George Kafetzis

Muller glia (green) regulate local retinoic acid signalling to specialise photoreceptor outer segments (magenta)for high acuity visual function

Excited to share our new manuscript from the Yoshimatsu and MacDonald labs. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... We found that my favourite glial cells can regulate local retinoic acid signalling to specialise cone photoreceptors for high acuity visual function.

After 5 years of developing, a new preprint from the lab - introducing our workflow for comparative insect connectomics, aimed at democratizing connectomics. @erc.europa.eu @lundvision.bsky.social @biologylu.bsky.social Read it here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

We are so lucky in the UK to have access to this unique funding stream, which emphasises bold but ‘quirky’ ideas that are essentially unfundable elsewhere. Key is also the sustained support (up to 5years) because it takes time to do things properly 🙏🏽 .

Happy to see how our collab. paper on the origin of the vertebrate eye is tickling the public interest. Our ongoing shuffle from systems neuro to evo-neuro over recent years continues to be a delight! We are supported by various funders, but I want to point out one in particular: @leverhulme.ac.uk

Most certainly- can’t wait!!☺️

Thanks so much Vivek!! 🙏 Looking forward to an opportunity to catch up in person!

Thanks so much Panagiotis🙏! Looking forward to an opportunity to catch up!

Thanks so much Karthik! And for your perspective in the NYT piece!😊

From our new paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.cell.com/current-biol... w/ @neurofishh.bsky.social @gkafetzis.bsky.social @denilsson.bsky.social

Looking across animals, the vertebrate eye is an obvious outlier. Why is it so different that other highly visual animals?

On the top of the head, the parietal “third eye” of the Mojave fringe-toed lizard (Uma scoparia) illuminates the deep past of the vertebrate retina. In their review in this issue, Kafetzis et al. trace the origin of our eyes to an ancient, composite median visual system predating vertebrates. The retina's layered organization echoes the structure of this ancestral system. Photo credit: Vasilis Karkalas.

Our latest issue is out!

On the cover, a lizard with its median third eye.🦎

Because you really need three eyes to take in all the diverse biology in this issue... 👁️👁️👁️

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

Evolution of the vertebrate retina by repurposing of a composite ancestral median eye The vertebrate retina differs dramatically from that in all other animal eyes. In this review, Kafetzis et al. argue that, before the vertebrates, a series of lifestyle changes in ‘our’ lineage led to...

Paper URL: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social!

A dive into the deep history of vertebrate vision, together with @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social

Photo credit : Vasilis Karkalas

Using our bee-tracking drone, we discovered that honey bees 🐝 have highly precise and individual routes. Now published at @currentbiology.bsky.social : doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

I’m very excited to announce that a part of my PhD thesis project is now a preprint! In this paper, we show how spontaneous activity prior to visual experience shapes neural circuits in the retina. (1/11)

We are thrilled that our study on the evolution of gene regulation in mammalian cerebellum development – led by @ioansarr.bsky.social, @marisepp.bsky.social and @tyamadat.bsky.social, in collaboration with @steinaerts.bsky.social – is now out in @ScienceMagazine! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Predatory aggression evolved through adaptations to noradrenergic circuits - Nature Noradrenergic circuits support and balance aggressive behavioural states in predatory nematodes, distinguish predatory from non-predatory nematode species and are associated with the evolution of comp...

Why do some worms graze on bacteria while others hunt and kill?
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.

New paper from the lab, led by @ronjabigge.bsky.social, in collaboration with Kentaro Arikawa. We reconcile contrast and spatial processing functions of lamina monopolar cells by integrating 3D morphology, connectivity and neurophysiology in the hummingbird hawkmoth. tinyurl.com/mvnh3325
For more 👇

Retinal processing of natural scenes: challenges ahead While substantial knowledge exists about the way the retina processes simple stimuli, our understanding of how the retina processes natural stimuli re…

How does our visual system process natural scenes ? How can we approach this question ?
Happy to share this recent review written with Samuele Virgili where we ask these questions at the level of the retina.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1/10 New preprint on bioRxiv
Nanodiamonds for spatial resolution benchmarking in two-photon microscopy

We introduce nanodiamond-based phantoms as a robust, reusable alternative to bead–agarose samples for PSF calibration.

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

I am very happy (and a bit scared) to present to you what we have been working on over the last 4 years. This manuscript is exactly what I dreamt of when I started the lab and I could not be happier and prouder of the outcome!

Do direction and orientation preferences form maps in the mouse superior colliculus (SC)?
We examined how motion and orientation tuning are organized in SC neurons and their retinal inputs—and how the retinal topography is transformed by collicular circuits.
tinyurl.com/mr2zt5rm

🧵👇

Ever wanted to know how the visual system of a long distance migratory moth looks like? Then you'll find your answers in our new paper. Finally out, after about a decade of collecting data by a group af amazing co-authors. Find it here, open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Nice to see this published, congrats all🎉

Schematic of how ER-EPG plasticity enables the bump of activity in EPGs to accurately track visual cues. As a fly makes a counter-clockwise turn (top to bottom) it will view visual cues (e.g. the sun) from a new angle and the EPG activity bump (red) will swing clockwise around the network by integrating self motion signals with these visual inputs. When the fly faces a different angle, distinct visual ER neurons are active. Plasticity forms a trough of weak synapses (large circles - strong synapses, small circles - weak synapses) that allow ER neurons with distinct visual tuning to move the EPG bump via disinhibition.

*First preprint from our lab* !!!!!
How does the brain learn to anchor its internal sense of direction to the outside world? 🧭
led by Mark Plitt @markplitt.bsky.social & Dan Turner-Evans, w/ Vivek Jayaraman:
“Octopamine instructs head direction plasticity” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread ⬇️

Freshly out at @natcomms.nature.com ! Our @univie.ac.at @awi.de @viennabiocenter.bsky.social @ercgrantees.bsky.social research into neurogenic plasticity of adult worm brains, and similarities in stem cells supporting growth of camera-type eyes. www.nature.com/articles/s41... [1/7]

S-cone-specific circuitry in the outer plexiform layer of a cone-dominant mammal | PNAS In the vertebrate retina, short wavelength-sensitive S-cones and their downstream interneurons play unique roles in both image forming and non-imag...

Extremely proud to share our publication on S-cone circuitry in the ground squirrel, newly available this week in PNAS. We've been staring at these reconstructions for a long time, and I'm excited for others to see the results. 1/n

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Ending my #FluorescenceFriday with this beautiful avian retina image depicting the beautiful stratification in the avian eyes.
This is where complexity meets art.
#retina #avian #bird #plexiformlayer

Just gonna put this here for now
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
bsky.app/profile/jlst...

Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social

Jaxley: differentiable simulation enables large-scale training of detailed biophysical models of neural dynamics - Nature Methods Jaxley is a versatile platform for biophysical modeling in neuroscience. It allows efficiently simulating large-scale biophysical models on CPUs, GPUs and TPUs. Model parameters can be optimized with ...

I am super happy to share that our project on training biophysical models with Jaxley is now published in Nature Methods: www.nature.com/articles/s41...