Keri Martinowich

NIH is requesting comments on a new draft policy that may require human brain imaging data (and other data) from nih-funded research to only be shared via controlled access, & only with certain countries. I suggest neuroimagers read closely & submit comments by 3/18.

osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form...

This week we are introducing neuromodulatory assembloids.

Over the past few years, many circuits and cell-cell interactions have been modeled in assembloids, but these systems have not systematically incorporated neuromodulation.

Join us in Woods Hole for Methods in Computational Neuroscience (MCN) at MBL (July 24–Aug 21).
Four weeks of computational + systems neuroscience, hands-on training, and close interaction with an exceptional faculty.

Excited to share that I joined the Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris @ipnp.bsky.social as a group leader! Thank you to FRM and BBRF for the support! My team will study how dedicated neural circuits decode seasonal changes, and drive adaptive behaviors. 🧠 ☀️ ❄️

Deconstruction of a memory engram reveals distinct ensembles recruited at learning - Nature Neuroscience Pouget et al. identified distinct CA1 neuron ensembles active during specific moments of fear learning and uncovered the core engram essential for memory formation.

How does the brain build a memory?
A common assumption is that the neurons activated during an experience collectively form the memory engram.
In our new Nature Neuroscience paper (finally out!), we show that this is not the case.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Too excited about this image to wait for #FluorescenceFriday 🔬🤩👩‍🔬. Serotonin neurons 🟣 in the raphe nucleus along the midline of the human brainstem 🧠, flanked bilaterally by norepinephrine neurons 🔴 in locus coeruleus. Image credit to @ishbeldelrosario.bsky.social @svitlanabach.bsky.social

"Winning The Brain Prize to me is remarkable. I love being a scientist, so it's an honour to be recognized for really my life's work", Professor David Ginty (US)

Learn more about David Ginty: https://brainprize.org/winners/touch-and-pain-2026/david-ginty

#ScientificAchievement #Neuroscience

Oh wow. I know people here have THOUGHTS. Write them up & submit!!

I love that all essays have to be public before entering. This is exactly the type of conversation we need more of. (Also cash prizes + philanthropy is listening)

Now which on my list should I pick 🤔?

astera.org/essay-compet...

Right? This is a fantastic specimen - kudos to our neuropath team and @svitlanabach.bsky.social on the neuroanatomy expertise and dissections. They are amazing!

@ishbeldelrosario.bsky.social can tell you about the tiling and the imaging for this!

This was totally me when this got posted on Slack! They caught this at just the most amazing level!

💙

Wheee! I hope someone's psychophysics thesis is going well.

www.keithcirkel.co.uk/whats-my-jnd/

Too excited about this image to wait for #FluorescenceFriday 🔬🤩👩‍🔬. Serotonin neurons 🟣 in the raphe nucleus along the midline of the human brainstem 🧠, flanked bilaterally by norepinephrine neurons 🔴 in locus coeruleus. Image credit to @ishbeldelrosario.bsky.social @svitlanabach.bsky.social

Wow!!

ICYMI 3: A remarkable finding is that optogenetic suppression of song basal ganglia affects movement parameters *if and when* they are important for learning. This figure shows that the same manipulation can increase, have no effect, or decrease frequency based on its relationship w/ learning! (1/2)

This paper changed my life: Talia Lerner reflects on dopamine neuron diversity and the value of simple experiments In a 2011 Neuron study, Stephan Lammel and his colleagues showed that dopamine neurons with different projections have different physiological properties. The work inspired Lerner to think about how…

In our latest edition of “This paper changed my life,” @talialerner.bsky.social shares how Stephen Lammel and Rob Malenka’s 2011 Neuron paper on dopamine neuron diversity taught her how to go about challenging widely held assumptions in the field.

www.thetransmitter.org/this-paper-c...

Pokémon turns 30 — how the fictional pocket monsters shaped science The Japanese media sensation has inspired generations of researchers in fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity.

For Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, Nature spoke to scientists from around the world about how their work has been shaped by playing Pokémon games, watching animated TV series and films and trading cards in school playgrounds. 🧪

Supracellular actomyosin assemblies: master coordinators of development Summary: Supracellular actomyosin assemblies in the form of apical-medial networks and junctional cables play key roles in tissue morphogenesis. This Review summarises their roles and characteristics,...

Now at #gfe2026, @katjaroeper.bsky.social shows how, in making tubes, individual cells organise supracellular 'cables' across tissues that provide zones protected from large mechanical forces, highlighting the value of cross-scale perspectives.

See Katja's recent @dev-journal.bsky.social Review⤵️

An absolutely glorious sunrise for about 10 minutes

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

“Area 10m is the only common ‘driver’ of both pgACC and sgACC”

New connectomic scale understanding of ACC from Daulton Myers and Julie Fudge. #mustread #neuroskyence

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

Securing the academic pipeline amid uncertain U.S. funding climate Finding creative ways to keep early-career researchers in academia—for example, through part-time roles—can help the field weather the storm.

Amid shrinking tenure-track faculty positions, we must think creatively to keep early-career scientists afloat, writes @lucinauddin.bsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

Check out our latest research drop! We show BLA dopamine signaling encodes the emotional weight of sensory transitions, but not the associative strength or value of stimuli. These signals dynamically rescale when the learning context changes: "this matters most!" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#FluorescenceFriday to mark my first foray into human neuroanatomy @lieberinstitute.bsky.social 🧠 RNAscope of marker genes for the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (Ac) in the developing human brain

Peer review reliability is shockingly low. Meta-analyses show reviewer agreement barely above chance, and grant outcomes often depend more on who reviews than what's proposed. Our new preprint with Agnes Urban and Arjun Krishnan @compbiologist.bsky.social : papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 🧵 1/

Dealing with RNA diffusion in Xenium🤠

SPLIT
Spatial Purification of Layered Intracellular Transcripts

+ProSeg improves cell type annotation

vs ResoIVI, ovrlipy

Performance of Xenium target panel vs 5K
60% cells in 5K on lung NSCLC fail QC!🫥

bioRxiv 2025
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

3D mapping of individual immune cells in the vicinity precancerous lesions in the human pancreas.

Maps obtained using the CODA workflow integrated with multiplex IF.

Paper accepted for publication in Cell Press Blue.

Securing the academic pipeline amid uncertain U.S. funding climate Finding creative ways to keep early-career researchers in academia—for example, through part-time roles—can help the field weather the storm.

My latest in @thetransmitter.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

The winner of OneNeuro's February #FotoFriday #FluorescenceFriday contest is "Spatial transcriptomics captures brain regions in the hummingbird bobtail squid" submitted by Alyson Hally in the @loyalgoff.bsky.social Lab at @hopkinsmedicine.bsky.social

View BRAINART gallery: www.oneneurojhu.org/art/

Poking around files for a diagram to share with a colleague and came across these graphics I had drawn of the meninges (I think these are in a chapter from several years ago) - not a
#FluorescenceFriday but rather #FreehandFigureFriday for bespoke scientific schematics ✍️