Ariel Levine
@ariellevine.bsky.social
š¤ 1805
š„ 1107
š 156
Spinal cord and motor control scientist; PI at NINDS
Want to come do a postdoc with us? Weāre interested in how sensorimotor function is carried out by the cells and circuits of the spinal cord. We have an awesome team, lots of cool techniques, and weāre open to new ideas/approaches/connections. Get in touch!
7 days ago
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Ariel Levine
Jeff Farrell
12 days ago
Iām recruiting new members to the Farrell Lab this summer. We will have space for 1 postdoc (since Abhinav is leaving to start his own lab at U Arizona!!) and 2 postbacs, since my current two will leave for PhD programs at the end of the summer. More details in thread:
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James Briscoe
13 days ago
Our latest: A gene selection method for single-cell RNA-seq that identifies developmental & spatial patterns missed by other analysis pipelines ESFS: A Noise-Resilient Framework for Feature Selection and Marker Gene Discovery in Single-Cell Transcriptomics | bioRxiv
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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ESFS: A Noise-Resilient Framework for Feature Selection and Marker Gene Discovery in Single-Cell Transcriptomics
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has transformed our ability to resolve cellular heterogeneity, but extracting meaningful signals remains challenging due to technical noise, batch effects, and the limitations of current feature selection methods. We present Entropy Sorting Feature Selection (ESFS), a modular, user-friendly framework that captures multivariate gene expression relationships without imputation or denoising via latent spaces. Across diverse datasets, ESFS improves interpretability and reveals biology missed by standard workflows: identifying coherent developmental programs in eight independent human embryo datasets without batch integration; resolving spatial gene expression in mouse colon obscured by conventional analyses; distinguishing shared and tumour-specific microenvironments in glioblastoma; and disambiguating spatial, temporal, and neurogenic programs in the developing mouse neural tube. By operating in gene expression space, ESFS produces interpretable, biologically meaningful outputs while reducing artefacts introduced by feature extraction. These results position ESFS as a powerful means to uncover relevant molecular signatures in noisy, high-dimensional transcriptomics data. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Cancer Research UK, CC001051 Medical Research Council, https://ror.org/03x94j517, CC001051 Wellcome Trust, CC001051 Wellcome Trust, 220379/D/20/Z European Molecular Biology Organization, 792-2021 UK Research and Innovation, EP/X031225/1
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.26.701684v1
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Joel Boerckel
30 days ago
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: āIf I knew then what I know now, I couldāve done all of this in like 9 months.ā A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I donāt think AI will ever āsolveā biology.
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Nikos Konstantinides
about 1 month ago
I am very happy (and a bit scared) to present to you what we have been working on over the last 4 years. This manuscript is exactly what I dreamt of when I started the lab and I could not be happier and prouder of the outcome!
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Excited to share
@rbrianroome.bsky.social
ās beautiful paper on development of the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord
@science.org
This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn
The dorsal horn of the mammalian spinal cord is organized into laminae where each layer is populated by different neuron types, has distinctive circuit connections, and plays specialized roles in beha...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx5781
about 1 month ago
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Welp, this has been a tough year, but finishing it up working on a paper Iām *very* excited about, in a place like this⦠thatās really nice
about 1 month ago
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Andrew Pruszynski
2 months ago
Join us for Fall 2026. In our group, you can run studies from human behavior and neuroimaging, to large-scale NHP ephys, and join them up with a robust computational foundation. Bonus: you can help build the reading list.
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Enric Llorens
2 months ago
First paper from the lab is now online
@natneuro.nature.com
! We mapped injury induced enhancers in the mouse CNS and decoded their sequence architecture. Little š§µ
rdcu.be/eSQi1
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Hello š«š· Iāll be doing a mini-sabbatical in the lab of the amazing
@clairewyart.bsky.social
at the ICM in Paris. If you study motor control, spinal cord biology, evo/devo of behavior, let me know if youād like to connect!
