Josh Johansen
@jojolab.bsky.social
Associate Professor at UC Irvine & Team Director at RIKEN Center for Brain Science, studying the neural basis of emotional learning & memory. Adventure cyclist
Excited for accepted #ACNP2027 panel co-chaired with @jojolab.bsky.social. @vikaassohal.bsky.social @suthanalab.bsky.social @rphillips3.bsky.social and Josh will present cross-species strategies that align rodent circuit interrogation w/ behavioral, physiological & molecular readouts in human 🧠
Finally out in @natneuro.nature.com! A forgotten memory isn't always gone. We show that forgotten memories persist as silent memory traces, can be recovered by reminders, and can even be reconstructed into false memories. Excited to finally share this work! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Creating true and false memories from forgotten information in Drosophila - Nature Neuroscience
Forgotten memories in Drosophila persist as silent memory traces and can be recovered by reminder cues. Manipulating reminders can create false memories, showing that memory reconstruction flexibly in...
nature.com
After meeting at an SfN social, neuroscientists Arash Fassihi, Gily Ginosar, Noga Larry and Abdulraheem Nashef organized the Middle Eastern Systems Neuroscience Symposium, hoping to build a community that can transcend political barriers through scientific connection. #neuroskyence bit.ly/4g0sZkk
Helping Middle Eastern neuroscientists build community
Four neuroscientists got together to organize the Middle Eastern Systems Neuroscience Symposium. They hope to build a community that can find ways to transcend political barriers through scientific co...
bit.ly
⏳ Only 2 weeks left to submit your symposium proposal for #IBRO2027! Review the submission requirements, check the scientific themes, wrap up your proposal & hit the submit button by 31 July 🔗 https://ow.ly/R1hP50ZoVnm Southern African Neuroscience Society Jibran Khokhar Society for Neuroscience
Very sad to hear of Susumu’s passing. His scientific creativity and intuition were inspiring. As director of @RIKEN_CBS, he hired a remarkable group of young scientists, including me, and set us free to pursue bold ideas. news.mit.edu/2026/mit-pro...
MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86
Susumu Tonegawa, a renowned MIT professor of biology and neuroscience and a Nobel laureate, has died at the age of 86. His discovery of how the immune system generates many different antibodies earned...
news.mit.edu
How does the brain infer emotional meaning from experience, bodily signals, and context? In a new Science Perspective, we discuss how “internal emotion models” may bridge animal and human studies and inform new approaches to treating anxiety and trauma www.science.org/eprint/NGF5T...
The hidden logic of emotion
Internal emotion models unify research across species and spark fresh ideas for treating anxiety and trauma
science.org
Really excited about this work with the awesome Will de Cothi & @shipleysj.bsky.social, out in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. We propose acetylcholine is an analogue of dopamine — tracking not reward prediction errors but state-transition prediction errors. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-026-01058-w
Excited to move to the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota in the fall. We will continue our work on neuromodulators and behavior. Positions available in the lab. Please get in touch if interested, and share broadly! hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374... hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
1/6: Two faculty positions at the Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries Delighted to announce that we have two faculty openings for the Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries at UC Irvine. The submission deadline is June 15, 2026.
🚨 The call for symposia for #IBRO2027 is open! Have an idea that could shape the future of #neuroscience? Propose a symposium & join us in Cape Town in Sep 2027 🇿🇦 🗓️ Submit by 31 Jul: https://ow.ly/OK6S50Z6Cpc #CallforSymposia Southern African Neuroscience Society Flavio Zolessi Camilla Bellone
I’m very sad to share that Howard Fields has died. He made seminal discoveries in pain modulation, placebo, and addiction. He was also a wonderful mentor and friend who taught me how to think about the brain and the joy of scientific discovery. www.iasp-pain.org/publications...
In Memory of Howard L. Fields - International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
IASP is deeply saddened to hear of the recent death of Honorary IASP Member, Prof Howard Fields, and we offer our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. We are […]
iasp-pain.org
Astrocytes do so much more than any of us thought - they even communicate among specific brain regions across hemispheres! The journey to this paper spanned nearly a decade, but I'm most excited to see what everyone else does with the tools we've built. There's so much for all of us to explore!
Astrocytes connect specific brain regions through plastic networks - Nature
Communication between distant brain regions is mediated by plastic networks of gap junction-coupled astrocytes.
nature.com
Anyone who has seen me talk lately knows that i have a fascination with Taylor Swift. I was introduced to her music by my daughter & her friends. So when @sfn.org asked me to write a review... Engrams and Memory: My Scientific "Eras Tour" www.jneurosci.org/content/jneu...
