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Uta Frith

@utafrith.bsky.social
873 followers 196 following 161 posts

Golden Oldie. Likes Social Cognitive Neuroscience. But not only.

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Reposted by Uta Frith
Steve Fleming @smfleming.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
📖 New review out today in @natrevneuro.nature.com: Towards an integrative neuroscience of metacognition 🧠🧪 Full-text link to the paper is here: rdcu.be/9YK3mF7dYhFa
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Steve Fleming @smfleming.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Glad to be part of this elegant study that is reshaping the way I think about metacognition. Confidence is strikingly goal-sensitive, with supposedly sensory biases such as PEB being readily flipped through instruction. Led by Prady Sepulveda and Benedetto De Martino www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Goals shape human confidence
Confidence guides our decisions: it determines when we commit to a choice, gather more information, or change our minds. Prominent models treat confidence as a readout of the evidence in support of a ...
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The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The great German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born #onthisday in 1749. As well as penning novels, poetry, criticism, and dramas, he also wrote various scientific treatises, including his 1810 book Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours): publicdomainreview.org/essay/b... #OTD
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The free-rider detection problem: How groups balance fairness and cooperation | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... I found this paper relevant to understand society's tolerance or lack of it, for people who are unable to work for reasons of poor mental health.
pnas.org
The free-rider detection problem: How groups balance fairness and cooperation | PNAS
The free-rider detection problem: How groups balance fairness and cooperation
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
In case you want to know what my views were in 2016 on the autism spectrum and more besides, there is an in-depth interview www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/r... I don't think my views have changed that much. But well, even subtle changes can have consequences.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
My thoughts about the autism spectrum: Autism spectrum disorder: has it lost its meaning and is it leading to misdiagnosis? Psychological Medicine. 2026;56:e240. doi:10.1017/S0033291726105376
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Moved by the Lightest Touch of Meaning: Even Minimal Significance Matters for Motivation From Childhood Yilin Liu and Fan Yang, Psych.Sci. doi.org/10.1177/0956... Children and adults strongly preferred artistic activities where their work would be saved over activities with no lasting existence.
doi.org
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore @sjblakemore.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Article about Tim Dalgleish, the new Dawson Chair of Young People's Mental Health @campsydept.bsky.social @mrccbu.bsky.social www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/magazine/iss...
alumni.cam.ac.uk
Always on my mind
Coverage of mental health issues, particularly in the young, is on the rise – as is speculation that it’s being overdiagnosed. Now Tim Dalgleish, the inaugural Dawson Professor of Young People’s Menta...
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Veronica van Heyningen @vvheye.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Just heard from @utafrith.bsky.social about @migrationmuseum.org and followed several new links, so good to repost details of the meeting I helped to organise on behalf of @adelphigenetics.bsky.social. So many migrants at several of my organisations: @royalsociety.org @ucleye.bsky.social
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
On the transmission of texts: Written cultures as complex systems academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
academic.oup.com
On the transmission of texts: Written cultures as complex systems
Abstract. Knowledge of past cultures relies heavily on surviving written material. Over the centuries, texts were copied, altered, and often lost, leaving
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Hugo Spiers @hugospiers.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Brenda Milner is a hero and 108!! She did a lot more than discover the hippocampus is linked to declarative memory, but that work is the most famous.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this excellent paper. I wonder, are there parallels in the use of rigid/flexible criteria in clinical diagnosis with varying opacity of symptoms? Why human societies adopt rigid moral rules: The efficiency–robustness trade-off | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Heart rate synchrony as a marker of real-world social engagement academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
academic.oup.com
Heart rate synchrony as a marker of real-world social engagement
Abstract. Human social behavior unfolds in complex real-world environments influenced by social and environmental factors, yet reliable markers of social e
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
A novel and exciting approach to understanding cooperation. Linking compromise and responsibility attribution to risky decision-making in dyadic foraging | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Linking compromise and responsibility attribution to risky decision-making in dyadic foraging | PNAS
From hunting to financial planning, many decisions are made under risk and alongside social partners whose decisions and outcomes are coupled with ...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Oustanding longitudinal study with mostly low-IQ autistic preschoolers and MA matched controls. Even here there are subgroups. Autistic children with better visual search performance had worse parent-reported communication problems. doi.org/10.1002/aur....
doi.org
Visual Search Performance in Children With ASD: A Combined Case‐Control and Longitudinal Study
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with altered attentional function. This has been associated with enhanced visual search performance. Addressing a gap in the literature, we investigate th...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Is this a model of how the brain works?
