Ben Saunders
@bensaunders.bsky.social
📤 3600
📥 177
📝 626
Neuroscientist and gardener Lab site- saunderslab.com
pinned post!
So excited to see our latest paper out today in
@natcomms.nature.com
! Studies led by the amazing
@margestelzner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
. VTA GABA neurons have a unique role in economic decision making - they integrate reward seeking motivation and the current cost of seeking
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Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence - Nature Communications
The role of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons in behavior is unclear. Here, authors show that VTA GABA but not dopamine neurons integrate positive and negative valence to encode motivational conflic...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65345-3
about 1 month ago
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john granule
8 days ago
billionaire: i have 3 brains. in my skull interviewer: incredible
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Another super fun combo lab holiday party this year with
@jocelynrichard.bsky.social
!
9 days ago
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Lindsay Schwarz
13 days ago
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...
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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...
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)01459-7
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Some
#FluorescenceFriday
content for you - check out these anterior cingulate cortex neurons that project to the superior colliculus. Image by
@izzabellagreen.bsky.social
🧠
16 days ago
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bioRxiv Neuroscience
18 days ago
NMDA receptor ablation in medial prefrontal cortex disrupts value updating and reward history integration
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.06.692679v1
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Shelly Flagel
18 days ago
Excited to share our new GLP-1 receptor agonist study! Chronic semaglutide potentiates motivation for small food rewards and associated cues, but reduces intake when food is freely available—surprising twist!
#GLP-1
,
#behavior
#neuroscience
#pharmacology
1/ 🔗
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
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Chronic semaglutide treatment enhances the incentive motivational value of a small food reward and associated cue in male and female rats
Rationale: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, such as semaglutide, are increasingly utilized in clinical practice due to their efficacy in promoting sustained weight loss following chr...
https://www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2025.12.06.692775v1
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Tom Kash
19 days ago
🧠 We're hiring! 🧠 Are you passionate about neuroscience and education? Join our faculty at UNC Chapel Hill to inspire and teach the next generation of neuroscientists. Apply now: 🔗https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308455
#Neuroscience
#TeachingJobs
#AcademicJobs
#HigherEd
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Susanne Ahmari
23 days ago
In other exciting news,
@mattgeramita.bsky.social
’s
@natneuro.nature.com
+ Eric Yttri paper exploring the neural circuits underlying hesitation just dropped today! 🧠🎤 To summarize the findings, please see my musical abstract (with apologies to Peter Frampton 🎶)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
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Alex Kwan
23 days ago
We used rabies virus 👾 to map how
#psilocybin
modifies long-range circuits 🧠, revealing network-specific reorganization that we didn’t expect. The full study is now online at Cell.
@cp-cell.bsky.social
Paper 👉
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Thread for a synopsis 👉
bsky.app/profile/alex...
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Jenna Norton
24 days ago
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is seeking input on Federal policy updates to accelerate the American scientific enterprise. This is your chance to give some feedback on how the past ~10 months have gone for science.
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
I plan to highlight:
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Notice of Request for Information; Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requests input from all interested parties on Federal policy updates that aim to accelerate the American scientific enterprise, enable groundbreaking...
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/26/2025-21150/notice-of-request-for-information-accelerating-the-american-scientific-enterprise
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Drug Monkey
25 days ago
The first one is not a test of replicability. It is a test of generalization. It is important to stop conflating these.
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Senator Patty Murray
25 days ago
After slow-walking critical funding for lifesaving research, the Trump administration has sabotaged the NIH grantmaking process so that researchers get LESS money on average and LESS time to use it. No one is asking to fund less cancer research, but that's what's happening.
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The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/02/upshot/trump-science-funding-cuts.html
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Drug Monkey
26 days ago
22% fewer NIH grants
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The Transmitter
about 1 month ago
“It’s giving mechanistic insight into how estrogen modulates reinforcement learning—all the way down to the molecular mechanism,” says Ilana Witten. By
@avaskham.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/sex-hormones...
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Sex hormone boosts female rats’ sensitivity to unexpected rewards
During the high-estradiol stages of their estrus cycle, female rats learn faster than they do during other stages—and than male rats overall—thanks to a boost in their dopaminergic response to reward…
https://www.thetransmitter.org/sex-hormones/sex-hormone-boosts-female-rats-sensitivity-to-unexpected-rewards/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=org-social&utm_campaign=20251125-sex-horomone-boosts-female-rats
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Sabine Krabbe
about 2 months ago
Out now: Favila, Capece Marsico et al. 2025, Nature Communications: Using longitudinal deep-brain imaging, we report that amygdala interneurons exhibit complex and heterogeneous plasticity during associative learning, at both the single-cell and population level. 👉
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Heterogeneous plasticity of amygdala interneurons in associative learning and extinction - Nature Communications
In this study, the authors uncover how diverse inhibitory interneurons in the amygdala flexibly contribute to fear and safety learning, revealing a key role for inhibition in emotional memory and adap...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66122-y
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Ben Saunders
So excited to see our latest paper out today in
@natcomms.nature.com
! Studies led by the amazing
@margestelzner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
. VTA GABA neurons have a unique role in economic decision making - they integrate reward seeking motivation and the current cost of seeking
loading . . .
Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence - Nature Communications
The role of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons in behavior is unclear. Here, authors show that VTA GABA but not dopamine neurons integrate positive and negative valence to encode motivational conflic...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65345-3
about 1 month ago
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Drug Monkey
about 1 month ago
Here we go. Its ALL
#NIHGrant
applications. Dec 8 is the new deadline. And a one page prelim data update will be accepted for all May Council submissions.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
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NOT-OD-26-012: Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 - Lapse in Appropriations
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 - Lapse in Appropriations NOT-...
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-26-012.html
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So excited to see our latest paper out today in
@natcomms.nature.com
! Studies led by the amazing
@margestelzner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
. VTA GABA neurons have a unique role in economic decision making - they integrate reward seeking motivation and the current cost of seeking
loading . . .
Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence - Nature Communications
The role of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons in behavior is unclear. Here, authors show that VTA GABA but not dopamine neurons integrate positive and negative valence to encode motivational conflic...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65345-3
about 1 month ago
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Ben Saunders
Brian Wasik
about 1 month ago
Translation: partisan appointees overseeing ICOs can circumvent the peer review process by overriding Impact Scores when determining program grant paylines. Result: ideological choice over merit, lobbying, and corruption.
add a skeleton here at some point
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boehninglab
about 1 month ago
No more paylines at the NIH
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
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Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions | Grants & Funding
https://grants.nih.gov/news-events/nih-extramural-nexus-news/2025/11/implementing-a-unified-nih-funding-strategy-to-guide-consistent-and-clearer-award-decisions
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public health guy
about 1 month ago
we have PrEP because of these monkey studies. animal welfare in medical research is extremely strictly limited and regulated to ensure ethical use. there is no replacement for these animal models in biomedical research.
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Nicolas Tritsch
about 1 month ago
As the Neuroscience 2025 meeting comes to a close, it's time for us to think about the future. Do you want to help us shape neuroscience research and future
@sfn.org
meetings? Consider nominating yourself or colleagues:
www.sfn.org/about/volunt...
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Call for Nominations
https://www.sfn.org/about/volunteer/call-for-nominations
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Alex Kwan
about 1 month ago
We’ve thought a lot about how 💊 drugs act on dendrites of neurons, but what about when it is a 🧬 mutation that affects dendrites? PhD student Hao Wu studied
#Scn2a
deficiency in mice. Just out at
@pnas.org
, her research led to two major findings.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Autism-associated Scn2a haploinsufficiency disrupts in vivo dendritic signaling and impairs flexible decision-making | PNAS
SCN2A is a high-confidence risk gene for autism spectrum disorder. Loss-of-function mutations in Scn2a reduce dendritic excitability in neocortical...
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2508836122
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Kurt Fraser
about 1 month ago
@accumbenshelley.bsky.social
re-writing the textbook on neural circuit function
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SfN Journals
about 1 month ago
This Week in The Journal
#JNeurosci
| How Partial Occlusion Influences Visual Processing; Hippocampal Ripples during Rest May Promote Motor Learning
vist.ly/4f8bg
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Go Tricia!!! 🫡🫡❤️❤️
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about 1 month ago
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So stoked to have our image on the cover of this week's issue of Journal of Neuroscience!!
@sfnjournals.bsky.social
#JNeurosci
#SfN25
. Check out the final version of the paper here
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
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Superior Colliculus Projections Drive Dopamine Neuron Activity and Movement But Not Value
To navigate dynamic environments, animals must rapidly integrate sensory information and respond appropriately to gather rewards and avoid threats. It is well established that dopamine (DA) neurons in...
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/45/47/e0291252025
about 1 month ago
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Blown away by all the interest in our work and fun connections this week at
#SfN25
. So proud and grateful to work with such an amazing group of people.
about 1 month ago
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Scott Delaney
about 1 month ago
Update on a significant development NIH grant terms. On 10/1, a change to grant making regs went into effect that gives NIH more power to terminate grants for policy reasons. But to use this power, new grant terms must include specific language. See
@aniloza.bsky.social
w/ the story from July. 1/
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HHS devises legal playbook for future grant terminations, internal memo shows
Exclusive: HHS devises a legal playbook for future research grant terminations, an internal memo shows.
