The 2026 call for the José Luis Gomez-Skarmeta award of excellence in #DevBio is now open! If you’d like to join the previous awardees @dariloops.bsky.social 2024 and @mirimiam.bsky.social and @radaiglesiaslab.bsky.social 2022, please don’t hesitate to apply to #JLGS2026
📢 Abstract submission for #CorticalEvolution2026 open until April 2nd!
We’ll be selecting many short talks from submitted abstracts 🗣️ and we’ve set aside extra time for poster discussions🧠💬
A great chance to share your work and connect with the community — don’t miss it!
Hoy nos despedimos del #InstitutoCajal
Han sido años de ciencia, aprendizaje y, sobre todo, de personas que han dado vida a cada pasillo, cada laboratorio y cada idea. Nos llevamos todo eso con nosotros.
Vamos con ilusión hacia lo que viene con el #CentroDeNeurocienciasCajal 🫶
😱 I want to know more!! Congrats
𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 for Cortical Evolution 2026 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟲𝘁𝗵.
If you're planning to join us in Bilbao (June 15–17), this is the moment.
Don’t miss the reduced fee — and don’t miss the conversation.
ventricular.org/corticalevol...
Our internal organs are evolutionary marvels. New technologies are transforming our understanding of the evolution of vertebrate organs. You can find more by reading here:
rdcu.be/e5EgU
#EvoBio #EvoDevo 🐟🦎🐢🦇🐊🦜
Cortical Evolution Symposium: international gathering advancing research on cortical development, evolution, cellular diversity, behavior & paleoanthropology.
International scholars, Invited talks + posters. Follow the link for more info: www.cajalclub.org/upcoming-mee...
#Neuroscience #Evolution
Looking back at Toledo reminds us how far the field has progressed — and why 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 #𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹.
One memorable highlight was an open roundtable on the complexity of neural progenitor classification — 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and diversity across lineages.
ventricular.org/vmclab/wp-co...
Participants spanned diverse approaches — from developmental neurobiology to comparative anatomy — creating a truly cross-disciplinary conversation.
𝗧𝗮𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳!
www.ventricular.org/Conference_P...
The meeting was structured around core themes: cellular and genetic evolution, comparative evo-devo, and the role of progenitor proliferation in shaping cortex form and complexity.
www.ventricular.org/corticalevol...
In 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱, 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗘𝗷é𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗼, 𝗧𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗼, 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻. It brought together international researchers to compare how the mammalian cerebral cortex varies across species and evolves at molecular, cellular, and anatomical levels
If you work in one species, this meeting will widen your perspective.
If you already work comparatively, this is your community.
Bilbao · June 15–17
Join the conversation!
#CorticalEvolution2026
🧬 Developmental neurobiologists
🧠 Systems & circuit researchers
💻 Computational neuroscientists
🧫 Organoid and stem cell labs
🧑⚕️ Clinicians thinking about cortical disorders
If cortex shapes your questions, you belong in the room.
#CorticalEvolution2026
Who is #CorticalEvolution2026 for?
𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀!
If you work on cortex, development, circuits, computation, disease, this meeting is for you!
Comparative neuroscience is not about abandoning models.
It is about putting them back into evolutionary context.
That conversation will be central at 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲.
𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗼 · 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟱–𝟭𝟳
#CorticalEvolution2026
By focusing mostly on rodents, we risk redefining complexity as noise —
and overlooking developmental constraints, scaling problems, and circuit specializations that only appear in other lineages.
To see principles, we need evolutionary distance.
#CorticalEvolution2026
Rodents are extraordinary experimental systems.
But they are not heavy users of the cortex.
Their cortex is small, smooth, and solves a different computational problem than in many other mammals.
Sometimes simplicity hides biology rather than revealing it.
#CorticalEvolution2026
A comment on my previous thread jokingly noted that our “diverse” mammalian models mostly belong to the same branch: 𝘌𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴.
Mouse, rat… and primates are closer relatives than we often like to admit.
So — 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲-𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰?
#CorticalEvolution2026
that's true, more specific 😉
Cortical evolution is hard because it sits at the intersection of:
developmental biology
systems neuroscience
genomics
comparative anatomy
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 #𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀
Come join our conference! Bilbao, June 15-17 2026
Third, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀.
Much of what we call “fundamental” may simply reflect rodent biology.
Comparative neurobiology forces us to re-evaluate what is truly conserved, 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭.
#CorticalEvolution2026
Second, ᴅᴇᴠᴇʟᴏᴘᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀʀᴇ ɪɴꜱᴇᴘᴀʀᴀʙʟᴇ ⛓️.
Small changes in progenitor behavior, timing, or lineage relationships can scale into large architectural differences.
The difficulty is linking molecular changes to macroscopic structure.
First, the cortex changes along multiple axes at once:
size, folding, cell-type diversity, connectivity, developmental timing.
𝙉𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨.
Expansion alone is not the answer.
#CorticalEvolution2026
𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 sounds straightforward:
compare species, identify differences, explain them.
In reality, it 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.
𝘞𝘩𝘺?
#CorticalEvolution2026
Ready to see the big picture of how the vertebrate brain balances stability with change? 📖 Check out the full chapter in Evolution of Nervous Systems here :shop.elsevier.com/books/evolution-of-nervo...
This deep dive was a huge team effort! ✍️ Huge congrats to co-authors: Sᴀʀᴀ Jɪᴍéɴᴇᴢ and Tᴀᴛɪᴀɴᴀ Gᴀʟʟᴇɢᴏ-Fʟᴏʀᴇꜱ
@AchucarroGlia
👏👏
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟯𝟬𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼? 🕵️♂️ Molecular detective work! We discuss the use of scRNA-seq (reading single-cell genetic diaries) to see how similar neurons hide under different disguises across species. 🧬🔬
But it’s not just the tectum! We explore how the 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗺𝘂𝘀 and 𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘂𝗺 (the precursor to the cortex) talk to each other. Even in "simpler" brains, these connections are incredibly sophisticated, proving that complex vision isn't just a mammal thing. 🧠🔗
The 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗺 is the star of the show for many vertebrates. 🌟 In reptiles and birds, it’s a complex, layered processing hub. We break down the developmental mechanisms that build this structure and why it's so vital for survival in the wild. 🐍🦅