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Watch this short, powerful, very on-point speech. Literal shivers watching @mjcrockett.bsky.social make the most of their platform!
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Super-interesting paper about a cognitive strength in autism explained by use of non-interactive media. Gagnon, D., Ostrolenk, A. and Mottron, L. (2026), Early manifestations of unexpected bilingualism in minimally verbal autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatr, 67: 652-662. doi.org/10.1111/jcpp...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
How on earth do we manage to navigate through our social networks? See new paper by Teoh ... & FeldmanHall: Medial temporal lobe encodes cognitive maps of real-world social networks | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Medial temporal lobe encodes cognitive maps of real-world social networks | PNAS
Humans routinely solve social problems by navigating densely interconnected networks—gossiping strategically, brokering across cliques, and coordin...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Liao L, Fombonne E. Autism Overdiagnosis and Its Harmful Effects. JAMA Pediatr. Published online April 13, 2026. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.0400 e.g. self-fulfilling prophecy; resource depletion; loss of precision and trivialising autism.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Attenuated selective attention during visual perspective taking in autism: A combined behavior, ERP, and pupillometry study by Polzer et al. "... altered top-down recruitment during VPT and increased cognitive effort during perspective ratings." acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
<em>Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry</em> | ACAMH Pediatric Journal | Wiley Online Library
Background Altered social cognition in autism may be influenced by difficulties in domain-general functions, such as selective attention. Here, we manipulated the requirement for selective attention...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
So interesting.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Nice! An advance in our knowledge of social cognitive development. 4-yr-olds intuitively understand information flows in social networks doi.org/10.1073/pnas... Young children understand how social connections affect what people know about each other By Chuey, Jara-Ettinger & Gweon
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Want to know more about Hans Asperger and his syndrome? You can listen to Ken Barrett's Brainland podcasts with me shows.acast.com/brainland/ep... and with Alice Jolly, author of "The Matchbox Girl" shows.acast.com/brainland/ep...
shows.acast.com
HANS ASPERGER AND THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM: Reflections on the past, present and future | BRAINLAND
In conversation with Dame Uta Frith
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Chris Frith in conversation about his life and work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otgz...
youtube.com
Meet The Neuroscientist Proving We’re All Living In A Collective Consciousness
YouTube video by Giant's Shoulder
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
6/6 Clinical precision is not ignoring suffering—it strives for the right support to reach the right people through rigorous, evidence-based models.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
5/6 We must protect the most vulnerable. By grouping everyone together, we risk overlooking those with significant intellectual disabilities as the public discourse shifts entirely toward "different ways of thinking."
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
4/6 On "masking": Science requires objective, unbiased observation. Concepts rooted primarily in subjective self-report lack the precision needed for a stable medical category and can lead to circular reasoning.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
3/6 Diagnosis must have differential value. Labeling all social struggle or hypersensitivity as "autism" risks missing underlying causes that require entirely different clinical interventions.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
2/6 The "spectrum" has expanded to the point of collapse. If a single label covers both profound impairment and those with no intellectual or communicative deficits, it ceases to predict specific biological or medical needs.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
1/6 Engaging with critiques of my @TES interview. While I value the lived experience shared, we must distinguish between sociopolitical identity and clinical diagnostic utility. #Autism #Neurodiversity
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Tim Crane @timcrane.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Excited to see the world's greatest living pianist (IMHO) in May at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Here he is playing Schubert's 'Hungarian Melody' www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjFc...
youtube.com
Schubert. Hungarian Melody b-moll. D.817. Grigory Sokolov.