3 months ago
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Hello lab!! Itās been six weeks of shutdown, so much chaos and loss. But today, I am deeply happy to feel a slice of normal, to see my team and our community, and do some science
3 months ago
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@runewberg.bsky.social
congrats Rune and team! This looks really cool
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3 months ago
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Juan Gallego
3 months ago
šØJob alertšØ The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
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3 Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
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Ted Price
3 months ago
The latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social
led by Katherin Gabriel and
@oliviadavis.bsky.social
with a huge contribution from
@allanhpool.bsky.social
's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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A molecular map of the human spinal dorsal and ventral horn defines arrangement of neuronal types and glial sex differences
The spinal cord is the gateway for sensory information from the body as it ascends to the brain, as well as a major motor output center of the nervous system. It is also a key location for sensory-mot...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.31.685953v1
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Giulia Boezio
4 months ago
Thrilled to share my main postdoc work with
@jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions š§µš
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Hierarchical lineage architecture of human and avian spinal cord revealed by single-cell genomic barcoding
The formation of neural circuits depends on the precise spatial and temporal organisation of neuronal populations during development. In the vertebrate spinal cord, progenitors are patterned into mole...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.24.684328v1
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Kelsey Tyssowski
4 months ago
š§ šš Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity! We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have: (1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs) (2) better hand dexterity (3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN numberš§µ
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Jeff Markowitz
4 months ago
Our first preprint has been accepted for publication
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
!! tldr:
@ezeyulu00.bsky.social
,
@amartyapradhan.bsky.social
,
@dkoveal.bsky.social
and I developed a method using injectable nanoparticles to turn mice intoā¦constellations in motion. š§µā¤µļø
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High-resolution in vivo kinematic tracking with customized injectable fluorescent nanoparticles
Injectable fluorescent nanoparticles were used to track positions on and inside of freely moving animals at high resolution.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu9136
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Sabbatical question - which activities do you keep up and which do you pause? Eg reviewing new papers and grants, non-mentorship related service committee meetings, normal schedule of lab meetingsā¦
5 months ago
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Does anyone have favorite colors for color blind friendly fluorescence images on a black background where the overlap combinations of 3 colors are important? Magenta/cyan/yellow overlaps are difficult to distinguish (lots of white) Thank you!
5 months ago
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Mehrdad Kashefi
5 months ago
Excited to share my latest work with
@jonathanamichaels.bsky.social
@diedrichsenjorn.bsky.social
&
@andpru.bsky.social
! We asked: How does the motor cortex account for arm posture when generating movement? Paper š
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/10
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Compositional neural dynamics during reaching
The complex mechanics of the arm make the neural control of reaching inherently posture dependent. Because previous reaching studies confound reach direction with final posture, it remains unknown how...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.04.674069v1
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@petrznam.bsky.social
this is so cool!
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7 months ago
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Britton Sauerbrei
8 months ago
1/N How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? Iām beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk
@eric-kirk.bsky.social
with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Graziana Gatto
8 months ago
Paper is finally out on our experimentally-driven neuromechanical model to explain how spinal inhibition makes you do things faster!
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
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The spinal premotor network driving scratching flexor and extensor alternation
Yao et al. developed a neuromechanical model based on experimental perturbations, aligning theory-predicted with genetically labeled cell types. This work highlights the importance of inhibitory inter...
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247%2825%2900616-3
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Claire Wyart
8 months ago
š§æ Excited about molecular biology & genetics š§¬š§¬š§¬? Wanna live in Paris? Join our team as a lab manager under the supervision of
@kevinfidelin.bsky.social
& myself! Personal development in professional environment is our mission. Inclusive space where proactive and playing collective people flourish š§æ
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Mark Histed
9 months ago
Despite some ups and downs at NIH, we do have an open position for a postbac and are considering candidates. Our work is at the intersection of neuroscience and AI, and we aim to understand how the brain's densely connected recurrent networks operate. š§Ŗ
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Todd is a fantastic scientist, mentor, colleague and friend. Highly recommend!!
