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Morgan Barense

@barense.bsky.social
1.1K followers 596 following 31 posts

Cognitive Neuroscientist // Professor, University of Toronto // Senior Scientist, Rotman Research Institute // Director, Toronto Neuroimaging barense.psych.utoronto.ca

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Reposted by Morgan Barense
Kayden Stockwell @kaydenstockwell.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Excited to chair a symposium at #SPR2026! Accessible Psychophysiology in Autism brings together methodological innovations in EDA, dyadic ECG, and fMRI aimed at making study procedures more accessible to autistic folks, including nonspeaking autistic ppl Hope to see you there!
Title slide for “Accessible Psychophysiology in Autism: Methodological Innovations Across Modalities.” Kayden M. Stockwell is listed as chair. Presenters are Dr. Sapir Soker-Elimaliah, Kayden Stockwell, and Dr. Emily Davis; Dr. Jennifer K. MacCormack is the discussant. The footer identifies the Society for Psychophysiological Research, 2026, and displays the University of Southern California, University of Virginia, and University of Toronto logos.Agenda for the symposium, listing five sections: an overview of autism by Kayden Stockwell; challenges and best practices for electrodermal activity data collection from autistic and non-autistic children by Dr. Sapir Soker-Elim aliah; feasibility of dyadic ECG in minimally speaking autistic adolescents and adults by Kayden Stockwell; language localization in nonspeaking autism using approaches to overcome motion and communication barriers by Dr. Emily Davis; and discussant comments and audience questions with Dr. Jennifer MacCormack.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
I came here to ask the same question, and — depending on the answer — maybe throw out some indiscriminate emoji use myself.
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Ryan Panela @ryanapanela.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Now published in Acta Psychologica, our research examines how background noise shapes event segmentation during continuous speech listening and its consequences for memory. doi.org/10.1016/j.ac... @alexbarnett.bsky.social | Yulia Lamekina | @barense.bsky.social | @bjherrmann.bsky.social
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Lauren Homann @laurenhomann.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
New preprint w/ @barense.bsky.social! How does revisiting real-world memories reshape them, and their links to each other? Here, we examined how retrieval/restudy/no review shape more-naturalistic event memory strength (do we observe a testing effect?) and integration between related memories. 🧵
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Also proud of @catalinayang.bsky.social who not only created the gorgeous cover, but also published her 1st first-author paper. With @duncanlabuoft.bsky.social we show that memory strength (not memory age) drives prediction error-driven memory updating royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Memory strength at reactivation, not memory age, governs prediction error-driven updating of naturalistic event memory
Abstract. Prediction error during memory reactivation is posited to be a key driver of memory updating. However, prediction error leads to varied memory ou
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Check out our @royalsociety.org Philosophical Transactions B theme issue, "The role of hippocampal prediction: bridging perception and memory." Thanks to all our fabulous authors, and my co-editors @peterkok.bsky.social and @mariamaly.bsky.social who dreamed it up and kept the train on the tracks.
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Emily E. Davis @emilyedavis.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
On Wed (S6A, HNE RM 035), I will present the first data from my postdoc with @barense.bsky.social: we localized language networks in two individuals with non-speaking autism. I’m fortunate to get to share findings made possible by our amazing non-speaking volunteers.
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Brian Levine @brianlevine.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
I enjoyed the cheerful reunions & new connections made at #TAMeG2026 Congrats award winners @catalinayang.bsky.social @michellehirsch.bsky.social & Bailey Agard! Grateful to keynote @aliprestonphd.bsky.social & panelists Ike Ikafor, @efriskouw.bsky.social & @barense.bsky.social & the org committee
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Alison Preston @aliprestonphd.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Really enjoyed giving yesterday's #TAMeG2026 keynote & joining @barense.bsky.social, @efriskouw.bsky.social & Ike Okafor on the mentorship panel. Things that have stuck with me: 🪟 Mentorship needs transparency 📣 It needs advocacy beyond advice 🔁 Mentors learn from mentees too
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Aidan Horner @aidanhorner.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Very excited to have this officially published: A neural state space for episodic memories A brief thread... #neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪 @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social
sciencedirect.com
A neural state space for episodic memories
Episodic memories are highly dynamic and change in nonlinear ways over time. This dynamism is not captured by existing systems consolidation theories …
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Oh, and each time we’re going to change the word limits by +/- 30%, making it effectively impossible for you to reuse old material. Please also update your CCV for good measure.
