Yuan Chang Leong
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongHow do brain networks tracking past trauma react to stress in the future? Thrilled to share new work from the lab led by rockstar postdoc @felhardi.bsky.social with wonderful collab @dylanggee.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #psychscisky #neuroskyence
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongThree more days to submit to SANS 2026 in San Diego! Not done with data collection/analyses yet? In case you missed it, we have a "Pre-Registration" category where you can submit an abstract for a study you plan to conduct! More info here: socialaffectiveneuro.org/abstract-sub...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong📣 Our lab is hiring a full-time RA/lab manager! Join us in beautiful Santa Barbara to study the neural bases of affect-cognition interactions using fMRI and brain stimulation. Great stepping stone to a PhD in cognitive/affective neuro 🧠🐬🏖️ Apply by Jan 22: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF03048
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongOur new paper out in NHB! We started this back in @ptoncompmemlab.bsky.social's lab when I was a postdoc and Rolando was a grad student, showing that stable fMRI representations of places (learned in Rolando's custom-made VR world) provide the best anchors for later item learning
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongHow does cortisol tune brain networks to form strong emotional memories? Excited to share new work led by amazing former RA Flory Huang w collabs Rajita Sinha and @toddc.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leongstarting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳 my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science! reach out if you're interested 😊
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongThrilled to see this reviewed preprint by grad student extraordinaire (but bsky-less) Euan Prentis posted on @elife.bsky.social! doi.org/10.7554/eLif... Thank you to the reviewers and editors for encouraging, insightful and helpful comments. We will be revising the paper, stay tuned!
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🧠 New paper on breathing and the brain, out now @plos.org Computational Biology! 🫁 "The respiratory cycle modulates distinct dynamics of affective and perceptual decision-making" doi.org/10.1371/jour... We show how respiratory 'tidal computations' alter our decisons!
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🎓Recruiting Ph.D. students for Fall 2026!🎓 The Feilong Lab @sc.edu studies commonalities & differences across brains, and how they relate to cognition, language, & disorders. We develop brain templates, improve hyperalignment, and compare human brains with monkey brains & DNNs. feilonglab.github.io
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongThe Computational and Cognitive Neural Sciences lab (ballardlab.org) at UC Riverside is recruiting psychology PhD students to join our team! Check out the flyer to learn about the lab and our stellar research community at UCR. Apply by 12/1! drive.google.com/file/d/19m8i...
- Had a great time chatting with CASNL alum @sudkrc.bsky.social and sharing our recent work on arousal! Her editing/producing skills are next-level - she somehow wrangled my scattered brain into something that actually sounds coherent... A true miracle worker 😅
- NEW EPISODE OUT🧠!! In this episode, Su @sudkrc.bsky.social chats with Dr. YC Leong @ycleong.bsky.social of The University of Chicago on how dynamic brain connectivity predicts emotional arousal while watching Sherlock🕵️🧐 🎧LISTEN NOW: open.spotify.com/episode/5W22...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongPhD applications for Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown (@browncopsy.bsky.social) are due on December 1st. We have a great community, so please apply, share with your students, etc. Read more on our fancy new website here: copsy.brown.edu/graduate-study
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI'm recruiting PhD students for my lab at Northwestern! I'm reviewing applications for the Department of Psychology for the Cognitive Affective Neuroscience and Clinical areas, due 12/1. 🧠 Come join the CATS Lab: nucatslab.com Learn about our latest research: iamh.northwestern.edu/research/res...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongA new study in 'Nature Human Behavior' led by UChicago researchers combines fMRI data and natural language processing to understand how emotions lead to enhanced memory encoding, or "stickiness." Learn more: bit.ly/3Lec2Gf @jadynpark.bsky.social @ycleong.bsky.social
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong📢 Thrilled to share our paper is out now in @natcomms.nature.com Shared computations underlie how we acquire actions that are mutually beneficial, instrumentally harmful (benefits self at the expense of others), altruistic (benefit others at the expense of self), or mutually costly 🧵 rdcu.be/eL8mZ
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongWhat happens in the brain as people become less lonely? Intergenerational community programs can reduce loneliness, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We collected and analysed 732 🧠-scans to find out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @introspection.bsky.social + @escross.bsky.social
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongConsider applying to the PhD program at Chicago Booth! The application deadline is Dec 15. 1/ www.chicagobooth.edu/phd/admissio...