Want a dataset to test ideas on neural basis of decision making or how areas interact as we make choices? Check out our data published today @rudebecklab.bsky.social. >16,000 single neurons from 22 anatomically confirmed areas in macaques performing a decision task. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Dataset of cortical and subcortical single neuron activity during value-based tasks in macaque monkey - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Dataset of cortical and subcortical single neuron activity during value-based tasks in macaque monkey
nature.com
1/8 New preprint alert! How are signals from the heart encoded in the brain? What could be the functional implications of cardioception? We found that neurons in the posterior insular cortex are precisely tuned to heartbeats, and that this cardio-insular coupling supports emotion coding in mice.
biorxiv.org
How does the brain build a memory? A common assumption is that the neurons activated during an experience collectively form the memory engram. In our new Nature Neuroscience paper (finally out!), we show that this is not the case. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Deconstruction of a memory engram reveals distinct ensembles recruited at learning - Nature Neuroscience
Pouget et al. identified distinct CA1 neuron ensembles active during specific moments of fear learning and uncovered the core engram essential for memory formation.
nature.com
Excited to share our new paper: We uncover a locus coeruleus→amygdala circuit linking β-adrenergic signaling to transcription regulation in defined amygdala cells during memory reconsolidation—+ stress or elevated noradrenergic signaling at recall can strengthen memory. www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
A neuromodulatory circuit-to-molecular pathway for reformatting aversive memories during recall
Tan et al. identify a neuromodulatory circuit-to-molecular pathway in rats that updates aversive memories when they are recalled. Noradrenaline from the locus coeruleus triggers synapse-to-nuclear tra...
cell.com
If neuroscience is serious about building general principles of brain function, cross-species dialogue must become a core organizing principle rather than an afterthought, writes @suthanalab.bsky.social. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/animal-model...
Neuroscience has a species problem
If neuroscience is serious about building general principles of brain function, cross-species dialogue must become a core organizing principle.
thetransmitter.org
1/n. I agree w/ Josh's emphasis on computationally grounded approaches, coordinated x-species work, and skepticism that emotion only encompasses constructed feelings. As he notes, hierarchical frameworks can encompass multiple levels of processing,
Josh Johansen@jojolab.bsky.social · 6mo agoMy perspective in @thetransmitter.bsky.social on why emotion research feels stuck and how we might move forward—by focusing on how the brain uses internal brain models to shape emotional processing across species. www.thetransmitter.org/emotion/why-...
My perspective in @thetransmitter.bsky.social on why emotion research feels stuck and how we might move forward—by focusing on how the brain uses internal brain models to shape emotional processing across species. www.thetransmitter.org/emotion/why-...
Why emotion research is stuck—and how to move it forward
Studying how organisms infer indirect threats and understand changing contexts can establish a common framework that bridges species and levels of analysis.
thetransmitter.org
Our new paper is out in Science Advances! We found that dendritic compartment-specific spine “formation” during adolescence is critical for cortical development. We also found that schizophrenia-related genes are important in this process. (1/6) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Dendritic compartment-specific spine formation in layer 5 neurons underlies cortical circuit maturation during adolescence
Mouse models of schizophrenia show defects in adolescent spine formation in a specific dendritic compartment of L5 neurons.
science.org
🎉 Great news! IBRO is pleased to introduce the Scientific Program Committee for the IBRO 2027 World Congress, led by Drs. Sheena Josselyn and Thiruma V. Arumugam 🔗 Discover the full committee & read the announcement: https://ow.ly/p37U50XTXqN
New paper from @ykneurores.bsky.social in our lab 📢 We show body size predicts defensive behavioral strategy; smaller animals adopt active avoidance, larger ones favor freezing, while sex and age don’t drive the effect. A clear demonstration that traits matter. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Body size predicts the selection of defensive behavioral strategies
Survival depends on the ability to respond appropriately to threats, yet the selection of defensive behaviors varies among individuals with distinct b…
sciencedirect.com
Excited to be working with colleagues around the world (including @drjkhokhar.bsky.social @jojolab.bsky.social and CHAIR @sjo09.bsky.social) on the @ibroorg.bsky.social World Congress in Cape Town, 2027! ibro.org/ibro-announc...
IBRO announces the Scientific Program Committee for the 2027 World Congress
Following a rigorous global selection process led by co-chairs Dr. Sheena Josselyn and Dr. Thiruma V. Arumugam, who aimed at establishing a scientifically broad Scientific Program Committee (SPC) for…
ibro.org
Thrilled this is out, led by former PD Cameron Ogg (now with her own lab at @rhodescollege.bsky.social!). It was a driven by a desire to see, in real-time, how LC activity/NE release influences downstream targets in behaving animals. SO hard to do, but Cameron did it! www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Locus coeruleus norepinephrine neurons facilitate orbitofrontal cortex remapping and behavioral flexibility
Ogg et al. use in vivo imaging techniques to record activity in the locus coeruleus (LC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during a reversal learning task in freely moving rodents. They show that man...
cell.com
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, writes @alexkwan.bsky.social. www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop... #neuroskyence
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
If you're at @sfn.org check out @ykneurores.bsky.social's poster on Tuesday Nov 18th morning! EE4 - A functional input-output organization in the amygdala for emotional learning and memory
Next Tuesday!:🧠📷 Join us for the Japan Neuroscience Global Soirée-#SfN2025 Social! 📷7–9 PM 📷 Protector Brewery: San Diego craft beer, food (free while supplies last) & lively discussions! 📷 RSVP (optional): evite.me/pAvuVkpqbK 🍻
