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Sarah Garfinkel

@sarahgarf.bsky.social
5.1K followers 1.1K following 175 posts

Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab. Interested in interoception, emotion, interactions between heart and brain, biological basis of empathy & Radio 4

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Reposted by Sarah Garfinkel
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/09/2026
New lawsuit accuses Trump administration of blocking NIH grants as form of censorship
theguardian.com
New lawsuit accuses Trump administration of blocking NIH grants as form of censorship
The administration has used a list of 235 keywords – such as ‘gender’ and ‘racist’ – to prevent topics from being funded
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
One of the things I love about the world cub is that it unifies support for players across clubs. Tonight it doesn’t matter if you are Tottenham or Arsenal, we are all backing Djed Spence
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Could it be possible? People of Clacton, don’t let us down. Count Binface VS Farage www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
My current favourite football video: 3 professional Japanese footballers vs 100 primary school children. youtu.be/MYFcTWKcuQM?...
youtu.be
100 Kids vs 3 Professional Footballers
YouTube video by The Beautiful Game
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Atesh Koul @ateshkoul.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Very excited for my paper with @giacomonovembre.bsky.social on spontaneous emergence of #Interpersonal #Physiological #Synchrony (IPS). We show that, even without a structured task, your autonomic bodily signals synchronize with another person just by looking at them! doi.org/10.1111/nyas... 🧵 1/6
doi.org
NYAS Publications
Dyads merely looking at each other synchronize autonomic physiology, including heart rate, pupil diameter, breathing rate, and skin conductance. Synchrony in some of these measures co-occurs with syn...
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Enjoying this talk about how to inflict maximum tickle. For anyone curious: (1) Touch velocity non-linearly modulates ticklishness, (2) force monotonically increases ticklishness until the touch is perceived as painful, (3) the smallest contact size & (4) longer duration induced more tickle #ESCAN
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
“But the best cable is the one you have already.” My talented brother @curiousscutter.bsky.social who really loves wires and cables ♥️
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Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore @sjblakemore.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Abstract submission now open for this excellent conference, which will be held in Brighton on 2-3 September www.sussex.ac.uk/collaborate/...
sussex.ac.uk
British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience (BACN) Annual Conference 2026 : Engage in networks and events : Collaborate : University of Sussex
Book an event at Sussex – our academics regularly present their latest work on campus or find out how to attend events organised by our partners.
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Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore @sjblakemore.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
In case it's of interest to anyone, here's a regularly updated list of UK postdoctoral research fellowships - feel free to share/copy sites.google.com/site/blakemo...
sites.google.com
Blakemore Lab - Postdoctoral Fellowships
Below is an overview of Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in the United Kingdom, which was originally curated by Professor Rogier Kievit. These have a special focus on psychology, neuroscience, develo...
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Got over excited when I saw them and dropped my phone!!! #Arsenal #Parade #COYG
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Deep breaths #Arsenal
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Do you like tactical card placement games? My talented friend Gary (we were undergraduate psychology students together many years ago!) has a kickstarter. Please consider supporting if this is your thing www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
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Reposted by Sarah Garfinkel
Jason Rasgon @vectorgen.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
This is fucking insanity www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
insidehighered.com
Report: NIH, NASA Restrict Co-Authoring With Foreign Scientists
The National Institutes of Health and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are targeting collaborations between U.S. scientists and foreign researchers, Science reports.
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
What a match! Thank you Bournemouth ♥️🤍 #Arsenal
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Lost.Resigned.Defected.Suspended.Sacked. #NotARealParty Stop the shift to popularist extremists with no expertise or experience
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Ryan Smith @rssmith.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
This is a new paper testing Bayesian computational mechanisms of improvements in cardiac interoception due to a training program developed by @sarahgarf.bsky.social and colleagues. Led by a very talented grad student @chatrins.bsky.social (www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...)
sciencedirect.com
A hierarchical Bayesian model reveals increased precision weighting for afferent cardiac signals, and reduced anxiety, as a function of interoceptive training
Interoceptive interventions offer a promising avenue for improving mental health conditions, which commonly feature bodily or interoceptive symptoms. …
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Hugo Spiers @hugospiers.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Massive study in @nature.com, converges with our past study of 750,000 people (Sea hero quest) to show u-shape curves for the impact of sleep. We studied cognition, here its disease impact: Sleep chart of biological ageing clocks in middle and late life www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Sleep chart of biological ageing clocks in middle and late life - Nature
A cross-organ, multi-omics U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and biological ageing clocks highlights the potential of sleep optimization to promote healthy ageing, lower disease risk and ex...