- One of the papers I've been most excited about since starting the lab! We adopt a network neuroscience approach to understand how arousal reconfigures large-scale functional network organization to support memory of complex narratives!
- Out now in @nathumbehav.nature.com! We applied graph theoretic analyses to fMRI data of participants watching movies/listening to stories. Integration across large-scale functional networks mediates arousal-dependent enhancement of narrative memories. Open access link: rdcu.be/eKKAw
- A multi-dataset, multi-measure, and multi-year effort led by @jadynpark.bsky.social! Article link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Open-access link: rdcu.be/eKKAw
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongHow does motivation shape learning and memory? In a new review w @ralisonadcock.bsky.social, we propose that under different motivational ‘moods', neuromodulators set distinct neural contexts to determine information processing and memory formation. doi.org/10.1146/annu... #psychscisky #neuroskyence
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongJob Opportunity Alert Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellowship at the University of Chicago: apply.interfolio.com/173322 EOE/Vet/Disability
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongVery excited to share that my first paper, with Peter Mende-Siedlecki and @leorhackel.bsky.social, is out now in @commspsychol.nature.com! ☺️ Can getting more rewards make you feel more skilled, even if your performance doesn't change? www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI’m excited to share my 1st first-authored paper, “Distinct portions of superior temporal sulcus combine auditory representations with different visual streams” (with @mtfang.bsky.social and @steanze.bsky.social ), now out in The Journal of Neuroscience! www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI'm recruiting PhD students to join my new lab in Fall 2026! The Shared Minds Lab at @usc.edu will combine deep learning and ecological human neuroscience to better understand how we communicate our thoughts from one brain to another.
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongWe're excited to announce that the #SANS2026 Presidential Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Steve Chang of Yale! (medicine.yale.edu/profile/stev...). He will deliver an address titled "Diverse Social Strategies and Neural Mechanisms underlying Mutual Cooperation"
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong📢 My lab at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine is considering graduate student applications this fall We welcome applicants interested in using computational modeling & fMRI to study social connection 🗓️ Deadline: December 1, 2025 🔗 Learn more: sinclaboratory.com/apply #comppsychiatry #socialneuro
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong
I’m admitting 1–2 Ph.D. students to join my lab in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at CU Boulder, starting Fall 2026. We study person perception, stereotyping and prejudice, and intervention science. Application info: www.colorado.edu/psych-neuro/... Lab info: www.svmlab.org - Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI came across a terrific interview with Peter Dayan, always a delight to listen to. Peter's speed of mind and talk is possibly unsurpassable. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cttx...
- amazing work led by @hongkai1.bsky.social suggesting that wanting to be unique can make social media posts more negative over time!
- 🚨New preprint🚨 osf.io/preprints/ps... In a sample of ~2 billion comments, social media discourse becomes more negative over time Archival and experimental findings suggest this is a byproduct of people trying to differentiate themselves Led by @hongkai1.bsky.social in his 1st year (!) of his PhD
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongLast month, I launched my lab at Ohio State. Our lab website is now live, and we're recruiting graduate students this cycle! If you're interested in the cognitive (neuro)science of learning & memory, please reach out! www.momentslab.org
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🚨Introducing the SANS Fellows Program 🚨 We’re excited to honor members whose scholarship, mentorship, & service have shaped social & affective neuroscience! Nominate someone—or yourself—to be a SANS Fellow! Details: socialaffectiveneuro.org/sans-fellows...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🧠✨ Exciting new research alert! ✨🧠 Did you know that catecholamines can reduce choice history biases in perceptual decision-making? 🧐🔍 Paper: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... With @donnerlab.bsky.social and @swammerdamuva.bsky.social
- How do catecholamines like #noradrenaline influence perceptual #DecisionMaking? @degeelab.bsky.social @donnerlab.bsky.social &co show that higher #catecholamine levels reduce individual choice history biases by dampening bias in the accumulation of sensory evidence @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4mMmNNX
- check out @hayoungsong.bsky.social's new work combining RNNs, fMRI and verbal reports to study how the brain represents and retrieves causally related memories while watching a TV episode! has been super fun to be part of this!