YouTube video by Alex K
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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
‘We need to sort this problem out’: Liz Kendall tells MPs on STFC cuts Science secretary assures House of Commons “we strongly back curiosity-led research”, despite impending cuts www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
researchprofessionalnews.com
‘We need to sort this problem out’: Liz Kendall tells MPs on STFC cuts - Research Professional News
Science secretary assures House of Commons “we strongly back curiosity-led research”, despite impending cuts
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
This makes me feel optimistic for what can be done for children in special education. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
The primary class where ASN pupils adapt to school
One primary school in Glasgow says it has developed its own model of how to integrate ASN pupils into a mainstream school.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Has Broadening the Autism Spectrum Led to Overdiagnosis? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ment...
psychologytoday.com
Has Broadening the Autism Spectrum Led to Overdiagnosis?
An autism expert sparks fierce debate over whether the spectrum has grown too broad, leading to misdiagnosis in children and adults in cases that are milder or unclear.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
An amazing discovery
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Western Calligraphy - interestingly different from Eastern Calligraphy
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
A joy to watch this video of an exceptional Victorian scientist presented by two exceptional modern scientists. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahLt...
youtube.com
Hertha Ayrton and the electric arc | The Royal Society
YouTube video by The Royal Society
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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
A thoughtful response from @dermotcasey.bsky.social to an interview with @utafrith.bsky.social about the expansion of the diagnostic category of "autism"
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
A fitting celebration of great women www.electricvoicetheatre.co.uk/events/iwd-1...
electricvoicetheatre.co.uk
IWD 11th March 2026 | electric voice theatre
ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE and all our partners and friends are celebrating International Women’s Day #IWD all week with Music & Science by Women 8 – 14 March 2026
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Anastasia Christakou 💙 @christakou.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, with important implications for provision in overstreched classrooms. But, as @utafrith.bsky.social points out: "We’re all neurodiverse"... www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
tes.com
Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum
The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass
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David Colquhoun @davidcolquhoun.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
I take very seriously anything that @utafrith.bsky.social says. I'd love to know what @rosisexton.bsky.social thinks about this piece. www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
tes.com
Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum
The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Let’s replace the notion of a ‘spectrum’ with clearer groupings of autism, Asbergers and hypersensitivity says @utafrith.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/a83d...
thetimes.com
Autism study is my life’s work. The spectrum has lost all meaning
A professor who helped to shape our framing of the condition fears so many characteristics are linked to it that it’s ‘no longer a useful diagnosis’
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Autism-ness Does Not Exist, but Autism Does. Part 1: A Critic of the “Spectrum” Position Used to Describe, Diagnose, and Research Autism, and Its Alternative By Mottron et al. doi: 10.1177/23969415251404764 Some inconvenient truths about the dimensional (vs categorical) concept of autism.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Super-interesting.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Idyllic
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
A step towards biomarkers for ADHD. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.0001 Mapping ADHD Heterogeneity and Biotypes by Topological Deviations in Morphometric Similarity Networks ...Results of this case-control study reveal ... 3 distinct ADHD biotypes with unique clinical-neural profiles.
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Very cool paper relevant to social imitation www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Avalanches of choice: How stranger-to-stranger interactions shape crowd dynamics | PNAS
Pedestrian routing choices play a crucial role in shaping collective crowd dynamics, yet the influence of interactions among unfamiliar individuals...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
This paper is a model of clarity! It successfully argues that innately biased language learning mechanisms are more plausible than innate language knowledge. Statistical Learning by 8-Month-Old Infants | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Statistical Learning by 8-Month-Old Infants
Learners rely on a combination of experience-independent and experience-dependent mechanisms to extract information from the environment. Language acquisition involves both types of mechanisms, but mo...
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Uta Frith @utafrith.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
This is great. I love to see evidence for 'factory settings' of cognitive mechanisms that enable learning. Newborn Infants Selectively Attend to Points That Refer to Objects - Geraci - 2026 - Developmental Science - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Newborn Infants Selectively Attend to Points That Refer to Objects
Recognizing that certain acts are communicative is a key requirement of the development of communicative skills. Newborn infants have been shown to selectively respond to certain ostensive cues, incl...
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