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Come on Arsenal…
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 10/05/2026
How could Labour remove Keir Starmer? Four possible routes
theguardian.com
How could Labour remove Keir Starmer? Four possible routes
Replacing a leader is difficult, as Jeremy Corbyn proved – but MPs can apply pressure, publicly or privately
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Karin Roelofs @epanlab.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
PhD Position: Computational Affective Neuroscience and Ultrasonic Neuromodulation at @dondersinst.bsky.social >Passionate about ultrasonic modulation? Come and join us! funded by @erc.europa.eu HEART2ADAPT @epanlab.bsky.social in coll. with @lennartverhagen.bsky.social www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
ru.nl
PhD Position: Computational Affective Neuroscience and Ultrasound Neuromodulation | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a PhD 'Computational Affective Neuroscience and Neuromodulation' at the Faculty of Social Sciences? Check our vacancy!
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Reposted by Sarah Garfinkel
Sara Mehrhof @saramehrhof.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Excited to share our new paper asking a simple question: Why do mental and metabolic health so often go hand in hand? We (@camillanord.bsky.social @hugofleming.bsky.social) tested whether shared neurocognitive signatures play a role in this relationship www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Computational phenotyping of effort-based decision-making in type-2 diabetes on and off semaglutide - Neuropsychopharmacology
Neuropsychopharmacology - Computational phenotyping of effort-based decision-making in type-2 diabetes on and off semaglutide
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Steve Fleming @smfleming.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Looking forward to this!
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Marta Gerosa @martager.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Excited to share our new preprint 📣 with P. Haggard, A. Villringer & @michaelgaebler.com Do internal bodily rhythms (cardiac + respiratory) shape not only when we act, but also our sense of agency (the feeling of control over actions and outcomes)? 🫀🫁 A thread below 🧵 [1/5]
Schematic summary of cardio-respiratory effects on voluntary action initiation and SoA
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
To my American colleagues, friends & collaborators: Masud Husain is amazing, do go if you’re in DC
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Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Nadine Dijkstra's talk at the MIT Consciousness Club is now available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rciv....
youtube.com
Nadine Dijkstra - Distinguishing imagination and reality in a generative brain
YouTube video by MIT Consciousness Club
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Oh Arsenal..
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Miriam Klein-Flügge 🧠 @mkflugge.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
🧠 Focused ultrasound changes emotional processing 🔊 In a new study published in Neuron today, we stimulated the human amygdala using transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) and show it plays a causal role in detecting and resolving emotional ambiguity.
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Athena Akrami @athenaakrami.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Academic friends, It's beyond heartbreaking to watch what's unfolding in Iran & the region. A few of us drafted an open letter calling for protection of civilians & of educational, research, medical & cultural institutions. Please read & sign if you agree: sites.google.com/view/protect... #IranWar
sites.google.com
Protect Academic Life in Iran
We, the undersigned academics and researchers from around the world, express our profound concern over recent military strikes on Iran, the retaliatory responses, and the reported impact on civilian l...
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Sahib Khalsa @skhalsa.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
I am pleased to announce the Embodied Minds Summit, a two-day gathering on interoception, consciousness, and the future of self-understanding in the age of artificial intelligence. May 2–3, 2026 | Los Angeles embodiedminds.ai
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Biological Psychiatry @biologicalpsych.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Major Depressive Disorder is characterized by a disrupted heart-brain relationship, where cardiac dysregulation (faster heart rate, reduced HRV) is linked to reduced insula gray matter volume.
biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com
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Rodrigo Braga @rodbraga.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
We dedicate this paper to Jonny Smallwood (1975-2025), who was instrumental in this project from inception to submission. Jonny thank you for your mentorship & you are dearly missed!
