Matt Wanat

It is also real buggy right now and hopefully it gets better when/if it moves out of beta

Hey look, Notice on Implementation of Common Forms Biosketch and Other Support for Due Dates on/after Jan 25, 2026. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

This is the most mind boggling data in this article

47% ⬇️ in NIAAA
43% ⬇️ MH
etc
🤯😔

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article) A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.

New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🙏 @sfnjournals.bsky.social now out! & while celltype &ephys are alike across sexes, behavioral functions and axon terminal distribution in NAc and brainwide diverge by sex and #stress. @ladenardo.bsky.social

Whats The Buzz Whats Happening GIF ALT: Whats The Buzz Whats Happening GIF

GIF THREAD ALERT – With pleasure, we present our @SfNJournals #JNeurosci article www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4... by my grad student Jackson Schumacher and former post doc Mieke Van Holstein

Caprock canyon

Bison

So this week I learned that Caprock Canyon state park is pretty sweet

Updated guidance on NIH grant application due dates (10/1/2025-12/5/2025), along with some other Info. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Notice of early expiration of NIH SBIR/STTR funding announcements.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

If anyone knows the backstory, please share.

Cocaine seeking and consumption are oppositely regulated by mesolimbic dopamine in male rats - Nature Communications Here authors demonstrate how opposing trajectories of dopamine transmission underlie changes in drug seeking and taking over chronic drug use. Increased dopamine to drug cues elevates craving, whereas...

Thought now was as good a time as ever to join bsky - Excited to share a big part of my PhD work is finally published- 7+ years of experiments from a great team of people. Wishing I could be at #sfn2025 to celebrate with you guys! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Uh, that is some bad news indeed

Cocaine seeking and consumption are oppositely regulated by mesolimbic dopamine in male rats - Nature Communications Here authors demonstrate how opposing trajectories of dopamine transmission underlie changes in drug seeking and taking over chronic drug use. Increased dopamine to drug cues elevates craving, whereas...

Awesome work by lead author Lauren Burgeno et al: Dopamine evoked by non-contingent cues increases over cocaine use, producing greater cue reactivity; whereas dopamine evoked by contingent cues decreases over cocaine use, producing escalation of drug consumption. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excited to share new research from my lab in final published form! By deleting hypocretin (orexin) receptors from CRF neurons, we uncovered neuropeptide mechanisms linking alcohol drinking and negative emotional hyperarousal through BNST neuronal excitability.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

At no point can you accurately predict what will happen. I love it.

Man with hockey mask and a sign saying reviewer 2

Nothing is scarier than Reviewer #2

ATTN: Two faculty positions are available in my department (neuroscience) at the University of Minnesota. This is a general search with no topic focus. November 20th application deadline.

Apply here: hr.umn.edu/jobs/Find-Job
Assistant Prof job code: 364920
Associate/Full Prof job code: 364921

Support Young Investigators Each year, the Winter Conference on Brain Research (WCBR) meets to provide a forum for innovative science in carefully curated sessions. Your support of Winter Brain will help us support and foster the next generation of neuroscientists. The generosity of donors like Scott Edwards, PhD, and Paul Letourneau, PhD help us provide Winter Brain Travel Awards to scientists. "I enjoy supporting the WCBR Travel Awards program becuase it promotes the inclusion of next generation researchers into a highly welcoming community of neuroscientists," Dr. Edwards said. "When young scientists can experience such a great conference, it emboldens their confidence in their future careers." Your one-time donation or monthly gift is tax-deductible and will allow young investigators to experience a meeting where they will have mentorship programs, networking opportunites, and career development, as well as learn the latest brain science. Dr. Letourneau has seen first-hand the impact that attending Winter Brain has on young scientists. "I strongly support the WCBR Travel Fellowship," he said. "The WCBR is a great meeting for young investigators to meet peers and accomplished scientists in an informal, enjoyable setting. I made both long-standing friendships and research collaborations at my first WCBRs." Your support is important, and Winter Brain will recognize your generosity by including your name on the website and signage during the conference. If you prefer to donate via check, you may send donations to: WCBR, Attention: Travel Awards, 5034-A Thoroughbred Lane, Brentwood, TN 37027. Help Winter Brain mentor the next generation of neuroscientists with a gift in 2025. We are grateful for your generosity. Sincerely, Susan Ferguson, PhD Conference Chair

Your donation is tax deductible and supports the young scientists who are being lost due to the federal funding crisis. #WCBR2026 nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

Mine was scheduled for 11/12-11/13 and we just completed the COI phase. There might be some variability between study sections but I would bet that any of those taking place after the first 1.5 weeks into November are going to get a very late review

I am supposed to be on a study section that is supposed to meet in mid November and we didn't get grant assignments before the shutdown. So I really feel for those applicants because they will have their grants reviewed even later than everybody else (once/if the government opens up)

We've extended the deadline for #WCBR2026 posters! New due date is Oct 16th! www.winterbrain.org please share!

Congrats Kurt!!!

Excited to share the Special Issue on "Stress and Addiction" in Addiction Neuroscience is now available. Huge kudos to guest editors Karl Schmidt and Anushree Karkhanis and all the authors who contributed. www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

one more day left for poster submissions to Winter Brain 2026

October 9th is the deadline for poster submissions for #WCBR2026 please share! www.winterbrain.org

a white cat is sitting on a box with the words where written on it . ALT: a white cat is sitting on a box with the words where written on it .

The fiscal year is over.

So how was the NIH appropriation committed?

A long thread with institute by institute results about where the money went.

On the nature of a NSF (or NIH) graduate training fellowship I had a thought about graduate school fellowships and added it to the prior past about the NSF GRFP limitations to first year graduate students. [ETA 09/29/2025: I forgot to mention something impor…

On the nature of a NSF (or NIH) graduate training fellowship drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/09/29/o...

Sometimes you hear a bump in the night. Sometimes that bump is your ceiling crashing down due to an AC drain leak. This wasn’t on my bingo card for today

🔵 I'm interrupting my social media hiatus to flag this important preprint from the Bruchas lab (is he not on Bluesky!?) together with @davidweinshenker.bsky.social. Very difficult experiments to show that dopamine release from LC terminals is independent of VTA 🔥
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Photostimulation of locus coeruleus CA1 catecholaminergic terminals reversed Spatial memory impairment in an alzheimer’s disease mouse model - Psychopharmacology Rationale One of the earliest changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the loss of catecholaminergic terminals in the cortex and hippocampus originating from the Locus Coeruleus (LC). This ...

We showed previously that chemogenetic activation of the LC rescues spatial reversal learning in the TgF344-AD rat. New paper follows up and reports that optogenetic stimulation of LC terminals in CA1 also rescues cognitive deficits in 3xTg mouse model of AD. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Flyer for Texas A&M hiring of two assistant professors in Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscience, with link for applications.

We're hiring 2 faculty in Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscience at the Assistant Professor level -- come join our amazing department at Texas A&M!
apply.interfolio.com/172286
Apply by Oct 1 for highest priority.

Graph titled "value of grants awarded in 2025 has caught up to average of previous years." Graph shows average of 2016-24 spending and how much has been spent so far in FY25

Graph titled "Amount of first-year R01 and R21 grants." Graph compares average of 2016-24 to 2025.

It's been a busy time for NIH grants staff — the agency seems on track to spend its budget this fiscal year

But, because of multi-year funding, fewer projects are being funded than in previous years.

The number of R grants has fallen from 5,633 to 3,758

analysis by @jaspar.bsky.social