Rachael Hokenson, PhD

I like LinkedIn for updating my experience and seeing what other people are up to, but ah, the home feed makes me feel like I'm in a simulation haha

If you didn’t attend #ACNP2026 and missed this study group, check out the Perspective authored by the panelists on this topic:

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

High estrogen levels in brain may increase women's risk of stress-related memory issues Findings of UC Irvine-led study could lead to new ways of addressing PTSD, dementia

news.uci.edu/2026/02/03/h... Happy I could contribute to this exciting project! @talliezee.bsky.social @eahellerphd.bsky.social

+ @kiransoma.bsky.social !!

a styled mouse appearing to scream, inpired by a painting by Munch created by Dr Rachael hokenson

Embargo over @cp-neuron.bsky.social High hippocampal estrogen levels promote #plasticity but also maladaptive They allow stress-induced memory loss in both sexes changing chromatin state www.cell.com/neuron/fullt.... c awesome @eahellerphd.bsky.social @neurohoke.bsky.social
@tollkuhn.bsky.social

Hippocampal estrogen levels, receptor types, and epigenetics contribute to sex-specific memory vulnerabilities to concurrent acute stresses Acute concurrent stresses provoke lasting, sex-dependent memory problems. Hokenson, Rodríguez-Acevedo, et al. find that high hippocampal estrogen levels in mice generate permissive chromatin states, a...

Check out our new paper, investigating the role of estrogen in stress-induced memory disruptions. 🧠 online now!

www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

@talliezee.bsky.social @eahellerphd.bsky.social

🎉 congratulations!

🙏 @sfnjournals.bsky.social now out! & while celltype &ephys are alike across sexes, behavioral functions and axon terminal distribution in NAc and brainwide diverge by sex and #stress. @ladenardo.bsky.social

Finally dropped! fantastic collaboration with @ladenardo.bsky.social, whole-brain analyses of our novel CRH/GABA BLA-NAc projection shows impact of earlylife stress that are sex dependent & reflect reward behaviors www.jneurosci.org/content/earl... @thebalelab.bsky.social @kundakoviclab.bsky.social

Yay Sydney 🥳

They've never told their friends "rawr - it's means I love you in dinosaur" 😔

I saw them in LA 2 weeks ago 🤘😍

How to Dismantle the U.S. Research Enterprise in 15 Days In just 15 days, three powerful strikes have set the United States on the path to destroying its own scientific enterprise. Labs will…

Science and research are under attack. Thank you for writing this important piece @mikeyassa.bsky.social

medium.com/@myassa_6289...

Starting today, same-sex marriage is officially legalized in Thailand.

It’s the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize marriage equality.

Time for that second piece

I kept a tally and I've saved like 3000 dollars this year by going to the library instead of buying books 😆

Does it matter how we refer to individuals with substance-related conditions? A randomized study of two commonly used terms Stigma is a frequently cited barrier to help-seeking for many with substance-related conditions. Common ways of describing individuals with such probl…

Drug use researchers (esp. those in neuro/pharmacology) - please stop using the word "abuse" (e.g., drug abuse) and other stigmatizing terms

This isn't an arbitrary suggestion, there's legitimate empirical evidence showing that words like this do harm

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Just online 🧪🧠Why does a brain projection mediate #earlylifeadversity effects on adult reward behaviors in males but not females? whole-brain mapping & Laura Denardo & #AI pipeline shows crucial #Sex-difference in its innervation! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #Neuroscience @superkash.bsky.social

Are you #QueerinSTEM in the fields of #neuroscience or #psychology? Please fill out our survey if you haven't already.

We're close to 300 responders, but I know we can get an even better (and hopefully diverse) sample!

Also, please share and/or tag others (but don't out anyone).

#PrideInSTEM

Me please ☺️

Picture of textbook cover with title "Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience"

Announcing a new open access textbook for entry level behavioral neuro. Funded by NSF. Written by a collection of 26 neuro experts. Method demonstration videos and author interviews too. Consider using it in your courses to reduce financial barriers to education.

openstax.org/details/book...