Alain Dagher

Left: Pathways involved in brain energy metabolism. Energy metabolism refers to processes involved in energy production from nutrient molecules. Glucose is the main energy source in the brain under normal physiological conditions. Glucose entering brain cells can be utilized in three parallel pathways. It can be processed through glycolysis to produce 2 ATP and 2 pyruvate molecules (blue). Lactate dehydrogenases catalyze the interconversion of lactate and pyruvate (purple). Pyruvate is transported into mitochondria, where it enters the TCA cycle to generate high-energy electron carriers NADH and FADH2 (green), driving the complete oxidation of glucose through the mitochondrial electron transport chain (red). Glucose entering the brain can also enter the PPP. PPP is an anabolic pathway that uses glucose to produce 5-carbon sugars and NADPH, an essential co-factor used in nucleotide and lipid biosynthesis (yellow). Glucose can also be stored in the form of glycogen via glycogen synthase, a process mainly active in astrocytes. Right: Energy pathway maps. Colors show z-scored mean expression values across all genes in each pathway. ppp, pentose phosphate pathway; tca, tricarboxylic acid cycle; oxphos, oxidative phosphorylation; lactate, lactate metabolism and transport.

How are energy #metabolism pathways distributed across the #cortex? @alaindagher.bsky.social &co map five pathways in the human #brain, linking metabolic organization with brain structural & functional properties, as well as developmental dynamics @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c1JVp8

Nature's Impact Factor is in the Epstein Files. Really.

"[S]ociological graduate students are required routinely to hand in [...] new discoveries equalling Gregor Mendel's" 😭

I think in sociology this has stopped, but psych is unfortunately still going strong bsky.app/profile/cele...

The Shingles vaccine has outperformed all expectations. Why?
erictopol.substack.com/p/spotlight-...

Our lab, located at the University of Alberta (Canada), is hiring a postdoctoral scholar and/or PhD student to work on the contribution of genetic mutations to neurological disorder mechanisms and response to treatments. Please share widely! can-acn.org/postdoctoral...

Everyone: academic publishing is broken.

Also everyone ( on a search committee): candidate has a cell paper and a nature neuroscience paper.

Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising?

Canada-Impact-Plus - Research - Western University

If you're (1) into nhp neurophysiology and/or biological motor control, (2) a foreign big shot and (3) interested in moving here, please reach out -- this new program looks extremely attractive (min. $8M over 8y)! www.uwo.ca/research/can...

Most published personality profiles are super similar! @kerliilv.bsky.social clustered 162 NEO PI personality-phenotype profiles. 70% of profiles belong to just 3 clusters , and 89% belong to just 5 😱!

Check out the thread for more! 👇

@alaindagher.bsky.social @renemottus.bsky.social

Brain size links neurodevelopment to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.09.25341901v1

As an editor for many years, I still believe in the importance of peer review, especially in journals closely linked to specific scientific communities/societies. It's not a guarantee of course.

It's like if you weed your garden regularly. Will you still have weeds? Yes. Does it help? Also yes.

Brain size links neurodevelopment to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease Genetic studies have advanced our understanding of Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis, establishing a role for autophagy and lysosomal dysfunction. However, how genetic risk translates into neurona...

Cortical expansion and genetic risk for PD.
Led by Houman Azizi and Nooshin Abbasi.
With @ptenigma.bsky.social @misicbata.bsky.social @yasharneuro.bsky.social @ndrewvo.bsky.social and many others www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Yes. The ones that were rejected😀

Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential studies underpinning these...

Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism: Neuron www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

lol. No one who has done time in Canadian Academia has any illusion that it’s a meritocracy.

I asked nano banana in Gemini 3.0 to make a diagram explaining two-sample MR with an arrow indicating pleiotropy. This is what it came up with. Not great - and what on earth is "pleizorotty"?

Why does your brain shrink in Parkinson’s? Word shrink in this case refers to measurable loss of brain tissue (atrophy), which reflects thinning of cortex/loss of volume in key brain regions. New paper shows widespread atrophy following brain’s wiring diagram and local biological vulnerabilities.

Should called it the Siesta Bowl.

www.nfl.com/games/comman...

Obituary – Jonathan Smallwood

Jonny Smallwood @themindwanders.bsky.social was a beloved friend and mentor. He was taken from us too soon. His was a beautiful mind who understood the beauty of minds. As ever before, his kind voice guides me and his work will continue. We miss you Jonny. www.cbs.mpg.de/news/obituar...

Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential studies underpinning these...

New paper with @statsepi.bsky.social and @deevybee.bsky.social in which we show there's really no evidence for a link between the gut microbiome and autism www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Ying-Qiu Zheng, Saad Jbabdi, et al:

An image quality transfer approach for localising deep brain stimulation targets

doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

Happy to share our review "Investigating hierarchical critical periods in human neurodevelopment” in @npp-journal.bsky.social! We examine neurobiological, environmental & behavioral evidence for human critical periods in sensory and association cortex +discuss new research directions rdcu.be/eMkVU 🧵

I agree - I would see talented recruits as potential collaborators, not competitors.

Quebec minister steps down day after daughter criticizes special law for doctors | CBC News Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant has announced he is leaving his position in the CAQ government.

But now it seems he's found his moral centre www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

CAQ vs. English universities: François Legault's specialty is cutting Quebec off at the knees François Legault’s decision to double the cost of university tuition for out of province students is shortsighted, mean-spirited and, from an economic vantage point, completely idiotic.

And when they came after English universities, Lionel Carmant said nothing because his daughter was not at an English university cultmtl.com/2023/10/caq-...

Quebec bill would extend religious symbols ban to school support workers, force students to uncover faces | CBC News The Quebec government is putting forward a bill that would extend the province's ban on the wearing of religious symbols to support staff in schools, and prohibit students from having their faces cove...

When they came after young women wearing a hijab, Lionel Carmant said nothing because his daughter does not wear a hijab. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Multiplex immunofluorescence of Aβ species

🚨New in Lancet Neurology: Autopsy study of aducanumab in #Alzheimer’s shows superficial cortical Aβ cleared, but deeper persists. ARIA showed inflammation+ microinfarcts in leptomeningeal/penetrating vessels. Some path is PET-invisible. @drneurochic.bsky.social
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lxn85FFzL...

I have really enjoyed this book.

Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.

In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.