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10 months ago
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Christophe š¬ L
10 months ago
Our PhD student Louis Romette is optimizing long-term live-cell imaging. He just casually dropped this 65-hour movie of a growing neuron (div 3 to 6) with knocked-in actin š„š¶ļø
#realtimemicroscopy
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Barriga Lab
10 months ago
REPOSTING this here just to officially leave "the other place" Our work on the role of endogenous electric fields in guiding collective cell migration during
#morphogenesis
is out
@naturematerials.bsky.social
nature.com/articles/s41...
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Stretch-induced endogenous electric fields drive directed collective cell migration in vivo - Nature Materials
Electric fields guide collective cell migration in developing embryos of Xenopus laevis via a voltage-sensitive phosphatase.
https://nature.com/articles/s41563-024-02060-2
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Nina Kudryashova
10 months ago
Excited to share our new pre-print on bioRxiv, in which we reveal that feedback-driven motor corrections are encoded in small, previously missed neural signals.
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What an elegant new assay for natural mouse behavior! Love this
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10 months ago
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HHMI
11 months ago
Igor Siwanowicz of
@hhmijanelia.bsky.social
captured these photos of pollen grains on the sigma of a morning glory flower. This is part of the early stage in creating a seed, it might also be the reason why you canāt stop sneezing!
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Victoria Abraira
11 months ago
Please register for this amazing meeting! Applications for this meeting must be submitted by June 8, 2025
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Tayler Sheahan
11 months ago
Despite all of *waves around*, the Sheahan Lab is putting one foot in front of the other and is looking for a research technician. A great position for someone interested in gaining more neuroscience experience in itch & pain before applying for grad/med school:
shorturl.at/DW3fU
š§
#PainResearch
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Research Technologist I
Medical College of Wisconsin - Research Technologist I - Milwaukee WI 53201
https://shorturl.at/DW3fU
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Gorgeous image and a wonderful thread from
@rbrianroome.bsky.social
on our new work š„³
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11 months ago
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And science continues⦠check out our new work led by
@rbrianroome.bsky.social
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11 months ago
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Ariel Levine
Graziana Gatto
12 months ago
Registration started for the Janelia meeting on spinal cord and brainstem circuits for sensorimotor adaptation across species. Spinal cord is more than a hub, it does supercomputing!
www.janelia.org/you-janelia/...
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Computing Cords: Sensorimotor Control by Nerve Cord Circuits Across Species
Organizers Salil Bidaye, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience Ansgar Büschges, University of Cologne Graziana Gatto, University of Cologne Abdel El Manira, Karolinska Institutet Julie
https://www.janelia.org/you-janelia/conferences/computing-cords-sensorimotor-control-by-nerve-cord-circuits-across-species
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Ariel Levine
StƩphanie C Koch
11 months ago
Come join our lab as Postdoctoral Fellow! The project will investigate the maturation of spinal circuits and their plasticity within chronic widespread pain states. Apply here:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
until 11th April.
@ucllifesciences.bsky.social
@uclnpp.bsky.social
@jobrxiv.bsky.social
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UCL ā University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs/details?jobId=32920&jobTitle=Research+Fellow
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What a treat to see this new paper from Anupama Sathyamurthy and her team! I couldnāt be more proud to have worked with her and see what she is up to now. Another important work in her efforts to understand how multiple motor control regions interact during reaching
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
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The superior colliculus directs goal-oriented forelimb movements
Goal-oriented reaching necessitates precise regulation of multiple movement parameters. Chaterji etĀ al. demonstrate that excitatory neurons in the lateral superior colliculus (SC) control the directio...
