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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I am looking to take this work forward with future bids and research partners in media, policy and charity sectors. If you are a journalist, policy maker, NGO or researcher please get in touch if you want to be a part of where we go from here - and please share!

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

But there is an upside. With humanitarian science, we start by understanding the problem, and then design better ways to make life better for more people. We can measure bias, understand it, and then measure success. 7/8

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This matters. Foreign aid budgets are falling while conflict, pandemics and climate change make the need greater. Nationalist politics encourage us to value lives beyond our borders less. Our biases are probably feeding this and that's part of what humanitarian campaigns are quietly up against. 6/8

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

We also told participants if the people lived or died, focussing on areas associated with social emotions when harm comes to others, followed by a whole brain analysis. Home country deaths activate these regions more than survival. No such differentiation happens for lives lost abroad. 5/8

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

For lives in the UK, it is highest for the lowest numbers. For foreign country lives, it has and 'inverted U' pattern, due to single lives at risk abroad generating far less engagement than home country counterparts. One theory is that this reflects our experiences and expectations with media. 4/8

Figure showing 'inverted u' pattern of neural response to the number of lives affected, in eight brain regions.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

When it came to money at risk, the brain scaled up its response with the amount that could be lost. Not so, for human lives at risk. For the largest numbers it actually goes down -- across the board. This supports a 'collapse of compassion' account of disengagement. 3/8

Figure showing where neural response to the number of lives affected drops with magnitude of potential loss, whereas response to the magnitude of financial loss goes up with magnitude.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Over decade ago, I was concerned about why news engagement and global inequalities don't reflect that all lives have equal value. So @drjocutler.bsky.social and I designed a task to see what happens in the brain as we learn of different numbers of real lives at risk at home or 56 other countries.2/8

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

How does the brain respond to news of human lives at risk? For money, the brain responds more with the amount that could be lost. For human lives, the response collapses, and a life lost abroad doesn't hit like one at home. The wiring behind compassion fade: doi.org/10.1093/scan...

Headline image of neural response to home country deaths generating anterior insula response, but this effect is absent for abroad country deaths.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

I found this really helpful, Thank you. 🌟

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Identifiable victims may also be helpful here. Do not present statistics. Present an identified pedestrian who would have survived if the driver was driving a smaller car.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Glad this research is being done. I think telling people how dangerous SUVs are to others is interpreted as how dangerous SUVs are to the self and family, and therefore one should buy an SUV to protect the self. The information doesn't change propensity to buy, just the reasons for buying it.

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George Tertikas @gtertikas.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

1/10 Happy to share that our paper, "Acute Anxiety Selectively Enhances Value-Free Random Exploration Through Frontoparietal Engagement", has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Neuroscience. 🧠 www.jneurosci.org/content/earl... Paper PDF available upon request.

jneurosci.org

Acute Anxiety Selectively Enhances Value-Free Random Exploration Through Frontoparietal Engagement

Motivational decision-making is most adaptive when exploitation of known rewards is effectively balanced against exploration of uncertain alternatives. Trait anxiety influences this balance across ind...

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Karin Roelofs @epanlab.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Super proud of @sjoerdmeijer.bsky.social who demonstrated that amygdala-TUS slows initial threat acquisition and enhances subsequent extinction. Great collaboration with @lennartverhagen.bsky.social and @deVoogdld.bsky.social ea. Thanks to @ERC.europa.eu. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

The human amygdala in threat learning and extinction

Ultrasonic neuromodulation of the human amygdala provides causal evidence for its role in forming persistent threat memories.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Sounds like a rough neighborhood. Nice view though.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

I take it back, EVERYONE should publish their abstracts in punk rock format. youtu.be/4baxSlV8hms I may or may not post the metal version, which is epic.

youtu.be

General and anxiety linked influences of serotonin on visceral sensation - punk version

YouTube video by Dan CM

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Epic research journey! Sounds far more stressful than it needed to be. Great informative findings in the end though!

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

100 of 140 unis in the UK will be deciding who will lose their job in 2025. It's the small/mid-range Unis. Sussex will lose 12%. If you review a grant for these faculty, please be kind. This is not the time to be competitive or clever. If it is great, just say so. It could be their last shot.

