Jenna Merenstein
lover of dogs, music, mountains, and studying the aging human brain using MRI.
🌴 PhD @ UCR LANI Lab
🧠 NIA F32 postdoc @duke-university.bsky.social
🏔️ current asst prof @utah.edu
✨ views are my own
www.uclimb-lab.com
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinBreathing in polluted air as we age may harm a part of the brain linked to memory and Alzheimer's disease. Scientists found that air pollution can lead to changes in the medial temporal lobe, a key area for memory. Learn more: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41482168/
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinFor 15(!) years I’ve been teaching introductory #MRI to grad students, and struggled to find a textbook for a wide variety of backgrounds. I'm happy to share an online textbook I created, fully open source (including code for generating figures and plots shown): larsonlab.github.io/MRI-educatio...
- Newest paper out now in Imaging Neuroscience 🤗
- New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Jenna L. Merenstein, David J. Madden, et al: Higher spatial resolution diffusion-weighted imaging improves characterization of white matter disconnection in Alzheimer’s disease doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinA must-read review. It argues that brain areas are only one of several organizing principles and are not especially central, given their weak correspondence to function. Cytoarchitecture and connectivity are a starting point, not the endpoint. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroscience
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinNew paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Hecheng Jin, Ting Xu, et al: Is Pearson’s correlation coefficient enough for functional connectivity in fMRI? doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinJust finished my last class of the semester🎉Reminded of how much I love teaching this academic writing class for grad students. We focus on improving our writing but also reducing anxiety and becoming a more consistent & productive writer Some of the students favorite writing tips/learnings below:
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein✨ SHINY NEW PAPER ✨ MRI-derived regional volume and thickness are stronger predictors of cognitive decline, especially for memory, but plasma biomarkers do add predictive value www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197458025001137
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinVery cool new work from the Iglesias group at MGH: A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation (also available at OpenNeuro - openneuro.org/datasets/ds0...) : www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinNo more paylines at the NIH grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinNew paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Adam Kimbler & Craig E.L. Stark: Advanced diffusion imaging in grey matter reflects individual differences in cognitive ability in older adults doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinMerenstein et al show structural brain connectivity, measured by high-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI, improved predictions of age-related alterations in brain function and cognitive performance, relative to standard spatial resolution buff.ly/0IOgtRX @jmerenstein.bsky.social @nba-eic.bsky.social
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinCalling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinDiffusion MRI Microstructure Markers of Changes in the Human Brain Across the Lifespan Using Constrained Spherical Deconvolution and Fixel-Based Techniques onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinMultivariate environmental exposures are reflected in whole-brain functional connectivity and cognition in youth | bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinWe just published a paper in PNAS, showing microstructural changes to the hippocampus in aging and presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease - in humans, in vivo. We continue to show the value of structural MRI beyond simply measuring large-scale atrophy! Read here: ow.ly/1NvV50XkXnX
- The search for early signs of Alzheimer's disease continues: Brain scans reveal microstructural changes in the hippocampus that signal early stages of the disease, including demyelination, increased iron deposition, and changes in water content. In PNAS: ow.ly/1NvV50XkXnX
- I am so excited to be a faculty mentor for the University of Utah's Summer Program for Undergraduate Research 2026! This is a nationally competitive, 10-week program providing undergraduates with an intensive paid research experience. Apps are due 01/25/2026! utah.infoready4.com#undergraduate
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinskiftiTools: An R package for reading, writing, analysing, and visualising, tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) derived diffusion MR images | bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein🚨 We are seeking a Digital Presence Coordinator! Open to psych/neuro grad students, postdocs & faculty who are passionate about improving fairness in peer review. Job details: 💻 Managing website, socials, newsletters 🕒 4–8 hrs/month | 💵 $500 honorarium | 📅 1-year term Apply 👉 go.iu.edu/8vxh
- One last reminder that I’m recruiting a graduate student through the Cognition & Neural Science area @utah.edu this Fall! The lab uses MRI to study healthy cognitive aging across the adult lifespan and will start assessing factors that moderate cognitive aging (air pollution, cardiovascular health).
