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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Is it really possible that clinicians misinterpret the normal sleep behaviors of premature infants in the NICU as distress? And even sometimes treat these infants with opioids to relieve their "distress"? Indeed it is. Read our commentary below. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Sleep Disruption in the NICU: When Natural Sleep Behavior Looks Like Distress

Click on the article title to read more.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We are also conducting an open-area search for a tenure-track assistant professor in neuroscience. Please consider applying or forward to others who may be interested. psychology.uiowa.edu/about/job-op...

psychology.uiowa.edu

Job Openings

Learn more about the job opportunities available at University of Iowa in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We are searching this year for an outstanding new colleague in Clinical Science. We are focusing at the level of assistant professor, but more senior applicants are welcome. Please consider for yourself or forward to others who may be interested. psychology.uiowa.edu/about/job-op...

psychology.uiowa.edu

Job Openings

Learn more about the job opportunities available at University of Iowa in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Ever wonder what the earliest human behavior is? The most prevalent? Hint: It happens during sleep. Read our first paper on sleep in premature infants below. Huge effort from a talented team of scientists, physicians, research nurses, and students. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Twitching in sleeping premature infants provides a sensitive behavioral assay of early motor control

Limb twitching is among the earliest observable behaviors in human development and a hallmark of active (rapid eye movement, REM) sleep. Systematic as…

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

2/2 We will also be doing 2 Tenure-Track Faculty searches in the fall: one in Clinical Science and the other an open-area search in Neuroscience. More to come about them toward the end of the summer. Reach out to me with questions.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

1/2 We have 3 current and upcoming faculty searches in our department. First, we are currently doing an open-rank Clinical-Track Faculty search. Interest in leadership (clinic director) desirable. Learn more here: psychology.uiowa.edu/about/job-op...

psychology.uiowa.edu

Job Openings

Learn more about the job opportunities available at University of Iowa in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

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Current Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Twitching during REM sleep is important for honing the sensorimotor system during development in humans and other animals. But why do adults twitch during sleep? Check out this review by James Dooley & colleagues www.cell.com/current-biol...

cell.com

REM-sleep twitching in adults and the maintenance of specialized sensorimotor systems

Blumberg et al. present video evidence of twitching during adult sleep in a diverse sample of animals. Adult twitching appears to selectively involve appendages used for active sensing, mirroring thei...

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Jimmy Dooley @jimmycdooley.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

New paper (with lots of cute animal videos!) Ever watch your dog "run" while asleep and wonder what’s going on in their brain? In Current Bio we suggest that those twitches aren't just leaky dreams—they’re a vital maintenance system for the most precise movements www.cell.com/current-biol...

cell.com

REM-sleep twitching in adults and the maintenance of specialized sensorimotor systems

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Some brags land differently than others.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Congratulations to @antbergel.bsky.social and Paul-Antoine Libourel on their new paper. It was a pleasure being a part of the effort. I also enjoyed reading this article about the new findings: www.thetransmitter.org/sleep/snoozi...

thetransmitter.org

Snoozing dragons stir up ancient evidence of sleep’s dual nature

Lizard sleep may have more in common with mammalian sleep than was previously thought.

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Antoine Bergel @antbergel.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

⚠️ New paper alert and what a way to end 2025! 🎉 Happy to share our story “Sleep-dependent infraslow rhythms are evolutionarily conserved across reptiles and mammals.” published today in Nature Neuroscience. Sleeping dragons 🦎 and functional ultrasound! Read the full paper here: rdcu.be/eWJHb 1/8

rdcu.be

Sleep-dependent infraslow rhythms are evolutionarily conserved across reptiles and mammals

Nature Neuroscience - Bergel et al. show that an infraslow rhythm connecting the brain and body during sleep is shared by lizards, mammals and birds, revealing an ancestral process and reshaping...

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

This is a wonderful thread by @kohngregory.bsky.social! Read it carefully, follow the links, and spread it around. More scientists, including neuroscientists, will think better if they take the time to understand these important issues.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

The deadline for our open-area senior search is approaching. If you're looking for a new academic home and, perhaps, the security of a hard-money position, please consider applying.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

If you have any questions about this position or the one in clinical science, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. We're a growing, interdisciplinary, closely-knit, and supportive department. And we're looking for exceptional junior and senior scientists to join us.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

"chronic venous insufficiency." So that's what they're calling _____ these days.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Two faculty positions in my department this year. Please spread the word! And don't hesitate to reach out if you want to learn more.

