Katrin J Svensson, Associate Professor of Pathology

Nirao Shah, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Major Laboratories and Clinical Translational Neurosciences Incubator), of Neurobiology and, by courtesy, of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Longzhi Tan, Assistant Professor of Neurobiology

How does pregnancy reshape the mother's brain at a molecular level?

In today’s podcast, Nirao Shah and Katrin Svensson discuss the new Stanford Neuro-Pregnancy Initiative with Longzhi Tan and what neuroscience can tell us about pregnancy.

neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/new-neu...

thank you @stellamayerhoff.bsky.social for covering our work in this article!

Laura Gwilliams (left), Jill Kries (second from left) and other members of the Gwilliams lab discuss the neuroscience of language. In the lab's latest paper, Kries, Gwilliams, and KU Leuven's Maaike Vandermosten investigated the underlying mechanisms of post-stroke aphasia. Image by Jess Alvarenga.

In stroke patients with aphasia, the brain spends too little time processing ambiguous sounds, suggesting new targets for precision therapies. (@lauragwilliams.bsky.social, @kriesjill.bsky.social)

Read the story by @stellamayerhoff.bsky.social here: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/why-bra...

Courtesy of Ian Guldner, Stanford University

Degradation-resistant proteins pass from neurons to glial cells in a process that may spread protein clumps around the brain, according to a study in mice.

Read the full story by @thetransmitter.bsky.social here: www.thetransmitter.org/aging/aging-...

Why the brain misunderstands speech after stroke In stroke patients with aphasia, the brain spends too little time processing ambiguous sounds,

Removing a mole and removing a molar differ by a single sound: /r/. One sound changes the word you hear—and maybe even which doctor you call.

Check out my article for @stanfordbrain.bsky.social to learn how these sounds cause confusion in the brain after a stroke.

Vinod Menon, Rachel L. and Walter F. Nichols, MD., Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science at Stanford Medicine, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute affiliate.

From Our Neurons to Yours, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University.

Why do our minds wander?

Our podcast is back! Today, we speak with cognitive scientist Vinod Menon about the brain's default mode network behind daydreaming, rumination, and our sense of self—and its links to ADHD, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease.

neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/why-do-...

Aging brains pile up damaged proteins Proteins that start life inside neurons build up faster in old age and spread to other brain cells—a

Proteins that start inside neurons accumulate faster with age and increasingly appear in microglia, the immune cells that prune damaged synapses, according to new research supported by the Knight Initiative. Led by Ian Guldner in the Wyss-Coray Lab.

brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/aging-b...

Kit Vodehnal, a neurosciences PhD candidate in the lab of Marius Wernig, presented their research in a talk titled "Neuron-glia interactions in regulating protein aggregation in human cell models."

Birgitt Schuele, an associate professor at Stanford Medicine: Department of Pathology, discussed emerging research about "Neurodegeneration across Borders: Resilience, Fieldwork, and Gene Therapy."

In yesterday's monthly seminar, Kit Vodehnal of the Wernig Lab discussed "Neuron-glia interactions in regulating protein aggregation in human cell models," and Birgitt Schuele, an associate professor of pathology, shared "Neurodegeneration across Borders: Resilience, Fieldwork, and Gene Therapy."

Excited to share our new publication “The Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Phoneme Encoding in Aging and Aphasia”, published in JNeurosci 🧠
➡️ www.jneurosci.org/content/46/4...
with @lauragwilliams.bsky.social & @mvandermosten.bsky.social 🤝

Check out @stanfordbrain.bsky.social ’s summary of it ⬇️

The Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Phoneme Encoding in Aging and Aphasia During successful language comprehension, speech sounds (phonemes) are encoded within a series of neural patterns that evolve over time. Here we tested whether these neural dynamics of speech encoding...

A new study by @lauragwilliams.bsky.social, @kriesjill.bsky.social, and team suggests that phonetic features are robustly encoded in healthy older adults, but show reduced encoding strength in individuals with post-stroke aphasia during speech comprehension.

www.jneurosci.org/content/46/4...

