Samira Epp (she/her)

Out now in @pnas.org We present a new metabolism-weighted brain connectome that incorporates each region’s energy expenditure into the mapping of brain connectivity. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We've known that socioeconomics (SES) matters for the 🧠. New & 🤯 is that SES drowns out all other brain associations, incl. IQ. If you train an algorithm to predict IQ from brain data, it's still way better at predicting SES. Science Mag: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @smarek0502.bsky.social 👀🧵👇

Join me at #ohbm2026 to discuss about the reliability of multiparametric, quantitative MRI on Wed and Thurs N°2502 :)

Samira's work made the cover of @natneuro.nature.com this month 🎉 🔗 nature.com/neuro/volumes/29/issues/5 I also want to highlight two recent comments that engage with our quantitative approach to interpreting the BOLD signal; both are worth reading (see below).

4: In summary, we identified varying oxygen extraction as a novel hemodynamic response type to neuronal activity, leading to paradoxically inverse BOLD signal responses, particularly in the Default Mode Network.

2: We found inconsistent hemodynamic responses via blood flow (CBF) across the cortex and even within the same voxels, depending on task type and baseline oxygen extraction fraction (OEF).

fMRI signals “up,” but neural metabolism might be going “down.” In our @natneuro.nature.com paper, we demonstrate that about 40% of voxels with robust BOLD responses exhibit opposite oxygen metabolism, revealing two distinct hemodynamic modes. rdcu.be/eUPO8 funds @erc.europa.eu #neuroskyence 🧵: