Sign in

Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠

@nataliepeluso.com
4.2K followers 2.5K following 1.4K posts

Cognitive science PhD candidate in perceptual organisation of naturalistic faces across the lifespan, & former award-winning operatic soprano. Curious about embodied social intelligence, self-expression, & self-experience.

PostsRepliesMedia
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 1h
Seeing hand gestures’ early beginnings improves predictions of upcoming utterance meaning www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Seeing hand gestures’ early beginnings improves predictions of upcoming utterance meaning
In face-to-face conversation, people convey meaning multimodally, including speech and hand gestures. Previous work showed that comprehenders can use gestures to predict utterance content, but it i...
131
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Tay (Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró) @biotay.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Blinking as an Indicator of Cognitive Flexibility We already knew that blinking acts as a 'pause between thoughts', in both humans and other species. Here, they found a correlation between blinking and executive function performance in children aged 2 to 6. (paper) www.nature.com/articles/s44...
1157
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 2h
This is a two-fer: 1. IT cortex encodes not just what objects are, but also where they are. 2. Current AI does not work like IT cortex. www.cell.com/current-biol... #neuroscience
cell.com
The macaque IT cortex but not current artificial vision networks encode object position in perceptually aligned coordinates
Yakubovskaya et al. show that motion adaptation shifts macaque IT population codes for object position in a direction that mirrors human perceptual mislocalization. Current feedforward, recurrent, and...
0124
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 23h
unbefuckinglievable fucktastic absobloodylutely Australians are funny because generally we like to shorten everything (avo, arvo, fluro, barbie, mozzie I could go on) but exceptions are always made when there's an opportunity to swear 🤣
130
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 02/10/2026
Impunity is the political and technological norm so I understand how they feel. But younger people are also organising themselves to be a massive force for good - trying to stay optimistic
000
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 02/10/2026
👀
000
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Dr Keith Wilson 💭 @keithwilson.eu · 02/10/2026
🚨 Public Service Announcement: The Philosophy Discussion feed has been replaced by #PhilosophySky. Both feeds contain the same content filtered by @philosophy.eurosky.social list membership. Please switch to the new #PhilSky feed before 1st November to avoid interruption. 🙏 mu.social/profile/did:...
1187
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 01/10/2026
frankly I thought this was just dumb clickbait until I saw the comments. Now I'm really concerned because I cannot unsee the kookaburra no matter how long I stare...
140
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
11571372049
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Time for this classic again.
155164185540
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’ve been fully brainwormed by @anthonymoser.com’s observation that Altman only has three facial expressions, so now whenever I see a photo, I note which one it is (here: ‘processing bad news,’ with overtones of ‘saw a ghost’; the third is ‘jackass’).
0187
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
European Society for Cognitive Psychology @escop.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Call for unpublished data: Holistic processing of same-race versus cross-race faces and its relationship to the cross-race recognition deficit
escop.eu
ESCOP - Call for unpublished data: Holistic processing of same-race versus cross-race faces and its relationship to the cross-race recognition deficit
ESCOP is a dynamic scientific society that provides a venue within which current research in cognitive psychology and neighboring disciplines can be presented, discussed and encouraged.
023
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Scott Juntti @scottjuntti.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This matters because visual input must be transformed into coordinated motor output, moment by moment. Comparing cichlids and zebrafish reveals that similar behavioral goals can be achieved through different movement strategies—linking evolutionary diversity to the organization of behavior.
1105
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 29/09/2026
I'm currently listening to Cory Doctorow's latest book 'Enshittification - Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It" and it's surprisingly hopeful!
000
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Alix Dunn @alixdunn.com · 29/09/2026
Who could have guessed.
Guardian headline "Trial of live facial recognition in London station ends with a false positive and no arrests"
17730
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 29/09/2026
Genuinely this has been the problem in face perception research for All Time
110
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (JoCN) @jocn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Abstract Property-selective Clusters Link Continuous Property Representations to Discrete Category-selective Regions in Human Higher Visual Cortex
direct.mit.edu
Abstract Property-selective Clusters Link Continuous Property Representations to Discrete Category-selective Regions in Human Higher Visual Cortex
Abstract. Object representations in the human higher visual cortex (HVC) support complex recognition behaviors early in development, yet the principles linking continuous dimensional representations…
054
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
One reason to learn about things outside your major is so that you have something to talk about with people at parties and on dates. No amount of money will make up for you being a crushing bore. History majors learn this early but I guess it takes other people longer.
27984106
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 28/09/2026
How observers decode pain from facial reactions. Distributed patterns of facial muscle contractions drive pain judgments in both naturalistic and synthetic expressions. osf.io/preprints/ps... #PsychSciSky
osf.io
OSF
031
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 28/09/2026
🖐️'Seeing hand gestures’ early beginnings improves predictions of upcoming utterance meaning' From Marlijn ter Bekke, Lina van Otterdijk, Linda Drijvers & @judithholler.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #PsychSciSky
tandfonline.com
Seeing hand gestures’ early beginnings improves predictions of upcoming utterance meaning
In face-to-face conversation, people convey meaning multimodally, including speech and hand gestures. Previous work showed that comprehenders can use gestures to predict utterance content, but it i...
010
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Covert-attention studies challenge gaze-based accounts of choice and decision-making. Covert attention dynamically shapes decision making doi.org/10.7554/eLif... #neuroscience
doi.org
Covert attention dynamically shapes decision making
2297
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I’ve been reporting on the CDC for years, and have written about many of its troubles over the past year. I was still shocked by the extent of the staff losses and political interference I found when reporting this one. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...
nytimes.com
‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission (Gift Article)
The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.
381373571
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Mikkel Wallentin @mikkelwallentin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
New PhD-opportunity at Aarhus University with a project investigating the cognitive correlates of having no inner speech. Supervised by Johanne Nedergaard and yours truly. Deadline 11 November. Starting date 1 February 2027. Get in touch if you want to know more. phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/o...
phd.arts.au.dk
Individual differences in inner speech: Measurement and modelling (5+3), 2026-14
02118
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This, from Dennett, I wish I'd taken to heart earlier in my life. www.themarginalian.org/2014/03/28/d...
How to compose a successful critical commentary:

