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Praneel Sunkavalli

@praneelsunkavalli

Aspiring Physician-Scientist Currently @ Andermann Lab

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Latest posts by Praneel Sunkavalli @praneelsunkavalli

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๐Ÿ”ฌ๐Ÿง  Releasing the 1.0 version of #Suite2p and THE PAPER w/ @marius10p.bsky.social! Now with GPU acceleration. Want to use Suite2p but donโ€™t have 100,000 neuron recordings? We show you how to get those with a standard 2p microscope #neuroscience #imaging #neuroAI www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

12.02.2026 01:32 ๐Ÿ‘ 98 ๐Ÿ” 35 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Obesity dysregulates feeding-evoked response dynamics in hypothalamic satiety neurons - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Obesity dysregulates feeding-evoked response dynamics in hypothalamic satiety neurons

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๐Ÿฅณ Thrilled to share that my postdoc work has finally hit the press!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

When we started, we didnโ€™t really know what PVH-MC4R neurons do in obesity.
Are they still signaling or โ€œdeadโ€? (e.g., does the chronically high leptin alter ฮฑ-MSHโ€“MC4R signaling?)
๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡

15.10.2025 16:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 7 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Feature-specific threat coding in lateral septum guides defensive action The ability to rapidly detect and evaluate potential threats is essential for survival and requires the integration of sensory information, with internal state and prior experience. The lateral septum...

Our new preprint: ๐…๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž-๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐จ๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐๐ž๐Ÿ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.

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...

16.06.2025 12:38 ๐Ÿ‘ 23 ๐Ÿ” 10 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Amazing work by the Andermann Lab showcasing a perfect use-case for FLIM imaging of dopamine sensors - looking at tonic [DA] changes and adaptations over days! Honored to be part of this effort.

06.06.2025 10:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Featuring 2p FLIM to track DA levels over days, and a demonstration that a neurons molecular identity is pretty labile @stephen-zhang.bsky.social @markandermann.bsky.social

P.S: Praneel will be applying to MD PhD and is an absolute beast. Systems neuro labs donโ€™t miss out!!

03.06.2025 23:13 ๐Ÿ‘ 8 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Wild!

Stephen, Praneel and their team use fluorescence lifetime imaging and various manipulations to show that, in male mice, both mating drive and hypothalamic tonic dopamine release drop after a successful mating and gradually recover over the next week, paralleling the recovery in sperm count.

02.06.2025 19:26 ๐Ÿ‘ 24 ๐Ÿ” 5 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Praneel's study shows that two temporally complementary mechanisms, neuronal excitability and neurotransmitter composition, jointly control dopamine release and mating drive over days. Praneel is a dedicated, mature, and wholesome student on his way to becoming a physician scientist.

03.06.2025 00:17 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

9/n: A huge thank you to @stephen-zhang.bsky.social for your incredible mentorship over the past few years and for helping me discover my passion for scienceโ€”and to @markandermann.bsky.social for your guidance and the opportunity to work on this project.
Thanks for reading!

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

8/n: Deeply thankful to everyone who made this work possible- Jep Madara, Lauren Christenson, Adrianna Diaz, Janelle Chen, and our collaborators Luca Ravotto and @tpatriarchi.bsky.social. Grateful to be learning from you all!

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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7/n: First, the tonic firing rates of AVPV/PVpo dopamine neurons decrease after satiety but recover within 2 days. Second, the capacity of these neurons to synthesize and release dopamine is reduced and gradually returns over ~7 days.

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

6/n: Taken together, our findings argue for a two-component recovery timer that regulates the gradual changes in dopamine transmission and in mating behavior to calibrate motivation over days.

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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5/n: We next asked if the ability of these neurons to synthesize and release dopamine had been altered. Sure enough, we found that the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine synthesis) within these neurons decreased after satiety and gradually returned over a week.

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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4/n: Electrophysiology revealed that these dopamine neurons in the AVPV/PVpo have diminished spontaneous firing after satiety. However, their firing rates recovered within 2 days, suggesting that firing rates werenโ€™t the full story.

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

3/n: This drop in dopamine tracks the mouseโ€™s disinterest in mating. Our previous work showed that the dopamine was released from neighboring AVPV/PVpo dopamine neurons. We next asked how these neurons are working to control this drop and gradual recovery?

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2/n: Thus, we first used 2-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging to measure changes in absolute dopamine concentrations in this brain region. After satiation, dopamine in the MPOA plummets, then gradually returns over 7 days.

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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1/n: After a successful mating, male mice have a greatly reduced motivation to mate, which gradually returns over a week โ€”but what controls how long this refractory period lasts? We and others have shown that dopamine transmission in the MPOA is critical for controlling this mating drive.

