Pleased to share our new study showing how different cell types in the paratenial thalamus interact with the medial prefrontal cortex and other brain regions, all done by my graduate student Nigel Dao:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Delighted to share our discoveries about one of the brain's neurotransmitter systems:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Together with colleagues at the @alleninstitute.org, we have learned a lot about a tiny cluster of neurons in the brainstem locus coeruleus (LC) that releases norepinephrine (NE). 1

Addressing degeneracy in rodent studies of cognition In order to relate neural dynamics to cognitive computations, it is critical to determine whether subjects are employing behavioral strategies that ac…

Excited to share our recent review, which highlights algorithmic and implementational degeneracy in studies of cognition: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Excited to share our new J Neurosci paper showing how subcortical inputs are routed through ventromedial (VM) thalamus to layer 1 interneurons in the medial PFC, all done by my graduate student Sanne Casello:
sannemcasello.bsky.social
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

Thanks Ben!

Acetylcholine demixes heterogeneous dopamine signals for learning and moving Nature Neuroscience - Jang et al. measured dopamine and acetylcholine release in the striatum of rats performing a decision-making task and found that the relative timing of cholinergic and...

Thrilled to share our new paper, which shows that the relative timing of cholinergic and dopamine release dynamically gates whether dopamine acts as an RPE for in vivo plasticity and reinforcement learning. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Grateful to receive a ✨K99/R00✨ after much uncertainty! Still worried about scientific funding and the future of our work. Excited to reveal how estrogen modulates neuromodulator and neural dynamics, de novo protein synthesis, and temporal discounting with a novel task the rats are already crushing.

University of Utah Health Campus at sunset. Image courtesy of the University of Utah.

📢📢 My lab at @utah.edu is officially open and I'm RECRUITING — especially techs/specialists and postdocs! Our research focuses on the neurobiology of interoception and learning & memory using tools from systems/comp neuro. Please share! 🧠🏔️🏜️

Apply/more info: zimmerman-lab.org#positions

📢📢 Announcing this year's conference on the Mathematics of Neuroscience & AI (Rome, 9-12th June). We’ve got a stellar line-up and venue, and invite everyone to join:

www.neuromonster.org

Can electrical microstimulation be used to steer cortical population activity on- and off-manifold? Our new preprint says yes — using data-driven control in macaque PFC. Joint work with @gbarzon.bsky.social, Anandita De, Isaac Moran, Conner Carnahan, and Luca Mazzucato.

NYU's Center for Neural Science is seeking a faculty candidate that would be jointly appointed with our Tandon School of Engineering. We are looking for post-doc applicants with neuroengineering or computational backgrounds.

apply.interfolio.com/182074

In the first systematic, multi-node recordings of spiking activity across the human basal ganglia–thalamic circuit, @dennislondon.bsky.social explains how this pathway integrates cognitive variables with ongoing action. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

NHP research is indispensable for neuroscience and many other fields.

News from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District.

By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!

samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...

Our lab will be boycotting biotech vendors that have contracts with ICE (e.g., Fisher, Agilent), and telling them why. If you google “vendorname usa spending”, you can see purchases for specific depts including ICE on usaspending.gov. Please talk to your labs and email your vendors!

Flexible use of a multi-purpose tool by a cow Osuna-Mascaró and Auersperg report flexible, multipurpose tool use in a cow, expanding the known range of mammalian tool users and underscoring overlooked cognitive capacities in livestock.

currently reading:

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

Excited to share our new study showing how subcortical inputs are routed through ventromedial (VM) thalamus to layer 1 interneurons in the medial PFC, all done by my graduate student Sanne Casello:
sannemcasello.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Careers Careers on Simons Foundation

Joint junior faculty position in Computational Neuroscience, between Ctr for Computational Neuroscience at @flatironinstitute.org and the CUNY Graduate Center @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social . Application deadline: 16 Jan 2026!

www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/car...
cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...

Jobs | Psychological & Brain Sciences Tenured/Tenure-track position in Cognitive Psychology Open Date Dec 01, 2025 Salary Range or Pay Grade The expected academic base salary range for this position is $110,000- $144,500 (Assistant Profes...

Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins is inviting applications for 3 open-rank tenured/tenure-track positions in (1) Behavioral Neuroscience, (2) Cognitive Neuroscience, and (3) Cognitive Psychology.

pbs.jhu.edu/about/jobs/

Scientists Pinpoint the Moment of Decision in the Rat Brain Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain researchers found a synchronized shift in neural activity that signals the moment when animals commit to a decision.

A new study led by Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain investigator @carlosbrody.bsky.social tracked decision-making in rats to pinpoint the precise moment the animals commit to a decision: www.simonsfoundation.org/scientists-pinpoint-the-... #science

Thank you for the great summary, @thetransmitter.bsky.social, and the shout-outs from scientists we admire. There is so much we don’t know about how sex hormones modulate behavior and we’ll keep exploring!

Sex hormone boosts female rats’ sensitivity to unexpected rewards During the high-estradiol stages of their estrus cycle, female rats learn faster than they do during other stages—and than male rats overall—thanks to a boost in their dopaminergic response to reward…

“It’s giving mechanistic insight into how estrogen modulates reinforcement learning—all the way down to the molecular mechanism,” says Ilana Witten.

By @avaskham.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/sex-hormones...

NaTuRaL BeHaViOR

Thanks Mel for the kind words and great commentary!

Thanks, Adrian! I’m excited to be starting a lab at the University of Utah (theluolab.org)!

We’re recruiting at all levels.

If you’re excited about neural computation, large-scale multi-region recordings, and machine learning, let’s talk!

And yes, the mountains are as incredible as they say!

Who wore it better? Our new paper shows that rat OFC supports Bayesian inference of hidden states! With neural correlates of inferred state transitions at the level of single neurons and population-level latent factors. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Check out our posters at #SfN25 this Saturday!

@aqperkins.bsky.social @adiraj95.bsky.social @goldenneurons.bsky.social

Ecstatic to announce our exciting new paper! Rat-mon y Cajal found a new friend to help him learn. Introducing, Dr. Tutor-us!

Inspired by discussions at several recent foraging-related seminar series and conferences, our review in @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social explores an expanded role for foraging as a framework in neuroscience and discusses future directions for the field. Do check it out.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

What happens in your brain when you make up your mind?

Postdoc (soon faculty at U. of Utah) @thomas-zhihao-luo.bsky.social and ex-grad student (now Shanahan Fellow at Allen Institute) @timkimd.bsky.social have some answers in this new paper out in Nature!

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

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