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(24)01448-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124724014487%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
about 1 year ago
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Ariel Levine
Tyler Sloan @Quorumetrix Studio
about 1 year ago
I was doing some research for a lecture I'm putting together and TIL that these may be the first ever drawings of
#neurons
by Otto Deiters published posthumously c1865. Anyone know of drawings that pre-date these?
#neuroscience
#history
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Ariel Levine
Adrian Liston
about 1 year ago
Our paper on nurturing a
#PositiveResearchCulture
within your
#research
#team
published by
@wellcometrust.bsky.social
gives useful tips for your lab. As well as making you a good team leader, nurturing culture pays off in building your science: 1/11
wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-3...
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https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-341/v1/f3
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Seth Blackshaw
about 1 year ago
We begin the New Year with two preprints on hypothalamic development. The first, part of a long-term collaboration with Marysia Placzekās group, investigates the organization of the developing forebrain, and show that current models are (mostly) incorrect./1
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Resolving forebrain developmental organisation by analysis of differential growth patterns
The forebrain is the most complex region of the vertebrate CNS, and its developmental organisation is controversial. We fate-mapped the embryonic chick forebrain using lipophilic dyes and Cre-recombin...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.10.632351v1
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Graziana Gatto
about 1 year ago
Our new preprint on how excitatory V2a and inhibitory V1 and V2b neurons cooperate to drive scratching rhythm, with a new neuromechanical model showing how CPG perturbations affect rhythm and phase of motoneuron firing and frequency of joint oscillations
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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The spinal premotor network driving scratching flexor and extensor alternation
Rhythmic motor behaviors are generated by neural networks termed central pattern generators (CPGs). Although locomotor CPGs have been extensively characterized, it remains unknown how the neuronal pop...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.08.631866v1
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Ariel Levine
Kevin Mitchell
about 1 year ago
A reminder: for genotypes to produce phenotypes, they have to go through development
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Ariel Levine
Jonathan Eisen
about 1 year ago
And another 45 seconds
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Ariel Levine
David Schoppik
about 1 year ago
Big paper from
@paigel.bsky.social
in our lab: Sensory feedback is always crucial for proper development, right? Wrong! Crazier still, the motor system is the slowest part of a developing reflex circuit! Surprises abound in this bluetorial cāmon alongā¦.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1/19
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Sensation is dispensable for the maturation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex
Vertebrates stabilize gaze using a neural circuit that transforms sensed instability into compensatory counterrotation of the eyes. Sensory feedback tunes this vestibulo-ocular reflex throughout life....
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr9982
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Mark D Humphries
about 1 year ago
Cutting it a bit fine, but hereās my review of the year in neuroscience for 2024 The eighth of these, would you believe? Weāve got dark neurons, tiny monkeys, the most complete brain wiring diagram ever constructed, and much more⦠Published on The Spike Enjoy!
medium.com/the-spike/20...
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2024: A Review of the Year in Neuroscience
Feeling a bit wired
https://medium.com/the-spike/2024-a-review-of-the-year-in-neuroscience-84d343155146
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Whatās the state of the art right now in robotic motor control? Eg. for overground locomotion w variable terrain, fine ādexterousā control. Boston Dynamics, da Vinciā¦?
about 1 year ago
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Schaeffer Somers
about 1 year ago
Itās impressive and humbling to see the scales of inner and outer space that have emerged in science this year.
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Ariel Levine
Jonathan A. Michaels
about 1 year ago
Can the motor system use sensory expectations to prepare for unexpected events? Excited to share my latest work with
@andpru.bsky.social
ā where we establish that sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics in motor circuits! š§µ and paper below 1/
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Rune W. Berg
about 1 year ago
New version of our preprint available. The supplementary information is also available. "Spatial and network principles behind neural generation of locomotion"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Spatial and network principles behind neural generation of locomotion
Generation of locomotion is a fundamental function of the spinal cord, yet the underlying principles remain unclear. In particular, the relationship between neuronal cell types, networks and functions...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.03.616472v3
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