Medicaid.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
This is an egregious degradation of checks and balances. For anyone who has been waiting for "these illegal actions to work their way through the courts and then it will all be ok" here is your sign that that is NOT A GOOD PLAN. It is time to stand up. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
SCOTUS Limits Federal Judges’ Ability to Block Executive Actions Nationwide
Read more here.
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