Text: Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience Winter 2026 Symposium. Image collage, top row, from left: 1. Dr. Brit Mollenhauer, University Medical Center Göttingen. 2. Dr. James Olzmann, University of California at Berkeley. 3. Dr. Michael Ward, National Institutes of Health. Bottom row, from left: 1. Dr. Gaurav Chattree, Stanford University. 2. Dr. Daisy Ding, Stanford University. 3. Dr. Frank Longo, Stanford University.

Our symposium is today!

We look forward to scientific talks by Brit Mollenhauer of UMG, James Olzmann of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social, Michael Ward of NIH, Gaurav Chattree of @stanfordhealthcare.bsky.social, Daisy Ding of @stanfordneuro.bsky.social, and Frank Longo @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social.

Neuroscience professor talks interdisciplinary learning in a curious world Hosted by the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, professor Dani Bassett’s talk explored how neurological approaches to human behavior can allow us to modify our real-world information systems.

At our Neuro seminar, @danisbassett.bsky.social, professor of Bioengineering at @upenn.edu and incoming professor of Biomedical Engineering at Yale, shared how neurological approaches to human behavior can help us modify real-world information systems.

Read more: stanforddaily.com/2026/01/19/n...

A new atlas could help guide researchers studying neurological disease The database of lysosomal proteins is already helping researchers study how brain cells’ waste and

A new atlas maps lysosomal proteins across brain cell types, helping researchers study how breakdowns in cellular waste and recycling systems contribute to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Supported by a Knight Initiative Catalyst Momentum Award.

brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-atl...

Sarafan ChEM-H Institute Scholars ChEM-H faculty lead labs that tackle big problems in human health research, like cancer, aging, and infectious disease

Get to know our Institute Scholars or 'scientific misfits', recruited in collaboration with partner departments @Stanford, who are shaping the future of science and medicine:

Congrats to Guosong Hong, a/prof @stanfordbrain.bsky.social, on receiving the inaugural #BiophotonicsDiscovery Impact of the Year Award!

Hong is honored for achieving optical transparency in live animals via absorbing dyes, a transformative advance in #biophotonics. 💡

spie.org/news/stanfor...

2026 Big Ideas in Neuroscience Awardees. Top row, from left: Laura Gwilliams, Katrin Svensson, Julia Kaltschmidt, Lauren O’Connell. 2nd row, from left: Longzhi Tan, Nirao Shah, Jaimie Henderson, Frank Willet. 3rd row, from left: Cory Shain, Luis de Lecea, Christoph Thaiss, Tom Clandinin. Bottom row, from left: Will Allen, Xiaojie Qiu, Guosong Hong, Xiaoke Chen.

Congrats to the third round of Big Ideas in Neuroscience grant awardees!

From studying post-viral fatigue to engineering transparent mouse brains, these five projects will push the bounds of what’s possible in the field.

Learn more: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/big-ide...

In normal flies (left), the axons of a specific type of olfactory receptor neurons (green) do not connect with dendrites of another type of projection neurons (magenta). In the rewired flies (right), green axons are retargeted to match part of the magenta dendrites. Image credit: Courtesy Cheng Lyu.

Wu Tsai Neuro researchers reprogrammed fruit fly brain development and behavior.

In normal flies (left), olfactory receptor axons (green) don’t connect with dendrites of other projection neurons (magenta). In rewired flies (right), green axons retarget to match magenta dendrites.

Julia Belk of the Jaiswal Lab gave a talk on "Clonal hematopoiesis and the aging brain." Photo by Julia Diaz.

Alina Isakova discussed data from the Brain Resilience Lab in her talk, "The molecular landscape of human brain aging: Known features and unexpected findings." Photo by Julia Diaz.

In our first Brain Resilience Seminar of 2026, Julia Belk shared her research, "Clonal hematopoiesis and the aging brain," and Alina Isakova discussed data from the Brain Resilience Lab in a talk, "The molecular landscape of human brain aging: Known features and unexpected findings."

2025 neuroscience research in review Join us as we look back on some of the key studies we covered here at Wu Tsai Neuro and the Knight

Each year, Stanford researchers advance our understanding of the mind and brain and beyond.

