iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Collaborative work with Chiara Scarampi, Chhavi Sachdeva & Pei-Chun Tsai. Data and code are on OSF osf.io/sk468/overview

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We argue that this "digital amnesia" is an adaptive process that prioritises the brain's limited-capacity systems for the most valuable information.

There was evidence for a sustained neural trace of the earlier stimulus in the Remember condition, but it faded until it was statistically absent in the Offload and Forget conditions, which did not differ from each other.

Time-resolved decoding graph showing sustained decoding in the Remember condition, but a return to chance-decoding in the Forget and Offload conditions

Participants viewed pictures of faces or scenes, then they got a cue to Remember (for a memory test), Forget (there will be no test), or Offload (the memory test will come with a reminder). Brain activity to Offload cues closely resembled Forget cues.

fMRI map of regions that distinguished Forget from Remember cues

Bar chart showing that most Offload cues were classified into the Forget rather than Remember condition

Cognitive offloading weakens the neural representation of to-be-remembered information - Scientific Reports

Just published - what happens in the brain when people offload memories into external reminders? Using fMRI decoding, we found that the corresponding neural trace fades until it becomes statistically absent. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵...

nature.com

Scientific Reports - Cognitive offloading weakens the neural representation of to-be-remembered information

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Maria Auxent @maria-auxent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Bearing in mind the Warburg Institute’s tradition of studying the art of memory, I really enjoyed this excellent podcast on cognitive offloading—from counting on our fingers to relying on photos, other people and AI. What do we gain or lose? open.spotify.com/episode/2emj...

open.spotify.com

Cognitive offloading and its consequences

Many Minds · Episode

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Sam Gilbert @samgilbert.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I spoke with @manymindspod.bsky.social about research into cognitive offloading, metacognition, memory, photo-taking, GPS, AI, and why there’s no such thing as “digital dementia”. Thanks so much for having me!

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Quentin Moreau @quentinmoreau.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

📣 Special Issue coming out in Oxford Open Neuroscience! 📣 With @samgilbert.bsky.social, Sarah Boukarras, @ryssamoffat.bsky.social, and @juancamiload.bsky.social , we're putting together a collection focused on moving beyond descriptive accounts of synchrony! academic.oup.com/oons/pages/c...

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Peer Community in Registered Reports @pci-regreports.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

A warm welcome to two new PCI RR-friendly journals: Oxford Open Neuroscience (edited by @samgilbert.bsky.social & team) & Cadernos de Linguística @cadlin.bsky.social, edited by Miguel Oliveira, Jr. Full journal entries: rr.peercommunityin.org/about/pci_rr... rr.peercommunityin.org/about/pci_rr...

Statement of commitment: Cadernos de Linguística will automatically offer Stage 1 in-principle acceptance (IPA) to any Stage 1 RR within the journal’s disciplinary scope that receives IPA at PCI RR, and will accept without further peer review any Stage 2 RR that has been recommended by PCI RR, subject to the manuscript meeting the journal requirements concerning statistical thresholds and bias control.

Disciplinary scope: Research in linguistics that advances understanding of human language.

Statement of commitment: Oxford Open Neuroscience will automatically offer Stage 1 in-principle acceptance (IPA) to any Stage 1 RR within the journal’s disciplinary scope that receives IPA at PCI RR, and will accept without further peer review any Stage 2 RR that has been recommended by PCI RR, subject to the authors paying the applicable article processing charge and the manuscript meeting the journal requirements concerning bias control and formatting.

Disciplinary scope: Research covering the widest interpretation of neuroscience in health and disease, encompassing basic, translational, and clinical research, and sub-fields including cellular and molecular neuroscience, neural development, neurogenetics, systems and behavioural neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience.

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Sam Gilbert @samgilbert.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

and I agree with @olivia.science and @irisvanrooij.bsky.social too! I’m concerned about uncritical AI adoption, but losing our cognitive abilities - like AGI panic - is at the bottom of my list for why. Both exaggerate AI’s actual competence

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Sam Gilbert @samgilbert.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

Thanks Cian! Yes I think that’s right - likely some partial information retained (interesting question exactly what), and/or also pointer to where to find info rather than content itself. Would love to do more studies to look into this

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University of Cambridge @cam.ac.uk · 24/10/2025

Do you have a memory so vivid you can relive it? @campsydept.bsky.social and @durham.ac.uk are exploring how vivid human memories work across our lives – and how ideas about them have evolved over time. Your experiences could help us understand memory better. Take our survey: bit.ly/3J1FQ8y

Person in a pink sweater smiling with eyes closed, with text reading 'Do you have a memory so vivid you can relive it?'

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Collaborative work with Chiara Scarampi, Chhavi Sachdeva & Pei-Chun Tsai. Data and code are on OSF osf.io/sk468/overview

osf.io

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We argue that this "digital amnesia" is an adaptive process that prioritises the brain's limited-capacity systems for the most valuable information.

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