Zoltan Molnar

Development and function of cortical networks
September 29, 2025
Mainz, Campus of the JGU Mainz, BFZ, Duesbergweg 6, Germany
www.unimedizin-mainz.de/phys.../vera...
This scientific symposium was organised to honor the scientific contributions and achievements of Prof. Heiko J. Luhmann Dr. Luhmann

Jenkinson Developmental Biology Symposium, at the MSTC, on 12 Dec 25.
Registration is now open: please note that registration is mandatory but free of charge. Registration will close on 28 Nov.

Today I gave the opening lecture of the MSc in Neuroscience Course at the brand new Life and Mind Building (LaMB) on History of Neuroscience at Oxford. This was a historic event itself; the very first teaching session in the new building. #Oxneuro #neuroscience

T14 isn’t just a fragment — it’s a signalling peptide shaping brain development & activity. Its dysregulation may help explain Alzheimer’s according to Susan Greenfield. The team is celebrating the publication 👉 doi.org/10.3390/ijms...
Widespread changes in T14 after manipulations of activity.

CORTICAL EVOLUTION - 15-17th June 2026 - Bilbao Spain
Organizers: Verónica Martínez Cerdeño, Fernando García Moreno, Elena Vecino, and Stephen Noctor
Early registration until 1st May 2026
ventricular.org/corticalevol...
@veronicamartinez.bsky.social @phylobrain.bsky.social

Official group photo taken by Professor Kristine Krug

Information Processing in Thalamus and Cortex
Cardiff University, School of Biosciences
19th-20th Sep 2025.
Organised by Kevin Fox in honour of Vincenzo Crunelli & Frank Sengpiel @Cardiff University Biosciences

The search for the mechanisms cortical regulation of sleep continues. Latest collaborative work suggests that part of the answer lies in the cortex.
By switching cortical neurons on and off, we could change how much sleep animals got — and even the quality of that sleep. doi.org/10.1101/2025...

New collaborative research from the Szele Laboratory identifies Galectin-3 as a key regulator of neural development, establishing its contribution to brain growth.
For more details: www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/.../new-rese....
To read the paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congratulations to Florina Szabó who defended her DPhil. Thanks to the examiners Prof Nicoletta Kessaris (UCL) and Prof Simon Butt (@interneuron.bsky.social); to Anatomical Society and to Dr Anna Hoerder-Suabedissen for co-supervising. One chapter is already published: doi.org/10.1111/joa....

We say thanks to @stjohnsox.bsky.social & @oxforddpag.bsky.social, and Molnar Lab (www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/research/mol...) who helped during the Summer Meeting of the Anatomical Society. Thanks to our sponsors who supported our meeting. Read more on DPAG news: www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/news/anatomi...

Excellent day at the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting at ST John's College, Oxford today. anatsoc.org.uk/meetings/our...
@ArtedelCuerpoH1, @SaraBandiera2, @anat_soc, @AnatSocSummer25, @AnatSocOxford

Possible long-term effects of environmental and genetic factors on an individual’s life. Background: Healthcare costs are rising at an exponential rate. Given the constraints of limited resources, it is essential to make informed decisions about priorities to ensure the best possible health outcomes globally. The history of medicine illustrates how these priorities have shifted over time – from early focus on infectious diseases to later emphasis on noncommunicable conditions such as metabolic disorders. Today, neurodegenerative diseases and aging brain are the forefront of medical research, as these conditions profoundly affect individuals, families, and society. Summary: One in three people will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime, yet it is not widely recognized that many of these conditions may have origins in pre-birth experiences and early life influences. Disruptions in progenitor proliferation, neuronal and glial migration, and differentiation during prenatal development can contribute to lifelong neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Despite the fundamental importance of brain development, most of the neuroscience funding is allocated to studying neurodegeneration, such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease, while early life influences remain underexplored. Crucially, the impact of developmental factors begins even before conception. Environmental risks extend beyond direct maternal exposures during pregnancy; they include cumulative parental exposure to teratogenic agents affecting both male and female gametes, as well as early life environmental exposures affecting newborns, infants, and children. These influences are complex yet highly relevant to long-term health outcomes. Key Messages: We urge greater recognition of the developmental origins of disease and advocate for increased investment in preventive strategies. These include lifestyle modifications, dietary improvements, targeted supplementation, regular exercise, and minimizing exposu…

Why wait until the damage is done?
Our new paper highlights how many brain and mental health disorders begin before birth — yet most funding still targets late-life neurodegeneration.
It’s time to invest in prevention.
🔗 doi.org/10.1159/0005...

My STEP inTO OxMed talk "INTRODUCTION TO BRAIN DEVELOPMENT" is for 14-17 year old secondary school/ sixth form students this Friday.

Gala dinner of @corticodevelopment.bsky.social with some of winners of the poster prizes and with the students asking the best questions.

@corticodevelopment.bsky.social The conference centre shall host the lectures, coffee shall be next to the pool and the gala dinner shall be at Stella di Mare restaurant at the beach.

