Elisa Baek
Assistant Prof of Psych at USC | Director of SoCoLab (socolab.org) | social (dis)connection, social perception, mediated social cognition | dog mom 🐶 | Soli Deo gloria
- Reposted by Elisa BaekExcited to announce the third annual Comm Horizons @ucdavis.bsky.social Conference: Communication in the Age of AI and Algorithms Featuring cutting-edge research and keynotes from Jeff Hancock and @angelhwang.bsky.social Hope you'll submit and share! communication.ucdavis.edu/horizonconf2...
- From my brilliant collaborator and a wonderful friend! I would listen to Sara all day, what a treat!
- Had an absolutely wonderful time chatting with @andyluttrell.bsky.social about tv, movies, sports, games (and of course brains) and what it’s all about. A very casual hang if you’re new to this, but some really insightful questions get at the heart of why researching entertainment even matters
- Reposted by Elisa BaekWe say we want uplifting media, but our revealed preferences tell another story. We often pick darker, more intense content. This @npr.org piece covers our lab’s research on why, and includes great advice from @aeden.bsky.social on building intentional media habits.
- Social media can push us to the dark side, with negative content. A new study finds watching inspiring videos for just 3 minutes a day is on par with meditation for boosting mood and reducing stress. n.pr/4quxZB8
- Reposted by Elisa BaekMy lab at USC is recruiting! 1) research coordinator: perfect for a recent graduate looking for research experience before applying to PhD programs: usccareers.usc.edu REQ20167829 2) PhD students: see FAQs on lab website dornsife.usc.edu/hklab/faq/
- Reposted by Elisa BaekI'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.
- SoCoLab celebrates fall 🎃👻🍂 How did I get so lucky to end up with a group of such fabulous, kind, and funny human beings?
- Reposted by Elisa BaekWe'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 Elisa BaekSymposium submissions are now open for #SANS2026 in San Diego! The deadline for these submissions is November 17th at 23:59 Pacific. Check out the submission guidelines here: socialaffectiveneuro.org/symposia-gui...
- Reposted by Elisa Baek📢 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
- Having colleagues like @richardhuskey.bsky.social @soojongkim.bsky.social would be a dream!
- We’re hiring @ucdavis.bsky.social Comm! TT Asst Prof in Mediated Interpersonal Communication. Our dept blends behavioral, biological & computational strengths at one of the most interdisciplinary campuses anywhere. Apps due Oct 15. Glad to chat recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07289
- Reposted by Elisa BaekExcited to present our new work reading minds! Ok, not *that* kind of mind reading, but we have created a deep learning method capable of using single neuron recordings from people watching episodes of TV that can predict when they recall specific memories from the episode. 1/6
- Amazing opportunity for grad students looking for a postdoc! Excited to see all that @youngkihong.bsky.social’s new lab will venture into in the coming years 🎉
Job alert: I'm hiring a postdoc for my lab at CU Boulder starting Fall 2026! We study person perception, stereotyping & prejudice, and intervention science using behavioral & neuroimaging methods. Link: jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta... Review starts Nov 1 and continues until filled.
- Excited to share this work led by @avamadesousa.bsky.social! This paper is so significant to me, not only because it reveals important insights into the disruptions in emotion representations that characterize loneliness, but also because it is a clear example of the power of team science 🌟
- So excited to share that my first first-author paper is out in @commspsychol.nature.com 🎉 In a mini-meta analysis of seven studies, we looked at whether loneliness is related to altered expectations of one’s own and others' emotion transitions. www.nature.com/articles/s44... (1/4)
- SoCoLab, Year 3! It has been a rough start to the new year, but first lab meeting of the semester with the best team reminds me of what this is all about. It feels like just yesterday that the lab was just me and @begumbabur.bsky.social 🥲 …now we fill the conference room!
- Reposted by Elisa Baekwhat 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 Elisa Baek🧠Out now in @ohbmofficial.bsky.social ! 🧠 We scanned 32 first-time dads (~8 mos postpartum) while they watched videos of their baby, an unfamiliar baby, their romantic partner, and an unfamiliar woman…1/8 doi.org/10.1002/hbm....
- Reposted by Elisa BaekNew paper with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social in Nature Communications: an RL model that builds a successor map compositionally. The new model plans as well as the best models, and it links components of the map used for planning to neural codes in the medial entorhinal cortex. rdcu.be/eAofi
- Reposted by Elisa BaekI'm reviewing PhD applications this cycle to join my lab at @uwpsych.bsky.social in Fall ‘26. Ideal for those interested in dev, decision-making, emotion regulation, fMRI, and quant/comp methods. We have cool stuff in the works and want more brilliant ppl in the fold! psych.wisc.edu/joao-guassi-...