1 You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”
2 You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3 You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
4 Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.
520336
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 26/09/2026
Conflict, not category: What the pupil tracks in face pareidolia osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
050
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 26/09/2026
Confused about how this was published in Science without peer review. Isn't this better characterised as advertising?
2371
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
5843431192
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 26/09/2026
OpenAI enabled their bots to attempt hacking federal websites and to use stolen credentials to access government websites.
nytimes.com
OpenAI’s A.I. Went Rogue and Meddled With U.S. Government Websites (Gift Article)
The company did not learn until recently that its technology had meddled with websites for the Education Department, Commerce Department and Securities and Exchange Commission.
15424
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
UNSW Face Lab @unswfacelab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An integrative review chapter addressing whether ‘super-recognisers’ possess qualitatively different face processing expertise compared to the rest of us. Current evidence suggests not.
osf.io
White, D. (2025). What is special about super-recognisers? In From Super-Recognisers to the Face Blind: Why are some people better at recognising faces? p75–116, Lander, K. (Ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780191986802.003.0003
An integrative review chapter addressing whether ‘super-recognisers’ possess qualitatively different face processing expertise compared to the rest of us. Current evidence suggests not.
073
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 26/09/2026
Many-to-many mappings is exactly what faces do in the wild. Congratulations to @katiehoemann.bsky.social @lisafeldmanbarrett.com & team for helping to build a more veridical understanding of facial movements during development 👇
071
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 26/09/2026
Seriously? Wow this business is sounding more and more attractive every day
110
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Martin Hebart @martinhebart.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
What is the nature of universal representations in AI models, and what determines whether they emerge? Our paper accepted at #neurips2026 led by @florianmahner.bsky.social & @rothj.bsky.social addressed these questions comparing 162 vision models, with intriguing results. arxiv.org/abs/2605.13675 🧵
arxiv.org
Characterizing Universal Object Representations Across Vision Models
Deep neural networks trained with different architectures, objectives, and datasets have been reported to converge on similar visual representations. However, what remains unknown is which visual prop...
34115
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Michelle Greene @mgreenephd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🚨New paper alert! 🚨 The visual system tunes itself to the statistics of its input. How do individual experiences differently tune vision? In this work, @bjbalas.bsky.social and I examined how one individual difference—height—changes the visual diet and how this affects perception. 1/
29432
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
People of Milan - don't miss this special screening of CONSCIOUS (www.theconsciousfilm.com) at the Fondazione Prada, October 29th. Suki Chan - the creative force behind the film - will be there to talk it, with Pr. Daniela Perani. Details here: www.fondazioneprada.org/project/huma...
theconsciousfilm.com
About – CONSCIOUS
Suki Chan's CONSCIOUS - Learn about the feature film
1184
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 24/09/2026
Yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
060
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 24/09/2026
Jensen Huang, in the same interview: "One day, I had to pump gas - it was a few years ago. I couldn't remember my ZIP code." How can these men claim to steer the future when they don't even live on the same planet, makes my blood boil
030
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 24/09/2026
This is your daily reminder (courtesy of my daughter) that sometimes, work can wait.
Go TO BED 
Do your essay thing in the morning~ :( :(
Please :(
0130
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 23/09/2026
