Today was the final day of my three-month stay in Paul and Sheena’s lab. It was short, but filled with unforgettable moments. I love the lab, the people, and this city. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for everything. Thank you so much, @franklandlab.bsky.social and @sjo09.bsky.social

New paper from the lab 🚨 Led by Ali Golbabaei, this study explores the how the composition of prefrontal cortical engrams changes with memory age: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lzT-3BtfH...

New paper from the lab led by Ali Golbabaei. If you’re interested in systems consolidation, generalization and hippocampal neurogenesis a short 🧵 follows: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lsO73QW8S...

Now seen all the greats. Messi, both Ronaldo’s, Ronaldinho and Alan Devonshire.

Watching 38 year old man walk around for 90 mins

In summary, we established whole-genome, multimodal single-cell history tracing, applicable to a wide range of experimental systems. Our lab is now applying HisTrac to study id specification and plasticity (e.g., memory) and we look forward to sharing exciting results soon!

Blue Jays win!

Working From Dome

Fantastic afternoon (so far) at the Skydome.

Checking out Toronto’s day-old park (Biidaasige Park) on my morning run. Beautiful in the morning sun.

Role and influence, yes. But, the biological mechanisms? Maybe not in a functional/systems/computational model... Mind you, though I am not objective here, I basically buy @franklandlab.bsky.social's account of infantile amnesia as being driven by neurogenesis: www.science.org/doi/full/10....

It was a great pleasure to host Paul Frankand @franklandlab.bsky.social as the keynote speaker at the Dutch Neuroscience Meeting 2025 and at the Donders Institute. Big thanks to Paul for accepting our invitation, for the fantastic talks and discussions!

For anyone in the memory field, an incredible summary and tribute to Endel Tulving from Gus Craik. Read it for the writing alone. royalsocietypublishing.org/action/oidcS...

Never open a ‘Decision on manuscript XXX…’ email on a Friday. Nothing good ever comes of it.

Appreciating the free wifi on my @aircanada.bsky.social flight to the US this morning. Remember when hotels used to charge for wifi? This is the start of the wave for free wifi on flights. No carrier can afford not to offer it.

... in situations that _do not_ match the original training conditions... 🤦‍♂️

If you are in Toronto on Tuesday next week, please consider coming to see a FREE public lecture on memory, delivered by the amazing @sjo09.bsky.social and @barense.bsky.social . Tix at this link can-acn.org/meeting-2025... Please repost and hope to see you there!

Sharing a new paper from the lab. This paper, led by Sangyoon Ko, represents a merging of two longstanding research themes in the lab-- adult neurogenesis and systems consolidation. rdcu.be/el18q A short thread follows for those interested. 1/n

New baguette review: Bakery Pompette on College. A French bakery in little Italy. Owners super charming; I really wanted to like this more. It is a GREAT looking baguette, and the crust is close to perfection. BUT neither salty or airy enough, imo. A little too much Ace Bakery. This gets a 7/10.

💯 1990s seminar. Senior prof: Asks question Speaker (new assistant prof): Offers answer Senior prof: “well you obviously haven’t a clue, so I’ll answer it for you”. Bangs on about his work for next 5 mins. Replacing the bluster and aggression with civility and politeness = progress.

Who’s here for next Pope odds?

Registration is open for a few more weeks but if you’re a trainee and want to be considered for one of the four talking slots please register before this weekend. We are selecting speakers on Monday. www.eventbrite.ca/e/neural-cir...

Thrilled to share new work from the lab, led by Adam Ramsaran: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kva73QW8S...

Who’s here for some retro SfN? 1996

Program for the "Neural Circuits and Behaviour" CAN 2025 satellite is now available! We have a great day planned, and are especially looking for trainees to join the event - we'll select four trainees for talks, with a prize for best trainee talk. Details: www.eventbrite.ca/e/neural-cir...

We have no memories for events from our earliest childhood years (aka infantile amnesia). Is it because we can't form them or can't keep them? Our Perspective on exciting new work from @tristansyates.bsky.social and colleagues. Babies form fleeting memories | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Wow! Although there is no official University travel advisory at this time; nor is one expected from the federal government, it has been suggested that people travelling to the USA remember to bring proof of their destination and reason for travel, whether it be a conference or invited seminar.

Call it anecdotal, but my Canadian friends who are cancelling their US travel are not doing it because of tariff worries at all; they’re doing it because the US government is currently actively threatening Canada’s sovereignty and economy and they’re all justifiably furious

Early morning skater(boy) at Nathan Phillips Square

GREAT opportunity for Canadian trainees: FOUR talks at the Neural Circuits and Behaviour CAN satellite are reserved for trainees. AND the best trainee talk wins a $500 prize (thanks to the Garry Hurvitz Centre for Brain & Mental Health). REGISTER today and submit your proposed talk title.

Program now available for the Neural Circuits & Behaviour Satellite at CAN2025. To register, visit: www.eventbrite.ca/e/neural-cir...

Canada

Plane nerd me enjoying Air Canada’s new inflight camera

What football fan doesn't LOVE this??? The 98th minute at Goodison last night.

Football is bloody brilliant #EVELIV

Final week for apps. Closes Feb 15th. can-acn.org/scientist-se...

Here's Bluesky's growth over time since mostly October. We launched when there were 300k mentions (Dec 3rd.) Today's total is 1.22 million mentions. Average of about 17k mentions every day. largest days were late January. The trend is heavily upwards across time.

Oh crap! I seem to have developed a taste for expensive tea. This stuff is delicious though.

People say you’ll miss the seasons if you move somewhere warm. Not really.

It's the post-"standard model" age! Our Preview of a fantastic new study from Yi Zhong's lab on the role of the hippocampus in updating remote memories. Fun putting this together with Ali Golbabaei. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kZ4f3BtfH...

Registration is OPEN!

Re-upping this: Deadline is Feb 15th. PI position at our Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Successful candidate will be cross-appointed at U of T. Great research community, great city! Early- and mid-career applications welcome. can-acn.org/scientist-se...

Hoping this link works: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New review from the lab on forgetting, and a brief thread (1/4): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Canadian rail content

Kingston!

Frozen

This train ride feels uber Canadian

Applications until Feb 15th

Just giving this a boost for those who may not have seen it yet... we have a PI position (molecular and cellular basis of cognition) at The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto). The position comes with an appointment at Assist/Assoc Prof level at U of T. Share widely! can-acn.org/scientist-se...