My group at Science has been running a big campaign to engineer new channelrhodopsins. Excited to share the first results from it today: a suite of highly sensitive new opsins. We call them "WAChRs". Everyday indoor office lighting is enough to activate them pretty strongly.

In a new paper, we analyze published RNAseq and discover impact to the expression of transposable element transcripts in the brains of people with major depressive disorder. Natalie Truby, a recent-grad from the lab, spearheaded this work. Read about it here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

Great story in the @thetransmitter.bsky.social today by @callimcflurry.bsky.social. It was fun chatting about @melcooperphd.bsky.social's new research on astrocyte networks. Read the story here: www.thetransmitter.org/astrocytes/a... Read the preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Astrocytes are connected by gap junctions in large, plastic networks that link brain regions not connected by neurons, a new preprint shows. By @callimcflurry.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/astrocytes/a...

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species go.nature.com/4mOb5T9

A complete brain-wide activity map at single-cell resolution has been revealed for the first time. Researchers recorded from 650,000+ neurons across 279 brain areas to track decision-making in mice. Read the story: 🔗 www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/research...

Key moments in naturalistic events synchronize neural activity patterns and dominate memory reinstatement https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.30.673233v1

Epigenetic inheritance of complex learning abilities in the mammalian brain https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.31.673327v1

principal investigator component analysis

Our new paper on metformin, myelin, mitochondria and metabolism is now out at rdcu.be/eDbFD Thanks to Nina and all of the team!

Neural representation of emotional valence in human amygdala https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.14.670371v1

Depression symptoms enhance goal-directed behavior underuncertainty https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.14.670362v1

Excellent piece today in @thetransmitter.bsky.social by @callimcflurry.bsky.social on a paper we’ve discussed at some length here (🧵below); she does a terrific job capturing different reasons to be excited about this work (as well as the controversies). www.thetransmitter.org/emotion-proc...

After Nabarun Dasgupta lost a close friend to an overdose, he dedicated himself to addiction research and trying to empower drug users with lifesaving information.

Coming up in just a few weeks! @karlakaun.bsky.social and colleagues have great things in store. Prizes available for trainee presentations. Spots are still available, so please consider attending! Looking forward to chatting about growing and connecting addiction neuroscience in the area.

Reteti Elephant Sanctuary "On this beautiful Friday, we are so excited to introduce you to #Kimani – the little elephant with a big story!"

Tenure-track faculty search of the UCSF Biochemistry & Biophysics Department is open for applications! We are looking for creative, innovative scientists asking fundamental questions in any area of biology. Join our vibrant, collaborative, and supportive community! aprecruit.ucsf.edu/JPF05702

1/ Mapping synaptic connectivity between individual neurons is extremely laborious. We developed BRISC, a new method that makes it possible to map inputs onto 100s of neurons in the same animal in a matter of weeks! Led by Alex Becalick and @antblot.bsky.social. 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

NEW PREPRINT OUT! Being in a state of pain changes how we decide. 📄 Altered Decision-Making Across Acute and Chronic Pain States 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A 🧵 below 👇

A nice Review on 3P neuroimaging in NR Neuro. The images never fail to amaze me. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

What’s better than a one-channel #Miniscope? 🥁 A TWO-CHANNEL Miniscope! Our new Miniscope2C is a dual-channel, open-source Miniscope that lets you record 2 fluorescent signals simultaneously in freely moving animals. Read the paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... (1/10)

Our latest on how and why people differ in good decision-making and why some people persistently make poor decisions.

What Is Analog Computing? You don’t need 0s and 1s to perform computations, and in some cases it’s better to avoid them. www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-anal... #neuroscience Your brain computes without 1s and 0s

Highly highly recommend. The Luján lab will be such a fun and intellectually stimulating environment!

Our new preprint: 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. We describe how the LS guides defensive responses by forming critical computations built from functionally and molecularly distinct cells and their afferent inputs. www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

This was a really fun project: We blocked obesity in mice by making them do a tiny bit of work for their food. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Transient recurrent dynamics shape representations in mice https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.17.659440v1

well its officially official - I graduated yesterday! 🎓 super honored to have also received my department’s promise award in brain science research. pumped to start my postdoc next month!!

