Darby Saxbe

My fabulous grad student is crowdsourcing tips on the "hidden curriculum" to share with future Ph.D applicants-- input welcome. Here's one I didn't learn until my first year of grad school: you create posters to present at conferences, not to hang on your wall.https://twitter.com/sofia__cardenas/status/1223815569515769856 …

It’s a longitudinal study of expectant fathers, scanned in pregnancy and then again postpartum. We are looking at structural and functional change across the transition to parenthood and at individual differences in adjustment to parenthood.

Question for neuroimaging twitter. Let's say you're running an MRI study with right-handed participants. Would you exclude a participant who describes himself as ambidextrous?

"The stress of disorganized time carries into the next generation....Schneider and his coauthors found higher levels of anxiety, stress, and depression in children whose parents work unpredictable hours compared to those whose parents have set schedules." @RachelDeutsch6https://twitter.com/BetterLifeLab/status/1216835260811554816 …

We describe research finding correlated arousal/emotion/physiology in social groups, & comment on statistical considerations. We also cite heavy-hitters like @RelationScience, @TomHollenstein, @EveMercadoPhD, @dsbarra, @TessaWestNYU, @leoschilbach, @hansijzerman, & many others

groups. Just as chronic or repeated stress can cause regulatory systems to behave less flexibly, we suggest that social groups under stress can become locked into static patterns of interaction and see a shifting of their homeostatic setting point or optimal baseline. 3/

Bruce McEwen’s theory of allostatic load offers an elegant metaphor for how stress can damage health through cumulative wear and tear on regulatory systems. In our paper, we draw from Beckes and Coan’s Social Baseline Theory & extend the allostatic load metaphor to social 2/

It's a refreshingly feminist movie in many ways. But it's also a reminder of how narrow the paths are for brilliant women. Elsa reminds me of Virginia Woolf or Joni Mitchell, the female genius who must sacrifice domestic fulfillment to fully express her creative power

There's a parallel to women in politics and how they always seem to become sullied/compromised in the public eye as they seek power. Women aren't allowed to be both Anna and Elsa. You can't be powerful AND live in a world of warm reciprocal relationships. Elsa=power, Anna=nice

At the end of the first Frozen, she learns that through love (her bond with her sister) she can manage her power. Classic female destiny. But the 2nd Frozen is about how her female creative power continues to rage, and she can release it only in exile, split from her sister

Films with male protagonists are often about how they learn to find + amplify their power (Luke Skywalker, the Karate Kid). But Elsa's journey in the first Frozen was about how she had to regulate/control her power or it would destroy civilization. Wild female creativity = danger

Frozen 2 is about the tragedy of female genius. In order to reach full expression of her power, Elsa has to eschew domesticity and retreat into isolation. Anna's story culminates in marriage and political concession. Bifurcated paths. Olaf the snowman was fun, though.

Today, I spoke to Barcelona high school students about my research on stress ("estrés" in Español). They laughed at my goofy midwestern Spanish accent and followed along with my English-language slides. Thanks to the Fulbright Commission and @USConsulateBCN for setting this up!https://twitter.com/USConsulateBCN/status/1202223226455252994 …

It's rec letter season, aka time for grad school application portals with tons of questions about whether my student is in the top 1%, top 5%, or top 10% on creativity or perseverance or whatever metric. So time-consuming & not at all scientific. Just let me upload a letter!

Get multiple people to read yr materials to catch errors. Show you've done yr homework on the dept. Name specific programs, initiatives, & collaborators that would draw you here. But most of all, know that whatever is going on behind the scenes has nothing to do with your worth!