Princeton Neuroscience Institute

We're looking for a research assistant to work in our neuroscience lab at @princetonneuro.bsky.social @hhmi.org where we study learning and decision-making circuitry.

Apply here: research-princeton.icims.com/jobs/21001/r...

Pls share w/ anyone who might be interested!

How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪#Neuroskyence

Yesterday’s PNI Summer Research Showcase was packed with curiosity, community, and cutting-edge science. Congrats to all presenters, esp. our SIP students, for an incredible summer!

Thinking of applying for next year? Stay tuned - applications open this fall: pni.princeton.edu/apply/underg...

8 members of the Peña lab looking dapper in front of a poster

My undergrads nailed their poster presentations today at @princetonneuro.bsky.social! So proud of them and their mentors

KIASORT: Knowledge-Integrated Automated Spike Sorting for Geometry-Free Neuron Tracking Identifying single units from extracellularly recorded neural signals is critical for understanding brain circuit dynamics. With the advancements of large-scale recordings, efficient and precise autom...

🚀 Just posted KIASORT preprint on bioRxiv! Geometry-free, per-neuron drift correction finally, sorting and tracking thousands of cells without assuming uniform movement and rigid probe-geometry limits.

🔗 www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

#SpikeSorting #NeuroTech #Neuroscience

Code and tutorial 👇👇👇

Congrats, Chris!!!

University of Utah Health Campus in winter. Image courtesy of the University of Utah.

I’m very excited to share that I will join the University of Utah Department of Neurobiology as an Assistant Professor in Jan 2026!! 🎉🏔️🏜️

My lab will focus on body–brain interactions in learning & memory — how do signals from our internal organs remodel the brain & behavior?

Music is an incredibly powerful retrieval cue. What is the neural basis of music-evoked memory reactivation? And how does this reactivation relate to later memory for the retrieved events? In our new study, we used Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to find out. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Out today in @nature.com: we show that individual neurons have diverse tuning to a decision variable computed by the entire population, revealing a unifying geometric principle for the encoding of sensory and dynamic cognitive variables.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

“Like a group of skiers descending a mountain, each [neuron] prefers a slightly different path, but all are shaped by the same slope,” says PNI's @engeltatiana.bsky.social‬ on her lab’s new ‪@nature.com‬ study revealing how the brain makes decisions.

📰: pni.princeton.edu/news/2025/al...

Graduating neuroscience students celebrated at Class Day 2025 The Princeton Neuroscience Institute celebrated the Class of 2025 Neuroscience majors during its annual Class Day Ceremony on May 26, 2025. The event brought together seniors, their families and frien...

🎓 Congratulations to the Neuroscience Class of 2025! At PNI’s Class Day, seniors received their certificates, shared their research, and celebrated with family, friends, and faculty 🧠 pni.princeton.edu/news/2025/gr...

This paper changed my life: Bradley Dickerson on how a 1940s fly neuroanatomy paper influences his research to this day This classic paper by zoologist John Pringle describes the haltere—a small structure in flies that plays a crucial role in flight control. It taught me to think about circuits and behavior as greater…

In our latest edition of “This paper changed my life,” Bradley Dickerson discusses how a 1940s fly neuroanatomy paper taught him how to think about circuits and behavior being greater than the sum of their parts.

#neuroskyence

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

Hormonal regulation of behavioral and emotional persistence: Novel insights from a systems-level approach to neuroendocrinology Gonadal sex steroid hormones regulate internal states, social drive, perception of external cues, and learning and memory. Fluctuating hormones influe…

Is it finally time for systems neuroscience to take hormones seriously? OMG YES! @meenakshiasokan.bsky.social and I share some of our thoughts about recent work in this review www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Cate Peña (in Columbia’s robes) hooding Rebekah Rashford in Princeton’s robes. Photo from the official university instagram account.

Honored to hood Dr. Rebekah Rashford today and celebrate the accomplishments of so many talented scientists and scholars! 🎓

we're crowd-sourcing a searchable repository of tangible benefits stemming from federally-funded research. Come enjoy the great stories; or send in an idea; or volunteer to join the team.

publicusaresearchbenefits.com

please share and re-share so we get more great stories in there!

Neuroscience students honored at Princeton Research Day 2025 Two members of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute community were recognized for their outstanding ability to communicate complex research during Princeton Research Day 2025.Jeffery Chen ('25, Neuros...

