🧠🧬 What are the effects of intravenous fentanyl self-administration on the habenula and amygdala transcriptomes? In our new Addiction Biology paper, we addressed this question using a chronic long-access model in rats! Here are some highlights 🧵👇 Paper 👉 dx.doi.org/10.1111/adb....

Transcriptional Response to Chronic Long‐Access Fentanyl Self‐Administration in Rat Habenula and Amygdala

Chronic intravenous long-access fentanyl self-administration in rats produced transcriptional remodeling in the habenula and amygdala. Bulk RNA-sequencing identified 453 habenula and 3,041 amygdala d...

dx.doi.org

Thrilled to share: we show that neuronal hyperactivity drives C1q-mediated synapse loss via brain-recruited B cell/IgM, revealing unexpected neuroimmune crosstalk in the adult brain. Congrats to Gerard Crowley who led this w/ resilience & creativity & our whole team! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

C1q and immunoglobulins mediate activity-dependent synapse loss in the adult brain

Complement component 1q (C1q), the initiator of the classical complement cascade, mediates synaptic elimination in development and disease, yet the triggers for its deposition on synapses remain uncle...

science.org

waited until nearly the last minute, but I joined 250k+ others and submitted a comment on the disastrous OMB proposal for rule changes to federal funding of science. used the great thread/articles quoted below. comment here: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposes to revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government- wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, co...

federalregister.gov

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

Thrilled to share that our latest paper investigating how mPFC-LC projectors contribute to sustained #attention is now out in @npp-journal.bsky.social This is so meaningful to me and the team, Its @rehg-j.bsky.social first first-author paper and my first corresponding one. rdcu.be/fqBJp

Top-down control of sustained attention by medial prefrontal cortex—locus coeruleus (mPFC-LC) projection neurons during the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT)

Neuropsychopharmacology - Top-down control of sustained attention by medial prefrontal cortex—locus coeruleus (mPFC-LC) projection neurons during the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT)

rdcu.be

Excited to see this preprint from @drjennkim.bsky.social @kr-maynard.bsky.social, Annie Ciernia and colleagues. I've highlighted this approach and toolset in several recent talks: spatial transcriptomics isn't just about the gene expression - www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Spatially-resolved integration of microglia morphological diversity and gene expression using Visium with protein co-detection

Microglia exhibit a dynamic range of morphologies that actively shift in response to local environmental cues. There has been a concerted effort as a field to move away from dualistic characterization...

biorxiv.org

Grateful for some absolutely spectacular weather ☀️ for our annual cross-research teams spring party!!

New method for identifying the fine transcriptomic types of thousands of neurons recorded in vivo!

New from the lab: BARseq3! Barcodes + high efficiency spatial transcriptomics and translatomics in the same cells, or just a nice spatial transcriptomics assay. All in a modular, expandable system to enable truly multimodal measurements. Check it out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Happy to share our new review on Neural Mechanisms of Social Hierarchy across Species. We discussed different routes to achieve high social status across species, from fish to humans, and the neural circuits that support each of those strategies. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Neural basis of social hierarchy across species

Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Structured social hierarchies, in which individuals differ in their access to resources and influence over other group members, are a characteristic of many social...

nature.com

Check out my first @libdrstats.bsky.social presentation on one strategy our team @lcolladotor.bsky.social at @lieberinstitute.bsky.social is taking to deal with doublets during quality control for single nucleus RNA-sequencing data: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMA-...

[2026-02-27] Strategy to drop doublets during snRNAseq QC steps

YouTube video by Leonardo Collado Torres

youtube.com

I defended my PhD 10 years ago today. That was the least remarkable thing that happened that day. Sharing something I wrote about it last year. Since then "the horrors persist but so do we." And with dignity.

Great work from Claire, Ravi, and the whole team– the initial lifelong continuous screen of behaving vertebrates provided a wealth of ideas on progression/staging of brain function across lifespan. Behavior is unmatched as a noninvasive quantitative readout of brain function (and, one that matters).

Zebrafish Rock!@zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Youthful antics predict lifespan? Using machine learning & continuous recordings of #killifish behavior from adolescence until death, @brunetlab.bsky.social & @deisseroth.bsky.social find early-life behavior predicted future lifespan! Now published @science.org: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪 1/2

Today I received a note from a grad student who lives in Tehran. Her note gives you firsthand experience of what it’s like to live in a city that is being bombed, and what it’s like to be young and feel despair about your future. rezashadmehr.blogspot.com/2026/03/hope...

