Michael Goard

I am just arguing that finding particular cases of stable responses does not dispute the existence of drifting representations for other neurons/variables, for which there is now strong evidence from multiple labs.

yes, I completely agree that some neurons represent some information in an incredibly stable manner (e.g., M1 neurons during a well-learned motor task, HVC neurons during singing, PoS neurons for HD, and V1 neurons for orientation).

Also, I know it's fun to proclaim that representational drift is fake news every time someone finds a stable response somewhere in the brain, but for those who have actually done careful longitudinal recordings, many (not all) neurons clearly change their responses over time.

As a result, we suspect the same neurons can exhibit different levels of stability to different stimuli based on network connectivity (as opposed to stimulus complexity/dimensionality). Just a hunch at this point, but seems plausible enough. More in this paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Compare this to neurons responding to natural movies, where neurons active at a particular point in the movie might be responding to completely different aspects of the stimulus (spatial frequency, motion energy, etc), and are thus less likely to reinforce their mutual tuning to that time point.

Late to this conversation, but our interpretation of stimulus-dependence of drift is that neurons in networks of highly connected iso-tuned neurons (e.g., orientation tuned neurons in visual cortex, HD cells in PoS) will tend to reinforce each others tuning and maintain stable responses.

Two-photon calcium imaging at 24,000 lines/s, with the resonant axis spanning 4x what other systems can do. Inertia-free. Diffraction-limited. No tradeoffs. Che-Hang Yu developed a 4x angle multiplier for laser scanning. His paper is out today: opg.optica.org/optica/fullt... 1/n #fluorescenceFriday

🔬🧠 Releasing the 1.0 version of #Suite2p and THE PAPER w/ @marius10p.bsky.social! Now with GPU acceleration. Want to use Suite2p but don’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...

New paper alert! 🚨

We found that the brain's compass is remarkably stable at two scales

1️⃣ the system maintains its internal organization for weeks
2️⃣ It "remembers" its orientation for weeks, even after a single visit

This may be key to how the brain aligns its other maps.

Paper: rdcu.be/e3waP

A brief history of precision self-scanning When a researcher solved a logistical problem by going rogue, the idea proved remarkably infectious.

When a brain researcher solved a logistical problem by going rogue, the idea proved remarkably infectious.

By @lyrebard.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/brain-imagin...

I’m very happy to share the latest from my lab published in @Nature

Hippocampal neurons that initially encode reward shift their tuning over the course of days to precede or predict reward.

Full text here:
rdcu.be/eY5nh

Junior Specialist - Lapate Laboratory, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences University of California Santa Barbara is hiring. Apply now!

📣 Our lab is hiring a full-time RA/lab manager! Join us in beautiful Santa Barbara to study the neural bases of affect-cognition interactions using fMRI and brain stimulation. Great stepping stone to a PhD in cognitive/affective neuro 🧠🐬🏖️ Apply by Jan 22: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF03048

(this size microknife is very useful for making incisions prior to implanting larger prisms - 1mm or larger)

Researchers using microprisms: I am planning to place a custom order from FST for 1.5 mm wide diamond knives with a 30 deg point (similiar to finescience.com/en-US/diamon... but with a 1.5mm wide blade), but there is a minimum lot number. Anyone else interested in purchasing one? Let me know!

What is the computational role of dendritic excitations? Byung Hun Lee and team mapped voltage dynamics throughout the dendritic trees of CA1 pyramidal neurons in mice navigating in virtual reality. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Want to track the dynamics of estrogen in the brain across long periods of time? New paper as part of very fun collab with team UCLA Ed Van Veen and Steph Correa! We use a specialized optical reporter and show that this is possible and actually very easy! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our lab is hoping to hire a long-term lab manager / research associate to help with admin tasks and neuroscience experiments (3-year minimum commitment). bilh.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...

Excited to share my first PhD preprint!
“How human aging disrupts the head direction network: evidence from VR experiments and mechanistic models”
We investigated why our sense of direction becomes less stable as we age.
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/ thread 🧵

Hearing a rumor that NIH/HHS may now plan to retaliate against other Bethesda Declaration signers.

I am one, but it’s not about me: we have been speaking out because of the ongoing damage to US medical research, cancer and Alzheimer’s research.

As @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social put well: 1/

Estrogen modulates reward prediction errors and reinforcement learning - Nature Neuroscience Dopamine encoding of reward prediction errors naturally fluctuates over females’ reproductive cycles with estrogenic signaling due to reduced expression of dopamine reuptake proteins.

Thrilled to share our new paper, out now in @natneuro.nature.com, uncovering how estradiol, the most potent estrogen, modulates reinforcement learning and reward prediction errors across biological levels. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#blueprint 1/7

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...

Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org

That's the one with cornflakes and whiskey, right? Good stuff!

UCSB physics professors John Martinis and Michel Devoret win 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics UCSB physics professors John Martinis and Michel Devoret win 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics

Exciting news: #UCSB physicists John Martinis and Michel Devoret have been awarded the 2025 #NobelPrize in Physics. They were lauded for work that, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, "revealed quantum physics in action."

Full story: https://ow.ly/TH7K50X7ULp

With the power of the people behind it, the California legislature just passed the Menopause Care Equity Act. This is history in the making—finally addressing a health gap that touches millions of women. Now, it’s down to one signature. @governor.ca.gov, the pen is in your hand. 🖊️

The sad thing was that it almost always worked.

🧠✨ Women in Neuroscience History: The Pioneers Who Changed Everything

Incredible stories of 11 women who revolutionized brain science, often against impossible odds. Meet trailblazers of sleep research, memory science, neuroplasticity, and neurosurgery — from Maria Manasseina to May-Britt Moser 🧠

Thrilled to share that our work is now published in Science! ✨

We found a preference for visual objects in the mouse spatial navigation system where they dynamically refine head-direction coding. In short, objects boost our inner compass! 🧭

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🧵1/

Following up: searching for the distribution of estrogen receptors in the brain, I realized the Allen Brain Atlas is male only. How is it possible that something this fundamental is still missing?

I still get chills

Meet Mike
*30+ years severe depression
*first hospitalized @ 13y
*20 meds
*3 rounds of ECT
*2 near-fatal suicide attempts

Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE

see videos, read paper, follow thread
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

Dr. Emily Jacobs — Stories of WiN studies how hormonal fluctuations influence the brain

Our latest profile just dropped! Dr. Emily Jacobs (‪@emilyjacobs.bsky.social‬) studies how hormonal fluctuations influence the brain. Follow the link below to listen to the full interview!

www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202...

#WomenInNeuroscience #StoriesOfWiN