The Salem Witch Trials: If not witchcraft, then what? We’ve all heard stories detailing the Salem Witch Trials, but nobody can really explain where the symptoms shown by “victims of witchcraft” came from. Here, we unpack how popular medical explanatio…

If witchcraft wasn’t at play in the Salem witch trials, what caused the symptoms that sparked the accusations?

Read this week’s post from @pennngg.bsky.social student Emma Fischer to explore possible medical explanations.

pennneuroknow.com/2026/01/20/t...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

#NGG is proud to present our next Thesis Defense given by Sarah Applebey of the Hayes Lab! Please join us in person or virtually (DM us for the link) on 1/13. Best of luck, Sarah! #PhAlmostDone 🥳

T cells in the immune system: Friend or foe? T cells are a type of immune cell that defend your body against disease. While these mighty cells normally serve to protect you from foreign invaders, what happens if they turn on you?

Normally T cells fight off germs- but what happens when they start to fight you?

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student @hayleylenhard.bsky.social’s post to explore the role of T cells in the immune system, the brain, and autoimmune disease.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/12/09/t...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

The science and stigma behind premenstrual disorders The idea that women are naturally predisposed to mental and emotional disturbances during “that time of month” dates back centuries. Is it biology or baloney? PMS or BS?

PMS or BS? For centuries, menstrual cycles have been blamed for emotional changes in women—but is this biology or baloney?

Read this week’s post from @pennngg.bsky.social student Eve Gautreaux to unpack the history and science of PMS.

pennneuroknow.com/2025/12/16/t...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪

a red building on UPENN's campus photographed during the fall

the Philadelphia skyline, with clear skies and autumn trees

starting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳

my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception

currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!

reach out if you're interested 😊

The GLIA Public Lecture Series will host Mindful Differences: The Science behind Autism Spectrum Disorder, on Thursday, Dec. 11th at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. Doors @ 6pm, speakers @ 6:30pm, Q&A session, food and drinks to follow! 🧠 Register here: forms.gle/iBiUguXBu3rS...

Congratulations to @neuromelody.bsky.social (@pennngg.bsky.social), recipient of a 2025 @nationalacademies.org Eric & Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications! @schmidtsciences.bsky.social tinyurl.com/mtptwhkc

The blood brain barrier and its Trojan Horses Ever wonder what delivering drugs to the brain and Greek mythology have in common? If so, come check out this article on Trojan Horses in science!

What do Greek mythology and drug delivery to the brain have in common?

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student @annakasper1.bsky.social's post to see how scientists use Trojan-horse techniques to sneak medicine past the blood brain barrier.

pennneuroknow.com/2025/12/02/t...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

#PennNGG Graduate Led Initiatives and Activities (GLIA) is excited to announce a teaching/Neuroscience education career panel on December 5th from 5:30-6:30! This panel will welcome back two of our amazing alumni who will discuss their work in neuroscience education 🧠

#NGG is proud to present our next Thesis Defense given by Sophie Rogers @sophierogers.bsky.social of the Corder Lab @flybottleescape.bsky.social! Please join us in person or virtually (DM us for the link) on 12/11. Best of luck, Sophie! #PhAlmostDone 🥳

We had so much fun with current students, faculty, and alumni at the annual #PennNGG #sfn25 social, sponsored by NGG's Graduate Led Initiatives and Activities (GLIA). We can't wait to reconnect with everyone again next year in DC!

Vaccines and autism: Let’s talk about it The conversation around autism and vaccines has become an increasingly hot topic of late (to put it mildly), but did you know that this debate began over 25 years ago? Here is a brief overview of t…

There’s a lot of talk about vaccines and autism, but what does the science say?

This week @pennngg.bsky.social student Nita Rome unpacks the history behind these concerns and how modern studies have debunked this misconception.

pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/11/v...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪

Penn's Neuroscience Graduate-Led Initiatives and Activities (GLIA) is excited to invite 9-12th grade students to apply to participate in the Philadelphia Regional Brain Bee on Penn’s campus in Feb 2026.

Register here: www.upennglia.com/brain-bee

@pennngg.bsky.social @pennneuroknow.bsky.social

When good things turn bad: How your brain decides what you like and dislike How do we decide what we like and what we don’t? Discover how the brain forms these judgments and how they can flip after just one bad experience.

How does your brain decide what you like and dislike— and why can those feelings flip after a bad experience?

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student Lucas Tittle's post to explore the neural machinery behind valence and its flexibility.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/18/w...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪

#NGG is proud to present our next Thesis Defense given by Sarah Ferrigno of the Fuccillo Lab! Please join us in person or virtually (DM us for the link) on 11/7. Best of luck, Sarah! #PhAlmostDone 🥳

How to make a guy compost in 10 days How can we use neuroscience to encourage environmentally-friendly decisions?

