Xin Zhao

The party drug MDMA (“ecstasy”) shows promising efficacy as adjunct to psychotherapy. The psychostimulant with entactogenic properties is known to induce arousal and euphoria. We now studied the neurochemistry underlying the behavioral effects of MDMA in rats lacking serotonin in the brain.

We are grieving our friend and brilliant colleague Natalia Duque-Wilckens. A creative scientist, artist, caring mentor, and force for change. Words can’t describe the impact she had on lives at UC Davis, MSU, NC State and beyond. I feel lucky to have known her and wish her time didn’t end so soon

Our Behavioural Brain Research special issue on Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents is growing, rapidly – and actually a lot faster than I manage to post about it. Nine new manuscripts got accepted since my last post. Quite impressive work. Check it out:
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

#NeuroJobs

Please check my lab page (xzhao322.wixsite.com/xinzhaolab) for more details.

Fully funded Ph.D. Opportunity - Behavioral Neuroscience @ TCU (Fall 2026)
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026

The published version of our study on the early-life transition from isolation USVs to adult-like USVs in juvenile mice is out in Animal Behaviour!

authors.elsevier.com/a/1m1YDmjMA4GP

bsky.app/profile/kati...

The Tschida Lab is recruiting a new PhD student this cycle! We have ongoing projects related to (1) neural circuits that regulate vocal communication across behavioral contexts and/or development and (2) motor control of different vocalization types. Please RT! Strong neuro background a plus.

Non-overlapping social and food reward representations in the basolateral amygdala The ability to consider and appraise positively valenced stimuli in the environment, such as food and social interaction, to guide appropriate action is important for survival of most animals. Several...

Excited to share our latest preprint led by @jarildy.bsky.social looking at social and non social reward representations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... with help from @hyma2194.bsky.social and @jennisisaac.bsky.social.

a hamster is sitting in a hamster wheel in a cage ALT: a hamster is sitting in a hamster wheel in a cage

New story to share! We routinely put running wheels in our mouse cages. The mice love them, and there's lots of evidence that exercise is great for health. Given our focus on social behaviors, though, we wondered whether running wheels change mouse social behavior.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New paper in TIPS: ABCs of psychedelics a preclinical roadmap for drug discovery.

This was a fun piece to write for @cp-trendspharma.bsky.social

“The ABCs of Psychedelics: A Preclinical Roadmap for Drug Discovery” with John McCorvy and @jmantsch.bsky.social

www.cell.com/trends/pharm...

New study from the lab! A follow-up to our finding that short-term social isolation promotes same-sex mounting in female mice. Led by grad student Cassidy Malone and post-doc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from undergrad Selina Xu!

Investigating milk derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention Parental communication signals are transmitted through nursing and critically shape neurodevelopmental trajectories. Mirroring some well characterized effects of gestational challenges in rodents, mat...

Hello friends, our 🆕 lab preprint w/ @jordanmarrocco.bsky.social is here; please enjoy!

Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch

Congratulations! I learned that CMC will soon have the new Robert Day Science Center, which would be a fantastic place to do impactful research.

Short-term social isolation acts on hypothalamic neurons to promote social behavior in a sex- and context-dependent manner A population of neurons in the hypothalamus promotes social behaviors in female mice following a period of short-term social isolation.

Very happy to share the newest work from our lab, led by postdoc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from many past and present undergrad RAs.

elifesciences.org/articles/94924