- Yay, thanks so much for sharing this! 🥳 I am excited to be starting my new lab this Fall! I’ll be reviewing applications this cycle for 1-2 graduate students to start in Fall 2026. More information about applications can be found here: psych.utah.edu/graduate/
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein⭐ My lab is recruiting a grad student for fall 2026! ⭐ 🧠 If you are interested in semantic learning & memory, and want to use fMRI + computational models to ask these questions, I'll be excited to hear from you. Come join us in Bing! 🔗 sites.google.com/view/spinslab
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein🆕 New open neuroimaging dataset released! I’m happy to share that our Naturalistic Neuroimaging Database (NNDb3T+) is now publicly available! NNDb3T+ captures rich, multimodal brain activity in a naturalistic setting with 40 participants and over 160 hours of scanning!
- Sharing our new paper in Brain Communications ➡️ doi.org/10.1093/brai... We show that structural connectivity, as measured by high-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI, improved the ability to predict age-related alterations in brain function and cognition, relative to standard spatial resolution.
- TWO more tenure-track positions posted @utah.edu 🙌 1) Assistant/Associate Professor Workforce Development and AI Literacy ➡️ utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/190... 2) Assistant/Associate Professor AI and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Learning ➡️ utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/189...
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein@pnas.org: Small sex differences in brain aging, steeper decline in men in some regions. Does not explain why more women are diagnosed with AD. 12,638 longitudinal MRIs, 4,726 participants across 14 cohorts. Control for head-size, education, life-expectancy. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinOut 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
- In this article, @jadynpark.bsky.social et al find that emotionally arousing moments during a narrative are associated with heightened integration across functional brain networks, which in turn predict how well those moments are then remembered.
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein
An open, longitudinal resource for mapping interindividual variation in the aging connectome medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/202… - Reposted by Jenna MerensteinOpenNeuro @openneuro.bsky.social just hit a huge milestone: 1500 datasets! Congrats to the team on making this project so successful over the last 7 years.
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinVirginia Tech, Blacksburg VA. Assistant Professor in School of Neuroscience seeks computational or systems neuroscientist to teach and build funded lab. Closing date: 7th November www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/job/assistan...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinI have a full course on R for Psychology and Neuroscience, which includes sample programs and lecture videos. Also has some recommended books on R programming. Perfect for beginners! rworkshop.missouri.edu
- Come join me as a colleague in the Department of Psychology @utah.edu We are located in beautiful Salt Lake City! ⛰️ And currently hiring an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Clinical Psychology. The job ad can be found here --> utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/187...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinExciting news from the TRIAD cohort! 🎉We’re celebrating another graduate from our clinical trial study! 🐶🎓 Want to help dogs live longer, healthier lives? 🐾 Discover if your doggo is eligible for TRIAD: dogagingproject.org/triad #TRIAD #DogGrad #Dogs
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinPosting on behalf of Tamar Gollan, who is not on Bluesky: A postdoc position is open and available immediately in Dr. Tamar Gollan’s Laboratory of Aging Bilingualism at the University of California, San Diego, funded by NIH & NSF. See link for details! psychiatry.ucsd.edu/about/LAB_Go...
