“As long as we can remain optimistic about the future of science and communicate that optimism to young people, we’re going to be fine,” says Walter Koroshetz, former NINDS director. By @avaskham.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/science-and-...

Former NINDS director Walter Koroshetz sat down with @avaskham.bsky.social to reflect on his tenure and share his thoughts on the "attempts at influence" from politicians www.thetransmitter.org/science-and-...

A letter signed by 40 neuroscience groups asks Congress to ensure that scientific expertise remains a priority in the search for a new director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. By @avaskham.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/science-and-...

The bill includes a 33 percent budget increase for the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, which has faced significant funding cuts over the past two years. By @avaskham.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/funding/neur...

🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year. That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027. A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications. A short 🧵

A new method for delivering genes to the primate brain enables researchers to apply existing genetic tools across the monkey brain. By @avaskham.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/pre...

Good news from NIH! Michael Chiang has apparently been reappointed as Director of the National Eye Institute www.nei.nih.gov/about/our-mi...

Reposting with comments. NIDDK budget appears to be cut because there is a separate fund for diabetes, elsewhere in the bill. NINDS budget is increased because of funds transferred from the Office of the Director (OD) for ALS, Alzheimer's. NIEHS seems like a real cut. OD cut is related to NINDS.

A mathematical glitch means that lesion network mapping, which aims to find condition-specific dysfunctional networks, produces strikingly similar results regardless of the condition being studied:

What can the Brain Knowledge Platform do for you? 🧠📈 Join us on Jan. 14, 11am-12pm PT for a webinar on the new features and data in world's most comprehensive brain cell atlas. 🔗 https://alleninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Le5E4CXGSA2clMJ2VesyBw#/registration

“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...

Given the issues facing neuroscience around government policy and funding, the naming of an outsider to SfN’s top position caught some neuroscientists by surprise. By Natalia Mesa #neuroskyence #SfN2025 #SfN25 www.thetransmitter.org/teaching/kev...

While I was out on maternity leave, the Transmitter team produced this incredibly rich and informative special report on the state of neuroscience as a field. It's out now — go explore it here!! #neuroskyence

Join us on Dec. 2 for a webinar on the major advances in basal ganglia mapping, including cross-species cellular mapping and open-access visualization tools. 📅 Dec. 2, 9-10:30am PT 📍 Online 🔗 Register: https://alleninstitute.org/events/neuroscience-cell-types-webinars/ #studyBRAIN #neuroskyence

This article in The Transmitter covering our paper may be one of the best scientific content headlines of all time. www.thetransmitter.org/fmri/timing-...

14 months after submission, our article “Stimulus-modulated approach to steady state (SASS): a flexible paradigm for event-related fMRI" is now out in @natmethods.nature.com . You can read it here rdcu.be/ePJo6 It is the first first author paper from my student @renilmathew.bsky.social 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 …1/N

The U.K. has released its plan to phase out animal testing in research, as a number of countries move toward reducing the use of animals. www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/u...

“This neural configuration before amputation remains after the amputation. And it’s not ‘use it or lose it,’” says John W. Krakauer. By @avaskham.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/plasticity/a...

The Trump administration violated impoundment law by canceling NIH grants, slowing new awards, a scathing report by GAO finds. Story via @mmolteni.bsky.social and @aniloza.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/g...

Thanks @avaskham.bsky.social & @thetransmitter.bsky.social for including me in this discussion of why individual differences matter. My work & others show that tracking individual behavior can reveal circuits & mechanisms that group averages miss #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/animal-behav...

Our award-winning news team is looking for an enthusiastic trade journalist to join our fast-paced newsroom in NYC. This is an excellent opportunity for a science journalist to develop a beat in the field of neuroscience. For more info, please visit: bit.ly/4nvAy4k #neuroskyence

In a head-spinning pair of announcements on Wednesday, the National Institutes of Health told staff that it would lift its monthslong freeze on all research funding to Columbia University — then reversed its reversal, emails show. New from me: www.chronicle.com/article/colu...

I'd like to make a list of PhD programs that (1) are in Europe (which does include the UK); (2) offer opportunities in systems neuroscience; and obviously (3) pay a stipend. Please share and/or respond to add your suggestions?

Great reporting from @claudia-lopez.bsky.social:

For black-capped chickadees, looking out at a location activates the same place cells as actually being there, a study from Columbia University shows. By @martajhill.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/hippocampus/...