- How does the brain🧠 make causal inferences and use memories to understand narratives🎬? We built an RNN🤖 with key-value episodic memory that learns causal relationships between events and retrieves memories like humans do! Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... w/ @qlu.bsky.social, Tan Nguyen &👇
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongAfter 5 years, I finally carved out time to turn this blog post on FDR (markallenthornton.com/blog/fdr-pro...) into a manuscript. The preprint features a much broader range of simulations showing how FDR promotes confounds, and how this effect compounds with publication bias: osf.io/preprints/ps...
- what happens during "resting state"? @jinke.bsky.social asked this question by (literally) asking what participants what they were thinking during rest, finding that ongoing thoughts are reflected in FC patterns and predict behavior/traits! excited to be part of this project!
- New preprint! 🧠 Our mind wanders at rest. By periodically probing ongoing thoughts during resting-state fMRI, we show these thoughts are reflected in brain network dynamics and contribute to pervasive links between functional brain architecture and everyday behavior (1/10). doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI gave a talk in 2009 about feature-based attention and a famous vision scientist asked how top down signals from PFC could possibly target the right sensory neurons. The best I could do was "uh, dunno". sunyoungp.bsky.social has a much more thoughtful answer journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongCome work with us! @princetonneuro.bsky.social and the Department of Psychology at Princeton University are searching for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of human cognitive neuroscience, to be hired jointly in Psychology and Neuroscience: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...
- Excited for Ren to showcase this work on using CNNs and eye tracking to study intuitive physical reasoning 🗼
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongVery happy to see this work with Euan Prentis posted! If you’re going to CCN next week, go check out Euan’s poster on this work!
- Overcoming distortion in multidimensional predictive representation biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongIt was great fun working with @alexanderhuth.bsky.social and @mujianing.bsky.social on these theoretical ideas. We are excited for everyone to check out the preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongOur latest paper, led by @yizhang96.bsky.social, finds Pavlovian learning shapes empathy: People can link another person's abstract mental states—like feeling good or bad—with reward. This shapes empathy in new situations where those feelings are perceived.
- Excited to have contributed to this work led by @curtispuryear.bsky.social! Using large-scale text analyses, we show that moralization has increased on social media over the past decade and a half, less so on traditional media
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongI'm excited to share a new preprint! We built a digital, scalable intervention to reduce intrusive memories, combining an AI chatbot with LLM scoring of human-AI conversations and pupillometry predictors of effort and intervention success. I hope you enjoy! arxiv.org/abs/2507.01081
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🚨New paper in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social 🚨 Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on? We review the “psychology of virality,” or the psychological & structural factors that shape information spread online and offline: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lRke4sIRv...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongExcited to share my new lab website! The Learning & Behavior Change Lab will launch at Rice in July 2026. I’ll be recruiting over the next year! @ricesocsci.bsky.social www.sinclairlab-rice.com
- Excited to share our new review on how neuroimaging and computational models can help uncover how people see what they want to see, now out at @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! It was a blast writing this with Haena Kim and @iancballard.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Specifically, we propose a neurocomputational account in which perceptual biases arise from amygdala- and LC-NE–driven enhancement of sensory representations, while response biases reflect striatal influences on action selection. PFC flexibly encodes motivational context, orchestrating both biases.
- First time writing a review, and found it very fulfilling! It was especially fun to co-write this, and I really appreciated the opportunity to synthesize the body of work on this topic. Huge thanks to TICS editor Lindsey Drayton for her guidance and the three reviewers for their feedback!
