Dr Denise Moerel and colleagues' article on how our brains make decisions in competitive settings is out now! Read the full Conversation article here: theconversation.com/even-in-a-si... The article published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience: academic.oup.com/scan/advance...

Applications are now open for the MARCS International Visiting Scholar Program 2026! 🌏 We are pleased to offer scholarships for PhD students and postdocs for visits of 1–3 months before the end of 2026. 📅 Applications close 4 December 2025. If you are interested, email [email protected]

🌏 In a dream world, we’d all learn a new language and speak it fluently. Congrats to A/P Mark Antoniou's and team on their new project that aims to uncover the factors behind effective #languagelearning and develop personalised training approaches to help every learner reach their full potential.

🧠🗣️ Curious about how your baby learns to talk? Explore the fascinating journey of early language development with A/P Karen Mattock in a free webinar hosted by Playgroup NSW. 📅 Tuesday 4 November ⏲️ 11:30am -12:30pm 📌 Online via Zoom (Free) Register here: events.humanitix.com/free-online-...

We’re Hiring! Postdoctoral Research Fellow in #DevelopmentalScience Are you passionate about understanding the origins and development of human analogical reasoning? View the full position description & apply via: jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne... Applications close: Tue 4 Nov 2025

“Why can’t we remember life before age 4? 🧠 A/P Celia Harris explains the mystery of early memories, identity, and why some childhood moments stick while others fade. Read the full article: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

We’re proud to share a new scoping review published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia - co-authored by MARCS’ own Joyce Siette - mapping the evidence on how social determinants contribute to #dementia risk and progression. Read the full publication: alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

MARCS is seeking 2 x Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Computational Linguistics to join our multilingualism research team led by Prof Paola Escudero. 📅 Apply by: Wednesday 20 August 2025 📍 Open to candidates across Australia & internationally 👉 Learn more & apply here: lnkd.in/dzHtcJJ3

Proud to share a new student-led publication in ICIS Infancy based on research conducted at MARCS BabyLab. This project explores how infant temperament and maternal language during play may influence socio-emotional development in early life. Find it here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Join us in congratulating Dr @drquekles.bsky.social on her promotion to Level C, Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow! Her promotion is a well-deserved recognition of her research excellence and growing impact in the field of #cognitive_neuroscience. Learn more about her work: lnkd.in/gNkU6czM

We're proud to share that A/Prof Celia Harris, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in Cognitive Neuroscience, will be speaking at the upcoming Dementia Innovation Conference 2025! Book your place now: www.innovatedementia.com #CognitiveNeuroscience #MARCSInstitute #WesternSydneyUniverity

MARCS' Dr Ruth Brookman, alongside A/P Janet Conti, has led a new paper published in BMC Psychology. The study investigates the impact of a video feedback intervention on how women with elevated perinatal depression symptoms navigate their maternal identity. Read the full paper: lnkd.in/dZj5nvtf

Congratulations to our HDR candidate Florian Burger on receiving the Best Poster Presentation Award at the recent APCV/EPC Conference! His poster titled "From Visual features to Semantic Structure: Tracing Object Dimensions Through Hierarchical Model Layers." Read the preprint here: lnkd.in/dKqbvpYw

Hey ECRs at @expsyanz.bsky.social this week - if you're interested in object perception and/or neural decoding, come find me for a chat about an upcoming postdoc spot at the @marcsinstitute.bsky.social 👀

Headed to @expsyanz.bsky.social tonight? Be sure to check out Poster 31 and have a chat with @tvcottier.bsky.social who is asking the quetsion "Are those images of the same person? Dissecting the super-recogniser advantage" #Superrecogniser #faceperception #EPC2025

We're pleased to offer a fully funded PhD scholarship: Understanding the Mastery of Multiple Languages and Dialects: A Computational Approach 🎓 Lead Researcher: Prof. Paola Escudero 📅 Applications close: 30 June 2025 🔗 Full scholarship details: www.westernsydney.edu.au/schools/grs/...

We're pleased to offer a fully funded PhD scholarship: Revealing Universal and Cultural Origins of Music-Induced Emotion. 🎓 Lead Researcher: A/Prof Andrew Milne 📅 Applications close: 30 June, 2025 🔗 Full scholarship details and application instructions: www.westernsydney.edu.au/schools/grs/...

