Some have long thought that humans are universally attracted to specific features: think of symmetrical faces. Are these really universal? @adigitaltanay.bsky.social & Jay explore this and much more with @drboothroyd.bsky.social youtu.be/skwy9yKkytM

Mental health has several disciplinary homes. Yet members from different homes seldom meet. With Johanna, we decided to make these meetings more frequent at Cambridge with the Bridging Mental Health Network. Room has been brimming at our two talks Network talk recordings: tinyurl.com/5b4bwd5d

This + Eli's other piece (Where do the children play) coincides with my PsychReview paper's point - anthropology sheds new insights into the social media-mental health debate: tinyurl.com/yn3h6mky My paper is long + Eli's writing is vivid, so better to check his Substack out for the value of anthro

🎙️ EP #19 Think our ancestors lived in a state of "primitive communism"? New research reveals our deep past was far more complex than the "noble savage" myth suggests. @adigitaltanay.bsky.social & Jay explore this & much more with @manvir.bsky.social youtu.be/1BRZy9O665k?...

Jordan’s one of the most methodologically conscientious scientist I have ever met + his work is at the cutting edge of evolutionary biology. Working with him is bound to be filled with many intellectual adventures. Check this PhD position out.

This weekend, I'm going on a sponsored walk to help raise money for my friend's younger brother's cancer treatment. If able, I'd really appreciate if you could share or sponsor me here: sites.google.com/view/alex-wa...

Attention checks are a routine tool used to enhance data quality in online studies. However, a causal inference perspective suggests using this tool with “extreme” care. A 🧵

Am curious about a parallel trend - When a niche artist becomes famous, why do fans start hating them? Is this status-signalling? Or do fans fear a genre risks massive change due to increased audience size? @mehr.nz @sobchuk.bsky.social @patrickesavage.bsky.social @masonyoungblood.bsky.social

NEW EP Theories in pragmatics have long tried to explain how we use language to communicate. Jay & @thomasbeuchot.bsky.social chat with @dansperber.bsky.social about relevance theory, which potentially offers an unifying account of both verbal and non-verbal communication. tinyurl.com/2vne39sp

Congratulations to the Cognitations podcast, which was awarded an @ehbea.bsky.social grant to support the excellent work they're doing in public communication 🎉 This year, and for future years, we broadened the criteria for workshop grants to include non-academic events & public engagement

This is a mammoth piece of measurement work for evolutionary psychiatry, that hopefully triggers more rigorous testing of evolutionary theories of mental health. Camila et al. have spent several years(!!!) developing this vital piece of work, so do check it out and share

This is one of the rare papers that completely changed my thinking about the field I work in. Have a read!

My first paper, out in PsychReview!! Along with @orbenamy.bsky.social, Nik & @jaeggiadrian.bsky.social, @realadamhunt.bsky.social & I revisit an old theoretical question using concepts from evo psychiatry and anthro: Why do mixed associations exist b/w social media & mental health? A 🧵

UPDATE! 🎉 Cognitations has been awarded a Workshop Event Grant by @ehbea.bsky.social This amazing grant will help us record new episodes with leading international experts in evolution, anthro & cog sci. Stay tuned in to hear from @manvir.bsky.social, @dansperber.bsky.social & many more!!!

Reading cross-cultural perspectives on mental health just makes you rethink some of the ('universalistic') assumptions of Western psychotherapy.

🚨 New Preprint 🚨 Some people are at greater risk of experiencing negative mental health outcomes of social media use than others, but why? 🧵 We examined whether individual differences in cognitive processes shape risk and resilience to mental health effects on social media: osf.io/preprints/ps...

🚨 New Preprint 🚨 Prolonged Isolation is associated with an increased behavioural sensitivity to ‘Likes’ on social media. 🧵 Social media rewards are inherently social—but does posting change during social isolation, when in-person social rewards are limited? It turns out, yes!

@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised! 3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution 2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions. Please share and apply! www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Many of us have heard how existing mental health narratives can have some unintended consequences. But what if there’s a better alternative story? A new preprint strongly suggests that evolutionary psychiatry might offer one—without making us strangers to ourselves.

On Prolific, "we estimate that about 34% of online study participants use LLMs to answer open-ended questions atleast some of the time..." Seems like a very timely paper for behavioural scientists using online samples: osf.io/preprints/so... ; We really need more papers on this issue

This summer, August 31st, we are hosting an evolutionary psychiatry debate in Cambridge. Experts discussing whether depression is functional and whether evolutionary perspectives are more important in research or the clinic. Audience participation possible. Join us! www.femh.uk/activities/e...

🎙️ EP #17 Most of us struggle w/ work-life balance. Long before the existence of long commutes and busy calendars, our ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers (HGs). Do HGs have more free time? @adigitaltanay.bsky.social discusses this & much more with Mark Dyble tinyurl.com/y6hd8ur5 (1/2)

Elated to be involved in this project where @amiraskeggs.bsky.social introduces a novel method to (basically) conduct ethnography at scale. This method might have interesting implications for conducting quantitative ethnography in other disciplines. Do check her work out!!

