🚨Another new one from the lab!
Cascades and convergence: Dynamic signal flow in a synapse-level brain network
We simulate sensory cascades in a bona fide biological neural network.
With Caio Seguin, Maria Grazia Puxeddu, and @misicbata.bsky.social!
journals.plos.org/complexsyste...
fMRI connectivity is dominated by recurring high-amplitude BOLD events (CAPs, QPPs)
But what originates these events? Many think neuromodulation is the culprit. Our new work offers a simpler take: cortico-cortical dynamics alone can generate CAP-like events! doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013995
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🚨 New Paper: Controlling the Human Connectome with Spatially Diffuse Input Signals
Now in press at Communications Biology!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
New preprint 📣
Do you use the @alleninstitute.org mouse brain connectome?
In work led by Vikram Nathan we found issues with existing connectome representations, fixed them, showed the impact on connectome measures.
Do you wonder what they are?
Do you wonder what they do?
tinyurl.com/5y9mft4e
Spatial organization of AQP4 channels in the human brain: links with perfusion, edema, and disease vulnerability https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.18.706679v1
"You see what you look for, and you look for what you know."
We are proud to release FOCUS: a 100 μm deformable human subcortical atlas precisely registered to MNI space.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🚨Do we need a large, expensive MRI scanner to map whole-brain networks in the mouse? Not necessarily!
In our new preprint ▶️ tinyurl.com/3a2h4r9f
we show that transcranial functional ultrasound (fUSI) can map connectome-scale networks with striking agreement to fMRI
🧵👇
5️⃣ We hope that this work serves as a reference point for assessing receptor and transporter measurement generalizability in the human brain.
Code + data: github.com/netneurolab/...
4️⃣ This suggests that, although population variance is generally greater in subcortex than in cortex, subcortical receptor density is more spatially stable.
Indeed, receptors that vary more across brain regions than across individuals also demonstrate greater out-of-sample spatial consistency.
3️⃣ Looking at the distributions more closely, we see greater inter-individual variability in subcortex.
How do inter-individual and inter-regional variability compare? Cortex: similar or greater variability across people than regions. Subcortex: less variability across people than regions.
2️⃣ Here they are 😀 Group coefficient of variation maps for 12 receptors and transporters, across >700 individuals. Cortex + subcortex.
1️⃣ A few years ago we released an in vivo chemoarchitectural atlas of group-average receptor maps (doi.org/10.1038/s415...).
What is the inter-individual variability in receptor density, and how does it vary of brain regions?
Inter-individual variability of neurotransmitter receptor and transporter density in the human brain | doi.org/10.1007/s004...
How do neuroreceptor distributions vary across people?
Synapse type density in the mouse brain. PSD95 and SAP102, two postsynaptic scaffolding proteins expressed at excitatory synapses, were fluorescently imaged at single-punctum resolution across the whole mouse brain. Top row: Axial, coronal, and sagittal view of the 137-region parcellation used for analyses involving tract-tracing data (left) and the 88-region parcellation used for analyses involving fMRI data (right). Regions are coloured and labeled according to ontological structure. Other roaws show axial, coronal, and sagittal views of mean long-lifetime PSD95 synapse density, mean short-lifetime PSD95 synapse density, and mean SAP102 synapse density, mapped to both 137- and 88-region parcellations.
How do diverse synapses relate spatially to whole-brain dynamics? @misicbata.bsky.social &co map ~1 billion synaptic puncta from a single mouse brain onto #hemodynamic features, revealing links between #synapse features, #brain networks & synaptic engagement @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4rmeef6
Integrating Functional Transdiagnostic Dimensions of Psychopathology with Cortical Organization https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.02.702560v1
Left: Pathways involved in brain energy metabolism. Energy metabolism refers to processes involved in energy production from nutrient molecules. Glucose is the main energy source in the brain under normal physiological conditions. Glucose entering brain cells can be utilized in three parallel pathways. It can be processed through glycolysis to produce 2 ATP and 2 pyruvate molecules (blue). Lactate dehydrogenases catalyze the interconversion of lactate and pyruvate (purple). Pyruvate is transported into mitochondria, where it enters the TCA cycle to generate high-energy electron carriers NADH and FADH2 (green), driving the complete oxidation of glucose through the mitochondrial electron transport chain (red). Glucose entering the brain can also enter the PPP. PPP is an anabolic pathway that uses glucose to produce 5-carbon sugars and NADPH, an essential co-factor used in nucleotide and lipid biosynthesis (yellow). Glucose can also be stored in the form of glycogen via glycogen synthase, a process mainly active in astrocytes. Right: Energy pathway maps. Colors show z-scored mean expression values across all genes in each pathway. ppp, pentose phosphate pathway; tca, tricarboxylic acid cycle; oxphos, oxidative phosphorylation; lactate, lactate metabolism and transport.
