Enkephalin constrains fear learning via volume transmission to the lateral amygdala https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.17.739254v1
Stephanie Borgland
@borglandlab.bsky.social
Neuroscientist at Hotchkiss Brain Institute University of Calgary. Interested in appetitive behaviours, bad decisions, neuropeptide neuromodulators, and puppies.
CIHR has launched a trial ballon that suggests shifting to one competition a year. This is the worst idea I have heard in a long time. The only benefit is making top-line success rates look better than they are. Keep it as is, do in-person reviews, and keep the pain in the open.
The fMRI outcomes are here (preprinted) www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6... The story is surprisingly similar! Little effect of intervention in the overall group but changes occurring in our younger participants. 1/ 🧪
Effects of Controlled Diets High in and Free of Ultraprocessed Food on the Brain of Emerging Adults
Objective: The average American consumes 55% of their daily energy from ultraprocessed foods (UPF) created through industrial processes and additives not used at home. We investigated if a high-UPF di...
medrxiv.org
@davybrenda.bsky.social and I’s UPF RCT is finally published! We tested the effects of a eucaloric UPF vs no UPF diet on energy intake in young people. Our age subgroup analysis found adolescents ate more in a buffet meal after the UPF diet. 🧵🧪 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Our work on sex-dependent impact of high-fat diets during adolescence on action control is now published in @npp-journal.bsky.social Thank you to the amazing work from my team and the positive feedback from reviewers @rowettinstitute.bsky.social @aberdeenneuro.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s413...
Adolescent obesity induces sex-specific alterations of action control - Neuropsychopharmacology
Neuropsychopharmacology - Adolescent obesity induces sex-specific alterations of action control
doi.org
So grateful to share the "first" preprint from the lab. Long overdue but I am very happy about the work which has been done in my team. We explored how the consumption of different obesogenic diets during adolescence was having long-term impact impact goal-directed and habitual behaviours. A thread
Multiple studies show permanent DST perpetually decreases sleep duration. Restore permanent Standard Time, aligned to longitude/sun, for natural health!
Looking forward to the Brain Repair Centre at Dalhousie University Research Day this Friday Feb 27. Special guests are Dr. Stephanie Borgland @borglandlab.bsky.social and Dr. Pete Chipman. #Neuroscience 🧪 @brchfx.bsky.social @dalhousie.bsky.social
Brain Repair Centre | Halifax, Nova Scotia
brainrepair.ca
If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.
What an undertaking this was. So proud of the collection @mayoonthebrain.bsky.social , @brainsbeesbikes.bsky.social , @cbaunez.bsky.social and I collected for the “Stress, Trauma and Cannabinoids” special issue in @psychopharmacology.bsky.social Editorial: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
EBPS2023 special issue: Stress, trauma and cannabinoids - Psychopharmacology
Psychopharmacology -
link.springer.com
Kicking off the appetite and addiction session @borglandlab.bsky.social shows high fat diet disinhibits OFC and impairs outcome devaluation, which is associated with astrocyte hypertrophy and inflammatory cytokine expression #acnp2026
🚨 PI position in dept. of Neuroscience with lab located the @crchum.bsky.social Hiring at assistant/associate prof level in the fields of neural regeneration, stem cells and spinal-associated pathologies can-acn.org/professor-re...
Professor-researcher (assistant or associate) in Neuroscience related to neural regeneration, stem cells and spinal-associated pathologies – Université de Montréal – Canadian Association for Neuroscie...
can-acn.org
Awesome article on medical breakthroughs that came from basic neuroscience research in rodents. Major success examples in postpartum depression, non-opioid pain and migraine treatment. This is exactly why funding basic science is so important! www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs
A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.
thetransmitter.org
Updating this graph for the holidays 🎁 (datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
“Basic neuroscience hasn’t produced new drugs.” 💊 Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab. I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs
A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.
thetransmitter.org
📣We have 2 open faculty positions for senior researchers in Neuroscience at Queen's University! healthsci.queensu.ca/administrati... 1. a new Director for our Centre for Neuroscience Studies 2. a non-human primate NeuroAI researcher Please share widely and reach out for questions!
Administrative Opportunities
healthsci.queensu.ca
I didn't just go to college to become a good worker in a profession. I went to prepare myself to have a rich life of the mind and to be a good and well-informed citizen. That sounds super corny, but it was and remains a worthy reason to get a liberal arts education.
This whole so-called “parents rights” movement the right has taken up and the left is supposed to kowtow to for votes is so obviously anti-child it really bothers me to see it presented as anything other than justification for abusive “parenting” and disregard for actual science on child development
End of year lab party 2025. So proud of this group. Lots of exciting things to come in 2026.
Today, we honour the lives of those murdered at Polytechnique Montreal in 1989 and all people impacted by gender-based violence. CAUT remembers them and reaffirms its commitment to fight gender-based violence, hatred and misogyny. Read our full statement: www.caut.ca/news/caut-ma...
New lab paper drop, this one has been a long time coming! Driven by Rob Aukema (now a postdoc with Kerry Ressler) this paper in Science Advances answered the lingering question of what role the amygdala plays in stress-induced neuroendocrine responses. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A network of basolateral amygdala projection neurons contributes to stress-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
A network of basolateral amygdala neurons, but not singular projections, contributes to the neuroendocrine response to stress.
science.org
Newly minted MSc in neuroscience. Congratulations Ijeoma!!!
Trans Day of Remembrance is a day to remember the lives lost to transphobia and violence. Trans rights are human rights. I will always fight to make sure you can be who you are — openly, safely, and proudly.
That the Alberta Govt invoked the notwithstanding clause for this during Transgender Awareness Week is the chef’s kiss of cruelty. Please support Skipping Stone’s legal fund
One of the “activist” groups the premier refers to is the Canadian Medical Assn. The other two, Egale + Skipping Stone, backed up their injunction claim with reams of medical and other evidence. Evidence that the gov’t itself is lacking. The UCP is the real activist here. ablawg.ca/2025/11/19/t...
So stoked to have our image on the cover of this week's issue of Journal of Neuroscience!! @sfnjournals.bsky.social #JNeurosci #SfN25. Check out the final version of the paper here www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
Superior Colliculus Projections Drive Dopamine Neuron Activity and Movement But Not Value
To navigate dynamic environments, animals must rapidly integrate sensory information and respond appropriately to gather rewards and avoid threats. It is well established that dopamine (DA) neurons in...
jneurosci.org
Yesterday I got invited to submit a nomination for a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2026. I am still trying to figure out if this is phishing, as I am a weird person to ask, and have mixed feelings about these big prizes...but now it has me thinking about it. Who would you nominate?
The Gowrishankar lab will be opening its doors @neuro_MUSC on Dec 1, 2025! We will be hiring at all levels. I will also be at @SfNtweets presenting my lab's vision on Wednesday, Nov 19, 8AM-12PM at poster board GG7. If you're interested, please reach out! www.raajgowrishankarlab.org
Gowrishankar Lab
raajgowrishankarlab.org