Lizzie Manning

Securing the academic pipeline amid uncertain U.S. funding climate Finding creative ways to keep early-career researchers in academia—for example, through part-time roles—can help the field weather the storm.

My latest in @thetransmitter.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

2026 photo 6
Poppy was glaring at me for disturbing her sleep (by trying to leave my desk on a Saturday 😅)
She is the queen of my house

We noticed something interesting (and frustrating) this winter because we had a number of cold spells here in Florida - when humidity drops, the food in our cages loses moisture and therefore weight, artificially increasing our food consumption measures. Curious if anyone else has noticed this?

The PM calling Grace Tame, a woman fighting for the safety of children, “difficult” is completely unwarranted. 

Labelling women as difficult won’t silence us. It won’t stop us speaking truth to power. 

Next time try “unbreakable” or “warrior” or “fierce”, Prime Minister.

Photo 5 (need to catch up)
Poppy looking beautiful in her yellow jacket with a rainbow this morning.
How can you not smile at that photo?

A man standing up in a crowded room of people sitting. He is dressed in workman's clothes and has his head raised as if speaking up when not necessarily belonging there.

We are a rich enough country to be funding 37% of all basic research proposals, not just considering "the best" 37% and then maybe only funding 12% in the end.

Homeostatic scaling ensures behavioural stability during corticosterone negative feedback - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - Homeostatic scaling ensures behavioural stability during corticosterone negative feedback

Does #ChronicStress weaken our ability to cope with stressful situations?

🔍 A new study from @kbi-uhn.bsky.social's Dr. Jaideep Bains (@stressynomics.bsky.social) says maybe not. Our bodies can adapt and keep stress‑response systems working when it counts.

🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our back-translation of value-modulated attentional capture to rats and mice is now published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, and it's open access! Yay.

psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

Who's coming to IBNS this June?
Got any cool South Africa travel tips to share?
Who's going on Safari?
🚌👀🦁🐘🦒
Don't forget to submit your abstract this Friday!

In case you missed these, here's a compilation (for a few giggles to end the week).

1. Instagram post by NYUmed comms (oops).

bsky.app/profile/andr...

Another good one! :)

How eight initiatives are tackling neuroscience’s gender gap In honor of today’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science, The Transmitter spoke with eight women working to bolster their ranks in the field.

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! For its 11th year, we’re celebrating eight women neuroscientists working toward gender equality in the field.

By Paige Miranda

#WomeninScience #neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/qa/how-eight...

2026 photo 4
Poppy's happy face after a group walk with 39 other beautiful hounds 😍🥰❤️
We have a lot of fun with the "Hounds of Mayfield" group in Newcastle
Lots of hounds like Poppy who are sometimes a bit antisocial love being with their own, are so relaxed and have such a good time

2026 photo 4
Poppy's happy face after a group walk with 39 other beautiful hounds 😍🥰❤️
We have a lot of fun with the "Hounds of Mayfield" group in Newcastle
Lots of hounds like Poppy who are sometimes a bit antisocial love being with their own, are so relaxed and have such a good time

Very happy to share a new paper in
@npp-journal.bsky.social I thought I knew what would predict escalation of cocaine use. Well, I was wrong. After tracking behavior daily for weeks, the answer turned out to be the opposite of my prediction, and it changed how I see addiction.

Could high levels of estrogen, during, say, perimenopause, be a risk factor for stress related cognitive decline and dementia in women? @ajshackman.bsky.social @thebalelab.bsky.social @bangasserlab.bsky.social

I was just watching this online last night (I was registered online) and it was such a good session. Anyone who hasn't watched it yet and had access to the recordings should make sure they watch it while they still have access (before Feb 16 )
Thanks to the speakers for sharing their experiences

As someone with an interest in 1) ways of enhancing extinction learning to attenuate recovery and 2) assessing the evidence for memory erasure, I read this preprint from the Namboodiri lab with attention. Here are a few thoughts on the preprint doi.org/10.64898/202...

📢Maths in the Brain Workshop 2026 in Melbourne.

We will bring together researchers across Australia with a shared interest in understanding the brain from a quantitative perspective.

This year's keynote is delivered by Professor James Cole, University College London.

1/4🧵

Dr Christina Mo | Researcher | The Florey Dr Christina Mo is interested in the neural basis of thoughts and decisions, and uses calcium imaging and behavioural tasks to understand the circuitry.

Planning for ACAN 2026 is well underway and we're excited to announce that Dr Christina Mo has joined as a co-director (florey.edu.au/researcher/c...). Christina's expertise strengthen our focus on bridging imaging approaches and in vivo systems neuroscience. @ausneurosoc.bsky.social

📣ACAN 2026 applications are now open!
ACAN continues in 2026 at UNSW from May 10 - 30. Go to ans.org.au/acan/applica... and submit by Saturday 8th March 2026. Over 50 faculty from around the world will provide hands-on training in ephys, imaging, behaviour and more. You don't want to miss out!

2026 photo 3
Poppy is afraid of thunder and we had a short thunderstorm today
She has a spot she always goes to, & today I heard it coming and got her bed in there so she was more comfy
Recently I've found cuddlepillar helps settle her too
This pic is her relaxing after the storm ended

Waking up in beautiful Tuscany - not to be underestimated! #GRCBasalGanglia 😍

A bit behind on poppy posts but I'll try catch up because we need some sweet dog photos to bring a little joy to the world to help people keep warm and brave and strong

I just got back from a 10 day break and this was my cute shadow this afternoon 🥰

YouTube video by Antonio Jose Osuna Mascaró Flexible use of a multi-purpose tool by a cow

She uses the bristled end of a deck brush on her back and hindquarters, using repeated place-and-pull motions. For more sensitive areas such as the belly flap, udder, and anal region, she switches to the stick end, using careful, repeated poke-and-lift movements. See video link: youtu.be/bAk4PFEuWKQ

Registration is filling up fast!

Bringing African ancestry into cellular neuroscience Two independent teams in Africa are developing stem cell lines and organoids from local populations to explore neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions.

Very important research to establish African ancestry cell lines! #Neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/cellular-neu...

Looking forward to contributing to @acnporg.bsky.social panel session: Unlocking Clinical Mechanisms Through Animal Models: A Wellcome Initiative. On now (9AM) in Imperial Ballroom B! Chair Susannah Tye leading off #ACNP2026

Kicking off the appetite and addiction session @borglandlab.bsky.social shows high fat diet disinhibits OFC and impairs outcome devaluation, which is associated with astrocyte hypertrophy and inflammatory cytokine expression #acnp2026

Screenshot of the top of the article, including the article title, authors, and abstract.

Identifying the neural pathways that link drug cues to relapse is critical to improving substance use disorder treatments.

New work from my lab found that #CBD reduces cue-driven heroin seeking in rats, related to changes in gene expression 🧠👇

www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S000...