**Please** make time to read or listen to "End Times Fascism" now we must resist the manic, aligned motivations driving those in power (financially, politically, religiously, militarily, technologically) to drive humanity over a cliff @naomiaklein.bsky.social @astra.bsky.social
The cover of the audiobook 'End Times Fascism' by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
020
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 23/09/2026
Following for a recipe too if she's willing to share 🤗
010
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Andrew Tan @andrewtanyongyi.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"the author of one paper tried to describe the methods they used for analysis, but inadvertently ended up describing an entire p-hacking workflow." Asking Authors About Their Own Papers By Nihar B. Shah Interestingly, Prasad Jalepalli's comment below is also about AI for p-hacking.
medium.com
Asking Authors About Their Own Papers
By Nihar B. Shah
073
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 22/09/2026
Absolutely - if we only wrote what we've directly experienced there would be no fantasy. But grounding imagined life in real experience is part of the craft
000
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Corey Atad @coreyatad.com · 22/09/2026
“If you are staring at an example of social disorder or social inefficiency, and the left refuses to explain either why it has happened or how they will fix it, then the right gets to point at someone in the immediate area and say, ‘That’s who did it.’” crazy how much Mamdani speaks my language
5951591224
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 22/09/2026
The problem is research isn't the same as knowing through experience You can research everything there is to know about swimming but you'll never do it justice without ever having been in the water Writing what you've experienced is absolutely a clearer path to honest writing
230
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 22/09/2026
Interesting! If rhythmicity is important for managing temperature for a developing foetus, seems important to note that hot flashes are also somewhat rhythmic - super curious about what role estrogens have in thermoregulation during menopause
130
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 22/09/2026
When someone smiles, we don't perceive their eyes independently of their mouth, but as an integrated Gestalt. 😁 Here, changes in mouth shape increased the perceived brightness of the eyes (independent of higher level evaluations) 👀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A smiling mouth expression modulates gaze appearance by enhancing how the eyes light up - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A smiling mouth expression modulates gaze appearance by enhancing how the eyes light up
0101
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 21/09/2026
21,627 applications. 😱 This is completely unsustainable.
091
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 21/09/2026
🔥 Exposure to basic emotion labels primes people to respond with fewer unique labels when viewing faces. Here, a new study extends this to labelling face pareidolia in aging. TL:DR basic emotion labels need disentangling from task constraints www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
tandfonline.com
Emotion labelling varies with lexical complexity more than age in face pareidolia images
Forced choice paradigms constrain the emotion labels available to participants, limiting the range of lexical responses elicited by emotional stimuli. To characterise emotion labelling when this co...
1103
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 20/09/2026
What strategies would help first gen academics mitigate these challenges?
000
Reposted by Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠
Sam Schwarzkopf @sampendu.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Happy to see @genetang.bsky.social's review article on Charles Bonnet Syndrom now available as early-online in Brain! #VisionScience #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky doi.org/10.1093/brai...
doi.org
The neural mechanisms of Charles Bonnet syndrome
Charles Bonnet syndrome is characterised by visual hallucinations that cannot be explained by any other cause in individuals with visual impairment. Tangta
02910
Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 20/09/2026
whenever I feel my brain hurts, and I can't face reading another paper or writing another word, this is my happy place
The first page of the first chapter of the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Which you MUST read if you haven't already ❤️
250