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Slow-Timescale Regulation of Dopamine Release and Mating Drive over Days The rise and fall of motivational states may take place over timescales as long as many days. We used mouse mating behavior to model how the brain orchestrates slow-timescale changes in motivation. Ma...

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...

02.06.2025 18:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 28 ๐Ÿ” 7 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 4
Top left: Representative single plane confocal images showing fore-, mid-, and hindbrain regions of live zebrafish larva expressing jRGECO1a, FRCaMPi, and SomaFRCaMPi in neurons driven by the HuC promoter (n = 10 fish at 6 dpf for each). Bottom left: Schematics of looming stimulation set up in which black expanding circular shadows projected in front of the larval zebrafish embedded in agarose gel. Right: Representative single trial fluorescence traces of soma and neuropil region of red GECI-expressing neurons during looming stimulation shown as ticks.

Top left: Representative single plane confocal images showing fore-, mid-, and hindbrain regions of live zebrafish larva expressing jRGECO1a, FRCaMPi, and SomaFRCaMPi in neurons driven by the HuC promoter (n = 10 fish at 6 dpf for each). Bottom left: Schematics of looming stimulation set up in which black expanding circular shadows projected in front of the larval zebrafish embedded in agarose gel. Right: Representative single trial fluorescence traces of soma and neuropil region of red GECI-expressing neurons during looming stimulation shown as ticks.

We've had advances in green genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators (GECIs), but what about red-shifted GECIs? @piatkevich.bsky.social &co present SomaFRCaMPi, a new soma-localized red #GECI that exhibits improved accuracy & sensitivity for in vivo neuronal imaging @plosbiology.org ๐Ÿงช plos.io/3YnCqRW

01.05.2025 07:54 ๐Ÿ‘ 8 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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A hypothalamic circuit underlying the dynamic control of social homeostasis Nature - New data on brain-wide circuits centred around two interconnected hypothalamic neuron populations provide significant mechanistic insights into the emergence of social need during social...

Our latest findings on social behavior circuits is out: how does the brain responds to social isolation? Terrific work by @dingliu.bsky.social et al. uncovering a circuit with similar neural architecture as physiological needs (hunger, thirst, sleep..). Detailed thread soon.
rdcu.be/ebo63

26.02.2025 17:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 170 ๐Ÿ” 64 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5 ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
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Sign the Petition Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify
Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk
"Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

10.02.2025 17:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 158 ๐Ÿ” 140 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 9 ๐Ÿ“Œ 12
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A Sensitive Soma-localized Red Fluorescent Calcium Indicator for Multi-Modality Imaging of Neuronal Populations In Vivo. It works well with wide-field imaging, two-photon microscopy, and fiber photometry biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

04.02.2025 03:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 46 ๐Ÿ” 18 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
diagrams of gut-brain communication

diagrams of gut-brain communication

Very good, concise summary of the gut-brain axis of communication and interoception
www.cell.com/current-biol... open-access

24.11.2024 20:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 468 ๐Ÿ” 96 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 10 ๐Ÿ“Œ 7
Nature paper article with title and abstract

Nature paper article with title and abstract

๐ŸŒŸ Cai Lab Nature (@natureportfolio.bsky.social) paper alert! In work led by Joe Zaki, we find that rest periods after learning not only stabilize new memories BUT ALSO integrate new memories with older ones from days past! (1/10)

Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

19.11.2024 16:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 260 ๐Ÿ” 90 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 8 ๐Ÿ“Œ 4
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Stochastic neuropeptide signals compete to calibrate the rate of satiation Nature - Release of hunger-promoting and satiety-promoting neuropeptides drives opposing changes in the second messenger cAMP in awake mouse paraventricular hypothalamic MC4R neurons, thereby...

Stephen Zhang and the team found that in vivo peptide release and signaling gradually enhances responses of satiety-promoting hypothalamic neurons to each bite of food. These consequences of each bite take minutes to manifest, and could help explain why slow eating enhances satiety. rdcu.be/dZlI3

16.11.2024 11:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 74 ๐Ÿ” 22 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
large-scale neural recording of 50,000 neurons, showing many diverse activity patterns, and also what the cells look like at various zooms of the maximum projection image of the recording FOV

large-scale neural recording of 50,000 neurons, showing many diverse activity patterns, and also what the cells look like at various zooms of the maximum projection image of the recording FOV

We wrote a review on analysis methods for large-scale neural recordings www.science.org/stoken/autho... @marius10p.bsky.social #neuroscience ๐Ÿงช๐Ÿง 

Anything we missed? Reply w/ your fav method!

15.11.2024 13:18 ๐Ÿ‘ 172 ๐Ÿ” 60 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2