Sign in

Ben Griffiths

@benjamingriffiths.bsky.social
773 followers 178 following 46 posts

I'm interested in how our brains help us revive and relive past experiences, and what technology we can develop to augment these processes. Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham, UK. He/him. benjaminjamesgriffiths.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Huge thanks to collaborators @katduecker.bsky.social, Camille Fakche, @lauradugue.bsky.social, @ajquinn.bsky.social and @olejensen.bsky.social, to all our participants, and the @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding. 🙏
050
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Takeaway: rhythmic stimulation is not one input producing one response. These "neural side effects" may explain some of the field's inconsistency. Harmonic responses may also be a cleaner way to study entrainment than responses at the fundamental.
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Importantly, these effects impacted neural representations and perception. Harmonic gamma responses carried stimulus information in a rhythmic code absent from the fundamental, while the phase of harmonic alpha responses predicted near-threshold perception, independently of the fundamental.
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Across 3 M/EEG datasets, we show this is indeed the case, with rhythmic stimulation producing separate responses at f and 2f with distinct topographies and time-courses. Notably, the 2f effects were strongest when they overlapped with canonical oscillations (gamma in Exp 1 and 2, alpha in Exp 3).
130
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fundamental physics tells us that a rhythmic input can modulate oscillators at integer multiples: stimulating at 4Hz (f) may drive a genuine oscillation at 8Hz (2f). But FFT can't tell a genuine 2f oscillation from a non-sinusoidal response at f, so we used empirical mode decomposition.
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Rhythmic light stimulation is cheap, scalable and promising for the lab and the clinic. But results are notoriously variable, and can be challenging replicate. We think part of the reason is that stimulation rarely drives only the rhythm you're targeting.
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
🧠 We've got a new paper out in Cerebral Cortex! "Rhythmic stimulation elicits multiple, concurrent neural responses" academic.oup.com/cercor/artic... A 🧵 on why flicker doesn't just do one thing to the brain 👇
academic.oup.com
Validate User
13412
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
New paper/theory: Analog Cognition and Consciousness Thoughts, actions, and our unified sense of consciousness may emerge from wave patterns, which both shape and are shaped by neuron firing to create coherent mental states. www.jneurosci.org/content/46/3... #neuroscience
jneurosci.org
Analog Cognition and Consciousness
Cognition and consciousness may arise from bidirectional interactions between neuronal spiking and rhythmic electric field activity (brain waves). Goal-directed behavior relies on top-down control to ...
13814
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Julia Schaefer @julia-sc.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Episodic memory forms through action: gaze shifts sequentially sample experience as it unfolds 👀🏞️ 🧠 But actions may also help organize how the brain reactivates episodic memories! 👀🧠💭 🏞️ Check out our new preprint 👇 doi.org/10.64898/202... 🎉 @tobiasstaudigl.bsky.social & Aditya Chowdhury 👇🧵
doi.org
26119
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Marta Silva @martamasilva.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Check out our new paper! 🧠 Me, @xiongbowu.bsky.social and @fuentemilla.bsky.social review how reactivation at the end of events support memory formation and propose it serves multiple functions from preventing interference to helping preserve temporal continuity! ✨ www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
cell.com
Neural reactivation supports memory formation when events end
Memory routinely transforms continuous experience into discrete episodes that support flexible retrieval. We propose that these structured representations are established via rapid neural reactivation...
09040
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Casper Kerrén @ckerren.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Excited to finally share our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com: Hippocampal ripples initiate cortical dimensionality expansion for memory retrieval www.nature.com/articles/s41... With @s-michelmann.bsky.social and @doellerlab.bsky.social
nature.com
Hippocampal ripples initiate cortical dimensionality expansion for memory retrieval - Nature Communications
How past experiences are reconstructed from memory remains unclear. Here the authors used intracranial EEG to show that hippocampal ripples reshape the geometry of cortical representations, supporting...
211450
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Mark Haselgrove @markhaselgrove.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Assistant Professor (lecturer in old money) job! jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Full time, permanent positions available in the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. Deadline Tuesday 18 August 2026 Please share!
jobs.nottingham.ac.uk
Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Assistant Professor
We’re looking to appoint an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology who can demonstrate an emerging international research profile which complements and expands upon our existing research stre...
