Strikingly, inhibiting these synapses specifically after trial outcomes, locks them in a depotentiated state & prevents learning, showing that plasticity guides learning in real-time. Furthermore, gamma-frequency stimulation of these synapses reverses these deficits, restoring plasticity & learning.

New paper online! How does plasticity at specific synapses drive specific forms of learning? We find that learning extradimensional rule shifts depends on strengthening long-range GABAergic projections from parvalbumin neurons to PFC-MD neurons in the contralateral PFC! www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Here’s a list I shared with my students of fun neuroscience books and movies to keep busy over the summer: tab=t.0

Mouse Brian is a definitely a recurring character in my writing 🐭

Learned so much at the #UCPPFP retreat this weekend from faculty and fellows alike. It’s such a privilege to be among scholars who are all striving to make the world a better place, regardless of academic discipline!

This week: - received a mentorship award - organized a chalk talk symposium - got rejected from a fellowship - flying to a retreat for a fellowship You win some, you lose some but I am ending the week so happy and fulfilled as a scientist! 👩🏻‍🔬🧠

New preprint led by recent PhD graduate Dalton Fitzgerald characterizing two distinct populations of VTA dopamine neurons that differ in ion channel expression, intrinsic excitability, and response to drugs of abuse. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Didn’t know how chalk talks worked so we planned a whole symposium to find out… So grateful to my all star team mates for a wonderful and enriching day!

Thanks to all the faculty who volunteered their precious time to mentor the presenters, to serve as panelists, and to support us emotionally, organizationally, and financially! And of course thanks to our genereous supporters @hhmi-science.bsky.social and @kavlifoundation.org!

Research talks are fantastic, now looking forward to the mock chalk talks and faculty career panel.

Kicking off our inaugural UCSF Postdoc-to-Faculty-Symposium 2026! @christineliu.art, @galatlan.bsky.social, @josueregalado96.bsky.social and me organized an event for UCSF Neuroscience postdoc to be trained for the faculty interview process.

Addgene-chella?

@hhmi-science.bsky.social's #FreemanHrabowski Scholars Program offers early career faculty up to $10M over 10 yrs, plus salary & benefits Stable, sustained support can transform your career: Senior Postdoc? This year's competition has a program for you too. Applications open 11/3! bit.ly/4vhC0LA

Two Photon Art store has reopened for graduation gifts!! For a limited time, we’re sending a ~*~ free mystery pin ~*~ with orders above $20!

From MBoC… Now accepting submissions for the Cell Biology of the Nervous System special issue. Share your research on nervous system cell biology with the community: https://www.molbiolcell.org/nervous-system/

In general, it would be amazing if there were mini-grants for wrapping up publications/projects for people undergoing career transitions (including retirement). doi.org/10.1371/jour...

In the emotional rollercoaster that was the last year, writing up this manuscript with @ewhizabeth.bsky.social has been a bright spot. I'm thrilled to share the bulk of my postdoctoral work in this preprint.

Yes, you! Thank you for a beautiful and engaging talk!

Having such an amazing time visiting UAB as part of a series of talks from early career researchers! A thriving and collaborative research ecosystem here that is undergoing major growth - current recruitment for up to 20 neuroscience investigators! A bright light of optimism for neuroscience! 🧠

Fantastic talk from @christineliu.art as part of the UAB Neuroscience Seminar series - really intriguing to see rigorous quantification of the behavioral effects of psychedelics across several institutions, and mechanistic circuit dissections with cutting edge tools!

Stoked to be working with dream team @aexolowski.bsky.social @josueregalado96.bsky.social @galatlan.bsky.social on this new event! We have had such an outpour of faculty support and enthusiasm from trainees, really excited to learn from the community and spotlight some of our awesome peers!

An amazing opportunity for students to get their foot in the door for neuroscience research! Great to see a program explicitly welcome applicants from community colleges and folks with no prior experience!! www.simonsfoundation.org/2026/03/10/a...

Replenished our student snack stash today! My high school leadership teacher used to buy us granola bars and I would eat one every class… Only 15 years later am I realizing the full impact. Thanks for teaching me leadership and keeping me fed, Ms. Brown!!!

Attention Science Communicators! We are conducting a survey on the landscape of science communication & need your help gathering experiences. Please send this to #SciComm ppl you know. We want to get as thorough a sense of the state of the field as we can. umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Popped into @citylightsbooks.bsky.social yesterday, and something caught my eye! So stoked to pick up a copy of When Trees Testify by @berondam.bsky.social !!!!!

time-frequency representation of human electrocorticography data. 🌊 one axis shows frequency, the other time. the high peaks correspond to a prominent alpha rhythm at 10 Hz which appears and subsides during the experiment.