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Quentin Huys @docqhuys.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

How do DA and 5HT drugs alter reinforcement learning? Join us next Wednesday for talks by @anahitm.bsky.social, Diego Pizzagalli, Michael Browning, Roshan Cools, Emma Robinson, Yael Niv, Cath Harmer, Isabel Berwian, @nathanieldaw.bsky.social and Anne Collins. Links etc: acplab.org/2024/11/15/r...

acplab.org

RELMED Workshop 20th Nov 2024 – Applied Computational Psychiatry Lab

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Over the MOON with class feedback this term for Social Neuroscience 🌙. I've revamped the material and tried some new things that have worked. Feels good.

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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 25/10/2024

Academics in their forties

guy pointing at himself in the mirror meme, saying "you are still an early career scholar"

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Cool! Glad you are reading it! It's the work I am most proud of. Let me know if you would like some presubmission feedback. It took a while to get our paper right. Both the interoception and pharmacology folks have diverse views and it can be a real challenge to please them all.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

These are amazing! I will look into using them for our interoception class. I just realised I need to be more specific with a group heavy on interoception (OTHER people's bodies). I am such a hive mind rookie....

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

I just realised I need to be more specific! Papers of processing other people's faces and OTHER people's bodies 😂

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

What's your favourite face or body processing paper? I am trying to think of a paper about face or body processing for teaching my Social Neuroscience Masters class. Something in the last 10 years, not too complicated but interesting and cool. Any suggestions, hive mind?

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Jo Cutler @drjocutler.bsky.social · 09/09/2024

I'll be @bacn.co.uk this week if you or anyone you know might be interested in this and want to chat

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Micah G. Allen @micahgallen.com · 10/06/2024

Got a bad gut feeling 😖? In a new study, led by the brilliant @leahbanellis.bsky.social and Ignacio Rebollo, we combined fMRI & electrogastrographic (EGG) imaging in more than 200 participants to uncover links between the gastric-brain axis and mental health. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵👇

A complex figure showing an overview of our stomach-brain to psychiatric symptom fingerprinting pipeline.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

Get in touch if you have any questions, comments or thoughts! I love to chat about this field. Otherwise, just share and enjoy the paper 😄

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

The paper is #openaccess with Translational Psychiatry @Transl_Psych. Thanks to the reviewers and editors (you da best!) and everyone who contributed. Find loads more in the paper and supp materials. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

Also preliminary is that the neural SSRI effect on cardiac interoception in the amygdala predicted our previously published effects metacognitive cardiac interoceptive insight (this is in the supplemental material). 8/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

Exploratory post hoc analysis also showed that the effects of the SSRI on the stomach response in the amygdala predicted effects on anxiety (increases and decreases) across the sample. 7/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

Excitingly, we replicated the already-known interoception response that is proportional to anxiety in the anterior insula on a placebo. But the SSRI BREAKS that link, with a significant change in the interoception-anxiety relationship in the region. 6/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

This SSRI effect also happened during attention to the heart in the amygdala, possibly reflecting an effect on the integration of cardiac interoception in affective processes 5/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

The SSRI reduced viscerosensory (posterior insula and surrounding) and integrative (amygdala) interoceptive processing of attended stomach sensation on BOTH sides of the brain (relative to effects on exteroception). 4/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

21 healthy volunteers focused their attention on their stomach, heart or a pulsing visual stimulus. They did this on a single oral SSRI dose (20mg citalopram) and, at another time, did the same on a placebo. This design is WITHIN-subjects, people! 42 scan sessions. 3/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 06/06/2024

Not much is known about how neurotransmitters regulate interoception, but there was a LOT of circumstantial evidence pointing to serotonin. Interoception shares associations with a lot of known serotonin effects. Turns out, this probably isn’t a coincidence. 2/10

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 18/01/2024

Miss the PhD deadline? There's a NEW round of PhD scholarships available at Uni of Sussex Psychology, 4 open to international students, 1 for a candidate from a UK BAME background. Loads of supervisors to choose from. Contact me for social cognition/neuroscience projects. tinyurl.com/dpvtzwtz

tinyurl.com

Psychology Doctoral Research Studentships (UK and International) : University of Sussex

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 17/01/2024

Is there a consensus on the benefits and costs of task based multi-echo fmri (multi-band multi-echo, ME-ICA etc)? Is it still considered experimental? Does anyone use it routinely? I am thinking about it for a event-related paradigm.

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Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn @drdanielcm.bsky.social · 09/11/2023

Would journals please take longer to review my paper? I need more time to not think about it and get the rest of my life in order.

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