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?"
"Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."

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60 Minutes @60minutes.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

The National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has fired 1,300 employees and cancelled more than $2 billion in federal research grants. cbsn.ws/4daiCrv

cbsn.ws

How cuts at the National Institutes of Health could impact Americans' health

Cuts and layoffs to the National Institutes of Health threaten medical research around the U.S., agency insiders warn.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Geez, if only the University of Iowa were among those mentioned in this article. Is it really that difficult? Even Nebraska is ahead of us. Nebraska!

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

From The Atlantic: “The Trump administration is manipulating government-sponsored research to get the answers it wants.” Who remembers Lysenko?

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Well, at least we know something horrifies her. It just ain't the people around her.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

I'm ashamed of the silence from campus leaders across the country as our international students are terrorized by threats, intimidation, and deportation. Ducking and covering is not the strategy they seem to think it is. Soon enough, they will find there's no place left to hide.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

I’ve committed myself to learning James Gadson’s brilliant drum pattern on Bill Withers’ Use Me. I’ve got the pattern down now; making it groove is the next big challenge.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

“Wildly destructive stupidity.” Nothing like simple clarity.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Oh Susan Collins. Bless her heart.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I’m totally with David Frum on this. We have a lot of farmers in Iowa. If Trump grants them a bailout from his tariffs, which they desperately want, I don’t want to hear them whine about welfare and socialism ever again. They voted for this pig sh*t. They can roll around in it with the rest of us.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Ouch. @benwikler.bsky.social has got game. Congrats and thanks to Wisconsin. We all needed this.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Very proud of my wonderful former doctoral student for Standing Up For Science!

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

As a developmental scientist, I find it fascinating that "the greatest country the world has ever known" will have been destroyed by economic and moral concerns about eggs, embryos, and fetuses.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Powerful response from Marc Elias to Musk's provocations. "I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey." Damn right.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

I was more than happy to be interviewed again by the talented @nhassenfeld.bsky.social for the new Unexplainable podcast. This one is about the connections among sleep, dreams, and twitching. I hope you enjoy! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

podcasts.apple.com

The problem with dreams

Podcast Episode · Unexplainable · 02/19/2025 · 28m

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Once again, we see that women (in this latest case, Danielle Sassoon) are the heroes we need in this time. Why are MAGA men such MEGA wimps?

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Important and informative new Unexplainable podcast episode (nhassenfeld.bsky.social) entitled “Is science in danger?” It lays out the threats but also provides helpful counterarguments to the nonsense out there. Everyone concerned for the state of US science should listen and share.

bsky.app

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

I don't know anyone who enters science to receive awards, and there are far fewer awards than deserving recipients. But this one is particularly sweet and I am grateful to the SRS for the recognition, not only for me but for the many wonderful trainees and collaborators with whom I have worked.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Another wonderful essay from Eve Marder — with important lessons for trainees and faculty. I'm looking forward to discussing it in my next lab meeting.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I'm noticing how neuroscientists are increasingly sprinkling their papers with the word "innate." It's quite clear that most have no idea what that word means. Perhaps they think the word makes their papers sound more important. And journal editors seem to fall for it.

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Jimmy Dooley @jimmycdooley.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

We’re calling this subfield (sub-subfield?) “Developmental Systems Neuroscience” and have put together a starter pack of some labs on Bluesky that we cited in the article. Of course, this list is still incomplete, so if want to be added, send Meike or me a DM. bsky.app/starter-pack...

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

One of the best threads ever! Wonderful to see it revived here.

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Jimmy Dooley @jimmycdooley.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

I just asked Timmy, a self-described "BroGTP" to come up with some metaphors to explain the major points from the ViewPoint article, and it did a pretty good job. I really like number 3

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

Are you an associate or full professor open to moving to Psych at Iowa for an endowed professorship and a very generous startup package? Check out our dept: psychology.uiowa.edu. If you want to learn more, email me at mark-blumberg@uiowa.edu.

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Mark Blumberg @marksblumberg.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

The Dept of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Iowa is searching for an assistant prof in computational psych/neuroscience, a full prof in any area, and two lecturers. Follow the link for details. psychology.uiowa.edu/about/job-op...

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