iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Thanks to my hard-working lab members - especially PhD student Abby Gantz and lab manager Adya Agarwal - for generating preliminary data and analyses used in the application. Also thanks to Co-PI @evfedorenko.bsky.social

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Excited to share that my lab has been awarded an NSF Cognitive Neuroscience grant! We will use an optimized precision fMRI approach to study the functional organization of the anterior temporal lobe and its role in social cognition, language, and long-term memory.

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Thanks! This does look relevant, I’ll check it out.

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Excited to share some new work from the lab at SfN this year! #sfn25

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

This paper faced the most challenging peer review process I’ve experienced in my career - a years-long journey with numerous submissions - but I’m glad to say that the end product is substantially improved! 11/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

We speculate that DN-B and A may both support the core function of constructing internal relational models, but in separate content domains: ToM-like models of familiar people, and cognitive maps of familiar places 10/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Person-preferring areas corresponded closely to DN-B. Place-preferring areas were predominantly observed in DN-A, with responses additionally observed in VIS-P and dATN-A/B (if you’ve already seen our preprint, skip to Fig 4 for these new results) 9/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Areas preferring people or places were functionally connected across frontal, parietal, and temporal cortex, with each system reaching the apex of a unimodal-to-transmodal gradient 8/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

These responses were reliably observed across each task context, suggesting for a dissociation based on content domain rather than cognitive process 7/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

We found that separate areas of association cortex responded to task conditions involving people or places, respectively 6/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

We tested this view with a precision fMRI approach, scanning individuals while performing visual, semantic, and episodic tasks involving familiar people or places, or generic objects 5/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

One possibility is that each network supports a distinct cognitive process, such as social cognition and episodic memory. Here we argue for an alternative: the two systems support a common process acting on distinct content domains (people and places) 4/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Recent work has advanced this debate by demonstrating the DMN in fact comprises two separate, interdigitated networks, termed DN-A and B. How should we understand the functional dissociation between these two systems? 3/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

We address the longstanding question of how to understanding the function of the "default mode network," which has been argued to support a staggering range of processes - social cognition, long-term memory, internally generated thought, spatial navigation, etc 2/

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Thrilled that this work is (finally) out! We argue that the human brain contains parallel systems for understanding people and places. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 1/

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Reposted by Ben Deen

Laurie O'Brien @laurieobrien.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

We are searching for a Professor and Chair of Psychology at Tulane University. I am chairing the search committee and am happy to answer any questions about the position. All inquiries will be treated confidentially. Please share with your networks: apply.interfolio.com/173828

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

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Reposted by Ben Deen

Heather L Kosakowski @kosakowski.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

My lab at USC is recruiting! 1) research coordinator: perfect for a recent graduate looking for research experience before applying to PhD programs: usccareers.usc.edu REQ20167829 2) PhD students: see FAQs on lab website dornsife.usc.edu/hklab/faq/

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Reposted by Ben Deen

Selin Zeytinoglu @selinzeytinoglu.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Excited to announce that I started as an Assistant Professor at Tulane’s Psychology Department! Made it to the beautiful New Orleans & enjoying the oak trees! Recruiting PhD students through the Brain, Cognition & Dev Science area (deadline Dec 1). Please share widely & contact me with questions!

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Great work by @lillianbehm.bsky.social and colleagues on factors that influence successful data collection for infant fMRI! Happy to play a small part in the massive effort that went into collecting these data.

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Ben Deen @bmhdeen.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

Hello #HiSciSky! I’m a cognitive neuroscientist and Asst Professor of Psychology at Tulane. My lab is recruiting a postdoc and graduate students to study social cognition: www.socialmemorylab.com/join-the-lab #CogSci #cogpsyc #PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #neuroimaging

socialmemorylab.com

Join the Lab — Social Memory Lab

Are you interested in joining the Deen Lab? Available positions and contact information are described here.

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