Wonderful to our very own Chris Davis, Jeesun Kim and Daniel Hochstrasser contributing to this epic mutli-lab replication result with a stellar line up of authors! #perception #rhythm #replication #musicscience

Congrats to all of our 2025 HDR Forum participants for another fantastic day of showcasing your research, especially award winners: Sami Arja, @aramirezharo3.bsky.social @oliviamaurice.bsky.social & Mina Aghaei. We may be biased, but our HDR Candidates are the best! #PhD

Our very own Joyce Siette provides some key reasons why you don't need to panic that your cold sores might lead to Alzheimer's Disease - but what you can do is focus on what does keep your brain healthy as you age!

🎉 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗦, Dr. Alejandra Pesantez from the University of Zurich! Dr. Alejandra is teaming up with Prof. Paola Escudero to explore how do #bilingual children acquire more #languages 🧠 🗣️ We’re excited to see where this collaboration leads!

New paper in @plosone.org from Anthony Chmiel, Roger Dean @katestevartssci.bsky.social Jen Macritchie, from our ARC DP that looked at older adult musical sophistication over 12 months of training & 6 month follow up. Improvisation led to the biggest gains: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

🤝 #AgedCare research is about people. Our Age Lab team had an incredible time engaging with the local community – listening to their experiences & exchanging ideas about optimising the wellbeing of older Australians. Conversations like these ensure our work truly makes a difference. #ResearchImpact

✨ What if you could step into the past – relive cherished experiences and discover how memory shapes who we are? 🧠 Our #AgeLab team is exploring integrating #technology in #autobiographical #memory research, bridging science & humanity to support memory, wellbeing and even therapeutic applications.

🎈 How can we transform everyday spaces into fun places for children to explore and learn? ✨ A big thank you to everyone who attended the #PlayfulLearningLandscapes conference and contributed to the discussions! Together, we can transform the way children learn and grow – one play idea at a time!

📣 Looking for young voices! Aged 16-22 and open to sharing your thoughts on mental health? Join ReachOut’s co-design workshop to help shape better support for young people. 📆 13 Mar 2025, 10am – 3pm at WSU Westmead Innovation Quarter | Receive $250 | Apply now: tinyurl.com/ReachOut13Mar

Check out this preprint led by @sabomelinda.bsky.social which presents the outcomes of her @marcsinstitute.bsky.social visiting scholarship! We analysed EEG data from 500+ participants to investigate how the brain processes cognitive conflict. #PsychSciSky #neuroskyence doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧠 💡 PhD scholarships available! 💡🧠 The CogNeuro group at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social is on the hunt for talented students to work on face and object perception using EEG and neural decoding. Learn more here 👇 and get in touch! Project 1: shorturl.at/0NwQl Project 2: shorturl.at/yTdqG

Language learning isn’t just for travel - it can boost your career and brainpower too! 🧠📱 But can apps really make you fluent? Explore the pros & cons of digital tools. Connect & collaborate: www.tinyurl.com/MarkAntoniou #LanguageLearning #CareerGrowth #BrainHealth #Multilingual

This evening's Anne Cutler Public Lecture on #ActivePlayfulLearning kicked off with a fun, competitive ball toss! 🏐 This activity set the stage for an insightful talk on the power of #play. How can we incorporate meaningful guided play into our everyday environments to help children learn better? ✨

Join us for a Public Lecture by child development and psychology expert, Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, on 'Active Playful Learning: Where the Science of Learning Meets Education.' 📅 6 Feb 2025 | 🕓 4-6pm | 📍 Western Sydney University Westmead campus 🔗 6feb2025publiclecture.eventbrite.com.au

💡 Latest research shows that babies are already learning how sounds are physically produced BEFORE tuning in to their native language. This discovery challenges previous beliefs and opens up new possibilities for early intervention. 🔗https://tinyurl.com/msx2vw7a @eylemaltuntas.bsky.social

Only 1 more day to get your applications in! Join us for this up to 3 year postdoc position: tinyurl.com/SuperRecogni...

🎧 Discover how #music is transforming #dementia care with Dr Sandra Garrido. Tune in to ABC Radio's Nightlife this Saturday at 10pm! More about the research: www.westernsydney.edu.au/future-maker...

