Aurora in Boston right now

Ok, Blue Jays, let’s play ball!

Let’s go Blue Jays, let’s go!

Happy to share my lab's first review article! We outline how the lateral habenula is a critical regulator of almost every type of social behavior, from pro- to anti-social behaviors, in both sexes, and across the lifespan. Hopefully this can serve as a useful reference! rdcu.be/eLWPw

I am thrilled to share our latest work: we identified a population of central amygdala neurons that promote the earliest and perhaps most important social behavior: pup suckling!... We also developed new tools for pup neuroscience Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab

Excellent framework to understand the processes favoring health vs disease based on the Energy Resistance Principle. Makes me wonder whether the shape of this inverted-U curve, or linked parameters, are trait-like across individuals. Congrats @martinpicardenergy.bsky.social & @msahsorin.bsky.social

I sent this to my undergraduate students earlier today; it's a fun way to show them how AI hallucinates, by having them break the system. Simply ask “is there a seahorse emoji?” futurism.com/chatgpt-hayw... it works, well, until it doesn’t…credit goes to my dad for this one!

Just a small reminder to fellow researchers, PubMed Europe is still functional and seems to be updating materials. Thank you to them! europepmc.org

Big news at @npp-journal.bsky.social HQ 👇 We are thrilled to welcome @briannaegeorge.bsky.social as our new NPP Editorial Intern 🎉 We are looking forward to working with Dr. George and are excited to have such a fantastic addition to our team 🤩

So, with Jane Goodall passing, I am reminded of a very fun incident where her institute sent a furious complaint over this cartoon on her behalf, only to have Goodall herself find it hilarious and go on to write the introduction to the collection it appeared in. A fantastic sense of humour.

Jane Goodall, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, spent decades teaching about the intelligence of chimpanzees. She left behind powerful lessons about aging — and living well — too. nyti.ms/3IS8XuH

My friend Steven Parton interviewed Adam Zeman about #Aphantasia — something he and I both have. Interestingly, we both seem to have the more pronounced form, where even our dreams lack imagery. youtu.be/TdSwDUONWLg?...

🚨 CDC Website Scrubbing Alert We do not have a complete list but can report that CDC plans to delete or otherwise takedown many CDC pages about LGBTQ+ health, health equity, disabilities, hepatitis, HIV and more.

My last grant was an R25 focused on introducing undergraduates to aging research to motivate them to address these gaps, be it in research or clinical careers. It was terminated b/c “DEI is bad.”

Just a reminder, the NOSIs for Research Continuity and Retention Supplements (childbirth, healthcare issues), and Re-Entry, Re-integration & Re-training Supplements, are ending Sept 9th. If you were thinking about one of them, apply soon. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

I am SO EXCITED to share this one! The latest paper from the lab is online in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social. We show microglia prune NAc astrocyte processes during abstinence from cocaine-self ad which drives later drug seeking behavior. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The updated version of the database of PhD fellowships produced and maintained by my team can be downloaded by anyone here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-... For each of the 187 fellowships, you will find a short description, deadline, $ amount, link, etc. Good luck!

Auroras, moonsets, the Milky Way, and more in recent photographs from ISS crew members in orbit. Take a look at The Atlantic Photo: https://theatln.tc/LoCl2GNq 📸: Nichole Ayers / Don Pettit / NASA

This piece was so fun to write because the whole lab chipped in and team-wrote it over the series of a few lab meetings (+finessing)

Join us in Congratulating the 2025 ACNP Travel Award Class! 🙌🎉

While everything is burning around us, a rare great day for Flanigan Lab! Thank you to BBRF for funding our NARSAD! Thank you to MUSC COBRE CNDD for funding our Pilot Proposal! Looking forward to doing some awesome science

New preprint!

 tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵 w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Excited to have this little @npp-journal.bsky.social "hot topics" article out with my dear friend and collaborator @jbeehner.bsky.social. Even more excited for the opportunity to jump into field research and explore some of these ideas. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Morning thoughts on how the current federal funding crisis is going to make everything worse in more ways than people seem to be openly discussing....So big news broke this week in distance running (this will get back to science, I promise!)

