Earlier this March, our MODOLFOR Research Unit came together in Maria Laach for the yearly retreat. We spent three exciting days discussing new scientific results and exchanging ideas for the future. 🪰🐭👃🧠

Evolution seems to have repeatedly converged on a similar architecture in the early olfactory system of many animals. We offer an efficient-coding framework to understand this. Out in @pnas.org now! Led by @jzv.bsky.social, driven by Juan Carlos, + help from Farhad. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

SMELL-RS: A Self-administered, Digital Test for Olfactory Dysfunction that is Rapid, Reliable, and Accurate Background: Smell testing is increasingly recognized as essential in rhinology practice but remains underutilized because of time constraints and limited clinical resources. This study aimed to evalua...

New #VosshallLab pre-print! Test your sense of smell, coming soon to your clinic or doctor's office

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Check out our new preprint and learn about the smart foraging behavior of fly larvae!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Along with @katrinvogt.bsky.social , @akhila1498.bsky.social and Klára Tučková we combine long timescale (3 hr) behavioral tracking of Drosophila larvae in patchy environments with varying statistics, along with quantitative analysis and computational modeling, to dissect foraging strategies. 1/n

A microbiome-derived olfactory signal regulates inter-male aggression and social dominance in mice Cichy et al. show that trimethylamine (TMA), a gut microbiome-derived metabolite, activates the receptor TAAR5 in the main olfactory system to regulate aggression and social dominance in male mice. Th...

Congrats to our research unit member Annika Cichy @cichy1985.bsky.social !🎉 Check out her new publication: www.cell.com/current-biol...
A microbiome-derived chemical cue shapes mammalian social behavior via olfaction

A microbiome-derived olfactory signal regulates inter-male aggression and social dominance in mice Cichy et al. show that trimethylamine (TMA), a gut microbiome-derived metabolite, activates the receptor TAAR5 in the main olfactory system to regulate aggression and social dominance in male mice. Th...

Happy to share the latest from the lab! A microbiome-generated metabolite affects male-male aggression and social dominance in mice via the main olfactory system. Gut-Nose-Behavior.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Can X-rays reveal how the brain is wired? Neuroscientist Andreas Schaefer is spearheading a new project to capture the intricacies of the mouse brain using X-rays, bringing researchers closer to a complete map of its neural connections.

“We’re hoping doors will open for researchers to ask questions about how connections are made in the brain in mice and maybe, one day, humans.” - @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social

Read about the new NIH-funded program to map brain circuitry using X-rays: www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

Air pollution causes social instability in ant colonies A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown in a new study that ants returning from habitats affected by air pollution are attacked when they re-enter the colony. The ...

Markus Knaden et al. from the Odor-Guided Behavior Group in collab. with @yukoulrich.bsky.social report in PNAS that ozone destroys colony-specific odors causing attacks within the colony – a dramatic example of how human pollution can disrupt social systems in nature.
www.ice.mpg.de/530492/PR_Ji...

The first paper from the lab is now out in Science Advances: Multimodal social context modulates larval behavior in Drosophila
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We find that fly larvae keep their distance to conspecifics in the absence of food, enjoy reading! @cbehav.bsky.social @uni-konstanz.de

Research highlights 2025 Research highlights 2025: the year 2025 saw Max Planck scientists publishing exceptional research across disciplines. We have selected twelve highlights to share.

🤯🎉 Our study on how early exposure to fatty foods rewires the brain and influences obesity risk has been selected as one of the 12 Max Planck Society Research Highlights of 2025! 🧠✨ So proud to see our team’s work recognised at this level 😊

www.mpg.de/25933453/res...

Der Duft von Speck - Frühe Geruchsreize als Risiko für Fettleibigkeit bei Mäusen Eine Studie mit Tierversuchen hat gezeigt, dass Mäuse ein höheres Krankheitsrisiko haben, wenn sie vor der Geburt Speckaromen ausgesetzt wurden.

You probably know that calories in the maternal diet matter 🤰🍔, but did you know that smell matters too👃? Check out this fantastic radio piece about our recent paper from @deutschlandfunk.de.web.brid.gy (in German) 📻☺️

www.deutschlandfunk.de/der-duft-von...

Congratulations, Sophie!!!🥳🎉💐🥂

Congratulations!!! Exciting new paper from our MODOLFOR member Andreas Schaefer! 🥳🎉

New £3.8m project to map the mouse olfactory system Andreas Schaefer, Principal Group Leader of the Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory at the Crick, has received a Wellcome Discovery Award to chart the brain circuitry behind the sense of s...