In this excerpt, I fast forward to the end of Elusive Cures to explain why I am so unequivocally optimistic about the next steps for brain research. For those of you who (like me) like to listen, I've narrated this clip (~10 min). The text is there too. Thank you @thetransmitter.bsky.social team.

For news, perspectives and more to help you navigate the early stages of your neuroscience career, visit our Early-Career Neuroscientists Resource Center: www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...

In the background over the past few weeks, I wrote an obituary of Peter Lax for Nature. He was one of my dad's best friends and one of my favorite people in the world. He was also an incredibly influential mathematician. [Gift Link thanks to Nature] rdcu.be/eqmiR

Democrat Jeff Merkley says "it's my understanding no existing [Alzheimer's grants] have been cancelled." That's not true. Tens of millions of dollars in Alzheimer's grants — many of them for training — have been cut. See @scott-delaney.bsky.social & @noamross.net's Grant Watch database here.

🚨 NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya is testifying before the US Senate Appropriations Committee today. The hearing is bound to be spicy, after more than 300 agency staff wrote him a letter decrying his leadership and actions as director. 🔥 I'll be live-posting the hearing, so follow along here.

Multiple studies by a prominent neural tube researcher at the University of Maryland show potential image manipulation and reuse; an institutional investigation is underway. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/academia/mor...

More complete analysis of NIH outlays (or lack thereof) from grant-watch.us grant-watch.us/posts/trends...

President Trump’s 2026 budget proposes slashing NIH's central function, awarding grants to universities, academic medical centers, and other institutions, by 43% compared to 2025 levels. Story via me & @danielpayne.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2025/06/06/n...

#neuroskyence 🧪

The Drosophila genetic database FlyBase has lost its nearly $2 million grant. It’s part of the more than $3 billion in federal funding that has been terminated at Harvard University this year. By @callimcflurry.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/community/fl...

Talked to @KateZernike at @nytimes about my journey and the current moment for scientists in the U.S. “Ardem Patapoutian’s story is not just the American dream, it is the dream of American science.” Read the article here. No subscription required: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...

In a recent study, @antoinemadar.bsky.social & Mark Sheffield looked at place cells of the mouse hippocampus in vivo to understand what plasticity rules support learning—spoiler alert, it wasn’t Hebbian plasticity! Go check out my story for @thetransmitter.bsky.social #neuroskyence 🧪

This academic cycle was really challenging for those students that applied for PhD programs. Please help me share this special episode discussing what to do if you didn't get accepted into a PhD program. open.spotify.com/episode/5tsj...

To put these top-line budget numbers in context, cuts of this magnitude would effectively mean no new grants in FY2026. The entire extramural budget would go to existing, continuing grants. An abject failure of American ambition. And a betrayal of our global leadership in health science innovation.

Believe it a not, a third multisite connectomic project also lost funding. The multi-PI R01 led by @darbly.bsky.social with myself and @bassemh.bsky.social as co-PIs.

#neuroskyence 🧪

Could be huge. Especially for those terminated in the anti-DEI purge. "...NIH will allow individuals whose mentored career development awards prematurely ended on or after January 1, 2025, to be eligible to apply for a new mentored career development award" grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Donald Hebb’s theory—memorably summarized as “cells that fire together, wire together”— does not explain the shifting hippocampal connections that occur in mice as they learn to navigate an unfamiliar virtual environment. By @sydneywyatt.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/memory/learn...

Later that day, the NINDS layoffs were revoked, @sydneywyatt.bsky.social and I reported this week for @thetransmitter.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/science-and-... #neuroskyence 🧪

Cool new study showing that regulatory T cells in the spinal meninges release endogenous opioids to quell pain in female (but not make) mice: #neuroskyence 🧪

Applications are now open for our fall internship program! This is an excellent opportunity for a beginning science journalist to report and write about the fast-moving field of neuroscience. Apply now: simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...

"In addition, since early May, representatives of DOGE, which says that its goal is to cut government spending and regulations, have been screening all NIH awards before they’re released, according to internal correspondence that Nature obtained."

We want to hear from you! We’re conducting a survey on the state of neuroscience. This week’s question is: What were the most exciting and discussed papers of 2023 and 2024? #neuroskyence thetransmitter.typeform.com/papers?utm_s...

After more than a month of uncertainty, 30 previously purged employees at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke received an email yesterday stating they no longer face termination. By @sydneywyatt.bsky.social, @avaskham.bsky.social #neuroskyence bit.ly/4dwfrdG