🄸🄼🄿🄾🅁🅃🄰🄽🅃 Anna Samarra et al in 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 Exclusive breastfeeding in the first month reduces antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in infants by enriching 𝑩𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎, offsetting the increased ARG load from C-section delivery and/or early antibiotics www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🐾 Just out & open access! Exploring Animal Behavior Through Sound, Vol. 2 🎶 From insects to elephants and whales—how animals use & are affected by sound. Thanks to Christiane Erbe & all co-authors (me included)! 👉 link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

The 1st manuscript from my lab is online! This study, led by 2nd y PhD student Jared Franges (w/ key contributions from grad and 4! UG students), shows that developmental exposure to PBDEs drives persistent impairment of histamine+serotonin release by mast cells www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... 1/n

Excited to share this new paper from the lab, now out in @cp-immunity.bsky.social! Led by the talented @bendevlin.bsky.social and in collab with @anneschaefer.bsky.social. a brief 🧵

New NIGMS undergraduate training program is forecasted. simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...

Women are disproportionately affected by #irondeficiency & #anaemia We undertook a comprehensive review of 🔑 role of iron in women's health across the lifespan ✅ factors affecting iron bioavailability, ID/IDA 🚫 limitations of interventions 🙋🏽‍♀️need 4 better diagnosis & acceptable treatments 4 women

The Brain & Body Lab at UCLA is hiring a Staff Research Associate to work on a productive and dedicated team under the NIMH funded Teen Bugs study - investigating brain-gut communication in teens. Send your best and brightest! jobs.ucla.edu/jobs/8072

📢 Don't miss our recent review on the "Neurobiology of resilience to early life stress", published in @npp-journal.bsky.social! Alessandro Bortolami, @cate-cholamine.bsky.social, @ericjnestler.bsky.social, and I highlight evidence from rodent studies... 👇 👇 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We did some science. We found some things. Killer whales get by with a little kelp from their friends. Evidence of tool manufacture and use in resident killer whales - check it out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Our new #OpenAccess Hormones & Behavior paper has dropped, featuring undergrad Jailyn. Maternal immune activation during the lactational period alters offspring behavior, reproductive development, & immune function in mice: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #OpenScience #BrainResearch #NeuroSky

The SURE-First (R16) and SURE NOFOs have been published. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Also be sure to read the instructions a Forms I SF424. These Fs will have the new format/review instructions so there are different components from the previous NOFOs.

This will be an amazing meeting! Wish I could go 😭 Everyone who can travel, submit your abstracts, it’s a great conference and wonderful people!

Hello friends, our 🆕 lab preprint w/ @jordanmarrocco.bsky.social is here; please enjoy! Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch

Happy to share the current version of our latest story, currently under peer review. Cool collab with @dablab.bsky.social @manickam-lab.bsky.social and others. We are not only understanding endothelial deficits in an #autism model, but now also capable of rescuing them! #16p11.2 #treatment #P2Y2

G4 (Kp 8)/SEVERE Geomagnetic Storming is POSSIBLE tomorrow as a large CME is expected to hit Earth on June 1 around midday UT (morning North America). What is going on? Who will see aurora and when? How can you track this anticipated event? Read on! #heliophysics #spacenews #aurora #northernlights

‘Death is not a mystery’: what happens to your body when you’re dying? www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...

Excited to share another piece of the chicken-or-egg puzzle: Investigating the Polygenic Relationship Between Cannabis Use and Schizophrenia in the All of Us Research Program www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Notice on extension of ESI status for NIH grant applications. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

The Venniro Lab developed a novel rodent model of mutual social interaction to investigate the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms motivating social peers simultaneously to engage in and maintain social interaction www.nature.com/artic...

What an honor it was to attend the 20th anniversary of Brains & Behavior, see former professors and friends, and give the keynote address.

Congratulations to @epfl-brainmind.bsky.social professor @carmensandi10.bsky.social on winning the 2025 ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award - www.ecnp.eu/news/press-o...

A few #bridgefunding opportunities in child health and development 👇👇

Nature research paper: Diet outperforms microbial transplant to drive microbiome recovery in mice. https://go.nature.com/42R2PJ5

If you were planning to submit Neuroscience related T32s to PAR-22-265, PAR-24-126, or PAR-24-108, note those are now expired and you need to submit through PAR-25-168. See this notice: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...