🎙️ EP #16 Two people can hear different things when listening to the same sound (see 🧵): how does our auditory system really work? Cindy & @mariusmercier.bsky.social discuss this and much more with Daniel Pressnitzer shorturl.at/w6Y0w

🔷New in Biological Psychiatry🔷 **Old Strategies, New Environments: Reinforcement Learning on Social Media** In this Review, we argue that the computational framework of Reinforcement Learning can help us understand social media behaviour: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Does anyone know good review papers that summarise the various methodological difficulties involved in conducting good psychiatric epidemiology? And what sort of inferences can we make, knowing these difficulties (e.g. diagnostic criteria changes)? @eikofried.bsky.social @awaisaftab.bsky.social

New Perspective out in @nathumbehav.nature.com today with co-author @orbenamy.bsky.social! We propose a new framework for designing 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 that support well-being, grounded in self-determination theory 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

After 3 years in the making, our Registered Report is out in @nathumbehav.nature.com! We analyse nationally representative UK data from 3,340 adolescents (aged 11–19) to examine how social media use differs between those with and without mental health conditions. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

While studying psychiatry/mental health, one is often taught about the popularity of the DSM. #TIL that various editions of the DSM also act as 'significant' revenue streams for the American Psychiatric Association!! Source: lareviewofbooks.org/article/scie...

🎙️ EP #15 How can methods from cognitive science provide new ways of investigating social media’s mental health effects? Does it offer new policy insights? @adigitaltanay.bsky.social discusses this and much more with @lukasgunschera.bsky.social & @georgiaturner.bsky.social tinyurl.com/4ayf4x5s 🧵

Ever wondered if the mind really is modular? Ego disorders suggest so! In this new paper, psychiatrist Gheorghe Ilie and I argue that dysfunctions of the unitary self reveal the work of distinct modules, perceived by patients as distinct voices, often in conflict www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...

"What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at midday, and three feet in the evening?" This riddle is thousands of years old, but why does it stick with us? In our new paper, we argue that the feeling of insight might explain the lasting success of some cultural products: tinyurl.com/4j756h9a

This @cognitations.bsky.social podcast has made my bank holiday cleaning considerably less tedious: Daniel Nettle being interviewed about what human behavioural ecology is and how it can help inform policy, including around poverty podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...

Intriguing. Includes impressively up-to-date review of relevant literature on autism.

New Paper! I'm truly excited to share @natematias.bsky.social and my new Policy Forum in Science published yesterday. We evaluate science's ability to address technological harms, and offer recommendations for what could be done to improve on the status quo: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

My PhD student @adigitaltanay.bsky.social released an episode of his podcast Cognitations interviewing ... me. One of the toughest interviewers I've had! You can listen to it here: open.spotify.com/episode/6L7q... He will feature some other team members next, so do give the podcast a follow 🤳

It was an absolute privilege to have interviewed one of my intellectual north stars @orbenamy.bsky.social on the @cognitations.bsky.social podcast. Another bucketlist dream checked off!! As always, she provides nuanced, thoughtful answers that reflect empathy for various stakeholders in this debate

Not that anybody would be looking for opportunities outside the states these days, but I'm recruiting a PhD student in auditory stuff (Developmental and/or Cognitive / citizen science etc) here in Auckland, NZ www.themusiclab.org/about#join

Hello, Bluesky! Pleased to share that my first public-press article, on the shifting debate over what makes human culture unique, was published today in @us.theconversation.com. I review recent literature suggesting that cultural open-endedness, not cumulative culture, is our true defining trait.

How can evolutionary psychiatry avoid just-so storytelling for various disorders? @realadamhunt.bsky.social has spent nearly 9 years to develop the ideas in this paper and it very clearly shows. A landmark paper for the field of evolutionary psychiatry!!!

There are few blogposts that I re-read from time to time as they are so thought-provoking, challenge my intuitions so strongly, and combine insights from across the behavioural sciences. @davidpinsof.bsky.social 's "Happiness is Bullshit' is one of them: www.everythingisbullshit.blog/p/happiness-...

🎙️EP #13 Out Why do humans think about knowledge? How does this capacity enable communication? Jay discusses this and much more with Jennifer Nagel open.spotify.com/episode/6xyn... #TIL #philsky #PsychSciSky #podcasts

"Screen time could mean a lot of things for different people. So it's analogous to asking the question for instance what is the effect of Life on mental health."

🔔Call for abstracts! 🔔 We're inviting applications for flash talks at our workshop on Reinforcement Learning with real-world data at @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social, details below ⚡⚡⚡

Loving this analogy by Ben Trumble that beautifully conveys how 'recent' contemporary human lifeways are in industrialised societies

Listen to philosopher @JacobBeck talk about his academic journey and his take on animal minds in an interview with Jay Richardson for the podcast @Cognitations. open.spotify.com/episode/3dnc...?

"🎙️Cognitations Season Opener EP OUT! Ever wondered what animals are really thinking? How do scientists uncover the secrets of their minds? Jay chats with Jacob Beck about the fascinating world of animal smarts and the methods used to study them. Don’t miss it! open.spotify.com/episode/3dnc...

Such research is extremely vital & timely in documenting the diverse ways in which humans deal with stressors. As cross-cultural psychiatrists have long noted, documenting this diversity is under threat with the globalisation of Western assumptions to healing the psyche

My team is looking for someone to lead our operations and communications in a senior-level role! More details: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50079/

Great to see work from our team lead by the fantastic @fassiluisa.bsky.social being written up for a general audience by The Mental Elf! Worth a read if you are interested in the evidence base on social media and clinical anxiety/depression in young people ⬇️