I played around with building a bluesky labeler for neuroscience methods. subscribe to: neuromethods.bsky.social and like the corresponding post to have a shiny methods label appear in your profile.

The plants in question, who clearly have been somewhat neglected… but I try not to be a micro manager and whaddya know they are doing great!😅

My plants at my desk are sprouting new shoots and idk why but it made me want to create a summer program for undergrads again 😭

Hey #Neuroscientists and #Educators, Does anyone know of a good 3D brain model for kids with structures labeled that can be taken apart? Looking for accuracy and to support smaller businesses / #neuroartists rather than a big box store. @laurabundesen.bsky.social @christineliu.art #art #brainmodel

Some news: excited to share that I'm building @dittobio.bsky.social with @adairb.bsky.social and Emily Weiss as part of the @ycombinator.com.web.brid.gy W26 batch! We're discovering drugs for autoimmune disease by harnessing parasite biology. www.ycombinator.com/launches/PNb...

Portland friends - This Sunday at 11am I’m going to be bringing my EEG, sleep diary and drawings into Waterstone Gallery to show how I used my sleep recordings to inform my Nocturnal Worlds paintings. I’m now only slightly regretting how detailed my notes are in my sleep diary… #sciart #pdxart

Also peep the @christineliu.art sparkly brain pin in the featured image of the article 😍 🧠. I'm in my lapel pin era.

Here is the @fralinbiomed.bsky.social write up in @virginiatech.bsky.social news. news.vt.edu/articles/202...

Happy to share part I of Renesa Tarannum's thesis (my first grad student!) looking at how neuropil localized RNAs are spatially organized in the hippocampus. #Skeetorial #Neuroskyence 🧪 www.eneuro.org/content/12/1...

Tomorrow is the last day to apply for SSNAP! Please spread the word! #neuroscience #philosophy #neurophilosophy

Good news everyone: #Duke Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy (SSNAP) are back!! We are now accepting applications for SSNAP 2026, which will take place from May 26 to June 6, 2026. #neuroscience #philosophy #brain Please spread the word! ssnap.submittable.com/submit

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/...

Past Biology, Current Biology, and Future Biology

One of the things I was most excited about 1yr ago was joining 1 of the MOSIAC UE5s as a project scientist to work with those ECRs assigned to it. The opportunity to serve our greater communities. Truly a program that supported people across broad institutions, unlike the parent.

I’m so grateful to be the first in my family to apply to graduate school 🥹 I learned so much throughout the process and I look forward to seeing what the future holds! Definitely would not be where I’m at today if it wasn’t for mentors like @christineliu.art who truly believed in me 🙏

Congrats to my awesome undergrad mentee @isabel-luna.bsky.social for finishing all of her PhD applications! Keep an eye out for this superstar neuroscientist-in-training!!! Any program would be so lucky to have her!!!

MICE is less than a week away! I will be there tabling both days and on Saturday, 12/6, from 1-2PM, I will be a part of the Science Comics Carousel doing a reading from my new comic, BRAINS! www.micexpo.org

Hi #academicSky, any words of wisdom or kind advice for a humble postdoc trying to write a fellowship and feeling overwhelmed? What made/makes things a bit easier for you in this situation? Things you wish you had known before? #Asing4aFriend

Synesthetes claim sensory experiences, such as seeing color when reading or hearing a (black) number. 
But how genuine are these reports and sensations? We introduce a rather direct measure of synesthetic perception: Synesthetes’ pupils respond to evoked color as if it was real color #vision! 👁️🎨🧪

We are also seeing how people respond to the world burning down: looking out for themselves or finding solidarity to maintain something that can work for a broader array of people. How science and scientists respond to disruption has always been a microcosm of our larger society’s response

"Science Communication for Scientists" is a new textbook for scientists and experts at all career stages to learn how to communicate more effectively. We are proud to sponsor this book, which is available open-access here: bit.ly/46KSzFD

These guys have suction cups and can stick to your preferred smooth surface!

Pleco plushies are in stock again over at www.palaeoplushies.com !! Support a small business (me and my sister) this holiday season, so we can keep doing this!

The brain is also @christineliu.art!! That was from my first SfN 😀 Shop here for more beautiful pins/patches/art: twophotonart.com They're currently on a break (due to SfN) but should be back up soon!