My mother passed away, after a life defined by grace, humility, and courage. Even in her final days, her words to me were the same as always: "Himmat karo" — have courage. She lived it — hardworking, generous to all. As we grieve, we stay inspired by her. Rest in peace, Amma. 🙏

So excited to announce our search for 4 postdocs (funded by the Simons Foundation) who will use genomics to "test how ecological interactions, natural selection, natural enemies, hybridization & environmental gradients shape...tropical tree communities" in Panama: stri.si.edu/story/bci-ev... ...1

Maybe there is hope for this one. Although a small grant this is a very new project direction for my lab and I am glad that reviewers found it exciting. Fingers crossed for this one.

everything is probably smarter than we think

Simon Fisher@profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Bumble bees can apparently play with balls, count, recognize faces, & perceive rhythm. A new study out today in @science.org argues they can also solve novel tasks spontaneously without explicit training, challenging the idea that such cognitive skills are exclusive to large-brained vertebrates.😲🐝🧪👇

Long-term editing of brain circuits with engineered electrical synapses! I still remember years ago when Kafui Dzirasa from @dukeuni.bsky.social @hhmi-science.bsky.social called me beaming with excitement about this new technology. Here it is today in Nature. www.nature.com/articles/s41... .

Long-term editing of brain circuits using an engineered electrical synapse - Nature

Connexin proteins found in white perch fish were used to engineer synthetic electrical synapses, enabling precision circuit editing in mammals.

nature.com

🧠 Statement from @network-alba.bsky.social! 🌍 The ALBA Network is deeply concerned with growing visa barriers and calls on the global community to take action and ensure a fair and inclusive system that strengthens global neuroscience. ✍️ buff.ly/fHP50G1 👉 Sign: buff.ly/G2NeO9X

At this point my entire career just feels “competitive not discussed.”

Can a single brain cell decide whether to eat or not? 🧠🪰 Turns out... yes. And we found it in the fruit fly. A pair of neurons called SELKs (subesophageal leucokinin neurons) can drive feeding behavior in both directions. They promote it or suppress it. Here's how: 🧵

Excited to share our latest paper from the lab, now out in iScience! 🧠✨ Huge credit to the incredible team whose creativity and hard work made this study possible—so proud of my team! 🙌 #Neuroscience #Sleep #Drosophila #Behavior #Connectomics www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Octopamine regulates neural circuits in the mushroom body and central complex, influencing sleep and arousal.

Sleep is a widespread yet incompletely understood phenomenon, and animals exhibit diverse arousal states beyond the simple binary of sleep and wake. Essential behaviors such as feeding, courtship, and...

cell.com

Another breakthrough in connectomics!!!

allen institute@alleninstitute.org · 4mo ago

The Orange Cat Brain Atlas is here. 🧠🐈 Today, we published the first comprehensive cellular map of the orange cat brain. The new atlas reveals a single, specialized neuron responsible for behaviors like staring at walls, knocking objects off tables, and the 3am "zoomies."

We are so looking forward to CSHL Neurobiology of Drosophila 2026 🔬 🧠. The new application deadline is April 13th. Come join us! @cshlnews.bsky.social @cshlcourses.bsky.social @rister.bsky.social

Jens Rister@rister.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Can't wait to serve again as co-director of the CSHL Drosophila Neurobiology course this year! 🧪🪰👀 Application Deadline: March 27 meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx... @cshlnews.bsky.social @cshlcourses.bsky.social

New article from @cientificolatino.com !!! On the struggles of first year grad students and how to support them 💜

Valerie Tornini@valetornini.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Happy to share our article on @cientificolatino.com's GSEC program: a national mentorship program for 1st-year STEM grad students, geared for those from underrepresented backgrounds. We review why programs like this are urgently needed & what we learned while running it 🧵 doi.org/10.64898/202...

📢 Join us, the Haberkern lab, @uni-wuerzburg.de for a postdoc studying neural circuit mechanisms of navigation. You’ll spearheading neurophysiology experiments on our brand new 2P! ⏳ Apply by 28th February 2026 Details: www.haberkernlab.de/docs/ENPostd... #neuroscience #academicjobs #postdoc

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... We had a lot of fun working on this project (led by Itzel Ishida, not on bluesky). Some interesting highlights from the paper -

Neuronal calcium spikes enable vector inversion in the Drosophila brain

In the fly central complex, PFNa neurons switch from firing classical sodium spikes when depolarized to firing non-canonical T-type calcium spikes when hyperpolarized. This bidirectional spiking allow...

cell.com

We’re excited to announce @tarnopol.bsky.social as the recipient of the 2026 Larry Sandler Award! 🎉 She’ll present the Larry Sandler Memorial Lecture during the #Dros26 opening session on March 4—she'll share how her research explores how protein toxins evolve to shape host–parasite interactions.

