Sounding the alarm on pseudoreplication: Q&A with Constantinos Eleftheriou and Peter Kind Most studies of neurological disorders in mice erroneously treat multiple samples from a single animal as independent replicates, according to a new analysis. But scientists and journals can take…

A statistical error known as pseudoreplication appears in more than half of recent mouse studies on neurological disorders, according to a new study. Peter Kind and Constantino Elfetheriou tell Lauren Schenkman why researchers should pay attention.

www.thetransmitter.org/pseudoreplic...

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‘Understudied secret’ in brain dampens nicotine drive in mice The interpeduncular nucleus produces an aversion to nicotine, even at low doses, and helps moderate how rewarding mice find the drug.

An “understudied secret in the brain” dampens the brain’s reward response to nicotine in mice.

By Lauren Schenkman

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/addiction/un...

Sharing Africa’s brain data: Q&A with Amadi Ihunwo These data are “virtually mandatory” to advance neuroscience, says Ihunwo, a co-investigator of the BRIDGE initiative.

The Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE) initiative has neuroscientists on four continents breaking down barriers to sharing brain data. Co-investigator Amadi Ihunwo speaks with Lauren Schenkman about BRIDGE’s work in Africa.

www.thetransmitter.org/qa/sharing-a...

Expediting clinical trials for profound autism: Q&A with Matthew State Aligning Research to Impact Autism, a new initiative funded by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, wants to bring basic science discoveries to the clinic faster.

Aligning Research to Impact Autism (ARIA) aims to speed up the route from basic research to treatments for profound autism. Scientific director Matthew State shared more about the initiative’s goals and upcoming RFAs in a Q&A with @lauschenk.bsky.social.

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/exp...

The brain’s “stalwart sentinels” express an unexpected gene The astrocytes that cover the brain and spinal cord and protect it from intruders lack the signature star shape and have a distinct genetic marker.

The cell bodies of astrocytes, not their end-feet, make up the brain’s last line of defense, a new paper in Cell Reports confirms. The findings flip the standard picture of these “stalwart sentinels” of the brain.

By Lauren Schenkman

www.thetransmitter.org/astrocytes/u...