Embodied Computation Group

Check out our new python package for interoception, breathwork, and respiratory motor control research!

New website is up! Code for it can be found here: github.com/embodied-com...

1/ To explore or to exploit? I’m excited to share my new preprint with @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social and @micahgallen.com, correlating variations in cortical microstructures with individual differences in exploration-exploitation behaviours, using a gamified task! 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out our latest paper, a collaboration with @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social using gamified computational psychiatry measures to explore brain-behavioral correlates of decision making!

check our our latest update - a whole toolbox of stuff for interoceptive psychophysics!

New preprint! We are pleased to share our Hierarchical Bayesian framework for Interoceptive Psychophysics! Implemented in rstan, we provide a complete suite of tools spanning model comparison, parameter recovery, multifactor designs, power analysis, and more! 🎯 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Stomach–brain coupling indexes a dimensional signature of mental health - Nature Mental Health Using a relatively large and diverse sample of mostly young adults, this study by Banellis, Rebollo and colleagues examines associations between regional stomach–brain coupling and mental health and i...

I’m elated to share our latest publication - out now in @natmentalhealth.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s44... - tour de force by @leahbanellis.bsky.social @brainandstomach.bsky.social and the rest of the VMP team!

Absolutely loved discussing our recent @natmentalhealth.nature.com paper on IhmCurious
YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTv...), thank you for having me! & to
@micahgallen.com @brainandstomach.bsky.social & the @the-ecg.bsky.social team for all their hard work 🧠

I have a gut feeling you will enjoy @the-ecg.bsky.social postdoc @leahbanellis.bsky.social discussing our recent publication on the stomach brain connection, out now in Nature Mental Health!

Excited to chair @micahgallen.com 's fantastic seminar this Wednesday, June 25th at DPG! 🧠🫀 Join us in 📍 Room 2C, PSICO2 building. Don’t miss it! 🚀
#UniversityOfPadova #DepartmentOfGeneralPsychology

I'm so grateful to write my first magazine article with
Psyche Magazine! psyche.co/ideas/how-mu...
It features our preprint on 🫁 'Body-Wandering' 🫀 with invaluable guidance from
@micahgallen.com and @themindwanders.bsky.social
: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Ever get distracted by your own body? We call this "body-wandering." 🧠🫀

Our latest study uncovers its neural fingerprint and the link to ADHD & depression symptoms. Awesome write-up by our own @leahbanellis.bsky.social, in Psyche Magazine!

psyche.co/ideas/how-mu...

#neuroscience #research #ADHD

Up next is the amazing @ashleytyrer.bsky.social presenting her recent preprint on beta blockade of cardiac and respiratory interoception.!

Thrilled to host a set of @the-ecg.bsky.social flash talks with our visiting colleague @beckety.bsky.social - organized by the excellent @ashleytyrer.bsky.social - first up is @acourtin.bsky.social talking about computational fMRI and pain learning!

Aarhus University Student Survey This questionnaire will take approximately 15- 25 minutes to complete. Please answer in a safe environment and as truthfully as possible. As a neurodiverse research team, we prioritize the comfort an...

Do you have #ADHD or #autism? We're running a short, anonymous survey on interoception. It takes just 15–20 minutes, and your input would mean a lot.
👉 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Busy day - check out our latest preprint, exploring domain specificity in cardiac and respiratory interoception!

Is interoceptive sensing unified across internal organs? 🫀🫁 Our high-powered psychophysical study (N=241) suggests not. Bayesian evidence indicates interoceptive processes are largely modality-specific—challenging the idea of a unitary interoceptive sense.
🔗 Read here: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Thermosensory predictive coding underpins an illusion of pain Computational modeling reveals how uncertainty transforms harmless stimuli into perceptions of pain.

Excited to share our latest publication, out now in @ScienceAdvances: “Thermosensory predictive coding underpins an illusion of pain.” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... Read the full thread for details!

Why sign language could be crucial for kids with cochlear implants, studying the illusion of pain, and recent political developments at NIH On this week’s show: U.S. science policy updates, cochlear implants give children unprecedented access to sounds, and fooling the body into feeling pain gives insight into chronic pain conditions

Our close collaborator @francescafardo.bsky.social recently went on the Science Podcast to discuss our new publication on thermosensory predictive coding and illusory pain! Starting at 26:44 www.science.org/content/podc...

Very cool study!

Extremely cool study for a “body-first” target approach to interoception and metacognition! 🫀🫁🧠💊

Looking forward to hearing more about it tomorrow during the Special Talk session at the #MindBrainBody Symposium

#MBBS25

11/ I am exceedingly grateful for all the help and supervision from @micahgallen.com, without whom this project would not have been possible! Also for the support of our lab @the-ecg.bsky.social, @lundbeckfonden.bsky.social, @erc.europa.eu and CFIN @au.dk 🙏

A graphical abstract titled "Can Beta-Blockers Manipulate Interoception? A Placebo-Controlled Study." The image illustrates how bisoprolol and propranolol affect interoception. On the left, a green figure represents bisoprolol, showing a zoomed-in synapse where it selectively blocks β1 receptors. On the right, a purple figure represents propranolol, blocking both β1 and β2 receptors, affecting both brain and body. A psychophysics graph models interoceptive responses, showing response intensity over trials. Below, line plots compare placebo, propranolol, and bisoprolol effects on interoception—cardioception (threshold) and respiroception (slope)—indicating drug effects on bodily awareness.

Can we enhance interoception by controlling the heart? Thrilled to share our new study, led by @ashleytyrer.bsky.social , where we use computational modeling to show that blockading peripheral noradrenaline uniquely alters awareness of heart rate & breathing! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵👇

1/ We can measure interoception in many aspects, but can we actually manipulate it? I’m excited to share our new study, which shows that blockade of peripheral beta-adrenergic pathways improves cardiac and respiratory interoception in unique ways! 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Don't miss our latest study - a massive endeavour including MEG scans, pharmacological manipulation, and modelling of interoceptive psychophysics in a 50 N within subject design!

Just the Facts: How Dialogues with AI Reduce Conspiracy Beliefs: http://osf.io/h7n8u_v1/

I am hiring: PhD students, postdocs, admin personnel. Email me if you know somebody that may be interested in joining us in Cologne! 👇👇

Please RT for reach! 🙏🙏

🚨Job alert!🚨 Are you curious about curiosity, and looking for a post-doc position? Then please consider applying: www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Feel free to e-mail/DM me if you have questions.

Thanks very much for sharing/re-posting!

The motivational drives of sickness: Acute changes in self-rated motivation during experimental endotoxemia using the the Motivation Scale of Sickness (MOSSick): http://osf.io/64qye_v1/

Thalamic opioids from POMC satiety neurons switch on sugar appetite High sugar–containing foods are readily consumed, even after meals and beyond fullness sensation (e.g., as desserts). Although reward-driven processing of palatable foods can promote overeating, the n...

🧠🍽️ Satiety neurons that make you crave sugar? 🍬 New research shows that POMC neurons, typically linked to appetite suppression, release opioids in the thalamus, flipping the switch to increase sugar intake.

#neuroskyence 🧪 #appetite