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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · 5h

Astrocyte beauty by Diana Pishenko
Mesa College - Scripps Research trainee preparing for SfN 2025

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · 29d

SB 848 — the Safe Learning Environments Act — signed into law.

Neuroscience, ethics & law united today for prevention-focused policy on sexual trauma.

Honored to stand with Senator Sasha Pérez, who championed stronger protections for students in California schools.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Sep 17

Bold on Climate, Silent on Abuse: Advocates Call Out Templeton Foundation for Recognition of Ecumenical Patriarch

Systemic failure at its core. Enablers must be held accountable.

Bold on Climate, Silent on Abuse: Abuse Survivors and Advocates Call Out Templeton Foundation for Recognition of Ecumenical Patriarch

What are the implications for survivor justice and institutional credibility when global prizes recognize leaders accused of ignoring sexual abuse in Orthodoxy?

goodmenproject.com

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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Bottom line: Compulsive drug seeking and other maladaptive behavior may spring from the same distorted reward and stress circuits. Addiction research is opening a window into the biology of broader maladaptive motivation.

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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Next step: silence these stimulus-activated neurons (cell-type specific tools) to test causality. This could redefine treatment approaches not only for addiction but also for aggression, trauma, and anxiety disorders.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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This suggests a shared neural foundation for addiction, trauma-linked avoidance, fear learning, and/or predatory drive. The common thread? Reward circuits hijacked by emotionally salient cues. Reward dysregulation.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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👉 The same brain circuits that encode withdrawal relief and compulsive seeking may also intensify aggression and/or pursuit — transforming adaptive survival systems into maladaptive predation. Additional, studies are needed to confirm this point.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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That includes systems regulating:
Fear-conditioning

Anxiety disorders

Traumatic avoidance learning

…and possibly predatory behavior

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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Why does this matter? Because these neurons don’t just mediate drug seeking. They likely underlie other maladaptive behaviors where emotionally salient cues may override rational control.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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This supports a broader framework: hedonic allostasis.
When repeated drug use shifts the brain below normal hedonic homeostasis, the PVT and its partners elicit a state where relief from dysphoria becomes the main motivator — not pleasure.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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🔑 Findings:
PVT → negative reinforcement learning (& possibly hedonic allostasis)

DS → habit formation with dependence

CeA → stress memories tied to withdrawal contexts

Together, these circuits encode the compulsive drive to seek alcohol despite punishment or cost.

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Aug 21

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New study: Stimulus-activated neurons in the PVT, DS, and CeA form a neural substrate for compulsive alcohol seeking under withdrawal. But the implications may go beyond addiction. doi.org/10.1016/j.bp...

Redirecting

doi.org

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Jul 13

Calling my fellow scientists to contact their representatives regarding a new NIH announcement that they will no longer seek grants exclusively for animal models.

www.nih.gov/news-events/...

www.fda.gov/news-events/...

researchsocietyonalcohol.org/animal-resea...

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Jul 9

Bigotry

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Jul 9

There's no greater hate than "Christian love". Christianity seems to be getting out of control ridiculous. I helped one during the pandemic to educate their "God keeps me safe against a virus in church" and the pervert assaulted me talking about some love bullshit. I responded with a police report.

Reposted by Hermina Nedelescu

European Research Council (ERC) @erc.europa.eu · May 6

“Science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party.”

EC President Ursula von der Leyen, announcing a €500M initiative to attract top global talent.

In a fractured world, science remains a unifying force – rooted in diversity, driven by curiosity, and shared by all humanity.

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Reposted by Hermina Nedelescu

60 Minutes @60minutes.bsky.social · Apr 27

“This doesn't feel like a strategic plan to reorganize and make the NIH better and more efficient. It feels like a wrecking ball,” says an NIH insider, who asked 60 Minutes to protect his identity due to his concern about reprisal. https://cbsn.ws/3EKcER9

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Apr 11

Nice exciting work on engrams coming out of our institute: "Maximov’s team discovered that engram neurons in adjacent hippocampal regions do not preferentially connect with each other, counter to what is widely believed in the field."

www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

How scientists uncovered memory’s hidden architecture

www.scripps.edu

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Mar 7

A nice paper demonstrating an initiative to screen for different psychoactive drugs using c-Fos and machine learning.

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

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Mar 1

Our newest work coming out soon: We studied engrams that encode the conditioned effects of alcohol-related stimuli associated with the reversal of the dysphoric withdrawal state in alcohol dependent rats and document the recruitment of engrams in several brain regions.

Science Cast

Increase your recognition in the scientific world with short video-casts

sciencecast.org

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Feb 19

“FRN [Federal Register Notice] submissions are now on hold indefinitely”...

Angie Voyles Askham @avaskham.bsky.social · Feb 18

I just covered this for @thetransmitter.bsky.social — will keep following! www.thetransmitter.org/funding/fede...

Federal Register hold makes ‘end run’ around court pause on NIH funding freeze

www.thetransmitter.org

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Feb 19

The Neuralink project should be critically reviewed as all scientific research is, too, reviewed.

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Feb 18

More on these FDA firings
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

FDA staff were reviewing Elon Musk’s brain implant company. DOGE just fired them.

At least 20 staffers reviewing Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain implant company, were fired in an ongoing DOGE purge of federal workers.

www.usatoday.com

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Feb 10

22 States Sue to Block Trump Cuts to Medical Research Funding www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/u...

22 States Sue to Block Trump Cuts to Medical Research Funding

A coalition of attorneys general sued the federal government Monday, claiming that the $4 billion in cuts would “grind to a halt” studies on cancer, heart disease and other conditions.

www.nytimes.com

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Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Feb 10

Yikes!

Bita Moghaddam @bita137.bsky.social · Feb 6

This may be old news but remains a main concern related to science policy (and funding) in the next 4 years. The principal decision maker is a 30something with a BA in Hellenic studies (vs Obama's John Holdren who was responsible for the BRAIN initiative...sigh) www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trump’s science advisers: how they could influence his second presidency

The president-elect quickly nominated confidantes with a focus on AI, but their recommendations for the rest of science remain unclear.

www.nature.com

Hermina Nedelescu @hnedeles.bsky.social · Feb 5

Trying to get this space going...

Beata Science Art @beatascienceart.bsky.social · Dec 20

😮🤩 Wow, a completely filled room at our #CellBio2024 #SciArt session! What an amazing evening with inspiring talks about creativity, education and microscopy. Huge thanks to our speakers and audience. Please reach out if you're interested in co-organizing or speaking next year!

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