Recent NGG graduate Ruthie Wittenberg explores how nicotine exposure during adolescence can fundamentally change the brain’s reward circuitry, making opioids like morphine more rewarding later in adulthood. Check it out here! www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-a... #PennNGG #SciComm

Adolescent nicotine exposure fundamentally changes the brain to make subsequent morphine use in adulthood more rewarding — GLIA

or technically, Paradoxical Ventral Tegmental Area GABA Signaling Drives Enhanced Morphine Reward After Adolescent Nicotine [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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Why does a broken bone heal, but a brain injury can last a lifetime? Exciting work from Dr. Erin Purvis Conway and the Cullen Lab explores optimizing a neuron “transport system” to guide new neurons to injured brain areas. www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-n... #PennNGG #SciComm

Engineering a Neuron Highway: A New Approach to Brain Repair — GLIA

or technically, A three-dimensional tissue-engineered rostral migratory stream as an in vitro platform for subventricular zone-derived cell migration [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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Check out how NGG grad Emily Feierman @efeierman.bsky.social of the Korb lab at Penn investigated epigenetic regulation in neurons, specifically how the H2BE histone plays a role in synaptic regulation and long term memory! www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-h... #neuroskyence #PennNGG

A new discovery for how DNA unwinds in neurons to support brain health and memory — GLIA

or technically, Histone variant H2BE enhances chromatin accessibility in neurons to promote synaptic gene expression and long-term memory [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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Sophie Rogers of the Corder @flybottleescape.bsky.social lab studies how a psychedelic drug with growing therapeutic promise can alter the brain in ways that help overcome traumatic fear memories. Read more in this brief by fellow NGG student Jafar Bhatti! www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-p...

How psychedelics remap the brain to help overcome traumatic fear — GLIA

or technically, Psilocybin-enhanced fear extinction linked to bidirectional modulation of cortical ensembles [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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During development, how does the brain organize itself around the sensorimotor-association axis? Recent NGG @pennngg.bsky.social graduate Audrey Luo @audreycluo.bsky.social explores this in work explained by fellow NGG student Kevin Sun @kevin-y-sun.bsky.social. www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-s...

Changes in how brain regions “talk” to each other from childhood to adulthood follow and support a fundamental organizational pattern of the brain — GLIA

or technically, Functional connectivity development along the sensorimotor-association axis enhances the cortical hierarchy [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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Not all neurons shake during seizures… some stay surprisingly stable. See how NGG MD-PhD student Sophie Liebergall investigates how Ndnf interneurons are (or aren’t!) affected in a mouse model of Dravet Syndrome. www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-n... #neuroskyence #SciComm #Epilepsy #DravetSyndrome

Not all neurons shake during seizures — GLIA

or technically, Ndnf Interneuron Excitability Is Spared in a Mouse Model of Dravet Syndrome [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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What happens to your brain after a brain injury? NGG graduate Rebecca Somach explores how mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) alters sleep-related neurons differently in males and females! Read more about it here! www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-o... #NGG #neuroskyence #SciComm

How Brain Injuries Affect Sleep-Related Neurons Differently in Male and Female Mice — GLIA

or technically, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Affects Orexin/Hypocretin Physiology Differently in Male and Female Mice [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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That’s it for now, but look forward to more posts in the coming weeks! Thanks for reading!

And next, NGG student Liz Siefert @lizsiefert.bsky.social tested whether reactivating certain memories during sleep in humans can help with their recall later. Current NGG student Catrina Hacker @catrinahacker.bsky.social breaks it down. www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-m...

How does the brain transform our memories during sleep? — GLIA

Or technically, Memory reactivation during sleep does not act holistically on object memory [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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Next up is NGG graduate Evan Gallagher’s work! Current NGG student Kara McGaughey @kara-mcgaughey.bsky.social explains how he investigated the novel positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand [18F]ROStrace as a possible in vivo biomarker for Parkinson's disease. www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-p...

A NEW APPROACH TO IMAGING THE BRAIN DURING EARLY-STAGE NEURODEGENERATION — GLIA

or technically, Positron Emission Tomography with [ 18 F]ROStrace Reveals Progressive Elevations in Oxidative Stress in a Mouse Model of Alpha-Synucleinopathy [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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First up we have NGG graduate Mara Cowen @maracowen.bsky.social who used microscopic worms to study how genes that control neuronal connectivity are involved in social behavior. Current NGG student Jafar Bhatti breaks it down in this piece here! www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-a...

How genes influence social behavior in animals — GLIA

or technically, Conserved autism-associated genes tune social feeding behavior in C. elegans [See original abstract on Pubmed]

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To get a jumpstart, here are 3 articles published this academic semester so far.

Hello world! Welcome to the new account for the Brains in Briefs science communications blog. Run by PhD students in the University of Pennsylvania’s Neuroscience Graduate Group (NGG), we break down first author publications from current and former NGG students and try to make them more accessible.