Deconstruction of a memory engram reveals distinct ensembles recruited at learning - Nature Neuroscience Pouget et al. identified distinct CA1 neuron ensembles active during specific moments of fear learning and uncovered the core engram essential for memory formation.

How does the brain build a memory?
A common assumption is that the neurons activated during an experience collectively form the memory engram.
In our new Nature Neuroscience paper (finally out!), we show that this is not the case.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excited to share our study in Neuron led by
@travisgoode.bsky.social, a K99 PDF (interviewing for Faculty) and Sahay lab team with collaborators at BROAD, Hopkins, and UW Seattle, defining a neural circuit that links prior experience with feeding behavior. Open Access: sahaylab.com/publications

Neuroscientists: The lesion made by an optical fiber, electrode, or injector in the brain--is it a "track" (e.g., "fiber track") or a "tract"? I have my own opinion, but curious what others think.

Excited to share that I landed my dream job!🎉🎉🎉 The Pennington Lab will be opening at the University of British Columbia in January 2026!
@ubcpsych.bsky.social @dmcbrainhealth.bsky.social

Yes, I am on the academic job market looking to start my own lab at the intersection of molecular, computational, and systems neuroscience! If you think my work may be interest to your department, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Thank you, Keri!

Reminder that we're looking for a Post Doc and the deadline is looming (Sept 5th). If you are interested, please get in touch. If you see this, please repost it to that it is seen by potential applicants!

Behavioral Neuroscience: The consequences of stress on the brain and fear A region of the brain called the paraventricular thalamus mediates the impact of stress on unlearned fear responses, but is not involved in learned fear behavior.

Had a blast writing this insight article with @sydneytrask.bsky.social covering original research from the @michaeldrew.bsky.social lab on the stress-specific recruitment of a brain region that drives fear behaviors!
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Wow this is so cool! Thank you so much for highlighting our work!!!

Systems consolidation reorganizes hippocampal engram circuitry Nature - A study shows that loss of memory precision associated with systems consolidation can be explained by neurogenesis-dependent reorganization of engram circuitry within the hippocampus over...

Sharing a new paper from the lab. This paper, led by Sangyoon Ko, represents a merging of two longstanding research themes in the lab-- adult neurogenesis and systems consolidation.

rdcu.be/el18q

A short thread follows for those interested.

1/n

A woman in a burnt orange t-shirt shows off a wall garden to a family of onlookers.

A woman in a pink t-shirt shows off a large toothed fossil of a young girl.

A woman wearing a mask and a pink t-shirt explains about a small fossil jaw she’s holding to two young boys and two young girls.

Three people sit on a stage having an animated discussion beneath a sign reading “Austin Film Society.”

The Texas Science Festival began on Friday & we’ve already had fantastic fun at some exceptional events.

We’ve got lots more in the works, including 2 events tonight and 3 tomorrow.

Check out the full schedule at sciencefest.utexas.edu/events

#TexasScience #TexasScienceFestival #UTAustin

Registration & Abstract Submission is open for the 2025 "Engram and Ensembles in Learning and Memory" meeting, at Trinity College Dublin in May.

Abstract deadline February 14.

#EngramsandEnsembles2025

Preliminary Agenda at event website:
event.fourwaves.com/engramsensem...

The snRNA-seq turns up some interesting candidate genes that could mediate extinction-induced suppression of fear cells, e.g.:

Next, we used snRNA-seq to show that extinction training markedly changes transcription patterns in DG granule cells that encode a fear memory, and that cells activated during recall of fear and recall of extinction have distinct transcriptomic profiles.

We confirm that extinction suppresses reactivation of fear engram cells in dorsal and ventral dentate gyrus. We find that this suppression also occurs in dorsal CA1 but --interestingly-- not in ventral CA1. Perhaps vCA1 maintains a fear representation that is resistant to extinction?

Excited that our paper with Hans Hofmann's lab is out!
Extinction training suppresses activity of fear memory ensembles across the hippocampus and alters transcriptomes of fear-encoding cells: t.co/K8d4jAhiKS

Response sub-additivity and variability quenching in visual cortex Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Sub-additive responses to simultaneously presented stimuli and quenching of variability in responses to repeated presentations of a stimulus are characteristics of...

Why do sublinear response summation and quenching of shared variability tend to co-occur in cortex? We review phenomenological, normative, and circuit explanations. With Robbe Goris, Ruben Coen-Cagli, Nick Priebe, & Mate Lengyel. rdcu.be/dy1q5
🧪 #neuroskyence

Find Out Why Health Insurance Denied Your Claim You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s free tool to generate a letter requesting your claim file...

Having health insurance in the US means that you now have a part-time job haggling with your insurance company & advocating for your own healthcare. To that end, here's a tool that can help with filing claims to contest denial of coverage, created by the nonprofit newsroom @propublica.bsky.social

#Pavlovian2024 will be held from September 26-28 in Indianapolis! If you are interested in organizing a symposium, please complete this form: forms.gle/4QNv1TGBeHuf... Proposals are due 1/26/24 at 5 pm ET. Proposed speakers should be confirmed at time of submission. pavlovian.org

I’m so sad it’s over. That journal taxonomy was one of the funniest things I’ve ever read