Rafael Dai Pra

q.e.d Science Critical Thinking AI for constructive criticism and science evaluation

Here's the link to the system, try it! qedscience.com
@qedscience.bsky.social

WTI Postdoctoral Fellowship applications are open! Unique opportunity for those pivoting fields or working across disciplines. I’d be happy to support candidates with a background in immunology and/or in vivo 2-photon imaging, including collaborations with other WTI labs wti.yale.edu/initiatives/...

Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Beautiful cover and design! 🎉

small pert bird perches on wire fencing, black eye and bill, with feathers in shades of blue, purple, yellow & orange

Forget all the annoying stuff in the world for a few seconds and enjoy the natural beauty of Brazil’s Seven-coloured Tanager (Tangara fastuosa) Photo: Luiz Cavalcanti Damasceno

So glad to have had the chance to join this symposium. ✨ Amazing people and amazing science! Thank you for this opportunity!

Lab’s latest: (mouse) mums grow their guts during pregnancy and lactation: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

How these hibernating squirrels conquer thirst Neurophysiology of resting rodents could hold secrets to suspended animation

Check out this @science.org video 📽️ featuring @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social's PI Elena Gracheva & grad student Maddy Junkins 👩‍🔬 as they explore the fascinating physiology of hibernation 💤 in 13-lined ground squirrels 🐿️ and the neurophysiology behind thirst suppression! 🥤🧪

Hibernation scientists studying squirrels could get humans to deep space The biological phenomenon borders on sci-fi.

Squirrel-sicles, space travel, brain surgery, and scenes from an in-person reporting trip (unheard of in this economy)!

www.popsci.com/science/hibe...

Mating proximity blinds threat perception - Nature A state-dependent dopamine filter system in the male Drosophila brain balances threat perception against the drive to mate.

A paper that comes with a tagline

"Amorous adventures can lead us to pursue risky actions."

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

Thermally induced neuronal plasticity in the hypothalamus mediates heat tolerance - Nature Neuroscience Ambroziak, Nencini, Pohle and colleagues identify a slowly emerging plasticity mechanism in a discrete set of hypothalamic preoptic neurons that is triggered by long-term heat exposure and that drives...

My inaugural post on Bluesky - quite fittingly, I'm thrilled to share our first study on heat acclimation, which identifies a neuronal mechanism that drives heat tolerance in mice. (www.nature.com/articles/s41... )
Here is the gist 🧵 (1/n):

Suppression of neurons in circumventricular organs enables months-long survival without water in thirteen-lined ground squirrels Water deprivation is a life-threatening condition that engages a protective physiological response to couple osmolyte retention with potentiation of thirst. This response, typical for most mammals, sa...

Beautiful study by Maddy from the Gracheva Lab describes a mechanism for long-term thirst suppression during hibernation in hibernating ground squirrels 🐿️💧
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

My lab studies both lab mice and naked mole rats. There is a belief amongst some that what we discover in mice will be universally true, and what we discover in naked mole rats will be a weird mole rat quirk. I believe this mouse-centric view of biological systems is very limiting.

That's awesome!! Congrats to you Nico and to the whole team! 🎉🎉

This is us! We're an educational resource with a bsky account. Content will be all about open educational resources in neuro, including but not limited to this book. #neuroscience #neuroskyence #openneuroscience #openscience