A new, Short and Sweet open-access paper on how briefly hiding the hand impedes goal-directed arm movements. Briefly is really brief: we find a decrease in performance in goal-directed movements due to just a few ms without vision of the hand (target remains visible). doi.org/10.1177/0301...

Our next #SpeakerSpotlight for VR Summit 2025! ✨ Featuring: Gavin Buckingham (Univ. of Exeter) Jason Friedman (Tel Aviv Univ.) Jeroen Smeets (VU Amsterdam) 📅 Summit Oct 20–21 • Rotunde Bochum Register/submit: vrs.rub.de #VRSummit #XR #VR #HCI #Neuroscience #VRresearch #VRcademicSky

Following a discussion with Mindy Levin about the limitations of using VR in motor control and rehabilitation, I joined her in writing this review.

OK so totally crazy thought but hear me out how about we stop paying so much money to Elsevier and Wiley and Springer and other publishers and like use that money to finance universities so we don't shut down programs in the Netherlands right now ..

For those who can understand some Dutch: an interview on Dutch National radio about broken escalators, the size-weight illusion, and motion sickness: www.nporadio1.nl/nieuws/binne...

When trying to learn from reward, you explore after non-rewarded trials. One generally assumes that this exploration is random. In our new paper, in contrast, we find that participants repeat changes in the same direction more than random exploration predicts. doi.org/10.1007/s002...

In a recent paper, it was argued that the tendency to direct saccades between target and distractor depends on their distance. In a letter to the editor, we argue that their data can be easily explained by assuming that 20% of the saccades is directed at that global location. doi.org/10.1016/j.vi...

The dynamic version is even more disturbing...

@yfvisser.bsky.social Visser promoveerde vorige maand op haar onderzoek naar communicatie tussen brein en spieren onder stress. Vandaag ook in @nrc.nl: www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

In this new paper by Eleonora Assarioti, we found that in perceptual discrimination tasks, participants tend to choose the option with the lowest explicit motor costs. This challenges the view that the motor system merely executes decisions. dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejn....

@ns-online.bsky.social: waarom adviseren jullie de reizigers van Groningen naar Hilversum (en Utrecht om in Amersfoort over te stappen met een kwartier wachten, terwijl de ic dit weekend gewoon rechtstreeks door rijdt naar Hilversum? @rover-online.bsky.social

Many authors and textbooks assume that sensory recalibration involves adjusting some consistent internal representation, map, or body schema. In an elegant study, Fuchs & Heed provide new evidence that this is not the case: tactile recalibration is task-specific. doi.org/10.1111/ejn....

When I was on Twitter, I asked how scientists determine the age of their human participants. As about two-thirds of the respondents (and 2/3 of authors) ask for rounded-down age, the average ages reported in the literature may be biased by half a year. Open access at doi.org/10.1016/j.ac...

Dear all, I am looking for a postdoc for an ERC-funded project on meditation and the predictive brain in my lab. More details can be found here: heleenslagter.com/positions Feel free to reach out with any questions! Please help spread the word!

Scientists have a peculiar way to report the average age of their human participants. They suggest they know this average with a few days precision, but introduce a half year bias. Read about it in my short paper doi.org/10.1016/j.ac...

I am recruiting two PhD students to work on proprioception in an FWO funded project: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #sensorimotor Spread the word

This is an elegant experiment using a new task (grasping thin objects using a precision grip) to find out how grasping is controlled. The answer: "the digits-in-space hypothesis provides the most plausible account of the data". Worth reading!

🚨Job alert!🚨 Are you curious about curiosity, and looking for a post-doc position? Then please consider applying: www.ru.nl/en/working-a... Feel free to e-mail/DM me if you have questions. Thanks very much for sharing/re-posting!

The final version of the paper is now openly available at Neuron via www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

New open PhD position in my lab at the Donders Institute! We are looking for a motivated PhD candidate with an interest in the computational underpinnings of body augmentation and embodiment. Deadline: 14 February, 2024 Link: www.ru.nl/en/working-a...

Want to come do a post-doc with me (or anyone else at Western)? Get in touch soon... the Western Postdoc Fellowship Program has a deadline coming up: t.co/ET0v56dQwn

Interested to find out what determines whether visual information about one's motion in virtual reality leads to cyber-sickness? We have a (funded) PhD position available to answer this question. werkenbij.vu.nl/ad/phd-posit... Apply before January 7th

Today, I’ll be presenting my poster on the control of pointing at #sfn23. If you are in DC: Poster board CC10.

Interested in #variability and motor #learning? Visit the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on December 6 for the PhD defense of Nina van Mastrigt and symposium with presentations by @jjodx.bsky.social, Marit Ruitenberg and Pieter Medendorp + a panel discussion on motor exploration outside the lab!

If you agree with me that academics should be free to post their opinion about complex conflicts or politics (as long as it is not hate speech or in conflict with their academic roles), please consider signing this petition: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We cannot deal with accelerations when intercepting a target. A wheel's valve moves in a way that involves continuously varying accelerations. In a new paper, we show that -in contrast to popular belief- viewing the context of the wheel helps to intercept such a target. doi.org/10.1167/jov....

Reinforcement-based processes actively regulate motor exploration along redundant solution manifolds royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #sensorimotor

Are there people on Bluesky who are brand new to science? Great! Let’s go through a paper-reading tip I wish I knew when I started grad school: Lots of journal articles have additional secret abstracts! Since repetition is key to learning, I often read all 4 when digging into a paper.

We have a fully funded PhD position on the neural mechanisms of embodied decision making. A MSc degree, experience with conducting behavioural experiments in human participants, time series analysis and statistical modelling are required. werkenbij.vu.nl/ad/phd-posit...

Looking forward to MLMC 2023, held in Washington DC on Friday, November 10th! The abstract submission deadline for MLMC 2023 is September 27th. See the link below for more details, and I hope to see you there! motor-conference.org/openconf.php

As of today, Wales has adopted a default speed limit of 20 mph. Wales First Minister: “People will look back and ask themselves why [we] were prepared to tolerate traffic going at excessive speeds in urban areas.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66774379

The figure shows results of an experiment. Participants behave on average (the planned analysis) the same in three conditions, but I would conclude from the data that they behave only the same in B and C, but that their behaviour is different in A. How would you call (and analyse) this phenomenon?