Congratulations to @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social on receiving a £3.8 million @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award, working with @esrf.fr, to chart the brain circuity behind the sense of smell in mice.

www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-10...

Very excited to continue our amazing collaboration with @apacureanu.bsky.social at @esrf.fr - thank you @wellcometrust.bsky.social and all the collaborators at @crick.ac.uk and @esrf.fr

Mäuse schnuppern an Grapefruits und haben dann keinen Hunger mehr: Wie praktisch: Geruch kann satt machen Kölner Wissenschaftler finden einen überraschenden Auslöser für Sättigungsgefühl – nämlich das Riechen. Ein neuer Weg zum Schlankwerden? Leider funktioniert es bis jetzt nur bei Mäusen.

Thrilled our discovery of a novel sensory pathway controlling satiety in mice is featured in the General-Anzeiger @gabonn 🐭👃🍽️!

👇
Kölner Studie: Geruch macht satt (zumindest Mäuse) ga.de/news/wissen-...

Congratulations to our spokesperson Veronica Egger for receiving an ERC Advanced Grant!!🥂🐭🎉

A food-sensitive olfactory circuit drives anticipatory satiety - Nature Metabolism The authors describe a sensory circuit involving the medial septum (MS), where MS glutamatergic neurons integrate food odours to prime satiety and regulate nutrient intake.

📢 🤩Excited to share our latest paper👃🧠! Huge thanks to the amazing first author @janice-bulk.bsky.social‬ and all co-authors, especially @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social and ‪@tobiasackels.bsky.social‬ 🙌! ‬‬
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Die neue Würzburger Professorin Silke Sachse. (Foto: Nives Kramberger)

Wir begrüßen Professorin @silkesachse.bsky.social‬ als neue Leiterin des Lehrstuhls für #Neurobiologie und #Genetik! Sie kommt aus Jena zu uns (@mpi-ce.bsky.social) und erforscht den Geruchssinn von #Insekten.
➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/ei...

My PhD project is out as a preprint!
We combined 2P and synchrotron X-ray to understand mouse olfactory bulb circuits, linking physiology to structure in 3 animals!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🙌 @carlesbosch.bsky.social, @apacureanu.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, @esrf.fr, @crick.ac.uk

Alt text: Poster for a seminar series organised by the International Society for Neuroethology: The Future of Neuroethology May 20th 2025 1400 UTC. Registration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ZzMNjMB09V1uoBJlg2cGnuGUzSd6om_iFVCHkzskXwA/ Speakers: Sercan Sayin, University of Konstanz Germany: The behavioral mechanisms governing collective motion in swarming locusts. Andrew Matheson, Columbia University, USA: Environmental Plasticity of the Newt Olfactory System. Emily Lessig, University of Texas at Austin, USA: The neural basis of reciprocity in a highly social cichlid. Panel discussion after the talks on the financial landscape for science and its impact on the society. Speakers: Cindy Moss, ISN president, Professor at John Hopkins University Mathias Wernet, ISN member, Professor at Freie Universitaet Berlin Daniel Tomsic, ISN member, Professor at Universidad de Buenos Aires

Cool set of talks by early career researchers on the neural basis of behaviour! Organized by @neuroethology.org

👋 Looking forward to the 117th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society. Please like and share 🤩

PhD project offer: Sensing the unseen: How diatoms detect and respond to highly dilute sex-inducing pheromones

Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Georg Pohnert, FSU Jena; Dr. Markus Knaden MPI for Chemical Ecology
More information: www.ice.mpg.de/319540/Proje...
Apply now: jobs.ice.mpg.de/en/jobpostin...

We will continue the programm after the lunch and workshop break at 2.30 pm with Symposia V (S25 - S30). #NWG2025

Tomorrow morning, March 29th at 11:30 am, check out Symposium 31 at #NWG2025 @neurowissg.bsky.social organized by MODOLFOR member Tobias Ackels @tobiasackels.bsky.social

I am excited to speak in the next Symposium 26 at #NWG2025 @neurowissg.bsky.social about our newest results in cannibalistic behavior in fly larvae

iBehave (@ibehave.bsky.social) Empowering Behavioral neuroscience with modern computing

Circuits for behavior: cross-species strategies for adaptation & plasticity. Don´t miss our ibehave.bsky.social -sponsored symposium on the state-dependent dynamics shaping plans, actions and predictions across time scales in flies, mice & mole rats by ggatto.bsky.social jangrundemann.bsky.social

In Symposium 12 (Hall 103) ten young scientists will get the chance to give a talk and compete for Breaking News Awards in our first Breaking News symposium.

The first place will get 500€ (2nd 300€, 3rd 200€). #NWG2025

#NWG2025