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongNext summer I will start as an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. I couldn't be more excited! 1/
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongThrilled to announce our new publication titled 'Decoding predicted future states from the brain's physics engine' with @emiecz.bsky.social, Cyn X. Fang, @nancykanwisher.bsky.social, @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/full/10.... (1/n)
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongPharmacological manipulations offer unique, powerful & imo underutilized ways to test the sensitivity & specificity of brain-based biomarkers of behavior. New from an amazing team led by @lyulouisa.bsky.social & @annacorriveau.bsky.social
- I still remember checking out the 5th edition from the library (and how it barely fit in my bag)! It was a real pleasure and privilege to co-author the Social Neuroscience chapter in the 6th edition with Jean Decety. Huge thanks to the editors for bringing this incredible resource to life!
- Since 1954, "The Handbook of Social Psychology" has been the field’s most authoritative reference work, and today is the launch of the 6th edition with 50 new chapters by 100 leading scholars. Best news? The HSP is now an open-access public resource—free to read, download, and share. the-hsp.com
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong📣 It's official: I'm super excited to share that I'll be joining Rice University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences! Lab will launch in Summer 2026— I'll be recruiting over the next year, so please spread the word! Short thread ⤵️
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongFirst post on an exciting new manuscript online today @natneuro.nature.com - in collab with @lucinauddin.bsky.social and Catie Chang. We take a fresh look at the physiological dynamics associated with the global signal 🧠 ... www.nature.com/articles/s41... Read here: rdcu.be/ek01F
- @shangao.bsky.social developed a predictive model that maps prefrontal fNIRS activity to whole-brain fMRI during movie-watching! we now show that the model generalizes across samples and movies!
- Now out in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN)! academic.oup.com/scan/advance...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🎨🧑🎨 Looking for a tool to visualize subcortical/thalamic data in 2D? Check out this python-based package I put together (subcortex-visualization on PyPI), plus a guide for creating your own custom atlas meshes and vector graphics! All feedback/tips welcome 😊 anniegbryant.github.io/subcortex_vi...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongMajor team effort on phase-locked stim of human hippocampal theta rhythms finally out in the wild! W/ @jkragel.bsky.social @alikwidge.bsky.social and a cast of many. Thanks to the BRAIN Initiative for making it possible. rdcu.be/ej7VE
- Reposted by Yuan Chang Leong🧠✨How do we rebuild our memories? In our new study, we show that hippocampal ripples kickstart a coordinated expansion of cortical activity that helps reconstruct past experiences. We recorded iEEG from patients during memory retrieval... and found something really cool 👇(thread)
- Feeling fortunate that #SANS2025 was in Chicago, and so much of the lab was able to be part of the meeting! It's crazy how much the lab has grown over the past 3y10m, and I'm so proud of the work we are doing together! Happy that we could host the lab, alums (and surprise guests)! #CASNL@SANS
- First year doing this, and couldn't ask for a better partner!
- Another year of live coverage of @sansmeeting.bsky.social done! It's intense - wouldn't do it for any other conference - but the quality of the content makes it more than worthwhile, & @ycleong.bsky.social is a great partner! Safe travels home all - hope to see you in sunny San Diego for #SANS2026!
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongFor those who think more data just means more headcount, here’s a quirky twist: the number of data points per individual actually matters--a lot. If you're into a bit of rigor, this article highlights a factor that’s often overlooked. Thanks for the shoutout! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- @gangchen6.bsky.social making a strong case that statistical power is related to the number of participants, but ALSO to the number of datapoints *per person* (i.e. number of trials). An excellent point we often have to argue for in my lab's own work!! Couldn't agree more. #SANS2025
- CASNL member Jadyn Park @jadynpark.bsky.social presenting her work on arousal, functional network and memory during narrative perception at #SANS2025 Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongCurious how the human brain updates social impression in a naturalistic setting? We scanned participants watching This Is Us, and found that sudden neural pattern shifts at insight moments of comprehension reflect impression updating. Come and chat Friday 4:15–5:15pm at #SANS2025, Poster P2-G-69.
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongOur fearless conference co-chairs all ready for the start of #SANS2025! @elisabaek.bsky.social @jfguassimoreira.bsky.social! Looking forward to seeing everyone at the pre-conference tomorrow!
- Reposted by Yuan Chang LeongVery proud to finally share our latest paper "Person Knowledge is Independently Encoded by Allocentric and Egocentric Reference Frames within Separate Brain Systems," officially out at Psych Science. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