@corticodevelopment.bsky.social Casa del Massaro shall host the opening dinner, student and postdoc introduction and networking session.

@corticodevelopment.bsky.social Looking forward to the start of the meeting tonight!

Frontiers | Chronic silencing of Drd1a-Cre+ neurons impairs dopaminergic-driven cortical activation

Collaborative work between the Mann and Molnár Groups at @OxfordDPAG have studied a small group of specialized brain cells to investigate how they play a powerful role in keeping us alert and helping our brains process sensory information (doi.org/10.3389/fnan...).

Succinct, yet comprehensive summary of our paper doi.org/10.1038/s413... in scienmag.com
See: scienmag.com/orexin-sensi...
Possible functions of a subpopulation of neurons within lower part of layer 6 of the cerebral cortex that exhibits sensitivity to orexin.

Role of subplate neurons in the development and evolution of the mammalian neocortex
3 June 2025, 16:00
Sherrington Library, Sherrington Building DPAG
Professor Chiaki Ohtaka-Maruyama from Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/067...

An orexin-sensitive subpopulation of layer 6 neurons regulates cortical excitability and anxiety behaviour - Translational Psychiatry Translational Psychiatry - An orexin-sensitive subpopulation of layer 6 neurons regulates cortical excitability and anxiety behaviour

A collaborative study from Molnár, Mann, Bannerman and Lak labs has uncovered a population of brain cells that could play a critical role in how we experience stress and anxiety. (Messore, Narayan Therpurakal et al., 2025 - doi.org/10.1038/s413...), www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/news/molnar-...

Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a low-cost open-source home-cage monitoring system which measures the food intake and feeding behaviour of laboratory mice. doi.org/10.12688/wel....
www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/.../the-snac....

Florina Szabó makes the cover of the @journalofanatomy.bsky.social. The paper is on the bidirectional interaction between deep-layer pyramidal cells and GABAergic neurons, describing the impact of interrupting pyramidal neuron activity on inhibitory network formation. doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Black Sea Neurogenesis 2025 - Varna, Bulgaria, 05-07 June 2025
www.mu-varna.bg/EN/AboutUs/P...

Just back from an inspiring time at @ox.ac.uk as the DPhil external examiner for Barbara Sarkany, with @vineytj.bsky.social supervising & @zoltan-molnar.bsky.social as internal. Fascinating work on early thalamic tau pathology in #Alzheimers!

The new edition of European Conference on Comparative Neurobiology, ECCN2025 will take place from May 6th to 8th in beautiful Alicante (Spain) and soon you will be able to register and submit your abstracts through the conference website: eccn2025.umh.es

A “Test, Agy, Viselkedés: Három Nézet és Beszélgetések” című könyv a legmagasabb szinten végzett agykutatásról szól, különös tekintettel az agy fejlődésére, evolúciójára, perifériás szervekkel való kapcsolatára valamint agy és agy közötti kommunikációra. A könyv e tudományágak integrációjának szemléltetésével bővíti az idegtudomány jelenlegi nézeteit. Három különböző érdeklődésű tudós újszerű beszélgetési módszerével a sejtes-, endokrin-, fejlődési- és társadalmi folyamatok zökkenőmentesen szövődnek olyan témákba, amelyek a relevánsan kapcsolódnak az egészséghez illetve napjaink betegségeihez. A könyv kritikus olvasmány mindazok számára, akik szeretnének megismerkedni az idegrendszer belső működésével és ezek kapcsolataival mai világunkhoz. Publisher: Alphapress Könyvkiadó és Nyomdai Kft. Székesfehérvár 8000 Székesfehérvár Homoksor 7. Budapest 1196 Budapest, Hofherr Albert 38-42. E-mail: nyomda@alphapress.hu Fordította: Dr. Vitéz-Móré Tamás; Szakmailag lektorálta: Horváth L. Tamás , Molnár Zoltán. Felelős kiadó az Alphapress Könyvkiadó és Nyomdai Kft. Székesfehérvár 8000 Székesfehérvár Homoksor 7. Budapest 1196 Budapest, Hofherr Albert 38-42. E-mail: nyomda@alphapress.hu isbn:978-615-6235-16-9.ISBN: 978-615-6235-16-9.

Test, agy, viselkedés - Három nézet és egy beszélgetés.
alphapress.hu/termek/test-...
Hungarian translation of: Tamas Horvath, Joy Hirsh, Zoltán Molnár (2022) Body, Brain, Behavior - Three Views and a Conversation ELSEVIER,
www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Brain-F...

From Stem Cells to Assembloids to Constructing Human Neural Circuits to Study Development and Disease
@sergiuppasca.bsky.social Stanford University
4PM, Thursday, 20th February 2025 Blakemore Lecture Theatre, Sherrington Building
@oxforddpag.bsky.social
@oxneuro.bsky.social

Special Neuroscience Seminars on SCHIZOPHRENIA –
Developmental Mechanisms in Schizophrenia talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b4b...
Cellular Models of Schizophrenia
talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/cbb...
@UCPH_BRIC, @karolinskainst.bsky.social @oxneuro.bsky.social