Why animal models are still needed for discoveries in mental health research

cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/...

Brain Repair Centre | Halifax, Nova Scotia

Looking forward to the Brain Repair Centre at Dalhousie University Research Day this Friday Feb 27. Special guests are Dr. Stephanie Borgland @borglandlab.bsky.social and Dr. Pete Chipman.
#Neuroscience 🧪

@brchfx.bsky.social @dalhousie.bsky.social

If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.

EBPS2023 special issue: Stress, trauma and cannabinoids - Psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology -

What an undertaking this was. So proud of the collection @mayoonthebrain.bsky.social , @brainsbeesbikes.bsky.social , @cbaunez.bsky.social and I collected for the “Stress, Trauma and Cannabinoids” special issue in @psychopharmacology.bsky.social
Editorial: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Why animal models are still needed for discoveries in mental health research

cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/...

Why animal models are still needed for discoveries in mental health research

cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/...

#cannabinerds coming in hot at #ACNP2026 🔥

Kicking off the appetite and addiction session @borglandlab.bsky.social shows high fat diet disinhibits OFC and impairs outcome devaluation, which is associated with astrocyte hypertrophy and inflammatory cytokine expression #acnp2026

🚨 PI position in dept. of Neuroscience with lab located the @crchum.bsky.social

Hiring at assistant/associate prof level in the fields of neural regeneration, stem cells and spinal-associated pathologies

can-acn.org/professor-re...

How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.

Awesome article on medical breakthroughs that came from basic neuroscience research in rodents. Major success examples in postpartum depression, non-opioid pain and migraine treatment.

This is exactly why funding basic science is so important!

www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...

Graph titled "Paying for Impact 2025" showing Article Processing Charge (APC) vs Impact Factor for a selection of top journals in neuroscience - linear trendline R^2=0.636

Updating this graph for the holidays 🎁

(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)

Dog looking out the window at a deer looking in.

The doggo made a buddy this morning

How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.

“Basic neuroscience hasn’t produced new drugs.” 💊

Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab.

I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...

📣We have 2 open faculty positions for senior researchers in Neuroscience at Queen's University!

healthsci.queensu.ca/administrati...

1. a new Director for our Centre for Neuroscience Studies
2. a non-human primate NeuroAI researcher

Please share widely and reach out for questions!

I didn't just go to college to become a good worker in a profession. I went to prepare myself to have a rich life of the mind and to be a good and well-informed citizen.

That sounds super corny, but it was and remains a worthy reason to get a liberal arts education.

This whole so-called “parents rights” movement the right has taken up and the left is supposed to kowtow to for votes is so obviously anti-child it really bothers me to see it presented as anything other than justification for abusive “parenting” and disregard for actual science on child development

End of year lab party 2025. So proud of this group. Lots of exciting things to come in 2026.

Illustration of a red rose on a black and red gradient background. Text that reads "December 6 National Date of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women" above the CAUT logo.

Today, we honour the lives of those murdered at Polytechnique Montreal in 1989 and all people impacted by gender-based violence. CAUT remembers them and reaffirms its commitment to fight gender-based violence, hatred and misogyny.

Read our full statement: www.caut.ca/news/caut-ma...

#bebold #wxn #top100 | Denise Belsham Let the celebrations begin! 🎉 What a room to be part of - so many amazing, bold and powerful women. 🌟 Congratulations to all the winners - another full day of fun tomorrow. 🥂 Thanks to Women's Executi...

www.linkedin.com/posts/denise...

A network of basolateral amygdala projection neurons contributes to stress-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis A network of basolateral amygdala neurons, but not singular projections, contributes to the neuroendocrine response to stress.

New lab paper drop, this one has been a long time coming! Driven by Rob Aukema (now a postdoc with Kerry Ressler) this paper in Science Advances answered the lingering question of what role the amygdala plays in stress-induced neuroendocrine responses.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Newly minted MSc in neuroscience. Congratulations Ijeoma!!!

Trans Day of Remembrance is a day to remember the lives lost to transphobia and violence.

Trans rights are human rights. I will always fight to make sure you can be who you are — openly, safely, and proudly.

That the Alberta Govt invoked the notwithstanding clause for this during Transgender Awareness Week is the chef’s kiss of cruelty. Please support Skipping Stone’s legal fund

That’s a good point! And TDL to both RPE and ML.

The email did not request that surprisingly!

Superior Colliculus Projections Drive Dopamine Neuron Activity and Movement But Not Value To navigate dynamic environments, animals must rapidly integrate sensory information and respond appropriately to gather rewards and avoid threats. It is well established that dopamine (DA) neurons in...

So stoked to have our image on the cover of this week's issue of Journal of Neuroscience!! @sfnjournals.bsky.social #JNeurosci #SfN25. Check out the final version of the paper here www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...

Agreed. Sooo overlooked

Of course there are loads of other discoveries outside my areas of interest (eg. Phase Separation in Proteins and its roles in neurodegenerative diseases)... what are your thoughts?

Another one could be related to how we think about gliomas and brain cancers and how neural activity promotes brain tumor growth and resistance. This is a growing 'cancer neuroscience' field and has really important implications for treatment of brain cancers.

Another breakthrough discoveries in my field are optical and chemical actuators (eg. optogenetics/chemogenetics). These have led to a revolution in circuit-based neuroscience and discoveries on how the brain functions. These are just starting to be translated to clinical applications.. we will see?