079
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Mark D Humphries @markdhumphries.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Help needed! I'm part of a team tasked with creating a 2nd year undergraduate module/course "Computational Skills for Psychologists" Its remit is the fundamentals of coding and good practice. Any advice from others who've done similar courses? (Assume no programming knowledge. Assume Python)
3107
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
hakwan lau @hakwan.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
authors.elsevier.com/c/1nA3C_KOmx... new paper in Neuron in which we argue that many claims on consciousness in AI & animals etc are inconsistent. they are driven by theories/views that are not really supported by empirical evidence. they confuse subjective experience w/ cognition or perception
authors.elsevier.com
Please wait whilst we redirect you
All content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
16026
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Tobias Staudigl @tobiasstaudigl.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
📢 New paper out in @nathumbehav.nature.com: we identify a previously undescribed fast thalamic oscillation (~19–45 Hz) in rare intracranial human recordings that appears specifically during wakefulness and REM sleep — but disappears during NREM sleep. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Thalamic oscillations distinguish natural states of consciousness in humans | Nature Human Behaviour
25123
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Nick Myers @nick-myers.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
New paper with @paulm-k.bsky.social and Mark Stokes on how we switch internal attention between working memory contents. Beta-band oscillations tracked the magnitude and success of these switches. www.jneurosci.org/content/46/1... #neuroskyence
jneurosci.org
Human Beta Oscillations Reflect Magnitude and Fidelity of Priority Shifts in Working Memory
Flexible prioritization in working memory (WM) is supported by neural oscillations in frontal and sensory brain areas, but the roles of different oscillations remain poorly understood. Recordings in h...
15232
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Laura Dugué @lauradugue.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
🚨Check out our last publication in #TheJournalOfNeuroscience! Work led by @cogsenoussi.bsky.social and @lauriegalas.bsky.social. @upcite.bsky.social | @erc.europa.eu www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
jneurosci.org
Theta oscillations selectively support attentional exploration of space
Attention facilitates stimulus processing by selecting specific locations (spatial attention) or features (feature-based attention). It can be sustained on a given location or feature, or re-oriented ...
0286
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
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 …
218472
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Chris Baldassano @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
The final typeset version of this paper is online now! Check out the new analysis approach that Narjes developed to track changes in event structure at multiple timescales, allowing us to see how event dynamics in a film clip change with repeated viewing
05413
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Randolph Helfrich @randolph-helfrich.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Very excited to share our latest paper led by @nbinish.bsky.social in @natneuro.nature.com We demonstrate how a communication subspace channels higher-dimensional PFC dynamics into lower-D motor activity to enable efficient behavior using human iEEG. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroskyence
nature.com
A communication subspace relays context-dependent actions from human prefrontal to motor cortex - Nature Neuroscience
Context-dependent behavior selects actions according to task demands. Using direct brain recordings in humans, Binish et al. uncover how coordinated population activity efficiently channels informatio...
311044
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Thanks for flagging this, it's a really nice paper!
020
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Lastly, on methodological note, peak-locking was essential here. Memory reactivation is temporally variable, so standard cue-locked analyses lacked the sensitivity needed to detect it. Aligning trials to the moment of maximal decoding revealed what stimulus-locked analyses could not. [7/7]
061
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
This also raises questions for memory interventions. If reactivation doesn't guarantee awareness, then interventions that boost reactivation alone may not reliably restore memory function [6/7]
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Speculatively, the network desynchronises to make representational space, while stimulus-specific content synchronises within that space to rise above the noise, providing two routes to the same outcome. [5/7]
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Notably, this happens against the backdrop of well-known alpha power decreases during successful retrieval. Both effects, the stimulus-specific rhythmicity and the global power decrease, independently and additively predict whether recall occurs. [4/7]
120
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
So, what separates memories that reach awareness from those that don't? Part of the answer seems to involve alpha oscillations (~10 Hz). Reactivated representations fluctuate rhythmically in the alpha band, and this rhythmicity is greater for memories that are overtly recalled. [3/7]
150
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
We find that the brain can reinstate stimulus-specific content in sensory cortex and you can decode it even when participant can't overtly recall the memory. Reactivation alone isn't enough to bring that memory to awareness [2/7]
140
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
New paper out in J. Neuro! We used MEG and pattern classifiers to ask: if a memory is reactivated in the brain, does that mean you'll recall it? Short answer: no. www.jneurosci.org/content/46/1... Read on for the details! [1/7] #neuroscience #memory
jneurosci.org
Alpha Oscillations Track the Projection of Reactivated Memories into Conscious Awareness
By definition, episodic memory is a conscious phenomenon. Memory traces reactivated by the hippocampus and reinstated in the sensory cortices need to enter conscious awareness for them to be re-experi...
