Rodrigo Braga

How can the "default network" support many forms of introspective thought? Our new review argues these functions rely on distinct MTL connections: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… Thanks to Deniz Vatansever & Jess Andrews-Hanna for the invitation to this Special Issue!

Western Ohio was heavily reshaped by glaciers during the Ice Age, while the unglaciated southeast kept its older, more rugged Appalachian terrain.

Northwestern scientists suggest that higher‑level #brain systems that interpret and organize perception may play a central role in #imagination in addition to sensory systems, per @NeuroCellPress. spr.ly/6019BBM01b

@PessoaBrain Last I googled this was going to be folded into another directorate, but the “source” was an ai summary

Does anyone know if this is still open or was it shutdown? This is part of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE).

This is the strongest ephys evidence so far for a generative model in the brain that I know of. Congratulations @WadiaVarun! Wonderful collaboration with @UeliRutishauser on science that could only be done in humans. And please check out Fig. 5FG. This is new since biorxiv and really surprised me: the mean response to imagery and viewing is actually the same & there are many cells that respond only during imagery--challenging the idea that signal strength is what distinguishes reality from imagination.

@SlutzkyLab @rementurus Thank you!

@RodBraga @rementurus Congrats @RodBraga !

Our new paper on brain networks engaged during imagining is out now in Neuron! Here is a download link (free for 50 days): authors.elsevier.com/c/1msNE3BtfHGo… Congratulations to Nate Anderson for leading this work @rementurus.bsky.social 🧵

Jonny was a very creative scientist. RIP, Jonny. Congrats @RodBraga on the great work!

@Rocco_in_Sydney @rementurus @SalvoJoe @the_mindwanders Thanks Rocco!

@rementurus @SalvoJoe @the_mindwanders @RodBraga Fantastic results! Congrats on your paper!

Our paper is out! This has been years in the making. We found that mental imagery and perception do share a neural substrate, but we see it in in higher-order transmodal networks rather than earlier sensory systems. Check it out! doi.org/10.1016/j.neur…

@tkwn2080 @rementurus That would be neat!

@RodBraga @rementurus Have you considered a follow-up exploring how these varies with the sensory strength of visual imagery (e.g., as measured via pupillary light response) in aphantasic subjects? pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC90…

We dedicate this paper to Jonny Smallwood (1975-2025), who was instrumental in this project from inception to submission. Jonny thank you for your mentorship & you are dearly missed!

The same principle was seen for imagining scenes or speech, even though different sensory systems (visual, auditory) and transmodal networks (DN-A, LANG) were implicated in each. Lots more figures in paper, and longer thread on b-sk Thanks to participants, reviewers & editors

When we imagine we re-activate brain regions used during perception, an idea called "sensory reinstatement". However, our results suggest this overlap is actually in transmodal association networks, not sensory areas. Perception culminates in transmodal networks

An inside view of the vocal anatomy and how it produces sound [📹voice_with_natalia]

1/8. New preprint! Using fUSi in head-fixed mice🐭, we found that arousal events trigger a brain-wide wave of activity 🌊🧠. Surprisingly, this pattern was preserved during manipulations of the locus coeruleus, pointing to a minor role for noradrenaline. biorxiv.org/content/10.648…

I’ll be speaking at CNS 2026 in Symposium Session 6: “Not Your Average Brain: Individual-Level fMRI as a Paradigm Shift for Cognitive Neuroscience” on Monday, March 9, 10am–12pm. Excited for a session centered on how individual-level fMRI can reshape cognitive and clinical neuroscience. cogneurosociety.org/symposia/?sym=… This symposium has an all-star group of presenters covering cutting-edge work in precision and individual-level neuroimaging. It should be a really fun and substantive discussion. @RodBraga @ArielleKeller @jingnandu049 Andre Zamani

Northwestern scientists are uncovering how the #brain and its communication networks shape behavior, social cognition, and language, with implications for neurological and psychiatric disease. spr.ly/6010htK8p

@yutakatsumi Congrats!

Our latest on precision MRI in AD/FTLD!

It’s out!

@hesheng3 Congratulations, Hesheng. Very cool findings

A short but super cool video that gives a quick overview of our Nature paper on the SCAN of PD, along with videos showing patients with Parkinson's before and after non-invasive brain surface stimulation (see thread).🧠 nature.com/articles/s4158…