An integrated single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics atlas reveals the molecular landscape of the human hippocampus - Nature Neuroscience The topographical organization of cells in the hippocampus reflects its ability to regulate mood and cognition. Here the authors generate a spatially resolved gene expression map in the human hippocam...

An integrated single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics atlas reveals the molecular landscape of the human hippocampus
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

LSD's rapid antidepressant effects are modulated by 5-HT2B receptors Recent clinical trials show that serotonergic psychedelics, including the prototypical hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), possess a great …

LSD’s rapid antidepressant effects are modulated by 5-HT2B receptors.

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

New Faraday cage set up!
Almost ready to roll 💪🏼⚡

🔬 @marcobocchio.bsky.social
🏫 @durhampsych.bsky.social

Intracranial directed connectivity links subregions of the prefrontal cortex to major depression - Nature Communications Low frequency brain waves convey information between regions. Here, the authors demonstrate that for patients with major depression, mood becomes more negative as low frequency waves increase intensit...

Intracranial directed connectivity links subregions of the prefrontal cortex to major depression
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stress-responsive neuronal ensembles and β-adrenergic signaling in the basolateral amygdala modulate the infra-limbic cortical activity and govern the delayed stress-induced fear extinction deficit. Stress is a critical risk factor for the development of psychological disorders, including anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Key brain regions, including the basolateral amygdala (BLA...

Stress-responsive neuronal ensembles and β-adrenergic signaling in the basolateral amygdala modulate the infra-limbic cortical activity and govern the delayed stress-induced fear extinction deficit
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

@durhampsych.bsky.social

Yesterday I got the chance to share a bit more about my PhD research at the BNA #NeuroNE2025 meeting (@britishneuro.bsky.social). I’m over the moon for receiving the prize for best poster! Thanks so much to my supervisor @marcobocchio.bsky.social for being a great mentor!

Scholarship for Durham University Students

£15,000 for a full-time student from the North East of England and from a lower income household to study full-time for a STEM taught Masters degree for the year 2025-26.

Durham people please spread the word!

Application form 👇

Understanding Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity with Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski · Episode

Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity with R. Carhart-Harris

open.spotify.com/episode/4d3t...

Enhanced Rap1 small GTPase activity in the ventral hippocampus drives stress-induced anxiety Chronic stress activates Rap1 in vHPC PNs to promote anxiety-like behaviors by increasing their intrinsic excitability.

Stress-induced anxiety is associated with increased activity of the protein Rap1 in the ventral hippocampus and can be prevented by injecting a Rap1 inhibitor, a new #ScienceAdvances study shows. scim.ag/3HQyymQ

Exciting new work from colleagues at ‪@umich.edu ... "Structural Brain Correlates of Multi-Domain Resilience Among Youth Exposed to Neighborhood Disadvantage" sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Acute subjective effects of psychedelics in naturalistic group settings prospectively predict longitudinal improvements in trauma symptoms, trait shame, and connectedness among adults with childhood m... Studies of psychedelic use in naturalistic and clinical settings have suggested safety and mental health benefits for adults with histories of childho…

Acute subjective effects of psychedelics in naturalistic group settings prospectively predict longitudinal improvements in trauma symptoms, trait shame, and connectedness among adults with childhood maltreatment histories.

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

Neuroplasticity and psychedelics: A comprehensive examination of classic
and non-classic compounds in pre and clinical models

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

Single-dose DMT reverses anhedonia and cognitive deficits via restoration of neurogenesis in a stress-induced depression model Major depressive disorder (MDD) remains a leading cause of disability worldwide, with current treatments limited by delayed onset and low efficacy. The serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine ...

Single-dose DMT reverses anhedonia and cognitive deficits via restoration of neurogenesis in a stress-induced depression model

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧠 🧪I am still awed by this live imaging of microglia (green) surveying #stress-sensitive CRH cells (red) in #hypothalamus and lopping off extraneous synapses. By the amazing @jessicalbolton.bsky.social #FluorescentFriday

Stellar new paper from Tochukwu Nweze
"Developmental trajectories of externalizing and internalizing linked to harsh parenting: The role of ethnicity and socioeconomic status" now out in Development and Psychopathology www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Neuromodulatory signaling contributing to the encoding of aversion The appropriate and rapid encoding of stimuli bearing a negative valence enables behaviors that are essential for survival. Recent advances in neuroscience using rodents as a model system highlight th...

Neuromodulatory signaling contributing to the encoding of aversion
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...

GrimACE: Automated, multimodal cage-side assessment of pain and well-being in mice Pain and welfare monitoring is essential for ethical animal testing, but current cage-side assessments are qualitative and subjective. Here we present the GrimACE, the first fully standardised and aut...