- Reposted by Elisa Baek🥳Excited to share that our new paper is live at Psychological Science @psychscience.bsky.social! We show that Pavlovian learning can grow empathy for another person. 🧵👇
- 🚨We are recruiting a lab manager who will spend 80% of their effort in my lab and 20% of their effort in @leorhackel.bsky.social's lab. Please share widely! Apply at usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange... with: completed questionnaire (socolab.org/lab-manager-application), CV & Cover Letter!
- Reposted by Elisa Baek🚨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 Elisa BaekExcited to share that I’ll be joining the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at @colorado.edu as an Assistant Professor this fall! My lab will study social cognition, focusing on the cognitive and neural bases of stereotyping and bias interventions.
- Excited to ✨share✨ that our paper on ✨sharing✨ is published! Across 3 studies that build on one another, we show that perceived alignment with one's peers increases the likelihood of information sharing. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- This paper exemplifies what I envision as my research pipeline: use neuroimaging to garner insight into psychological phenomena and then test the phenomena directly with experimental design to inform social psych theory 🧠💡
- Reposted by Elisa BaekAnyway, here's the link, if you can suppress your revulsion to my vocal intonation long enough to listen: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...
- Reposted by Elisa BaekMy new op-ed in the @nytimes. I argue that Iranians are caught in a state of “moral paralysis,” a psychological trap set by the Islamic Republic itself. It pits two of our most sacred values against each other: liberation vs. self-determination. (1/2) www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/o...
- Reposted by Elisa BaekDoes linguistic diversity when talking about emotions track wellbeing? In a new pre-print with @eriknook.bsky.social, we link emotion vocabularies to mental health in a large real-world psychotherapy dataset. Highlight: therapist emo vocab may help clients get better over time! shorturl.at/TKPN1
- Reposted by Elisa BaekMeet 2025 APS Janet Taylor Spence recipient @minuekim.bsky.social, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Sungkyunkwan University, whose interdisciplinary work examines the neurocognitive mechanisms of affective information processing and how they impact #mentalhealth.
- Reposted by Elisa BaekFriends writing a paper you're going to cite for years is a cause for celebration! @elisabaek.bsky.social @rzhprfshr.bsky.social & @joebayer.bsky.social map how social connection is defined & measured, point to their false equivalencies + consider how media/constant connectivity changes things ♥️
- In this Review, Elisa C. Baek, Razieh Pourafshari & Joseph B. Bayer describe how four distinct uses of the term 'social connection' -- as subjective perceptions, social networks, synchrony & interpersonal behaviors -- have contributed to understanding this concept PDF: rdcu.be/erbWH
- Reposted by Elisa BaekScan Camp is in session at the Northwestern CATS Lab! 🧠 We're looking for teens for a 5 week study. Participants complete 8-10 MRI scans and can earn up to $1,210! Parents and teens can learn more: northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... Please spread the word!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekIn this Review, Elisa C. Baek, Razieh Pourafshari & Joseph B. Bayer describe how four distinct uses of the term 'social connection' -- as subjective perceptions, social networks, synchrony & interpersonal behaviors -- have contributed to understanding this concept PDF: rdcu.be/erbWH
- Wrapping up #ica25 with @rzhprfshr.bsky.social presenting our work with @joebayer.bsky.social reviewing the research under the broad umbrella of “social connection”. And perfect timing because the paper was published TODAY at @natrevpsychol.nature.com 🥳 rdcu.be/erayE
- Oops I had meant to put a photo of @rzhprfshr.bsky.social with this post!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekBREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
- Reposted by Elisa BaekHad a great blue sky workshop earlier today with a fantastic panel of researchers who were incredibly generous in sharing their experiences about #AltAc. We had a packed house - these photos don't do it justice! Don't forget to attend our reception tonight in the Hyatt Regency in Capitol 4 at 20:00!
- Reposted by Elisa Baek2 media coping/well-being projects: Rockstar PhD student @juleswilson21.bsky.social will present her work on media use during grief (Mass Comm, Mon 9) & bestie @elisabaek.bsky.social will share preliminary findings on story processing differences in lonely people’s brains (CSaB, Sat 9) #ica25
- Moments like this make me feel so thankful and lucky to be part of so many academic communities 🔥 feeling inspired and encouraged! Thank you to the organizers of #CommHorizons for putting together such an amazing program and group of researchers!
