Tomchik lab members pictured in front of the green wall outside the Prem Sahai auditorium at the University of Iowa. Seth is in the center of the group, wearing graduation regalia and a Caver medallion from the ceremony.

Great week in the lab, including the Carver College of Medicine Investiture. Thank you to the Roy J. Carver Charitable Foundation for supporting our research. It was an honor to reflect on, and speak about, the influence of my mentors, and the work of our lab members, past and present (pictured).

27.09.2025 23:36 — 👍 15    🔁 1    💬 2    📌 0

Congratulations Seth!!!

30.09.2025 04:00 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Patterns of c-Fos expression in the SC, PAG, and HPC reveal a loss of activity in the SC and PAG following extinction-updating but persistent activity of the vCA1. Top left: Engram labeling strategy. Bottom: TRAP2xAi32 mice underwent one of three types of behavioral paradigms; re-exposure (n = 6 mice) vs. no re-exposure (n = 6 mice), extinction (n = 7 mice) vs. innate (n = 8 mice), or updating (n = 11 mice) vs. innate (n = 8 mice). Mice were injected with 4-OHT to transiently induce c-Fos dependent EYFP upon first exposure to the looming stimulus, and later perfused 60 min following stimulus presentation at the end of the behavioral paradigm. Tolp right: Example histology from the SC, with an EYFP+c-Fos+ cell highlighted by the white arrow.

How do we balance innate responses & adaptive learning when reacting to threats? @tjryan.bsky.social &co show that repeated exposure to looming stimuli reduces innate defensive responses via #hippocampal modulation, revealing a vCA1 engram needed for learned #fear @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4pNSnNp

29.09.2025 16:56 — 👍 4    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 0

An absolutely awful turn of events. I am heartbroken over the firing of the Flybase staff. Thanks to @claudia-lopez.bsky.social for covering this important story.

13.08.2025 22:37 — 👍 79    🔁 26    💬 1    📌 1

The ataxin-2 protein is required in kenyon cells for RNP-granule assembly and appetitive long-term memory formation Ribonucleoprotein granules (mRNP granules) are thought to contribute to the control of neuronal mRNA translation required for consolidation of long-term memories. Consistent with this, the function...

🧠 Our latest paper is out!
Here, we show that Ataxin-2 is essential for memory formation via RNP granule dynamics in Drosophila.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0167...
#Neuroscience #Memory #RNA #Drosophila #NewPaper
@tamaraboto.bsky.social @simon-sprecher.bsky.social

04.08.2025 16:35 — 👍 6    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

📣 Recruiting a PhD Student! 🇪🇸

Join our new lab at @universidadjaen.bsky.social to study how memories are regulated at the molecular level.

Collaborative team, southern Spain, funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación @ageinves.bsky.social
Apply by early Sept.

#PhD #Memory #Neuroscience

01.08.2025 07:38 — 👍 8    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 1

Latest preprint from our lab, describing how cellular signaling changes in neurofibromatosis type 1 affect two behavioral and metabolic phenotypes. Loss of Nf1 increases Ras, but these phenotypes differ in their dependence on downstream signaling. #neuroskyence

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

30.07.2025 17:19 — 👍 6    🔁 4    💬 2    📌 1

New Preprint from the lab, and the second half of Elizabeth Hodge’s masters project - we dived into whether shifts in visual #foraging behaviours and spatial #memory in #Heliconius involved changes in sensory systems🧪 1/n

13.07.2025 13:53 — 👍 17    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 1

We're hiring! Two exciting opportunities in our Lab @unibirmingham.bsky.social

Come work with us on decision-making and neural circuits in Drosophila. Please share!

Senior Research Technician + Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Deadline: 10 July

More info here: www.rezavallab.org

26.06.2025 10:34 — 👍 6    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 2