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Ryan Panela @ryanapanela.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Excited to share the publication of our work which explores the application of LLMs in event segmentation and memory research. For researchers interested in applying these validated methods, an open-source module is available on GitHub (github.com/ryanapanela/EventRecall).
github.com
GitHub - ryanapanela/EventRecall
Contribute to ryanapanela/EventRecall development by creating an account on GitHub.
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duncanlabuoft.bsky.social @duncanlabuoft.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Our graduate student @catalinayang.bsky.social shows that prediction errors only destabilize weakly reactivated memories. Strong memories? They are more impervious to surprise. Check out our #preprint with @barense.bsky.social to learn more osf.io/preprints/ps... #UofT #Psychology
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Catalina Yang @catalinayang.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Super excited to share my first preprint with Katherine Duncan and Morgan Barense (@barense.bsky.social) -- "Memory strength at reactivation, not memory age, governs prediction error driven updating of naturalistic event memory"! 🧠🎉https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/q9rkn_v1
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
I’m here for it
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 23/09/2025
Whether they're blaming vaccines and Tylenol, or selling dubious "remedies," what they're really doing is promoting the perception that families (and especially mothers) can prevent and treat Autism. And thus also the perception that people with Autism and their families don't need social support.
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Brad Postle @bradpostle.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Deadline approaching for Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience Travel Fellowship
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Brad Postle @bradpostle.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
2026 @jocn.bsky.social Travel Fellowship @jocn.bsky.social and Cog. Neurosci. Soc. to offer a stipend of $3000, plus waived conf. reg. and waived poster submission fee to attend www.cogneurosociety.org/annual-meeti... , to one trainee based at an institution located in each of five regions:
cogneurosociety.org
Annual Meeting - Cognitive Neuroscience Society
March 7 – 10, 2026 Submit a Symposium Submit a Poster CNS 2026 Annual Meeting – March 7 – March 10, 2026 We invite you to join us at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) 2026 Annual Meeting, March...
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Daniel Ansari 🇨🇦 @numcog.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Graduate students who have an offer to study in the US but are reconsidering or have been denied entry or current grad students who want to leave, then consider coming to Western University in Canada. Our University just launched a US-CAN Doctoral Excellence Program : grad.uwo.ca/finances/wes...
grad.uwo.ca
US-CAN Doctoral Excellence Award
Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.
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Lauren Homann @laurenhomann.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Proud to share the first preprint of my PhD w/ @barense.bsky.social & Mursal Jahed: “Putting the testing effect to the test in the wild: Retrieval enhances real-world memories and promotes their semantic integration while preserving episodic integrity” See thread! 🧵 osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Your work provides a very important perspective and I am really grateful for it. I’m sorry this happened to you.
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Mel Goodale @action-brain.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
CIFAR invites applications for senior PhD and postdocs to participate in the Neuroscience of Consciousness Winter School, held in Montebello, Canada Dec 10-12, 2025. The Winter School is hosted by members of CIFAR’s Brain, Mind, and Consciousness program. Please repost. cifar.ca/next-generat... 🧠🧪
Dog-sled going past the Le Château Montebello.Main public room in Le Château Montebello decorated for Christmas. The building is the world's largest "log cabin".Le Château Montebello is situated on the banks of the Ottawa river, separating Quebec and Ontario.Group photo the school of 2018 at the Winter school on the Neuroscience of Consciousness
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Congratulations!! I cannot wait to see the cool stuff you do on your lab.