How are energy #metabolism pathways distributed across the #cortex? @alaindagher.bsky.social &co map five pathways in the human #brain, linking metabolic organization with brain structural & functional properties, as well as developmental dynamics @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c1JVp8
Now in press one of my last PhD projects! We traced the neurobiological profile of fMRI BOLD signal variability, a measure that has been related to age, behaviour, disease status, but had not yet been fully contextualised within the brain's multiscale architecture. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nine subcortical/cerebellar atlases included in the subcortex_visualization Python package (and subcortexVisualizationR package in R). The atlases are depicted in two-dimensional vector graphic format.
The extended version of my thesis procrastination project/subcortex visualization package is out now in both Python and R, now that I’ve graduated 🤠 This figure shows the 9 atlases included (and counting)!
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Website: anniegbryant.github.io/subcortex_vi...
Our latest preprint on how regional cellular, molecular, and other forms of heterogeneity shape macroscopic wave dynamics is now out:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
For a full thread, see:
x.com/_victorbarne...
🔥🔥Exciting news!!!🔥🔥
The invited speaker schedule for the 2026 Noosa Brain Workshop has been finalised!
Commuter registrations are still available, but close Feb 1.
3 more weeks to get in!!!
Register here:
www.monash.edu/turner-insti...
Ever wondered how white matter tracts actually map onto the cortical hierarchy and cognition—beyond the usual “projection vs association” labels?
Our new preprint tackles exactly that! 🧠✨ doi.org/10.64898/202...
Thread below 🧵
4️⃣ All built and maintained by our trainees, led by @zhenqi.bsky.social @vincebaz.bsky.social
Code: github.com/netneurolab/...
Documentation: netneurolab.github.io/netneurotools/
3️⃣ We showcase three walkthroughs of biologically-relevant questions that can be answered using netneurotools, related to structure-function coupling, multimodal connectivity, dynamics and gradients.
2️⃣ By design, netneurotools is trainee-centric and focuses on accessibility and usability. The functions are grouped into intuitive modules, covering the full lifecycle of a project.
Like "desire paths" in urban design — we only pave the routes people are already walking.
1️⃣ Neuroimaging is complex: multiple data types, formats, and specialized packages.
netneurotools is our lab’s Swiss army knife: functions that we often use but that are not part of any established pipeline.
Code: github.com/netneurolab/...
Documentation: netneurolab.github.io/netneurotools/
netneurotools: a trainee-oriented approach to network neuroscience | doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Our lab’s internal toolkit for accomplishing everyday tasks in brain imaging ⤵️
Cortical expansion and genetic risk for PD.
Led by Houman Azizi and Nooshin Abbasi.
With @ptenigma.bsky.social @misicbata.bsky.social @yasharneuro.bsky.social @ndrewvo.bsky.social and many others www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
Come and join our team! We are looking for a Research Officer to help with recruitment and assessment on a large-scale human brain imaging study:
careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...
🧠 Excited to share our latest preprint: Automated Brain Mapping with AI Experts!🤖
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Ever wanted to summarise the cognitive/systems neuroscience literature beyond MRI and PET? Ever wished we could do the same for macaque 🐒 and mouse 🐭 ? Read on! 🧵👇
Dr Andrea Luppi is one of 25 early-career researchers recognised for their outstanding scientific contributions and commitment to mentoring and community-building in neuroscience.
@thetransmitter.bsky.social
@stjohnscollege.bsky.social
www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/dr-andr...
