Kevin Staras

🧪 We recently published our first micro-publication! This paper highlights the pitfalls of using extracellular stimulation to recruit synapses in neocortical circuits, as it lacks specificity. www.micropublication.org/journals/bio...

I'd like to make a list of PhD programs that (1) are in Europe (which does include the UK); (2) offer opportunities in systems neuroscience; and obviously (3) pay a stipend. Please share and/or respond to add your suggestions?

Sussex Neuroscience 4-Year Programme PhD at the University of Sussex Join a team of world-leading experts in our high-spec Neuroscience Research Centre whose aim is to understand the nervous system and various neurological disorders.

Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD programme www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/de...

We are super excited about this news!!! 🤩 #ERCAdG

Oops the original post was deleted! The news is here: bsky.app/profile/cham...

How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇

bit.ly/44aVm9E

Posting this after some recent conversations with potential international applicants - still time to apply to our Masters courses and International PhD Academy for 2025 entry - join the diverse and vibrant Neuroscience community on our beautiful campus next to Brighton

I am very happy and thankful for having been part of this amazing journey. Enjoy exploring this incredibly rich dataset!

Connectome-driven neural inventory of a complete visual system - Nature A connectome of the right optic lobe from a male fruitfly is presented together with an extensive collection of genetic drivers matched to a comprehensive neuron-type catalogue.

I know there's a 𝒍𝒐𝒕 going on right now, but I couldn’t be prouder to share this long-incubated labor of love: the complete connectome of the male 𝐷𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎 optic lobe 🧠🪰
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Aw, we got the cover for our new paper on X-ray imaging and atlas building in the snail brain. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Thanks @pnas.org .. and to @sussexneuro.bsky.social @leverhulme.bsky.social @ukri.org for funding support #invertebrate #brain #neuroscience THREAD: bsky.app/profile/kevi...

SnailBrainMap About The Project Thanks to their accessible nervous systems, molluscs have provided some of the most fundamental insights into how neural circuits generate and control behavior. Notably, their neuron...

And here's the brain atlas link again, hopefully working this time: sites.google.com/view/snailbr...

SnailBrainMap About The Project Thanks to their accessible nervous systems, molluscs have provided some of the most fundamental insights into how neural circuits generate and control behavior. Notably, their neuron...

sites.google.com/view/snailbr...

SnailBrainMap About The Project Thanks to their accessible nervous systems, molluscs have provided some of the most fundamental insights into how neural circuits generate and control behavior. Notably, their neuron...

sites.google.com/view/snailbr...

Michael Crossley led the experimental work, supported by Anna Simon, @arndroth.bsky.social and
@enzomarra.bsky.social Thanks to @sussexneuro.bsky.social @leverhulme.bsky.social @ukri.org and @diamondlightsource.bsky.social for funding support. Thanks for reading! 10/10

Our approach should readily generalize to other model systems with comparable brain sizes (e.g. other molluscs, crustacea, annelids, insects). On its own, it won’t yield a full wiring diagram, but it does rapidly provide a detailed overview map for atlas building and comparative studies. 9/10

This provides the locations of principal feeding-circuit cell types, including motoneurons, CPG neurons and modulatory cells, alongside a detailed summary of their main functional properties. 8/10

We also brought together the anatomical mapping and functional information to establish the beginnings of a fully scalable functional cell atlas of the brain of Lymnaea stagnalis: sites.google.com/view/snailbr... 7/10

The consistent positioning of neurons across Lymnaea brains means the atlas can guide follow-up functional experiments. Targeting a non-superficial region led to the discovery of DINE (“Diamond Neuron”), an apt name 😜 because it activates the food ingestion circuitry. 6/10

The 3D reconstruction revealed the organization of neurons beneath the surface layer for the first time. It turns out around half the neurons (coloured orange) are non-superficial - a hidden world of circuit components that can now be studied. 5/10

We then used the excellent volume image-sharing, annotation, and reconstruction platform
@webknossos.org to fully reconstruct the buccal ganglia (one side is shown here) housing the main feeding circuitry, yielding the first accurate estimate of the total number of neurons: ~1100. 4/10

Michael Crossley led the experimental work, supported by Anna Simon, @arndroth.bsky.social and @enzomarra.bsky.social Thanks to @sussexneuro.bsky.social @leverhulme.bsky.social @ukri.org and @diamondlightsource.bsky.social for funding support. Thanks for reading! 10/10

Our approach should readily generalize to other model systems with comparable brain sizes (e.g. other molluscs, crustacea, annelids, insects). On its own, it won’t yield a full wiring diagram, but it does rapidly provide a detailed overview map for atlas building and comparative studies. 9/10

Sample image showing detailed information on different neuron types in the Lymnaea brain.

This provides the locations of principal feeding-circuit cell types, including motoneurons, CPG neurons and modulatory cells, alongside a detailed summary of their main functional properties. 8/10

We also brought together the anatomical mapping and functional information to establish the beginnings of a fully scalable functional cell atlas of the brain of Lymnaea stagnalis: sites.google.com/view/snailbr... 7/10

Figure shows a cross section view of the ganglia with an orange neuron, DINE, highlighted. It also shows electrophysiological traces with DINE driving a robust fictive feeding rhythm.

The consistent positioning of neurons across Lymnaea brains means the atlas can guide follow-up functional experiments. Targeting a non-superficial region led to the discovery of DINE (“Diamond Neuron”), an apt name 😜 because it activates the food ingestion circuitry. 6/10

Image shows a cross section through the snail ganglia with superficial neurons shown in blue and internalized neurons in orange. There are similar numbers of each.

The 3D reconstruction revealed the organization of neurons beneath the surface layer for the first time. It turns out around half the neurons (coloured orange) are non-superficial - a hidden world of circuit components that can now be studied. 5/10

We then used the excellent volume image-sharing, annotation, and reconstruction platform @webknossos.org to fully reconstruct the buccal ganglia (one side is shown here) housing the main feeding circuitry, yielding the first accurate estimate of the total number of neurons: ~1100. 4/10

A full CNS scan took ~3 mins, and higher-res stacks (voxel size: 0.325 µm) <20 mins. Browse a sample here: wklink.org/2643 3.5/10

Image shows embedded snail brain and X-ray overview of structure

We plastic-embedded the 3x3x2 mm3 brain and performed X-ray tomography imaging at the Diamond Synchrotron Facility @diamondlightsource.bsky.social

The mollusc Lymnaea is a classical system for neural circuit studies. However, we lack a cell-level atlas of its multi-mm scale brain to guide functional investigations. The solution? 2/10