Our paper on olfactory evidence accumulation is now officially published with the final clean version! With @luxorboero.bsky.social, Hao Wu, @josephdzak.bsky.social, @paulmasset.bsky.social, Farhad Pashakhanloo, @siddjakes.bsky.social, @btolooshams.bsky.social & Demba Ba.

Check out the newest Neuroforum issue of the German Neuroscience Society and learn more about the members of the MODOLFOR research unit 5424 "Modulation in Olfaction" and their scientific interests (in German): nwg-info.de/sites/nwg-in...

🎉 Our latest review is out in @diabetologiajnl.bsky.social ! We dive into the bidirectional link between #Obesity ⚖️, #Type2Diabetes 🩸, and #Olfaction 👃, and its relevance for metabolic health 🩺 🍽️. Kudos to @janice-bulk.bsky.social and @lcreimon.bsky.social for their work! 👏 rdcu.be/flCUK

Earlier this March, our MODOLFOR Research Unit came together in Maria Laach for the yearly retreat. We spent three exciting days discussing new scientific results and exchanging ideas for the future. 🪰🐭👃🧠

Evolution seems to have repeatedly converged on a similar architecture in the early olfactory system of many animals. We offer an efficient-coding framework to understand this. Out in @pnas.org now! Led by @jzv.bsky.social, driven by Juan Carlos, + help from Farhad. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

New #VosshallLab pre-print! Test your sense of smell, coming soon to your clinic or doctor's office www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

SMELL-RS: A Self-administered, Digital Test for Olfactory Dysfunction that is Rapid, Reliable, and Accurate

Background: Smell testing is increasingly recognized as essential in rhinology practice but remains underutilized because of time constraints and limited clinical resources. This study aimed to evalua...

medrxiv.org

Check out our new preprint and learn about the smart foraging behavior of fly larvae! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Ahmed El Hady @zamakany.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Along with @katrinvogt.bsky.social , @akhila1498.bsky.social and Klára Tučková we combine long timescale (3 hr) behavioral tracking of Drosophila larvae in patchy environments with varying statistics, along with quantitative analysis and computational modeling, to dissect foraging strategies. 1/n

Along with @katrinvogt.bsky.social , @akhila1498.bsky.social and Klára Tučková we combine long timescale (3 hr) behavioral tracking of Drosophila larvae in patchy environments with varying statistics, along with quantitative analysis and computational modeling, to dissect foraging strategies. 1/n

Congrats to our research unit member Annika Cichy @cichy1985.bsky.social !🎉 Check out her new publication: www.cell.com/current-biol... A microbiome-derived chemical cue shapes mammalian social behavior via olfaction

A microbiome-derived olfactory signal regulates inter-male aggression and social dominance in mice

Cichy et al. show that trimethylamine (TMA), a gut microbiome-derived metabolite, activates the receptor TAAR5 in the main olfactory system to regulate aggression and social dominance in male mice. Th...

cell.com

Happy to share the latest from the lab! A microbiome-generated metabolite affects male-male aggression and social dominance in mice via the main olfactory system. Gut-Nose-Behavior. www.cell.com/current-biol...

A microbiome-derived olfactory signal regulates inter-male aggression and social dominance in mice

Cichy et al. show that trimethylamine (TMA), a gut microbiome-derived metabolite, activates the receptor TAAR5 in the main olfactory system to regulate aggression and social dominance in male mice. Th...

cell.com

“We’re hoping doors will open for researchers to ask questions about how connections are made in the brain in mice and maybe, one day, humans.” - @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social Read about the new NIH-funded program to map brain circuitry using X-rays: www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

Can X-rays reveal how the brain is wired?

Neuroscientist Andreas Schaefer is spearheading a new project to capture the intricacies of the mouse brain using X-rays, bringing researchers closer to a complete map of its neural connections.

crick.ac.uk

Markus Knaden et al. from the Odor-Guided Behavior Group in collab. with @yukoulrich.bsky.social report in PNAS that ozone destroys colony-specific odors causing attacks within the colony – a dramatic example of how human pollution can disrupt social systems in nature. www.ice.mpg.de/530492/PR_Ji...

Air pollution causes social instability in ant colonies

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown in a new study that ants returning from habitats affected by air pollution are attacked when they re-enter the colony. The ...

ice.mpg.de

The first paper from the lab is now out in Science Advances: Multimodal social context modulates larval behavior in Drosophila www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... We find that fly larvae keep their distance to conspecifics in the absence of food, enjoy reading! @cbehav.bsky.social @uni-konstanz.de

🤯🎉 Our study on how early exposure to fatty foods rewires the brain and influences obesity risk has been selected as one of the 12 Max Planck Society Research Highlights of 2025! 🧠✨ So proud to see our team’s work recognised at this level 😊 www.mpg.de/25933453/res...

Research highlights 2025

Research highlights 2025: the year 2025 saw Max Planck scientists publishing exceptional research across disciplines. We have selected twelve highlights to share.

mpg.de

You probably know that calories in the maternal diet matter 🤰🍔, but did you know that smell matters too👃? Check out this fantastic radio piece about our recent paper from @deutschlandfunk.de.web.brid.gy (in German) 📻☺️ www.deutschlandfunk.de/der-duft-von...

