Grateful to train alongside the best crew (ft @sethweir.bsky.social and @louisakuper.bsky.social) under the best mentorship (thank you @bensaunders.bsky.social!) and have the opportunity to learn and share our work at Pavlovian 2026! 🧠

So excited to share the news! I'm immensely grateful to NIMH for their support, and to my amazing mentors @nicolagrissom.bsky.social and @bensaunders.bsky.social for their guidance toward achieving this milestone. Feeling pretty proud of this one ☺️

Ben Saunders@bensaunders.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Huge congrats to @micaelaporod.bsky.social on her new NRSA fellowship!!! Proud to be part of this dream team project along with @nicolagrissom.bsky.social.

Excited to share that I received an NoA for my F31 NRSA fellowship today!! Many thanks to the NIMH and so grateful for all the support I have received to reach this milestone, especially the amazing @bensaunders.bsky.social

So excited to share my work on the parafascicular thalamus!!

Ben Saunders@bensaunders.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Check our new work! Studies led brilliantly by @louisakuper.bsky.social. We investigate the parafascicular thalamus as an interface of sensory, attention, and movement signals that guide exploration and cue-related learning.

#SfN25 attendees - make sure to head to the posters when you get to the meeting on Saturday afternoon (V7-V11: Gretchen, Megan, Margaret, Louisa, Bella) and Sunday morning (KK17: Micaela) to hear about our work. We're printing the posters now and they look rad.

Thank you Max Planck for a wonderful week of inspiring neuroscience!

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience@mpfneuro.bsky.social · last yr.

Thank you to the faculty, teaching assistants, sponsors, staff, and participants who brought energy and curiosity to every session. From hands-on experiments to late-night data discussions and new friendships, we are leaving this year’s Advanced Neurotechniques course energized and inspired!

So excited to share my first project on VTA GABA neurons!

Ben Saunders@bensaunders.bsky.social · 2y ago

Sad to miss #ACNP2024 but check out our new studies by the amazing @margestelzner.bsky.social - comparing dopamine vs GABA neurons in the VTA in different forms of learning - our results support an overall re-evaluation of midbrain representation of valence and appetitive motivation (thread)