- It's a Penn Annenberg reunion! What a treat to meet @asc.upenn.edu alums at UC Davis #CommHorizons this weekend. With @elisabaek.bsky.social @soojongkim.bsky.social @j-zhang.bsky.social Magdalena Wojcieszak and Sijia Yang.
- Reposted by Elisa Baek@gongxuanjun.bsky.social giving a wonderful talk on narrative impact & success (w @richardhuskey.bsky.social & @aeden.bsky.social) by using narrative structural models of networked characters & events to model popularity of a novel at #CommHorizons2025
- Reposted by Elisa Baek🥳 Exciting news! My first paper is out now in @pnas.org This work was a great collaboration between @ycleong.bsky.social , Chelsey Pan, & @leorhackel.bsky.social We examined how the brain learns from experiences of social acceptance and rejection🧵👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Reposted by Elisa BaekThat’s a wrap on #SANS2025! Had a great time presenting my work on how our brains learn from rejection & how loneliness relates to patterns in our daily language
- Still recovering and reflecting from #sans2025 and how our lab went from one poster last year to six (!!) this year. So proud and thankful for the brilliant people I get to do science with. Excited to see what we'll find in the next year to share in San Diego!
- More photos of SoCoLab in action!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekCASNL 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 Elisa BaekCome to sunny San Diego, April 14-20, 2026, for #SANS2026!
- And we are done! 🎉 feeling relived, inspired, and exhausted…and so thankful for this community! See you next year, SANS 🧠
- A big thank you to our fabulous conference co-chairs - @elisabaek.bsky.social and @jfguassimoreira.bsky.social
- It was such a privilege to have the legendary @gangchen6.bsky.social join us this year for SANS! Looking forward to continuing to use your methods and tools. Thank you for joining us!
- Science doesn’t grow in a vacuum; it thrives on shared ideas and fresh perspectives. Thanks to #sans2025 for building bridges and connecting the dots, and to @elisabaek.bsky.social & @jfguassimoreira.bsky.social for creating the opportunity!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekSymposium 2: Advances in Best Practices & Methods starting now! #SANS2025
- Reposted by Elisa BaekAI in social & affective neuroscience: Caution or acceleration? 🤖 Mohammad Atari @mohammadatari.bsky.social 🆚 Mark Thornton @markthornton.bsky.social Can AI be our Co-Pilot - or should we slow down? LaSalle Ballroom, don’t miss it! #SANS2025
- Reposted by Elisa BaekHere's what to look forward to on Day 2 of #SANS2025: 🌍 EDIJ panel on global science 🧠 Symposium on best practices 🤖 Debate #2 on the role of AI 🌟 Keynote Address from Dr. Beatriz Luna 🏆 Mid-Career Award: Dr. Catherine Hartley 🎉 Data Blitz/PM posters + evening socials See you there!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekNow for the first #SANS2025 debate! @drdamienfair.bsky.social and @thaliawheatley.bsky.social will discuss "Scaling up vs. zooming in: The case for large consortia vs. small investigator led studies" moderated by Josiah Leong.
- Reposted by Elisa BaekLoving the co-op game play paradigm @shawnrhoadsphd.bsky.social is using to examine inter-brain coherence and theory of mind accuracy between dyads #sans2025. (And he’s hiring!)
- 🚨 @markkho.bsky.social & I are hiring a joint postdoc interested in computational models of social interaction & computational psychiatry 💻 Ideal candidates have experience w/ multi-player web-based experiments & computational modeling 📅 Review begins April 18, 2025 🔗 apply.interfolio.com/165809
- So happy for comm representation at SANS 🧠🥳
- Just touched down in Chicago! Kicking off #SANS2025 strong with the president Dr. Satpute and representing Comm, SANS Program Chair @elisabaek.bsky.social . Can't wait for the rest of the conference!
- Same!!😂
- All are welcome — even if you didn’t attend the preconference!
- Informal happy hour for #SANS2025 at D4 Irish Pub and Cafe! Join us!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekDr. Aaron Heller (and former SANS president) leading our 3rd pre-conference session on geospatial localization and analysis at #SANS2025
- Dr. Brooke Ammerman leads our second preconference session with insights on screenomics, including practical logistics needed to start this research! #sans2025
- Reposted by Elisa Baek🗓️ Want to see what’s coming up at #SANS2025? Check out the Program-at-a-Glance to plan your sessions, spot your favorite speakers, and find those can't-miss talks! 👀 📍 socialaffectiveneuro.org/program/ Image👇
- Dr. Miriam Schwyck kicks off our preconference with an overview on social network analysis, including important considerations when designing social network surveys! #SANS2025
- In 20 minutes! We are so excited!