- Timeline cleanse featuring Fall in Utah 😍
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinThe MAC lab at Drexel is looking for a new post-doc to work on NIH-funded projects investigating the intersection of prior knowledge and long-term memory consolidation. Please pass along to any interested lab members! careers.drexel.edu/cw/en-us/job...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinThis is awesome. Drag and drop a brain MRI scan into the window and it does tissue segmentation in the browser (in about 8 seconds), then creates a 3D mesh suitable for 3D printing. This has been an hours-to-days long process for us in the past, all in a couple minutes. 🤯 brain2print.org
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinBrown’s Department of Cognitive & Psychological Sciences is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor, working in the area of AI and the Mind (start July 1, 2026). Apply by Nov 8, 2025 👉 apply.interfolio.com/173939 #AI #CognitiveScience #AcademicJobs #BrownUniversity
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinCome join us! Two awesome faculty positions in experimental physical chemistry and biochemist - all ranks!!! utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/186...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinLab’s latest is out in Imaging Neuroscience, led by Kirsten Peterson: “Regularized partial correlation provides reliable functional connectivity estimates while correcting for widespread confounding”, where we demonstrate a major improvement to standard fMRI functional connectivity (correlation) 1/n
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinUniversity of South Carolina has *7* tenure-track faculty positions in Neurobiology of Language: tinyurl.com/USC-Faculty-... Positions in COMD, Psych, Linguistics, School of Medicine. @snlmtg.bsky.social #SNL2025, we will have a booth. w/@rutvikdesai.bsky.social @imb-uofsc.bsky.social
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinThe Dept. of Psychology at the U. Wisconsin–Madison has an opening for an Assistant Professor in the area of Computational Neuroscience and/or Cognitive Science, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI). Domain of behavior or cognition is open. Details at jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/assista...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinUNLV's MRI facility is close to completion and we are now searching for an MRI Technologist. Please help me spread the word! nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UNLV-E... #neuroimaging #MRI #neuroscience #psychology
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinThe Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word! jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinAre you an early career researcher (undergrad to postdoc) who could use advice about navigating peer review? Are you stuck on a manuscript submission or revision? Have general questions about peer review? Schedule a 30-min chat with any member of @reviewerzero.bsky.social! We'd love to help 😊
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinUCDavis Psych is hiring an Assistant Professor in Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience 🧠✨ Come join a vibrant, collaborative dept and live in a fun college town near Sacramento, San Francisco, Napa, and Lake Tahoe. Applications due Oct.21. Please share widely! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinThe GRFP lives!! (due end of October) www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinUC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein📚 NEW ISSUE 📚 Articles cover processing speed in background noise, biological age acceleration in Alzheimer's Disease, effects of strength training in aging, and more. www.sciencedirect.com/journal/neurobiology-of-aging/vol/153/suppl/C
- Come be my colleague at @utah.edu in beautiful Salt Lake City! ⛰️ The Department of Psychology is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in social psychology. The job ad can be found here: utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/186...
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein✨ SHINY NEW PAPER ✨ Higher cardiovascular disease risk in older adults may explain why shorter sleep duration relates to worse cognition. doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2025.04.008
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein✨ SHINY NEW PAPER ✨ Interactions between CSF misfolded proteins (Aβ, p-tau), inflammatory markers (IL-8), and brain regional CBF and atrophy are more pronounced in individuals with higher cardiovascular risk factors doi.org/10.1016/j.ne... @sylviavilleneuve.bsky.social
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein✨ SHINY NEW PAPER ✨ Clusters of positive modifiable factors (physical/cognitive activity, education, sleep, depression, personality) attenuate effects of amyloid on cognition. doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinTimeline cleanse
- Yay, thanks so much for sharing this! 🥳 I am excited to be starting my new lab this Fall! I’ll be reviewing applications this cycle for 1-2 graduate students to start in Fall 2026. More information about applications can be found here: psych.utah.edu/graduate/
- Madden Lab alumna Jenna Merenstein is building the U-CLIMB lab at the University of Utah; open to new grad students and postdocs. www.uclimb-lab.com
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinMy new university's logo is a PSI! How frickin cool is that! Help me grow a new lab at in IU Bloomington! We're seeking brilliant young scientists interested in memory representations, neuromodulation & aging. Coordinator: bit.ly/3Hu3UzT Postdoc: bit.ly/4oBZF6j Accepting GS apps in the Fall!
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinScientists! @skypeascientist.bsky.social matches scientists with classrooms, libraries, & more for virtual Q&As! It's easy and fun! We are looking for 750 more volunteers by 8/15 If you're down to chat with 1-5 classrooms this semester, sign up here www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinDisheartening read as I put together my syllabus. But I also discovered this list of “anti-AI” assignments that have given me some ideas. Would love to hear more! against-a-i.com/assignment-i...
- Reposted by Jenna Merenstein📣 SPECIAL ISSUE 📣 Brain Resilience & Diversity in Aging and Dementia www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... Due: 12/1/25 @mnrajah.bsky.social
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinWe’re hiring! Pls share widely: In conjunction w/ the @bowers-wbhi.bsky.social, my team is recruiting a full-time clinical research coordinator to assist with research efforts at UC Santa Barbara. 1-2 yrs experience in MRI data collection preferred. Submit apps to: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02974
- Reposted by Jenna MerensteinSenate committee endorses NIH budget increase, rebuking Trump administration’s proposed 40% cut www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/n... via @statnews.com