Der Duft von Speck - Frühe Geruchsreize als Risiko für Fettleibigkeit bei Mäusen

Eine Studie mit Tierversuchen hat gezeigt, dass Mäuse ein höheres Krankheitsrisiko haben, wenn sie vor der Geburt Speckaromen ausgesetzt wurden.

deutschlandfunk.de

Congratulations, Sophie!!!🥳🎉💐🥂

Sophie Steculorum@sophiesteculorum.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🤩 I’m beyond excited to finally share our paper! 🎉 It’s been a long journey and a true team effort. Congratulations to our outstanding first authors, @lcreimon.bsky.social and Ayden Gouveia, and to all of the co-authors who made this possible 🙌! www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Congratulations!!! Exciting new paper from our MODOLFOR member Andreas Schaefer! 🥳🎉

Andreas Schaefer@andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social · 8mo ago

X-rays can resolve ultrastructure - milestone for ultrastructure imaging w/o cutting. Thanks to an amazing team - @carlesbosch.bsky.social @adrianawanner.bsky.social Ana Diaz and collaborators @crick.ac.uk @psich.bsky.social and @esrf.fr and funders @wellcometrust.bsky.social @ukri.org

Congratulations to @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social on receiving a £3.8 million @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award, working with @esrf.fr, to chart the brain circuity behind the sense of smell in mice. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-10...

New £3.8m project to map the mouse olfactory system

Andreas Schaefer, Principal Group Leader of the Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory at the Crick, has received a Wellcome Discovery Award to chart the brain circuitry behind the sense of s...

crick.ac.uk

Very excited to continue our amazing collaboration with @apacureanu.bsky.social at @esrf.fr - thank you @wellcometrust.bsky.social and all the collaborators at @crick.ac.uk and @esrf.fr

The Francis Crick Institute@crick.ac.uk · 10mo ago

Congratulations to @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social on receiving a £3.8 million @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award, working with @esrf.fr, to chart the brain circuity behind the sense of smell in mice. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-10...

Thrilled our discovery of a novel sensory pathway controlling satiety in mice is featured in the General-Anzeiger @gabonn 🐭👃🍽️! 👇 Kölner Studie: Geruch macht satt (zumindest Mäuse) ga.de/news/wissen-...

Mäuse schnuppern an Grapefruits und haben dann keinen Hunger mehr: Wie praktisch: Geruch kann satt machen

Kölner Wissenschaftler finden einen überraschenden Auslöser für Sättigungsgefühl – nämlich das Riechen. Ein neuer Weg zum Schlankwerden? Leider funktioniert es bis jetzt nur bei Mäusen.

ga.de

Congratulations to our spokesperson Veronica Egger for receiving an ERC Advanced Grant!!🥂🐭🎉

Universität Regensburg@uniregensburg.bsky.social · last yr.

Ein großer Erfolg für die Uni Regensburg: Prof. Dr. Veronica Egger erhält einen ERC Advanced Grant (3,5 Mio €) für ihr Projekt COLUMNET zur olfaktorischen Objekterkennung. Ihre Forschung beleuchtet, wie das Gehirn aus Duftsignalen komplexe Geruchswahrnehmungen formt. -> shorturl.at/MqTJJ

📢 🤩Excited to share our latest paper👃🧠! Huge thanks to the amazing first author @janice-bulk.bsky.social‬ and all co-authors, especially @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social and ‪@tobiasackels.bsky.social‬ 🙌! ‬‬ www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A food-sensitive olfactory circuit drives anticipatory satiety - Nature Metabolism

The authors describe a sensory circuit involving the medial septum (MS), where MS glutamatergic neurons integrate food odours to prime satiety and regulate nutrient intake.

nature.com

Wir begrüßen Professorin @silkesachse.bsky.social‬ als neue Leiterin des Lehrstuhls für #Neurobiologie und #Genetik! Sie kommt aus Jena zu uns (@mpi-ce.bsky.social) und erforscht den Geruchssinn von #Insekten. ➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/ei...

My PhD project is out as a preprint! We combined 2P and synchrotron X-ray to understand mouse olfactory bulb circuits, linking physiology to structure in 3 animals! doi.org/10.1101/2025... 🙌 @carlesbosch.bsky.social, @apacureanu.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, @esrf.fr, @crick.ac.uk

Cool set of talks by early career researchers on the neural basis of behaviour! Organized by @neuroethology.org

👋 Looking forward to the 117th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society. Please like and share 🤩

PhD project offer: Sensing the unseen: How diatoms detect and respond to highly dilute sex-inducing pheromones Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Georg Pohnert, FSU Jena; Dr. Markus Knaden MPI for Chemical Ecology More information: www.ice.mpg.de/319540/Proje... Apply now: jobs.ice.mpg.de/en/jobpostin...

We will continue the programm after the lunch and workshop break at 2.30 pm with Symposia V (S25 - S30). #NWG2025

Tomorrow morning, March 29th at 11:30 am, check out Symposium 31 at #NWG2025 @neurowissg.bsky.social organized by MODOLFOR member Tobias Ackels @tobiasackels.bsky.social

I am excited to speak in the next Symposium 26 at #NWG2025 @neurowissg.bsky.social about our newest results in cannibalistic behavior in fly larvae