John Tuthill

Big effort, exciting results - our paper on the constraints of thermal limits in tropical insects is now out in @nature.com! 🦋🐝🪰🪲🦗
@ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social
@biologie-uniwue.bsky.social
@uni-wuerzburg.de

The molecular basis of force selectivity by PIEZO2 Nature - PIEZO2 is intrinsically more rigid than PIEZO1, and disparate mechanical stimuli paradoxically evoke opposite conformational and gating responses in each channel.

New paper from the lab led by @ericmulhall.bsky.social addresses how PIEZO1 and PIEZO2 are tuned to different types mechanical forces. From nanometer-scale super-resolution microscopy to in vivo experiments, links single-molecule observations to physiological function.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Best news in a while!

Ben has been an incredibly dedicated and effective public servant for Somerville, MA. He is a progressive, competent, and compassionate leader.

Ben is also a phenomenal biologist. If you want to support scientific voices in government, I suggest you donate to his campaign.

fly circuit diagram

When a fly lands on your arm, how does your nervous system decide where to swat?

By reconstructing tactile axons in a Drosophila connectome, we found a leg somatotopic map and downstream circuits that sample the map to initiate targeted grooming

Led by Leila Elabbady, PhD

doi.org/10.64898/202...

Poster showing red-tinted Statue of LIberty with "National Day of Action" on March 7 from 12-3pm at Seattle Center's Mural Amphitheater to take back our Science, Health & Democracy. Sponsored by Stand Up For Science.

Hey #Seattle, come join the National Day of Action on March 7 from 12-3pm at #SeattleCenter and rally around Science, Health & Democracy with @standupforscience.bsky.social

a glimpse of comparative connectomics across diverse insect species -- one of the things i am most excited about these days

the camera was pretty far out and new to me (designed for flexible manual control), but i was surprised that they use macro lenses made by infinity, just like we do in the lab

this has seemed to work for me as well (to satisfy NIH open access requirement)

Just wrapped up 10 days of filming tiny critters in Montana with an incredibly skilled crew from the UK

As a kid, BBC nature documentaries made me interested in biology. In an era of biodiversity loss and shrinking science budgets, I think nature docs are still an important tool to help people care

Chances are you have not heard her name, but Marcelle Lapicque may have been the first Black woman neuroscientist in Europe.

By @avaskham.bsky.social, @rebeccasky.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/history-of-n...

Happy to share work I contributed to during my time in the Murthy lab!

now published in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🎉🥳

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Specialized parallel pathways for adaptive control of visual object pursuit Collie et al. show how adaptive control in Drosophila visual pursuit arises from two parallel pathways: one steers objects from the periphery toward the center, while the other maintains central fixat...

Thrilled to share that my graduate work is officially published in Neuron! 🎉
www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Neural connectome of the ctenophore statocyst Volume EM and connectome reconstruction of the apical organ of a ctenophore combined with high-speed imaging reveals a neuronal coordination of balancer cilia in the gravisensory organ.

In @eLife: Neural connectome of the ctenophore statocyst https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.108420
Version of record of our ctenophore nerve-net connectome paper.

Neuroscience has a species problem If neuroscience is serious about building general principles of brain function, cross-species dialogue must become a core organizing principle.

The biggest problem holding neuroscience back right now isn’t data or tools, thanks in large part to the BRAIN Initiative.

It’s fragmentation across species. I wrote this to hopefully spark discussion around an issue that can only be solved as a community👇

www.thetransmitter.org/animal-model...

Amazing pape, congrats @robertslab.bsky.social

Abdus-Saboor on balancing the study of pain and pleasure David Anderson’s 2013 paper revealed the sensory neurons involved in pleasurable touch and led Ishmail Abdus-Saboor down a new research path.

“I like to work on problems where there’s still room to make a big impact.” In “This paper changed my life,” @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social discusses how a 2013 paper from David Anderson inspired him to study the circuits of pain and pleasure.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/this-paper-c...

Primate dexterous hand movements are controlled by functionally distinct premotoneuronal systems Distinct spinal and cortical pathways coordinate muscle synergies and fine control to support primate dexterous hand movements.

Our paper is out in Science Advances!
What makes primate hands so dexterous?
We show that evolutionarily distinct spinal and cortical pathways work together to balance stability and flexibility, supporting remarkable primate hand control.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

i completely agree. the simulated bodies meeting at janelia had a few human biomechanics people adjacent to the gaming industry, but i think there is a lot more opportunity for fruitful interaction.

Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas? Oceans cover over 70% of the earth’s surface and house a dizzying array of organisms, including five species of the peppercorn-sized ocean-skater Halobates, which live exclusively at the ocean surface...

I can't overrecommend this incredible paper about water skaters (genus Halobates). No one knows how they evolved. No one knows what they eat. They are superhydrophobic, which means water LITERALLY CANNOT WET THEM. Perhaps we should call them anti-water skaters? 🌊🧪
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

i agree with walter that this remains our fundamental strength. i am reviewing grants right now because i still have some faith that my input matters. but that could easily change...

Good to hear from Walter and glad that at least someone is optimistic...

A chinchemolle (alpine stick insect) living up at 1600 m on Volcán Antillanca, Chile.

Learned when I got home that this species (Agathemera elegans) secretes a spray in self defense that causes temporary blindness. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16989322/

fascinating story of hydra intrigue

a close up of a brown surface with a few spots ALT: a close up of a brown surface with a few spots

The appropriations bill that includes NIH is being finalized.

The Senate bill includes a bipartisan amendment from Senators Capito (WV) and Baldwin (WI) limiting multi-year funding of grants.

The House version does not and OMB has issued a veto threat if the House includes such language.

1/3

Oxytocin Modulation of Spinal Circuits Drives Therapeutic Benefits of Massage Across social species, social touch enhances well-being and reduces pain - two seemingly distinct benefits that enhance survival. Yet where and how the nervous system integrates these functions, and w...

Exciting new preprint on oxytocin neural circuits for massage led by Manon Bohic in Vicky Abraira’s lab. Sasha and I were glad to contribute imaging experiments to this collaborative effort, spanning mice to humans. Vicky is a master at bringing people together.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

i deliberately confuse vertebrate brain area names to mimic how my vertebrate colleagues handle the insect brain

the convergence (both evolutionarily and socio-scientifically) of the head direction encoding systems in the zebrafish habenula and fly central complex is one of my favorite corners of neuroscience to watch right now 🍿

i know it's kind of like saying "free bird" changed my life, but i was but a young country bumpkin

yes, my life was changed by a science paper about ants walking on stilts.

Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn The dorsal horn of the mammalian spinal cord is organized into laminae where each layer is populated by different neuron types, has distinctive circuit connections, and plays specialized roles in beha...

Excited to share @rbrianroome.bsky.social ‘s beautiful paper on development of the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord @science.org

This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...