Please dont forget what #stress might do to your synapses and #memory (so recommended is a relaxing weekend, all). Quantifying dendritic apines in the hippocampus. #FluorescenceFriday 🧠🧪 @martinowk.bsky.social @svmahler.bsky.social #Neurobiologyofstress @mathiasvschmidt.bsky.social

I am excited to share our preprint on how hypothalamic dopamine neurons govern slow changes in motivation over days! Below are our findings: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Synthetic Serum Markers Enable Noninvasive Monitoring of Gene Expression in Primate Brains https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.01.657212v1

Exciting news!! I’m joining the tenure-track faculty at University of Colorado Boulder this fall as an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience! The Sosa Lab will study how memory is shaped by cognitive and physiological demands, including during pregnancy and the postpartum period. 🧵

For those who want a distraction and/ or are interested, here's the latest from the group, led by Phil Braaker www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cell-type-specific synaptic scaling mechanisms differentially contribute to associative learning https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.14.654005v1

Your opportunity to apply for the #LakeConference on Neural Coding & Dynamics is going to set sail soon! 🛥️ Apply by May 23 to join us for this intimate, interactive conference. 📆 Sep. 28 to Oct. 2 📍 Seattle, USA 🧠📈 All career stages welcomed More info: alleninstitute.org/events/lake-...

Lateral septum enthusiast? Interested in learning more about how LS projection populations and their inputs are organized. Check out our preprint in which @jennisisaac.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social map out brain wide inputs to 6 LS projection populations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Want to compare social and nonsocial reward seeking behavior? 
On STAR Protocols, we provide instructions for the assembly of a 2 choice operant chamber with an easy to use GUI-based acquisition system. Low cost and fully automated. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We are excited to announce our new Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE)! This program will unite experts in experimental and computational #neuroscience approaches to investigate how the brain represents sensorimotor interactions. www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/04/24/s... #science

Turns out, two of pain’s most famous messengers — Substance P and CGRPα — might not be so essential after all. Mice missing both still felt pain just fine, challenging decades of assumptions about how pain signals travel. buff.ly/ypISrtx

🚨We're hiring another tenure-track at McGill University: focus on brain-body science! 👇 mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/mcgill...

🥼 Janelia researchers led by @boazmohar.bsky.social @nspruston.bsky.social @rhodamine110.bsky.social & @svoboda314.bsky.social @alleninstitute.bsky.social have developed a new imaging tool that maps brain-wide changes in neuronal connections. 🧠 🔗 www.janelia.org/news/new-ima...

Our department is hiring! Huge endorse! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Tenure track position in pharmacology or toxicology at McGill, in Montreal!!! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

This is an excellent piece of science, with a lot of prospective value. Congrats to Emerson and co!

We have multiple openings for basic addiction scientists interested in pursuing translational research within the Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine @kahlertumsom.bsky.social apply @ umb.taleo.net/careersectio... and learn about our institute @ addiction.umaryland.edu

🚨iGluSnFR4 is finally out!🚨🧪 We present iGluSnFR4f and 4s, a novel pair of genetically-encoded glutamate indicators designed for high-fidelity imaging of synaptic activity in the living brain. ⬇️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🎥 Below: iGluSnFR4s detecting minis in cultures w/ TTX #Neuroscience

1/7 Our paper on individual variability in decision-making is finally out in @nature.com! Inspired by the classic work by Mante and Sussillo, we trained many rats to solve context-dependent decision-making, and we found that different brains use different neural mechanisms to solve the same task!

The deadline for these jobs is approaching (1st of April, not a joke), come join our very dynamic department! Lots of exciting new labs, facilities, and a new building. The department is very supportive and internationalizing rapidly. Reach out with any question you have mbg.au.dk/aktuelt/ledi...

Some much needed good news these days at Columbia. Happy to see this paper in @nature.com from the lab of my fellow junior faculty member Vikram Gadagkar. It's been fun to see versions of this work develop over the past few years.

By studying songbirds, our own Vikram Gadagkar, @neurokim.bsky.social, Jonathan Kasdin and colleagues witnessed the role the brain’s reward machinery plays as the brain naturally learns over time through practice. Learn more! zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/songbirds-hi...