211049
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
"Successful removal of amyloid from the brain does not seem to be associated with clinically meaningful effects in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia..." New Cochrane review of amyloid-beta targeting monoclonal antibodies: www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.... #neuroscience
cochranelibrary.com
Amyloid‐beta‐targeting monoclonal antibodies for people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease - Nonino, F - 2026 | Cochrane Library
Select your preferred language for Cochrane reviews and other content. Sections without translation will be in English.
072
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Communications Psychology @commspsychol.nature.com · 04/03/2026
Synchronised rhythmic multisensory entrainment enhances episodic memory performance only when the trials’ actual theta phases follow the stimulation faithfully. Pre-stimulus alpha plays a role in modulating the upcoming trials’ entrainment strength. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
Pre-stimulus alpha power modulates trial-by-trial variability in theta rhythmic multisensory entrainment strength and theta-induced memory effect - Communications Psychology
Synchronised rhythmic multisensory entrainment enhances episodic memory performance only when the trials’ actual theta phases follow the stimulation faithfully. Pre-stimulus alpha plays a role in modu...
061
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Casper Kerrén @ckerren.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
1/9 New paper with @gonzalezgarcia.bsky.social and @lindedomingo.bsky.social : “Characterising semantic prioritisation in visual working memory.” Core question: when we hold visual info briefly in mind, what gets accessed first: perceptual details or semantic meaning?
13510
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Communications Psychology @commspsychol.nature.com · 25/02/2026
AI, particularly in the form of LLMs has significantly shaken the field of psychology, and the behavioural sciences in general. Among excitement about the capabilities, there are also significant concerns about what use of AI - by respondents or researchers - will mean for the field.
101
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Rik Henson @rhens.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Great work by Roni Tibon (not on BlueSky) - surprising that negligible difference in fMRI correlates of semantic vs episodic retrieval?
02512
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Randolph Helfrich @randolph-helfrich.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Ripple oscillations are central for memory and sleep. But ripple detection in humans remains challenging. Here we introduce a simulation approach in @natcomms.nature.com as common ripple detectors mainly pick up 1/f noise and not genuine oscillations 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroskyence
nature.com
Aperiodic 1/f noise drives ripple activity in humans - Nature Communications
How aperiodic 1/f noise drives ripple activity in human brain and impacts on ripple detections is not fully understood. Here authors show that ripple detections should be driven by the 1/f noise, whic...
210135
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Casper Kerrén @ckerren.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
New preprint: Inference over hidden contexts shapes the geometry of conceptual knowledge for flexible behaviour. In this pre-reg study, our core claim was that we don’t just learn stimulus-reward. We infer hidden context and that inference re-wires attention and neural state space on the fly. 1/8
13816
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Darya Frank @darya-frank.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
📣 We have a new PhD studentship (UK home students) at @fbmh-uom.bsky.social funded by @royalsociety.org. Interested in human memory, VR, and neuroimaging? This is the project for you 🧠 tinyurl.com/memoryVRPhD Application deadline January 31st!
056
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Juan Linde-Domingo @lindedomingo.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
It’s official! The postdoc positions announcement is here 🚀 If you know great candidates interested in attention, memory transformation and EEG, please help spread the word: Project (ReDAS) -> cimcyc.ugr.es/en/informati... Job offer -> cimcyc.ugr.es/en/informati...
cimcyc.ugr.es
Bridging Fields in Psychology and Neuroscience with Multidisciplinary Collaboration
Strengthening collaboration to encourage novel research connections between scientific areas is central to the CIMCYC - María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence strategy . To encourage this, the CIMCYC has ...
