David Moorman
Neuroscientist; Associate Professor at UMass Amherst
moormanlab.org
- Lecturer position in Neurobiology at UMass Amherst. Come join a great group of instructors teaching in the Biology, Psych & Brain Sci, and Neuroscience majors. Review starts Jan 5, 2026. Please forward/apply! careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u... #NeuroJobs #Neuroscience #AcademicJobs #HigherEd
- Thank you @karlakaun.bsky.social, @dgordonwinder.bsky.social, @mariedoyle.bsky.social and everyone else for organizing a great event. Starting a new tradition off right!
- And that's a wrap! I had a ton of fun at the inaugural New England Addiction Neuroscience Research Conference Friday and am looking forward to seeing everyone next year, if not sooner! newenglandaddictionconsortium.wordpress.com/annual-confe...
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- Maize, beans, and squash
- This is a great idea - especially on university campuses with graduation coming up - put these where students, families, and friends will see them. Thanks for making these!
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- Glad you made it! Thanks for coming to visit. Awesome talk, great science, and fun conversations. Come back again and we'll take you to a different restaurant...
- [Not loaded yet]
-
View full threadNo clue. I can't speak for the paper. "Mysterious" IS an unfortunate term, but the article doesn't try to both-sides the story. I think they're trying to present the cause and consequences without making conclusions about intentions. You and I know what those are, but there's no formal proof.
- I might be wrong, but I think this was an accident resulting from the communications freeze - I don't think the architects realized that it would shut down study sections until after the injunctions happened. Now, of course, it's being weaponized. Perfect blend of incompetence and maliciousness.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Yep, it's horrific and I'm freaking out like everyone and worried for people in a worse situation than me. I sincerely hope that there is legal action soon (cognizant that that might not be enough).
- I agree completely about not giving them the benefit of the doubt. I don't think anyone thinks this is benign. But in talking with multiple people, one alternate perspective is that, because the ban on communication occurred before the injunction, the administration clumsily fell into this.
- Yes they're exploiting it and it's destroying us, but the point is that this is complicated and there's probably as much incompetence as there is maliciousness
- [Not loaded yet]
- It's almost certainly neither of these. Let's work to get media on our side instead of insulting them without proof.
- Arguably because that's confusing to most non scientists. Lead with stories about individuals and then unpack the mechanism, rather than scaring/boring readers away at the outset
- I get the frustration, but this conversation about the federal register is still new to people outside of science as of mid-last week. We have to work to explain our plight clearly and develop empathy and support from non scientists
- I don't with the author and she had a sincere effort to understand and show the readership what is going on. She was neither cowardly nor biased in my conversation with her.
- Is this intentional and horrible? Of course. But there's no actual proof and I imagine that the media are trying to be careful to not cast blame without evidence. In the light of that, the article seems pretty supportive of the scientists and critical of the administration.
- *spoke with the author
- Yes the title is bad, but the article does a good job addressing possible explanations, including potential malfeasance. The article is mostly showing the consequences and speculating on why this is happening. The dominant hypothesis in the article is that it is intentional.
- Probably naïve questions, but how is this not a violation of the injunction on blocking federal funds? Could this be challenged in court? Are the AGs who filed the motions aware of this outcome? @massago.bsky.social
- This is an important thread that all scientists need to be aware of. Thank you for watching and summarizing for us.
- [Not loaded yet]
-
View full threadGood point on the Ishihara tests. Display tests are unambiguous. I appreciate your skepticism - interested to hear more about your issues with the specific data in the papers (another time). I'm going to follow the literature more closely now just so I can find the paper that changes your mind!
- *hidden digit tests, that is.
- [Not loaded yet]
- ...yet!
- I think there are some better parallels here. Color blindness is a self-reported perceptual difference across individuals. We know the mechanism, so there's no debate as to whether or not it's "real." Agnosias are unambiguously real, but present as subjective differences, with complex etiologies.
- So either aphantasia is similar to agnosias, and we just don't know the underlying mechanism, or it is somehow categorically different. I lean toward the former given our incomplete understanding of the neural basis of perception/imagery/memory. But I'd be interested in alternate takes.
- [Not loaded yet]
- So I guess it's just a trust threshold criteria. If someone says "I'm trying to do mental imagery but I don't see anything," that seems as verifiable as "I'm doing mental imagery."
- [Not loaded yet]
- I don't want to misrepresent your take, so sorry if I'm wrong, but weren't you arguing above that mental imagery studies aren't reliable because the required subjective reports are untrustworthy? So are there some legit mental imagery studies? If so, what are the criteria that make them reliable?
- Sorry, one final point. I do think we need to be careful with these assertions because similar arguments have been made challenging the legitimacy of mental health conditions. There may not be clear biomarkers for psychiatric conditions but they shouldn't be dismissed as wrong.
- *Not at all implying that Ben would ever say that!
- Very likely an issue with terminology, as is typical of human-defined psychological phenomena, but I still think that things that occur in the absence of overt external behaviors are real! The song currently stuck in my head is "occurring" whether or not we know how to quantify it yet.
- Regardless, you're probably right, as you've thought about this more rigorously that I have, and I have to go do stuff, so you can have the closing riposte!
- [Not loaded yet]
- These are all (of course) astute points, and I'm distrustful of self report too. But there must be some way of quantifying these states, no? Internal experience necessarily has neural underpinnings, so we must be able to measure it and identify variations.
- [Not loaded yet]
- In order to refute your neo-Skinnerian worldview, I'll have to look into this more - perhaps follow up not on social media or bring in some experts. That said, I think dismissing it outright is probably a bit extreme as it's an interesting window into consciousness, memory, attention, etc.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Not my area of expertise But I'm curious about why the default is to assume that there is a homogeneous capacity for mental imagery? Especially considering the diverse descriptions given by people with vivid imagery vs. those without. Do you think everyone has mental imagery or that nobody does?
- Though a world-class neuroscientist like you (no sarcasm) wouldn't attempt to identify the most parsimonious explanation based on one paper, right? elifesciences.org/articles/72484, elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre..., doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- Conversely, I (and probably a lot of our attendees) will be sad to miss CCN and your Grand Plan discussion. Hopefully there will be more chances for everyone to share mutual interests in the future.
- [Not loaded yet]
- You would, of course, be very welcome if you are ever able to attend!
- [Not loaded yet]
- In person only (GRC policy), but we'd love for you to attend in person!
- Including you!
- UMass Amherst Department of Biology and Institute of Applied Life Sciences are hiring a faculty member to develop mechanistic insights into, and therapeutic approaches for, neurological disorders. careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u... #neuroscience #neurojobs #sciencejobs #academicsky