Hopeless in Tehran

Essays on neuroscience

rezashadmehr.blogspot.com

Super excited about these #FluorescentFriday images 🔬🧪 as part of project led by @drjennkim.bsky.social in @kr-maynard.bsky.social lab to understand the molecular anatomy of VTA-NAc circuitry in the developing human 🧠

Jenn Kim@drjennkim.bsky.social · 5mo ago

#FluorescenceFriday to mark my first foray into human neuroanatomy @lieberinstitute.bsky.social 🧠 RNAscope of marker genes for the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (Ac) in the developing human brain

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted. What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards. Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

#FluorescenceFriday to mark my first foray into human neuroanatomy @lieberinstitute.bsky.social 🧠 RNAscope of marker genes for the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (Ac) in the developing human brain

FIRST post here on Bluesky - we’re excited to share that our large spatial transcriptomics study of the human dlPFC in schizophrenia is now available on bioRxiv📄: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/9)

Bad Bunny sends a message at the Super Bowl: "God Bless America" "The only thing more powerful than hate is love"

Honored to be appointed Chief Scientific Officer @lieberinstitute.bsky.social. LIBD is a uniquely collaborative place with extraordinary biological resources and a commitment to translation 🧠🔬🧪. Grateful to my colleagues and excited to help guide our next chapter! www.libd.org/keri-martino...

Keri Martinowich, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer | The Lieber Institute for Brain Development | Research & Discovery

Lieber Institute for Brain Development Appoints Keri Martinowich, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer Baltimore, MD (January 6, 2025) — The Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) announced the a...

libd.org

Happy new year from Ollie & Bella 🐾 May your 2026 be as cozy and warm as these two ❤️

“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

Finally on Bluesky and I’m really excited to share this latest preprint with @jorge-miranda.bsky.social in which we functionally examined the role of a medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)- Locus Coeruleus (LC) circuit in regulating sustained attention. 1/7 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Top-down control of sustained attention by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)- locus coeruleus (LC) circuit during the rodent continuous performance task (rCPT)

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a pivotal role in attention by exerting top-down control to allocate cognitive resources toward behaviorally relevant stimuli based on learned context and exp...

biorxiv.org

Excited to share our latest preprint from @lieberinstitute.bsky.social spatial + single-cell RNA-seq map the ERC & explore how AD risk shapes gene expression doi.org/10.1101/2025... Our major finding: “APOE E4 Alzheimer’s Risk Converges on an Oligodendrocyte Subtype in the Human Entorhinal Cortex”

Excited to share new preprint led by Sergio Salas on “unassigned RNAs” in imaging-based spatial transcriptomics. Across technologies, 30-40% of transcripts fall outside segmentation, & many show structured, biologically meaningful extrasomatic patterns. 📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our paper using endoscopic in vivo calcium imaging to uncover how neuronal population dynamics in the prelimbic cortex track attention and task engagement during the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT) is now online www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test - Translational Psychiatry

Translational Psychiatry - Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test

nature.com

Scientists point to a long list of findings that emerged out of fundamental research, the type of studies the US government is cutting, and went on to change the world. Nature lists a few of their examples. 🧪

7 basic science discoveries that changed the world

Ozempic, MRI machines and flat screen televisions all emerged out of fundamental research decades earlier — the very types of study being slashed by the US government.

go.nature.com

Had the most rewarding time at the HTNA #cshlcourses It was fun science-ing all day/night for 2wks to learn modern viral, whole 🧠 imaging & barcode-based seq approaches to understand neuroanatomy/function. Inspired & energized as I think of all the ways these tools can be applied in my own work!🧪 1/

Circuit-specific gene editing for precision modulation of neuronal activity with CRISPR-rabies virus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.03.686433v1

Proud to announce our paper ‘Transcriptomic Analysis of the Human Habenula in Schizophrenia’ from @lieberinstitute.bsky.social is the cover article for the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry! 🧠 #HabenulaLIBD #snRNAseq #Habenula doi.org/10.1176/appi...

Transcriptomic Analysis of the Human Habenula in Schizophrenia | American Journal of Psychiatry

Objective: The objective of this study was to define the molecular neuroanatomy of the human habenula (Hb) and identify transcriptomic differences between brains of individuals with schizophrenia and ...

doi.org

My new ImageJ / Fiji toolkit is out 🔥! The goal is to make image handling & visualization easy, with an intuitive interface! Install it on Fiji with the "Image Viewer" update site #microscopy #ImageJ #FluorescenceFriday #microscopyMonday imagej.net/plugins/imag...