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Iva Zovkic @ivazovkic.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
If you are in Toronto on Tuesday next week, please consider coming to see a FREE public lecture on memory, delivered by the amazing @sjo09.bsky.social and @barense.bsky.social . Tix at this link can-acn.org/meeting-2025... Please repost and hope to see you there!
can-acn.org
CAN 2025 Public Lectures: Neuroscience of memory and tools for making our memories stronger – Canadian Association for Neuroscience
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 10/05/2025
"Autism doesn’t erase potential. It reshapes it. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s nonlinear. Always, it’s human."
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An Open Letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Who Thinks My Daughter is a Tragedy
Dear Mr. RFK Jr., (The “dear” is tradition. Don’t mistake it for affection.) You said autistic children are a burden. That they ruin families. That...
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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Gut wrenching essay about trainees by Daphna Shohamy (Director of Columbia's Zuckerman Neuroscience Institute). "let’s be clear: It isn’t institutions that are being punished. It’s the researchers who are the future of science in this country ..." 💔 www.statnews.com/2025/05/07/u...
statnews.com
What am I supposed to say to this generation of young scientists?
Undermining the future of American science is not a path to accountability — it’s a path to decline.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
If these models are off b/c the motor system is abnormal, social behaviour will take the greatest hit. At any rate - let me do the studies and get back to you! We need more neuroimaging data in nonspeakers so we can understand the genesis of various profiles and tailor appropriate supports.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I don't think it's necessarily a stretch. It's well established that the motor system builds internal models of action that that can serve as templates to predict and interpret the actions of others (who move in more complex and unpredictable ways than non-social stimuli).
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I'd have to see that study, but they might not respond to social stimuli b/c they weren't getting the right (sensory) info needed to move their body appropriately (motor). Or maybe they had the info but couldn't mount the typical response. Or both. Or neither. Hard to disentangle without brain data.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
It's hard to talk about motor without talking about sensory, given that they are right next to each other in the brain and the execution of any motor plan requires sensory info (this is why the term sensorimotor is so often used). But issues here will derail social behaviour, which will derail lang.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Reduced social orienting could *absolutely* result from an abnormal sensorimotor system. This behaviour requires that the one (1) process perceptual info about the other person and (2) move in response. Either could be derailed by mechanisms that have nothing to do with high-level social processes.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
But if the primary underlying deficit is motor, one would also observe such coupling. Motor difficulties would prevent typical social behaviour and lead to an underestimation of receptive language. In some cases, this might be the simplest explanation (Occam's razor). That's our testable hypothesis.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I'll also say that given the modularity of brain function, it's entirely possible that there could be a vast disconnect between the ability to speak and the ability to understand. If one is profoundly apraxic, they would not be able to demonstrate understanding with any reliable form of behaviour.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I think the relationship between motor challenges and language challenges is very much up for debate, with a lot of work showing a tight coupling between the two. But we are absolutely looking at brain mechanisms of motor processing in this group - stay tuned.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I agree, diagnosing apraxia is notoriously hard for those who cannot speak and I hope that neuroimaging can help here. But motor deficits are key associated features supporting an autism diagnosis in the DSM-5, and so most autistic individuals have motor deficits in their diagnostic profile already.
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M. Natasha Rajah @mnrajah.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Looking for a Master’s or PhD trainee interested in a f/t lab manager role. Funding for this position is secured longterm. It is a great opportunity for someone interested in making sig contributions to #cogneuro #aging & #womensbrainhealth in 🇨🇦 Solid salary with full benefits! #neurojobs
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Cognitive Neuroscience Society @cogneuronews.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Want to learn more about smartphone-based studies on memory? Check out our #CNS2025 press release "How Dreams, Novelty, and Emotions Can Shape Memories: Lessons from Smartphone Studies," featuring the work of @evgoldfarb.bsky.social @barense.bsky.social @liladavachi.bsky.social:
cogneurosociety.org
How Dreams, Novelty, and Emotions Can Shape Memories: Lessons from Smartphone Studies
At CNS 2025, researchers will share smartphone-based studies about how a range of actions can build stronger, more detailed memories.