As we look ahead to the new year, we compiled some key studies covered by Wu Tsai Neuro and @brainresilience.bsky.social in 2025.

🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/2025-ne...

YouTube video by Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford Meet Hülya Torun, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Brain Resilience Lab

Meet Dr. Hülya Torun, a postdoctoral researcher at the Brain Resilience Lab.

"Science generates the accumulation of knowledge so that physicians can use that knowledge to heal people, and I think that was the reason that I wanted to be a neuroscientist."

youtube.com/shorts/C_USl...

🎤 The first talk of the meeting is by Irene Lorenzo Llorente from @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social @stanfordbrain.bsky.social 🇺🇸, who is presenting her work on advances in cell-based therapies for brain repair.
#ChristmasMeeting_IN

John Huguenard introduces his lab at the Labs Spotlight happy hour.

Stanford researchers make connections at the Wu Tsai Neuro and Sarafan Chem H joint happy hour.

A photo of the food and drinks available for Stanford researchers attending the happy hour.

Last week, the Stanford Wu Tsai Neuro and Sarafan ChEM-H communities came together for a Labs Spotlight happy hour, featuring research from the Giocomo, Huguenard, Ding, and Krishnan labs.

Each lab shared ongoing work, sparking conversations and cross-disciplinary connections.

Stanford researchers smile for the photo as they write cards for senior citizens. From left: Kenji Marshall, Sabrina Liu, Alisa Hathaway, Michelle Hedlund.

Stanford researchers spread winter cheer by writing cards to senior citizens while enjoying warm drinks and treats at a Coffee and Card Making social jointly hosted by Wu Tsai Neuro and @stanford-chemh.bsky.social.

Photo by Alina Isakova in the Brain Resilience Lab.

Get alerts on the latest brain aging news, publications, datasets, and tools by subscribing to our newsletter. The first edition will go out on Dec 17 via email and LinkedIn.

Subscribe via email: stanford.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/stan...

Symposium organizers Julia Kaltschmidt and Todd Coleman introduce the day's topics.

Christoph Thaiss speaks about his research.

Kang Shen, Vincent V.C. Woo Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, poses a question during a talk by Quifu Ma.

Todd Coleman, Kathleen Poston, and Linda Nguyen speak at the 2025 Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Symposium.

Could treating anxiety ease constipation? Why does keto reduce seizures? Do gut microbes influence memory?

Our 12th annual symposium explored how our brains and bodies communicate—and what that means for our health and well-being.

Learn more: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/neurosc...

With support from @stanfordbrain.bsky.social Bio-X NIH and @brainorganogenesis.bsky.social

Deadline approaching for participating in the international Stanford Course on Neural Assembloids in spring 2026!

This is an immersive, hands-on course on generating, probing and manipulating stem cell-derived neural #assembloids and #organoids for disease and development modeling.

"The Emergent Mind" has been living rent free in my head for the past month — I have trouble thinking about the brain without finding a new application.

Check out my conversation with neural network pioneer Jay McClelland, and stay tuned for more on AI and neuroscience in 2026!

Cindy Lin shares her research on "Investigating regulators of GCase activity using CRISPR KO screens" at the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience monthly seminar.

Odilia Sianto shares her research on "Nonsense-mediated decay masks cryptic splicing events caused by TDP-43 loss" at the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience monthly seminar.

Thanks to all who joined our last monthly seminar of 2025!

Cindy Lin gave a talk about "Investigating regulators of GCase activity using CRISPR KO screens," and Odilia Sianto shared her research on "Nonsense-mediated decay masks cryptic splicing events caused by TDP-43 loss."

Conference: Neurogenesis from development to adulthood in health and disease The adult brain consists of billions of neurons that show an unimaginable complexity in their structural diversity and functional connectivity allowing for a plethora of brain functions. Notably…

Interested in neural stem cells and neurogenesis throughout lifespan?

Exciting meeting in 2026 in Switzerland!!

neuro-unige.ch/news/csf-mee...