12027
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Thomas Schreiner @tschreiner.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
I’m proud of @estebanbt.bsky.social and his first-author PhD work. The article highlights how breathing shapes remembering by coordinating key neural signatures of retrieval. Thanks to @lmumuenchen.bsky.social for the nice coverage: www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...
lmu.de
Neuropsychology: How respiration shapes remembering
Breathe in – breathe out: LMU researchers show that respiration influences when our memory works best.
0153
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Juan Linde-Domingo @lindedomingo.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Asking informally: does anyone know someone who might be interested in a postdoc focused on understanding changes in memory representations driven by attention using EEG? ⚡️Thanks!
11826
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Anna á V. Guttesen @annaavali.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Check out our new paper! We evaluate what we know (and don't know) about the link between memory consolidation during sleep and next-day learning 👇
0229
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Laura Dugué @lauradugue.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
🚨New publication! I am extremely happy to share this new review article in elife on #Traveling_Waves! @erc.europa.eu @upcite.bsky.social elifesciences.org/articles/106...
elifesciences.org
Traveling waves across scales: Different mechanisms but same canonical computation?
The review proposes a novel mechanistic distinction between first- and second-order traveling waves that subserves a same canonical computation by ordering neuronal processing to impose a computationa...
37625
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Scott Cairney @sacairney.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Please repost! Fully funded four-year PhD studentship opportunity on sleep deprivation and neurovascular dysfunction on the BBSRC Yorkshire Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership, including annual stipend, research costs and home tuition fees tinyurl.com/ms7v2pcx
tinyurl.com
Disrupted Sleep: Mechanisms Linking Sleep Deprivation, Neurovascular Dysfunction, and Metabolic Pathways at Leeds Beckett University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Disrupted Sleep: Mechanisms Linking Sleep Deprivation, Neurovascular Dysfunction, and Metabolic Pathways at Leeds Beckett University, listed on FindAPhD.com
01936
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
It's been a long road, but glad to get this out. Many thanks to all the collaborators @katduecker.bsky.social Camille Fakche, @lauradugue.bsky.social @ajquinn.bsky.social @olejensen.bsky.social involved!! [6/6]
010
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
These findings challenge the assumption that rhythmic light stimulation is spectrally precise. Instead, they suggest rhythmic stimulation elicits multiple, concurrent responses, each with its own neural and behavioural signature. [5/6]
100
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Importantly, when analysing visual perceptual performance, models that accounted for both responses did a better job of explaining behaviour, suggesting fundamental and harmonic responses to stimulation independently shape visual perception. [4/6]
110
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Using empirical mode decomposition, we found that: (i) beta-band rhythmic light stimulation produces harmonic oscillatory responses at gamma frequencies, and... (ii) theta-band rhythmic light stimulation produces harmonic oscillatory responses at alpha frequencies. [3/6]
100
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Synchronisation theory states that a rhythmic input can entrain higher frequency endogenous rhythms, but does this happen when the brain responds to rhythmic stimulation? We investigated this across three M/EEG datasets, using a variety of stimulation parameters and two experimental tasks. [2/6]
110
Ben Griffiths @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Delighted to share our new preprint! We show that rhythmic light stimulation produces multiplexed oscillatory responses at fundamental and harmonic frequencies that are spatially, temporally, and functionally distinct. Read on for the details [1/6] www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #neuroskyence
biorxiv.org
Rhythmic light stimulation elicits multiple concurrent neural responses that separably shape human perception
Rhythmic light stimulation offers solutions to innumerable cognitive and neurological disorders. However, like any neuromodulatory technique, responses to rhythmic light stimulation are highly variabl...
1298
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Aidan Horner @aidanhorner.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
I wrote a thing on episodic memory and systems consolidation. I hope you all enjoy it and/or find it interesting. A neural state space for episodic memories www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
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 …
216367
Reposted by Ben Griffiths
Peter Kok @peterkok.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
@dotproduct.bsky.social's first first author paper is finally out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! Her findings show that content-specific predictions fluctuate with alpha frequencies, suggesting a more specific role for alpha oscillations than we may have thought. With @jhaarsma.bsky.social. 🧠🟦 🧠🤖
jneurosci.org
Contents of visual predictions oscillate at alpha frequencies
Predictions of future events have a major impact on how we process sensory signals. However, it remains unclear how the brain keeps predictions online in anticipation of future inputs. Here, we combin...
711243