Dr. Liz Kirby

Glutamatergic projections from the substantia nigra pars reticulata to the dorsal raphe nucleus regulate male social hierarchies The dorsal raphe nucleus in the brain is critical for establishing social rank, but the circuit is not fully understood. This study in male mice shows that glutamatergic projections from the…

In a new study, Yanzhu Fan, Guangzhan Fang &co show that glutamatergic projections from the substantia nigra pars reticulata to the dorsal raphe nucleus can regulate social rank and anxiety levels in male mice, adding to our knowledge of these important circuits.
🧪 #NeuroSky #InMice

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

A photo of the United States with red dots in cities where Stand Up for Science protests are being hosted

Count us in! Stay tuned for more information about our March 7 event near OSU in Columbus
standupforscience.net/march7
@standupforscience.bsky.social

a chair covered in slobbery bites from a box of tissues and a roll of toilet paper. no cats are visible so we don’t need to make accusations

So, early reports show someone dragged a roll of toilet paper AND a box of tissues onto the chair and took one million bites. We need more facts before we jump to conclusions

My employer has mandated that we make all our students "fluent" in ai. So, I collect images like this and show them to my students in intro neuro classes. Look at me, being compliant.

And many thanks to those who call out this crap. It's a new form of scientific service that deserves recognition.

We're back for round two. We're taking back our science. I am fighting for science and democracy. March 7th, 2025. Washington, DC. standupforscience.net/march7

We're back for round two. We're taking back our science. I am fighting for science and democracy. March 7th, 2025. Washington, DC. standupforscience.net/march7

We're back for round two. We're taking back our science. I am fighting for science and democracy. March 7th, 2025. Washington, DC. standupforscience.net/march7

RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🧪✊🔬
March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC.

We're mobilizing the fight for science and democracy. In the face of assaults on our families, freedoms, and futures, we're taking back science!

Learn more at www.standupforscience.net/ma... (linked in bio)

For 15(!) years I’ve been teaching introductory #MRI to grad students, and struggled to find a textbook for a wide variety of backgrounds. I'm happy to share an online textbook I created, fully open source (including code for generating figures and plots shown):
larsonlab.github.io/MRI-educatio...

An email from Martin Peterson to university administrators.

Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).

Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there.

How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?

I think it's that...

An Accurate Organizational Chart of Your University Our 20th most-read article of 2025. - - -In accordance with our informal tradition of updating documents every thirty years, whether they need it ...

"In accordance with our informal tradition of updating documents every thirty years, whether they need it or not, our university is pleased to present this updated org chart that most accurately captures our system of governance." #McSweeneysTop25of2025

Cover of texbook: Blokpoel and van Rooij (2021-2025) Theoretical modeling for cognitive science and psychology.

Mark Blokpoel & I have maintain a living open interactive textbook “Theoretical Modeling for Cognitive Science and Psychology.”

Recently, Mark updated Ch 9 & 10 so they have embedded, running and editable, code again.

Check it out! ✨

computationalcognitivescience.github.io/lovelace/

Magnet poetry that says: brilliant science dream Bench research experiment Publish is sharing

From the lab fridge. Deep haiku thoughts for the weekend.

Oh Steve...

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article) A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.

An important write up from the NYT on the funding changes at the NIH.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article) A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.

New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Post-Dinner Interview with a Twelve-Year-Old Who Sat at the Grown-Ups’ Table for the First Time on Thanksgiving REPORTER: I’m here live with Ted moments after completing his first Thanksgiving dinner at the Grown-Ups’ Table. At only 12 years and 209 days, you...

"I’ve grown a lot as an eater since then, and I’ve worked to mature my underdeveloped palate to handle anything that Aunt Linda or anyone else throws my way. Tonight, when I got to the table and saw a lineup of yams, I was able to lean on that preparation and get the job done."

Riding the Autism Bicycle to Retraction Town Does anyone *really* know their Factor Fexcectorn?

On the Factor Fexcectorn and autism bicycle AI slop study: I got an answer from Springer Nature this morning that this scientific paper will be retracted! 🧪

Full story: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the...

Figure 1 from a paper published in Nature (linked in post). The figure purports to be an infographic depiction of the "Overall working of the framework" for 'explainably' diagnosing autism spectrum disorder. The infographic is plainly nonsense, containing many spelling errors, nonsense words, meaningless images and graphs. Clearly created using generative AI and (crucially) NEVER CHECKED AT ANY STEP OF THE WRITING OR PUBLICATION PROCESS.

Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.)

RTs appreciated.

I too got this email. My question was what part of my talk about making textbooks free to students by cutting out for-profit publishers (like elsevier) indicated to this person that I would be interested in writing a book for elsevier. You know, since they were totally at my talk, as they claimed.

I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking. "Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."

"essays produced by ChatGPT are soulless, boring abominations. Words, phrases and punctuation rarely used by the average college student are pervasive." www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...

One of the best reasons to make all your data open is that it can't be stolen

#OpenScience

This is misinformation by default, so if you're a journal and you use AI slop for your cover or your announcements, you're not scientific in any way and should be shamed mercilessly 🧪

Apropos of... well...

I'm reviewing applications for a variety of things right now and can tell when letters are written by AI. There aren't many of them but they do exist. They are... not good.

If you're an academic trainee, choose your mentors wisely.

If only the intern that picked this image had read the AI section of my course syllabus. Could have saved them and their otherwise reputable journal some serious embarrassment.

Hey, just because AI knows about those arm-organs and you don't isn't a reason to get mad 🤣

We have written two reviews providing a practical guide and fundamentals of cell migration:

(1) How to select an optimal cell migration assay,
(2) How to analyze cell migration data.

We also added a perspective on AI methods of analysis.

Coming out soon in Nature Methods.

Thousands of No Kings protesters stage peaceful demonstration at Ohio Statehouse • Ohio Capital Journal Thousands of 'No Kings' protesters demonstrated peacefully Saturday afternoon against the Trump administration at the Ohio Statehouse.

Thousands of No Kings protesters stage peaceful demonstration at Ohio Statehouse #NoKings ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/10/18/t...

Screenshot of text: Use AI at your own peril when trying to study or learn material. AI platforms are often wrong, especially about biology. ChatGPT will not feel guilty if you do poorly on a quiz or an exam because it told you nonsense. It will fabricate fantastic lies with an ease that can only come from existing with zero accountability. But you do you. One of the best parts of college is getting to make your own mistakes. Just don’t say I didn’t give you a solid heads up.

Just updated my AI policy for my course next spring. Added a section about using AI "to study".

M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment

Thank You MIT. Now who's next?

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...