@wwenneuro
Ex- neuroscientist used to patch stuff and still crazy about how circuits work. Feminist | Traveler | Coffee addict. Formerly with Turrigiano Lab @Brandeis. ๐ง ๐ฉโ๐ฌ๐ดโโ๏ธ๐ท๐ณ๏ธโ๐ She/Her/ๅฅน. ่ฎฒไธญๆ. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1422-856X
Interested in cell type diversity, the cortical operating regime, and how recurrent connections shape the integration of feedforward and feedback inputs during context-dependent processing? Come check out my poster [1-038] at #Cosyne2026.
Link: doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.06.704473
I got the wrong phd! Oh I also donโt know Japanese๐
Spoiler alert... the fastest one comes under a microsecond!
Inhibitory neurons are among the most transcriptomically diverse class of neurons in the CNS, with some brain regions having 60+ distinct cell types. Do humans share the same repertoire as rodents? Birds? Fish? 1/13
OpenAI announces ChatGPT is now at the level of real scientific reviewers, โIt just tells you to do single-cell RNAseq in response to every queryโ says Sam Altman
I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.
Too accurate
Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302
The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.
What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.
Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.
He explained it under his post- negative means the success rate has never reached 80% even with a perfect percentile. bsky.app/profile/sash...
Oh I just saw the formula at the top, so these are relative values?
Whatโs the meaning of the negatives hereโฆ๐ค
Wow this visual is so strikingโฆ in a bad way๐
Every time you experience something new, your brain faces a decision: Should it update an existing memory or create a new one?
In our new paper in @sfnjournals.bsky.social #JNeurosci, we isolate that exact decision, moment-by-moment during learning ๐งต
Black-headed honeyeater with yellow plumage
Another super-rarity, the hihi or stitchbird. These birds struggle to survive without substantial support in the form of food supplementation and nest boxes, probably because of habitat differences between the forests they once inhabited and the predator-free offshore islands where they now hang on.
HEY YOU!!! There's research WE NEED to PROTECT!
How you ask? We are rallying NATIONWIDE on SATURDAY, MARCH 7TH to SAVE SCIENCE, PROTECT HEALTH, and DEFEND DEMOCRACY!
Join us by visiting standupforscience.net/march7 to find your local rally, volunteer, host a local rally, or host a pop-up protest!
watercolor of brain in pink and orange with text: NO AI ONLY BRAIN
look how cool this one is! The pink sort of exploded artologica.etsy.com/listing/4467... ๐คฏ
Two neurobiologists who helped decipher how the somatosensory system detects touch and pain have won this yearโs Brain Prize, the largest award in neuroscience.
By @helenak.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/somatosensat...
Cherry blossoms with the city wall in the background
Spring is upon us (and my respiratory system but trying to ignore that for now and just enjoy this)!
$1B per day is about $42 million per hour. About 30 min worth of that spending can fund my lab for my ENTIRE career (~20 3-year NSFs or ~10 5-year R01s). Please wrap your head around that.
We'd all be happier if we lived somewhere walkable (The Deep Space Nine space station)
When someone says โScientists do not want you to knowโ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They canโt shut up about what they found out and want you to know.
Went through the same struggle while writing a review article haha, weโre like 30 refs over so itโs been painfulโฆ In the end we decided to feature more early-career researchers (esp. women) if a decision must be made. I mean isnโt having a ref limit for reviews kinda counterproductive๐ค
Weโre looking for a new Research Tech! Our research tech is heading to graduate school (very exciting!), which means weโre recruiting someone new to join our team. The position involves hands-on neuroscience research in a collaborative environment.
brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Jobs/job/Bra...
Ok I will start using phrases like โI love you as much as wolves love blueberriesโ from now on๐คฃ
We think of white matter as the highways of the brain. But when we followed development along those highways, we were surprised. The journey is more complex than we thought. My final PhD paper, โTwo Axes of White Matter Developmentโ, is now out in @natcomms.nature.com! ๐ฃ๏ธ๐ง โจ
๐ bit.ly/wm2axes
Today should be your 38th birthday.. When you lose your son you lose more than a child you lose a piece of your heart and your joy. Life is forever altered, and nothing can ever fill that space. Yet in my soul, he remains, my precious boy, forever loved. His laughter, his smile, and his love are woven into who I am. My love for him will never fade. Yor are my pride and my joy - you've made a change that cannot be broken..
Alex's mom on his 38th birthday.
Timeline cleanse
Bracing myself for the storm next week by re-diving into the classic synaptic plasticity papers featuring STDP and learning more about the credit assignment problem in neocortex... Strangely that has actually helped.
Que sera sera.
In my simple brain, it's exciting but you need to understand the limitations: cell free systems allow you to ask q's about molecules; in vitro systems allow you to ask q's about molecules & cells; organoids may one day allow you to ask q's about mols, cells, and tissues/organs - but never organisms