- It begins! #SANS2025 is kicking off in an hour with our Pre-Conference Workshops! Join us for an exciting dive into: 🔗 Social network analysis – Miriam Schwyck 📱 Screenomics & smartphone sensing – Brooke Ammerman 📍 Geolocation data & analysis – Aaron Heller
- Reposted by Elisa BaekMake sure to share your conference-related posts using the hashtag #SANS2025 so that we can find and amplify them!
- It begins! #SANS2025 is kicking off in an hour with our Pre-Conference Workshops! Join us for an exciting dive into: 🔗 Social network analysis – Miriam Schwyck 📱 Screenomics & smartphone sensing – Brooke Ammerman 📍 Geolocation data & analysis – Aaron Heller
- Reposted by Elisa BaekWe’re at #SANS2025! Catch our Blitz Talk (Session #2) + Poster (P2-A-5) on how negative and high-arousal news shape decision-making. Most research focuses on how the negativity bias captures our attention. We clarify what happens next! High-res poster here: cogcommscience.com/were-at-sans...
- We are so excited for SANS to kick off tomorrow with our preconference and can confirm that the hotel is awesome and Chicago is amazing! See you all soon 🧠🌪️
- Our 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 Elisa BaekAt @spspnews.bsky.social, many asked for guidelines on using LLMs in the social sciences. Our new paper in AMPPS addresses exactly that! We provide a primer for evaluating LLMs in social science research, focusing on methodological rigor, replicability, and validity: osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Elisa BaekLos Angeles people: join us 12pm March 7 for a rally for science at the Federal Building in Westwood, and please spread the word to any pro-science folks you know. @standupforscience.bsky.social @latimes.com @ktla.com @abc7.bsky.social @kcrw.com @laist.com @crooked.com @nbcla.com @foxla.bsky.social
- Reposted by Elisa Baek📣 Absolutely elated to announce that in 2026, I’ll be joining Rutgers-Newark as TT Assistant Professor in the Dept of Psychology! Can’t wait to join this incredible community! 🤩 I’ve got some fun projects ahead as I wrap up my postdoc, but soon I’ll start recruiting at all levels so stay tuned. 1/3
- Reposted by Elisa BaekI’m hiring a lab manager to start July 2025! Submit CV and cover letter as soon as possible as review will begin immediately. Link to the job ad is here: tinyurl.com/22ye3wsv Please share with any undergrads or mentees who might be interested!
- Reposted by Elisa Baek🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.
- Reposted by Elisa Baek#ica25 results are in! I’m thrilled that ECR collaborators like @juleswilson21.bsky.social @elisabaek.bsky.social & I will be presenting new things. But. Remember that it’s normal to get rejections. Celebrate the coauthors who helped you get this far, whatever you get back today 💚
- We have been working hard to put an awesome line-up of researchers with what we are hoping will be thought-provoking and inspiring symposia. Abstract submissions deadlines have been extended to December 30th -- would love to see your work!
- The #SANS2025 Program-at-a-Glance and Preconference workshop information are now both available on the SANS website! socialaffectiveneuro.org/program/
- We are SO excited to bring debates back to #SANS2025! If you aren't sure if you should submit to SANS 2025 -- I am here to tell you that you should :)
- #SANS2025 will feature two debates! First Damien Fair will debate @thaliawheatley.bsky.social about the usefulness of large consortia vs. small bespoke studies, then @mohammadatari.bsky.social will debate @markthornton.bsky.social about caution vs. acceleration in applying AI to social neuroscience!
- Reposted by Elisa BaekI am hoping to recruit a Ph.D. student to join our Social Injustice and Social Change research group at UC Santa Barbara in Fall 2025! You can more information about the position, about our team, and about our research on our website. sisc.psych.ucsb.edu/posts/recrui...
- Very excited to share the new "news" section of our lab website -- where we chronicle our journey as a young lab! All credit goes to our fabulous lab manager, Jacob Zimmerman, for his hard work on putting this together! Warning: at the moment, news mostly consists of the lab pup www.socolab.org/news
- 🚨First post here! The Dept of Psychology at USC has 4 open TT assistant prof positions: - Brain & CogSci: usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange... - Developmental: usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange... - Clinical: usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange... - Quant & Computational: usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
