Thanks to @erin-schuman.bsky.social , @evakaulich.bsky.social and other co-authors, and @mpibrain.bsky.social for all the support 🙂🧠 looking forward to your feedback!

Finally, we discovered that the transcriptome of layer 1 resembles that of stratum lacunosum moleculare in the hippocampus – indicating that the molecular environment of these distal layers might have been conserved.

By comparing layer 1 synapses to synapses from deeper layers, we found significant transcriptomic differences. This shows that the sets of mRNAs localized to synapses change depending on cortical layer, potentially conferring specialized function.

We used metabolic labelling and FISH to discover that local protein synthesis is indeed a feature of layer 1. We characterized the transcriptome of layer 1 and its synapses, discovering >1000 transcripts localized at excitatory synapses, and a distinct set of mRNAs localized at inhibitory synapses.

Decades of work, on the other hand, have shown that local protein synthesis is an important mechanism for neuronal function and plasticity – yet it is unknown how this process is regulated in the cortex, and whether it is used to achieve layer-specific function.

Cortical layer 1 integrates top-down inputs with bottom-up information and undergoes plasticity during learning, but we don’t know much about the underlying molecular mechanisms.

I’m excited to share my PhD work on localized mRNAs and protein synthesis in cortical layer 1 on bioRxiv! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨Very happy that my PhD work is now out in @nature.com!

We discovered that evolution, by acting in the midbrain, shifted the threshold to escape in Peromyscus mice, to fine-tune defensive strategies in different environments

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

This was a truly collaborative effort! 🧵⬇️

New Preprint out !

The proteasome maturation factor POMP moonlights as a stress-induced transcriptional regulator
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Lead by: @sgiando.bsky.social
with: @muellermara.bsky.social , @erin-schuman.bsky.social , @marcvoo.bsky.social and many more

Short thread below 🧵1/4

National Climate Assessment Authors Are Dismissed by Trump Administration (Gift Article) The Trump administration told researchers it was “releasing” them from their roles. It puts the future of the assessment, which is required by Congress, in doubt.

Remember when in March of 2020 Trump said he didn't want to test people for COVID because he liked the numbers the way they were?

That, but for climate.

Connectomic analysis of astrocyte-synapse interactions in the cerebral cortex www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02....

This is a few weeks old, but LIZARDS NEVER GET OLD 🦎😇 Find out what makes them so interesting in our Creature Column @naturemethods.bsky.social

Joint visual-vestibular computation of head direction and reflexive eye movement Several cognitive maps have been identified, but what sensory signals drive them and how these are combined are not well understood. One such map, the head-direction representation, is believed to be ...

How do different sensory signals combine in the computation of cognitive maps? I’m thrilled to share our new preprint, in which we investigate this question in the context of the head-direction system:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Good luck! 😊💪

Reflective piece by Eve Marder – "What happened to the pursuit of truth"
rupress.org/jgp/article/...