How much analgesia is needed to manage pain levels in mice after brain surgeries?

A single dose of meloxicam seems to be enough. Even the addition of opioids cannot provide a clear benefit. (in line with recent work from others, see cites in our preprint): www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Astrocytic cannabinoid receptor 1 promotes resilience by dampening stress-induced blood–brain barrier alterations - Nature Neuroscience The mechanisms of neurovascular adaptations underlying stress resilience remain unclear. Here the authors show that the astrocytic endocannabinoid system modulates the blood–brain barrier changes duri...

So excited to share the work of the fantastic Katarzyna, 1st 🧪PhD student of my lab 🧠, out in @natureneuro.bsky.social 🥂🥳
Cheers to the team, thanks to our precious collaborators and support from @braincanada.bsky.social #CIHR @fondsrechercheqc.bsky.social #newPI

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

Computational Phenotyping of Effort-Based Decision Making in Unmedicated Adults with Remitted Depression www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Coding principles and mechanisms of serotonergic transmission modes - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - Coding principles and mechanisms of serotonergic transmission modes

Coding principles and mechanisms of serotonergic transmission modes.

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

Cortical representations of affective pain shape empathic fear in male mice - Nature Communications The neural basis of affect sharing is not fully understood. Here, the authors show that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) stably recruits neural ensembles encoding observational fear, specifically r...

Cortical representations of affective pain shape empathic fear in male mice
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cultivating allyship for a diverse, equitable and inclusive academia - Nature Human Behaviour We propose six actionable steps of allyship that researchers, faculty members and educators can engage in to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive academia: listening to marginalized voices, challenging one's own biases, speaking up to include disadvantaged groups, speaking out to confront bias, advocating for inclusive policies and dismantling institutional biases.

The authors of a Comment article in Nature Human Behaviour propose six actionable steps of allyship that researchers, faculty members and educators can engage in to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive academia. #Academicsky 🧪

Circuit organization of the rodent medial prefrontal cortex The prefrontal cortex (PFC) orchestrates higher brain function and becomes disrupted in many mental health disorders. The rodent medial PFC (mPFC) possesses an enormous variety of projection neurons a...

This review has turned into my go-to paper for rodent PFC circuit. Useful in the lab and for teaching. Thanks @panastasiades.bsky.social and @carterlab.bsky.social for writing this. www.cell.com/trends/neuro...

Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of aging and mortality - Nature Medicine Based on a systematic analysis of environmental exposures associated with aging and mortality in the UK Biobank, the relative contributions of such exposures and genetic risk for mortality and a range...

It turns out that the environment & exposone and how you live as well as #genetics influence health #lifespan and #Aging #genetics @naturemedicine.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Developmentally distinct architectures in top–down pathways controlling threat avoidance - Nature Neuroscience Through circuit dissection in juvenile, adolescent and adult mice, Klune, Goodpaster and colleagues reveal multiple developmental switches in mPFC–NAc and mPFC–BLA pathways that underlie developmental...

Multiple developmental switches in mPFC-NAc and mPFC-BLA pathways that underlie developmental transitions in threat avoidance behavior revealed by circuit dissection in juvenile, adolescent and adult mice mice 🧪🧠

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

A dual-pathway architecture for stress to disrupt agency and promote habit - Nature Adaptive decision-making often requires an understanding of our agency in a situation; however, chronic stress can disrupt agency and promote inflexible, habitual behaviour by turning off a brain path...

🚨📃New Wassum Lab Paper📃🚨

Out today, @jackiegio.bsky.social discovered brain pathways that support agency and habit and how chronic stress disrupts them to rob of us our agency and cause us to form rigid habits 🧵👇

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

Free full text: rdcu.be/eaxEv

Contribution of an under-recognized adversity to child health risk: large-scale, population-based ACEs screening Background and Objectives Whereas adverse early life experiences (ACEs) correlate with cognitive, emotional and physical health at the population level, existing ACEs screens are only weakly predictiv...

Found in translation! from clinic to the lab-and now back! Our California initiative for precision medicine-funded study in >30,000 kids shows unpredictable signals from parents & environment impact mental health outcomes: they are a major risk factor for depression www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Atypical hippocampal excitatory neurons express and govern object memory - Nature Communications Pyramidal cells are classically thought to comprise the excitatory output of the subiculum. Here, the authors show the existence of “ovoid cells”, excitatory subiculum neurons with specialized gene ex...

Atypical hippocampal excitatory neurons express and govern object memory
www.nature.com/articles/s41...