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/06/hhs-nih-grant-terminations-legal-guidance-internal-memo/
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christine liu / two photon art
about 1 month ago
These 2 UC President’s Fellows just learned that our hiring incentive is not going to be defunded….for now! UCs, please hire us for faculty positions ASAP haha!!! (But seriously if you’re at
#sfn25
, let’s chat 😌)
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Kurt Fraser
about 1 month ago
*tapping the sign*
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Mel Sharpe
about 1 month ago
Good morning everyone! Suitably following the
#dopamine
dinner, we have our
#dopamine
symposium at 9:30am in SDCC room 6B! ‘Beyond Value: Non-canonical roles for dopamine in aversion and reward’ Come join us! 🧠 🧪
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Nicola Grissom
about 1 month ago
I fell ill and so can't be there as planned but
#SfN25
this morning has awesome posters from lab members
@nicglewwe.bsky.social
and
@micaelaporod.bsky.social
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This morning
#SfN25
check out
@micaelaporod.bsky.social
’s poster KK17, part of dream team collab with
@nicolagrissom.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Mari Sosa
about 2 months ago
The Sosa Lab is going to
#SfN25
and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum. If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me!
www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
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Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers
We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!
https://www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoctoral-researchers
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Okay cool science seekers @
#SfN25
! Time to head to V7-11 to check out our posters. We are all over the brain studying sensory guided affective states and decision making.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Mel Sharpe
about 1 month ago
Folks the Sharpe Lab are in the house for
@sfn.org
! 🎉 Come check out our talks and posters. We’ve been doing some cool stuff down under 🇦🇺 on dopamine, reinforcement learning, and remapping of the fear circuit. 🧠 🧪
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Nancy Padilla-Coreano
about 1 month ago
For those of you headed to
#SfN25
If you study social behaviors be sure to check out our posters. We will be presenting how the brain represents prosocial decisions, how dopamine dynamics relate to social memory, whether respiration relates to social hierarchies, and more!
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Denise J. Cai, Ph.D.
about 1 month ago
🧠 The Cai Lab will be at
#SfN25
! Be sure to stop by the poster sessions to check out Hailey's work on decision-making,
@zachtpennington.bsky.social
's work on stress,
@zoechristensonwick.bsky.social
's work on seizures, Alexa's work on cocaine seeking, and Sandra's work on context representations 🤓
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Beth Lucas
about 1 month ago
The lab is presenting at
#SfN2025
Come check out the amazing science being conducted by postdoc Nina Baumgartner
@nbaumgar.bsky.social
and grad student Alexa Jo Tellez! I am also recruiting a postdoc so please spread the word.
#neuroskyence
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Rebekah Evans
about 1 month ago
Our lab has 2 great posters this year at
#SfN25
and a collaborative poster making a computational modeling of the PPN. Come see us on Wednesday afternoon!
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Lauren Slosky
about 1 month ago
#SfN2025
here we come! I am thrilled to be joined at the Society for Neuroscience meeting this year by Madelyn Moore,
@kelseyperson.bsky.social
,
@valeriarobleto.bsky.social
, and Crystal Lemchi. If you are in San Diego for the conference, please stop by to say hi! 👋 🧪🧠🟦
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Jeremy Day
about 1 month ago
The Day Lab will be representing our work at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference (
@sfn.org
) in San Diego this week in two sessions - stop by to see updates on a lot of really cool science!
#SfN2025
#Neuroscience
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Danielle Beckman
about 1 month ago
The Society for Neuroscience meeting starts tomorrow! I prepared some microscopy images for display at the convention center in San Diego. Let me know if you see one of my images around! 🤓 🔬 🧠
@sfn.org
#SfN25
#FluorescenceFriday
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Steve Ramirez
about 2 months ago
Book launch day is here 🚀 How to Change a Memory, in physical and audio form:
www.amazon.com/How-Change-M...
and here's a preview of one of the book's central themes: memories change and, as a result, we change too🧠.
www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/a...
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How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past
Buy How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
https://www.amazon.com/How-Change-Memory-Neuroscientists-Quest/dp/0691266689
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christine liu / two photon art
about 1 month ago
So stoked for another year with the best crew in the Art of Neuroscience exhibit at
#SfN25
! Thank you
@artologica.net
for compiling all the artists in one digital space for all to peruse!
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I was hoping we would get the pre-SFN issue for the final version of this paper but stay tuned for an upcoming issue and a fun surprise
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about 1 month ago
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Jason Shepherd
about 1 month ago
Just got an email from my SRO for the study section that was missed in October. Good news is that they are trying to reschedule ASAP (Dec/Jan). The bad news is that CSR is mandating that only the the top third (not half) of applications will get discussed for the next 2 rounds.
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This coming week at
#SfN25
come visit us at the Minnesota Graduate Program in Neuroscience booth at the grad fair! For applicants this cycle, note that the deadline is soon - Nov 20th. Also everyone check out the presentations at the meeting by UMN folks -
shorturl.at/jNRxQ
about 1 month ago
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Northern lights the past two nights
about 1 month ago
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