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Congratulations Dr Woelk! Thrilled that Sascha Woelk has successfully passed his viva, congratulations on an amazing thesis. Thank you so much to examiners @guidorgs.bsky.social and Ruben Azevedo! 🎉
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Congratulations to Benedict Greenwood for successfully passing his viva! First Dr from my UCL lab with brilliant co-supervisor @jameskilner.bsky.social. Many thanks to wonderful examiners @carien.bsky.social and @katerinafoto.bsky.social
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Masud Husain @masudhusain.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
March issue @brain1878.bsky.social with winning article in Brain Essay Competition by @oharealex.bsky.social considers if it is technologically feasible for machines to achieve human-level intelligence, and philosophically plausible for them to possess consciousness academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
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Reposted by Sarah Garfinkel
Hugo Spiers @hugospiers.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Human hippocampal theta–gamma coupling coordinates sequential planning during navigation Impressive study from Dan Bush's Lab at UCL: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 17/02/2026
Respiration Shapes the Neural Dynamics of Successful Remembering in Humans Journal of Neuroscience January 2026 #interoception #neuroskyence www.jneurosci.org/content/46/3...
jneurosci.org
Respiration Shapes the Neural Dynamics of Successful Remembering in Humans
Respiration has been shown to impact memory retrieval, yet the neural dynamics underlying this effect remain unclear. Here, we investigated how respiration shapes both behavioral and neural expression...
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Getting ready for #UCL200 where our lab will be in the Yellow room. Excited to be part of the celebrations 🎉
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UCL @ucl.ac.uk · 11/02/2026
Today, UCL turns 200. 🎉 For two centuries, our community has opened doors, challenged convention and pushed the boundaries of knowledge across every discipline. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of the UCL story, here’s to the next century. ✨ #UCL200 #LoveUCL
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Caswell Barry @caswell.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
I understand UKRI's need to restructure, but MRC reducing awards for applications already under review feels like a retrospective rule change. Applicants invested serious time based on expected success rates. Changing the deal after submission breaks a social contract.
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Institute of Philosophy - School of Advanced Study (UOL) @ip-sas.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🧠 Join us for the 4th annual Philosophy of AI Conference (21–22 May 2026), focusing on Reasoning and Agency in AI. Spaces are limited—register to secure your attendance! @sas-news.bsky.social @uolondon.bsky.social philosophy.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
philosophy.sas.ac.uk
Philosophy of AI Conference 2026 — Reasoning and Agency in AI
Please join us for the 4th annual Philosophy AI conference on 21-22 May 2026.
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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 06/01/2026
The role of science for democratic societies has never been more important. Register for our upcoming scientific meeting on 16-17 March 2026 and explore the theoretical and practical consequences of treating science as a global public good: bit.ly/3Y42i4F
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Giusi Porciello @giusiporciello.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
✨ We are all really excited about this! So much work has already been done, but the match has only just begun. We can’t wait for what’s coming next: SCIENCE, INCLUSION, FUN, FOOD, WINE, COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS… we’re ready for it! ✨Don’t miss the chance to be part of it, apply!
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scnl-agliotilab.bsky.social @scnl-agliotilab.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
The ESCAN Rome 2026 website is finally live! 🎉https://escan2026.eu/ We are working to make ESCAN 2026 a 4-day event dedicated to groundbreaking and rigorous science, an inclusive space, enriched with engaging social activities, great food, all set in the stunning backdrop of the Eternal City ✨.
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
One of my favourite conferences! So excited for this
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
ICN bake-off with my lab. Congratulations Wilson @wilsonlimph.bsky.social for all the incredible baking skills (and Sarah too!). Special appearance from Theo the dog
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)
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UCL @ucl.ac.uk · 20/11/2025
All eyes on UCL for its 200th birthday. Across 3 nights our Wilkins Building and main Quad will transform into an immersive sound and light experience as UCL illuminated takes us through the history of London’s oldest university. 11–13 Feb 2026 www.ucl.ac.uk/event-ticketing/app/e…
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Bloomsbury/UCL people: Have you tried this new Lebanese Cafe - Matbakh Kitchen - located on Great Ormond Street? The food is delicious! My Mums family came from Syria and I’m so happy to find truly authentic home cooking. Do try if you’re in the area.
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Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore @sjblakemore.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
New paper by @bignardi.bsky.social @minafazeloxford.bsky.social & @oxwell.bsky.social The prevalence of food insecurity and its relationship with wellbeing in a large, cross-sectional study of children and young people in England acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
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Sahib Khalsa @skhalsa.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
What if many psychiatric disorders share the same hidden glitch in how the brain infers reality? In a new volume, Al Powers and I gather experts to examine how disrupted sensory inference across #vision, #touch, #proprioception and #interoception might unify our understanding.
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