"researchers have found that the relentless males are driving their population to extinction." Well, that sounds familiar... www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/s...

If you are interested in my research program and also want industry experience here is the opportunity for us to work together.

News from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District. By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come! samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...

Educators, the deadline to apply for our python workshop is approaching quickly! Apply by February 2 to join us in Seattle for this hands-on workshop. 💻 No prior coding experience needed. ✈️ Travel, meals, & stipend included. 🔗 https://alleninstitute.org/events/educator-coding-workshop-2026/

The second paper from the lab is now available on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We discovered that cannibalistic behavior in fly larvae is social-context dependent. Larval groups avoid dead conspecifics; individuals show high attraction. They only do it when no one is watching 😉

Another cool paper from Iran: nature.com/articles/s41... Prenatal stress makes mouse offspring more anxious, hyperactive, forgetful, and more drawn to morphine while laterodorsal tegmentum cholinergic neurons become hyperexcitable. From Kerman, a city with reported violent crackdowns on protests.

The hyperexcitability of laterodorsal tegmentum cholinergic neurons accompanies adverse behavioral and cognitive outcomes of prenatal stress - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - The hyperexcitability of laterodorsal tegmentum cholinergic neurons accompanies adverse behavioral and cognitive outcomes of prenatal stress

nature.com

So I guess we went from not discussed to competitive not discussed. What a tease!!!

Please apply. Amazing opportunity to dive into connectomics datasets for research, educational initiatives, outreach and whatever else your heart desires. Feb 2nd deadline.

allen institute@alleninstitute.org · 7mo ago

Teach neuroscience to undergraduates? Learn how to incorporate our connectomics data into your courses! 🧠 "Incorporating open connectomics data into teaching neuroscience" 🗓️ July 23-24 🛫 Travel funds available ⏳ Apply by Feb. 2: https://bit.ly/3LAfOdy #neuroskyence

“Not discussed” on NIH eRA today. My next few months have been planned out for me so I guess we do nothing today or this week. Maybe start with the 3hr 40 min Bollywood movie that everyone is recommending.

Infra-slow brain rhythms found in sleep in lizards, humans, rats and pigeons! www.nature.com/articles/s41... Congrats @antbergel.bsky.social!

Sleep-dependent infraslow rhythms are evolutionarily conserved across reptiles and mammals - Nature Neuroscience

Bergel et al. show that an infraslow rhythm connecting the brain and body during sleep is shared by lizards, mammals and birds, revealing an ancestral process and reshaping our understanding of the ev...

nature.com

Teach neuroscience to undergrads? Learn how to incorporate our connectomics data into your courses! 🗓️ July 23-24 🛫 Travel funds available ⏳ Apply by Feb. 2. https://alleninstitute.org/events/incorporating-open-connectomics-data-into-teaching-neuroscience/

Incorporating open connectomics data into teaching neuroscience

Learn to analyze open neuroscience data and introduce dry lab modules into your existing classes at the Incorporating Open Connectomics data into...

alleninstitute.org

*First preprint from our lab* !!!!! How does the brain learn to anchor its internal sense of direction to the outside world? 🧭 led by Mark Plitt @markplitt.bsky.social & Dan Turner-Evans, w/ Vivek Jayaraman: “Octopamine instructs head direction plasticity” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Thread ⬇️

Electron microscopy is @nature.com's Method of the Year! 🧠🔬🏆 @natmethods.nature.com shares why MICrONS and FlyWire are proof that #ElectronMicroscopy is helping us see the brain and its incredible complexity at a new level: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-025-02988-6 🧠📈 #studyBRAIN

No NCE button for R15s nearing their end date—1st NCEs need prior approval through the NIH Prior Approval Module. More steps, delays, and stress since active R15 PIs can’t be PIs on other NIH grants. Nothing I submitted in 2025 has even been reviewed/decisioned. I guess it was nice having a lab.....

No NCE button for R15s nearing their end date—1st NCEs need prior approval through the NIH Prior Approval Module. More steps, delays, and stress since active R15 PIs can’t be PIs on other NIH grants. Nothing I submitted in 2025 has even been reviewed/decisioned. I guess it was nice having a lab.....