Steven Cook

Method of the Year 2025: electron microscopy-based connectomics - Nature Methods A large network of interconnected neurons serves as the basis of brain function and of behavior. Methodological advances have enabled the reconstruction of large-scale and even whole-brain connectomes...

Our Method of the Year 2025 is...drumroll please...EM-based connectomics!!

Our Editorial introduces our choice and highlights six Comments and other related content in this special issue. Please join us in celebrating EM-based connectomics! 🎉🧠🔬

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stop by MM15 and adjacent posters to see our posters on connectomics approaches using electron and light microscopy! #sfn25

If it’s your dream job to map the brain using light microscopy we should talk at #sfn25. Multiple opportunities. DMs open.

The connectome of the entire male Drosophila central nervous system is out!! Acquired using FIB-SEM @ 8x8x8nm, we aligned 7.5 mio 2D images aligned into one seamless 3D volume, which was used to segment & proofread neurons and synapses. @hhmijanelia.bsky.social

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

I’m super excited about what we can achieve using light microscopy for human connectomics and projectomics and would discuss with anyone interested!

There are so many facets of a connectomics pipeline to work on — histology, imaging, analysis, automation and more.

Our group at the Allen Institute is recruiting a technician and postdoc to work on light microscopy-based connectomics. Please DM me or share with anyone you think may be interested in this NIH BRAIN CONNECTS funded project.

E11 Bio is excited to unveil PRISM technology for mapping brain wiring with simple light microscopes. Today, brain mapping in humans and other mammals is bottlenecked by accurate neuron tracing. PRISM uses molecular ID codes and AI to help neurons trace themselves.

Read more: e11.bio/blog/prism

Synaptic connectomics: status and prospects — a Comment article by Davi D. Bock

@dddavi.bsky.social

#neuroscience #neuroskyence

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With @megyounger.bsky.social's lab, et al., we present the first connectomics work in the disease-vector mosquito Aedes aegypti, revealing how its brain is wired to detect host cues.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#Neuroscience #Connectomics #vEM #VectorBiology 🧪

How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪#Neuroskyence

The mind of a predatory worm Widespread neural connectivity changes underlie a behavioral switch between worm species

Nice perspective by Ahmed and Hiesinger here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Comparative connectomics of two distantly related nematode species reveals patterns of nervous system evolution Understanding the evolution of the bilaterian brain requires a detailed exploration of the precise nature of cellular and subcellular differences between related species. We undertook an electron micr...

Happy to share our publication - Comparative connectomics of two distantly related nematode species reveals patterns of nervous system evolution www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

No

I may not be at #worm25 but the real discussion endures

Credit to Curtis Loer for the running title!

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, it’s sad to see that disinformation continues

First bird of 2025: yellow-rumped warbler on the suet feeder

Glad we’re not the only household the intermingles real and LEGO plants

Winter break’s challenge: organize and rebuild my LEGO sets from the early 90s

Internship & Postbaccalaureate Programs Students and early-career professionals in lab research, biology, neuroscience, immunology, and others should apply for our internships and fellowships.

We're looking for an Allen Institute summer intern interested in mapping single neuron projectomes/proteomes in the human brain! Happy to chat with anyone about the opportunity and please share with anyone you think may be interested.

alleninstitute.org/careers/inte...

Yeah

New social media platform, same truth: CAN isn’t a neuron