🎉Congrats to NEU undergraduate Jeffery Chen '25 and PNI graduate student Serene Dhawan, who were both recognized for their outstanding ability to communicate complex science at the 10th annual Princeton Research Day! pni.princeton.edu/news/2025/ne...

Economists warn Trump's research cuts could have dire consequences for GDP President Trump has proposed slashing federal scientific funding. Economists say the long-term consequences could be dire.

In 1981, PNI's John Hopfield received an NSF grant (~$300K) for the, then, obscure field of artificial neural networks. Today, that research powers a multibillion dollar AI economy and earned him a Nobel Prize. www.npr.org/2025/05/08/n...

Princeton Engineering - Innovation funds support advances in artificial intelligence, bioengineering, materials science and more Princeton Engineering researchers are combining their expertise in chemical engineering, materials and computation to design crystalline materials that

Congrats to PNI’s Jonathan Cohen, Tom Griffiths, and @ptoncompmemlab.bsky.social for being awarded Princeton Engineering Innovation Grants! Their work bridges neuroscience, AI, and quantum modeling to understand how the brain learns, perceives, and decides. engineering.princeton.edu/news/2025/04...

Connectomics 2.0: Simulating the brain With a complete fly connectome in hand, researchers are taking the next step to model how brain circuits fuel function.

It took more than a decade to trace the 130,000 connections in a fruit fly's brain. With the map in hand, researchers are turning to the next step in connectomics: building simulations.

By @ldattaro.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/connectome/c...

Check out this review, which makes many new and interesting connections between human odor, skin biology, and evolution. 💯% of the insight provided comes from the independent literature sleuthing of first author @jlzung.bsky.social. I came along for the ride and learned some chemistry on the way!

YouTube video by Allen Institute Revealing the largest wiring diagram and functional map of the brain

The brain as it's never been seen before.

Scientists have created the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammal brain to date.

🧠📈 @princetonneuro.bsky.social @jhuapl.bsky.social @uwgradschool.bsky.social @bcmfromthelabs.bsky.social @unigoettingen.bsky.social

A neural mechanism for learning from delayed postingestive feedback - Nature Illness signals from the gut reactivate and strengthen flavour representations in the amygdala to support learning from delayed postingestive feedback.

How do we associate the flavors we experience during a meal 🍽️😋 with postingestive effects like food poisoning 🤢🤮 that arise much later?

Our answer in @nature.com this week: Illness signals from the gut reactivate and strengthen flavor representations in the amygdala.

📄: nature.com/articles/s41...

...from the lab of PNI's @ilanawitten.bsky.social!

How the brain remembers what gave you food poisoning We've all been there: one bad oyster ruins seafood forever. Now, Princeton neuroscientists have pinpointed how the brain stores memories for these powerful food aversions in mice. The new results reve...

One bad oyster, lasting brain change 🧠 Princeton neuroscientist @czimmerman.bsky.social reveals how a bad meal creates a lasting foul food memory.

📰: pni.princeton.edu/news/2025/ho...

My favorite time of year at @princetonneuro.bsky.social
Fully, unabashedly obsessed

Light sheet microscopy image showing neural activation (blue) during food poisoning in the central amygdala of the mouse brain. Credit: Christopher Zimmerman

Ever sworn off a food after a bad experience? Your brain knows what made you sick, even many hours later.

@czimmerman.bsky.social, from @princetonneuro.bsky.social studies how the brain learns from delayed post-ingestive feedback.

Read more in our Q&A:

www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/qa/it-mu...

Bayesian inference by visuomotor neurons in the prefrontal cortex | PNAS Perceptual judgments of the environment emerge from the concerted activity of neural populations in decision-making areas downstream of the sensory...

Out today in PNAS! We asked how Bayesian inference is implemented in macaque prefrontal cortex www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

New work from PNI's @andrewleifer.bsky.social and @jpillowtime.bsky.social shows how learning transforms navigation strategies in the humble roundworm, which may hint at fundamental principles of behavioral flexibility that extends across species.

TOMORROW👉 On Tues, March 25, #BrainAwarenessWeek is extended when @scottrussophd.bsky.social hosts a #BrainBody Research Institute Special Lecture featuring @princetonneuro.bsky.social's Dr. Annegret Falkner
@neurrriot.bsky.social. JOIN US for this exciting talk! Register Now: tinyurl.com/ykky7sf2

Work from Princeton neuroscience professor Uri Hasson, with collaborators at GoogleAI and @hebrewuniversity.bsky.social, reveals the parallels between language processing in our brains and with AI.

📰: research.google/blog/deciphe...