💡Infants’ temperaments can shape parent-child #communication. A study by Dr Antonia Goetz, Dr Eylem Altuntas and team, explores how #temperament impacts early communication, supporting #earlychildhood development and #learning outcomes for children. 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Congratulations to our amazing MARCS team for their achievements this year! We’re so proud of our colleagues for receiving recognition at the Western Sydney University Vice Chancellor's Excellence Awards for their incredible contributions. Thank you for your dedication, passion, and hard work!

🎉 Congrats to Dr Denise Moerel for winning the 2024 ACNS Emerging Researcher Award! 👏 Denise's research investigates how perception enables complex behaviour, such as social interaction, and how attention facilitates these processes. #Neuroscience | 🔗 tinyurl.com/3ycz2wdr

🎶💬 New research by Dr Anna Fiveash and team has found that listening to rhythmic #music can help children with #language processing difficulties improve their ability to repeat sentences. | Read: tinyurl.com/4x44tryj @anna5ash.bsky.social #MusicScience #Language #SpeechTherapy #MusicTherapy

#PhD #Scholarship Opportunity: Unlocking Person Identity Codes in the Human Brain 🧠 | Explore the extraordinary abilities of Super-Recognisers & contribute to the advancement of person identification technologies worldwide. #Neuroscience | Applications close 31 Jan 2025. | tinyurl.com/45c4m3kk

We were thrilled to welcome Prof George Williams AO, Vice Chancellor of Western Sydney University to MARCS Institute! The VC chatted to our researchers about the exciting work in child development, neuromorphic research, biomedical engineering, & music science. Thanks for your support & insights!

🎉 Congrats to PhD Candidate, Almudena, for winning the Outstanding Presentation Award at the 2024 #ACNS conference! Topic: #ObjectRecognition Under Occlusion During Rapid Serial Visual Presentations. 👏 #Neuroscience #MARCSHDR tinyurl.com/AlmudenaRami...

Despite Australia’s diversity, only 9% of Year 12 students study languages. ✨Newly funded ARC Discovery Project will explore how #polyglots manage and control multiple languages. The goal: improve #language #education nationwide. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2fda6wy5 #multilingualism @katestevartssci.bsky.social

An inspiring morning at Parramatta Library for #InternationalDayForPeopleWithADisability! Our Age Lab team shared the #MemoryAid project, engaged in #dementia care discussions, and connected with the local community. 💜 Thanks to everyone who joined us and City of Parramatta Council for organising!

🌎As #languages disappear, so do parts of a #community’s identity and culture. ✨Newly funded ARC Discovery Project, led by Dr Hannah Sarvasy, will explore the impact of preserving #Indigenous languages in Papua New Guinea and beyond. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2fda6wy5 @katestevartssci.bsky.social

Music communicates emotions across cultures, but how much is universal vs cultural? ✨Newly funded #ARC #Discovery Project will explore music's impact on #health, #wellbeing, and the global #music industry. 🔗https://tinyurl.com/2fda6wy5 #MusicScience @katestevartssci.bsky.social

Newly funded ARC Discovery Project will unlock the secrets of how children learn and provide parents & educators with insights to support #childdevelopment. Looking forward to transforming #education in Australia, one discovery at a time! @drquekles.bsky.social

🚨Join us! We're hiring a 3yr Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cognitive Neuroscience with @drquekles.bsky.social @manuelvarlet.bsky.social @tgro.bsky.social & David White to investigate decoding in super-recognisers. Applications close 14 Jan #postdoc #cogneuro #ACNS2024 tinyurl.com/SuperRecogni...

✈️ This week, we welcomed our final #International #VisitingFellow for 2024 and bid farewell to three others - just in time to announce that applications for 2025 scheme are now open! Apply to come and visit for 2-3 months. PhD Candidates & ECRs welcome. 🔗https://tinyurl.com/3ztnrufd

🎉 Exciting news! Our team at MARCS has been awarded funding through the Australian Research Council (ARC) to revolutionise #STEM engagement online! In partnership with Powerhouse Museum, our goal is to create an inclusive experience for all & inspire the next gen of #thinkers & #innovators! 🌟

About to start a demanding task at work on your Monday morning? Listening to music beforehand could boost your language abilities. Great article by Dr Anna Fiveash on the impact of music on workplace productivity. #musicscience #ProductivityTip theconversation.com/can-listenin...