Why is it so hard to turn good climate intentions into real habits?

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student Margaret Gardner’s post to learn how neuroscience could help bridge the gap between our values and our actions. pennneuroknow.com/2025/11/04/h...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦🧪

Recording everything everywhere all at once Neuroscientists can now record from many parts of the mouse brain at once, helping us see how millions of neurons work together to guide behavior.

The billions of neurons in our brain work together like an orchestra. Now tools let scientists listen to the whole performance across different parts of the brain.

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student Abby Lieberman’s post to learn how: pennneuroknow.com/2025/10/28/r...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

New research from Joseph Cichon (@PennAnesthesia) & Stephen Wisser (@pennngg.bsky.social) out in @natneuro.nature.com finds that psilocybin acts on central brain circuits to drive therapeutic effects in chronic pain-like states tinyurl.com/zrhsp6zn

The brain behind the balance Your brain is more than a thinking machine. Even when you rest, your brain is constantly monitoring, adjusting, and fine-tuning every heartbeat, breath, and chemical signal – keeping your body bala…

Your brain is more than a thinking machine. Even when you rest, your brain is busy monitoring, adjusting, and fine-tuning your existence.

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student Serena Chen’s post to learn how your brain keeps you balanced pennneuroknow.com/2025/10/21/t...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

Penn NGG is excited to announce our upcoming seminar "Service Dogs in Science" on Wednesday, November 5th from 3-5 PM. DM us for the link to register! #PennNGG 🐶🥼

The Graduate Led Initiatives and Activities #GLIA social nights team is proud to announce our 3rd annual pumpkin painting night! Current NGG students, join us in Barchi Library on Thursday, October 23rd from 5:15-7:15pm to unwind and connect with your NGG friends 🎃 #PennNGG

#ICYMI: The @upenn.edu Flu Clinic is happening tomorrow, 10/15 through Friday, 10/17! Located in the Pottruck Health & Fitness Center, all Penn students, faculty, postdocs & staff are welcome to drop in for their free flu shot (with Penn Card). Learn more➡️ wellness.upenn.edu/events/flu-c...

Mighty mitochondria, the powerhouses of your nervous system Neurons require a lot of energy to keep your brain functioning, and this energy is overwhelmingly generated by certain cellular components: the mitochondria. Here, we discuss how mitochondria actua…

Mitochondria, the “powerhouse of the cell,” fuel your brain’s energy-hungry neurons. But that's not all they do!

Read @pennngg.bsky.social student Julia Riley's post to learn how mitochondria safeguard neurons and earn their moniker.
pennneuroknow.com/2025/10/14/m...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

Seeking Works in Progress Presenters

MindCORE invites @upenn.edu grad students, postdocs & RAs to give short presentations on a current project followed by an informal discussion with students and fellow researchers.

We’ll provide a location, promotion, & snacks. You provide the science.

DM us.

Calling all Penn neuroscientists, current NGG students, alumni, and friends attending #SfN25! Please join us on Tuesday, November 18th from 8pm-11pm at Tom's Watch Bar! DM us for the link to register 🧠🥂 #PennNGG

Why our brains find conspiracy theories appealing Discover why conspiracy theories grab our attention, and how the brain’s reward systems and social instincts make them so hard to resist.

Ever wonder why conspiracy theories seem to spread faster than facts?

In our latest article, @pennngg.bsky.social student Emma Noel explains how our brain’s reward systems and social nature fuel belief in conspiracy theories. pennneuroknow.com/2025/10/07/w...

#PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪

Brain area linked to chronic pain discovered — offering hope for treatments @nature.com @betleylab.bsky.social @antihebbiann.bsky.social @nitsangoldstein.bsky.social @pennngg.bsky.social @scripps.edu @pittanesthesiology.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Changes in how brain regions “talk” to each other from childhood to adulthood follow and support a fundamental organizational pattern of the brain — GLIA or technically, Functional connectivity development along the sensorimotor-association axis enhances the cortical hierarchy [See original abstract on Pubmed]

During development, how does the brain organize itself around the sensorimotor-association axis? Recent NGG @pennngg.bsky.social graduate Audrey Luo @audreycluo.bsky.social explores this in work explained by fellow NGG student Kevin Sun @kevin-y-sun.bsky.social.
www.upennglia.com/briefs/bib-s...

Congrats @pennngg.bsky.social students Briana and Leonardo! we were happy to collaborate on defining this novel human disease association for BCAT1

#NGG is proud to present our next Thesis Defense given by Evan Iliakis of the Fuccillo Lab! Please join us in person or virtually (DM us for the link) on 10/9. Best of luck, Evan! #PhAlmostDone 🥳