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
And on Monday morning I'll be joining @evgoldfarb.bsky.social, @davidclewett.bsky.social and @liladavachi.bsky.social in a symposium to talk about new techniques to study memory in the wild. Come say hi!
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
If you're at #CNS2025 come check out our lab's Sunday line-up of posters from @catalinayang.bsky.social, @bryanhong.bsky.social, @nellymatorina.bsky.social, and @laurenhomann.bsky.social.
CNS 2025 presentations from the Barense lab
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University of Toronto Psychology @uoftpsychology.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
"Small changes, like taking a different route during your daily walk, can have a significant impact on memory and mood," says @uoft.bsky.social Prof. @barense.bsky.social. 🧠 www.psych.utoronto.ca/news/one-new...
psych.utoronto.ca
One new experience a day boosts memory and mood: Study
Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that doing just one new thing each day can significantly improve mood, memory and overall well-being.
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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
📣 Across the U.S., cuts to federal funding for health research are projected to cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs. How will YOUR area be impacted? Excited to share SCIMaP, a website that our team has created to communicate the impact of funding cuts. #PsychSciSky #MedicalSky scienceimpacts.org
scienceimpacts.org
SCiMaP
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Adrian M. Owen, OBE, FRS @comadork.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
In my ongoing quest to publish as many academic papers with Arnold Schwazenegger movies as part of the title, I give you…..Total Recall….out today and free to read www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Total recall: Detecting autobiographical memory retrieval in the absence of behaviour
Functional neuroimaging has fundamentally changed our understanding of disorders of consciousness (DoC). While many DoC patients exhibit minimal to no…
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Thank you! And we have learned a heck of a lot about naturalistic memory from your work with movies - not every question is suited to the messy wilds of real life!
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Jeremy Manning @jeremyrmanning.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
I very much enjoyed this fascinating real world memory paper-- congrats @barense.bsky.social and team! Makes me rethink my use of the term "naturalistic memory" when I'm actually referring to (fictional) movies and narratives 😂! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Unique events improve episodic richness, enhance mood, and alter the perception of time during isolation - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Unique events improve episodic richness, enhance mood, and alter the perception of time during isolation
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Hypatia L.A. Seneschale @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
My understanding is that the end goal of this resource is to track more than research and to capture all we have lost as a result of the GOP’s dismantling of the federal government. They’re relying on information from communities impacted, so please share widely theresearchwelost.com
theresearchwelost.com
The Research We Lost
Archiving the Science that Could Have Been
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Brian Levine @brianlevine.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
#TAMeG2025 is coming (our 10th anniversary!) May 27 feat keynote @charan-neuro.bsky.social and panel on SciCom & Disinformation, with Carrie Boyce of RCIScience, @schalllab.bsky.social & @barense.bsky.social (chair) Call for presentations is open for GTA and southern ON trainees 👉 tameg.ca!
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Ryan Panela @ryanapanela.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
New Preprint 🚨 This research with @bjherrmann.bsky.social, @alexbarnett.bsky.social, and @barense.bsky.social extends previous work exploring how LLMs can simulate human event segmentation, with applications for automated recall assessments. arxiv.org/abs/2502.13349
arxiv.org
Event Segmentation Applications in Large Language Model Enabled Automated Recall Assessments
Understanding how individuals perceive and recall information in their natural environments is critical to understanding potential failures in perception (e.g., sensory loss) and memory (e.g., dementi...
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CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Join us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠 sciencehomecoming.com
sciencehomecoming.com
Science Homecoming
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Morgan Barense @barense.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Such wonderful news!! Congratulations!
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Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦 @michaelhendricks.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
View from Canada: the IDC rate for research intensive unis is about 20%, and it's killing us. International student fees subsidize research, our deferred maintenance burden is out of control and buildings are substandard (some are dangerous), support for common equipment / cores is pratically nil.
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