Kelsey Tyssowski
@kelseytea.bsky.social
genetic and neural basis of dexterity…in deer mice! | postdoc at Harvard OEB/MCB, BRAIN K99/R00 | plant grower, music maker, crafter, bike rider, sometimes mountain climber | she/her
in search of a faculty job 🤓
https://ktyssowski.github.io/
in search of a faculty job 🤓
https://ktyssowski.github.io/
Pinned
Kelsey Tyssowski
@kelseytea.bsky.social
· Oct 22
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Second this.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
Again, there is no plan for running our universities without federal funding, or foreign students, at scale. But the public has no idea about this because no. one. is. telling. them. this. They expect their kids are still going to be able to do all the things at college in the next 4 years, & well:
The entire business model of R1 public universities rests on 4 revenue sources:
1. Federal grants
2. Private gifts/endowments
3. Tuition (esp. from foreign students)
4. State $
For decades, 📈 in 1-3 offset a secular 📉 in 4. Now, 1 & 3 are being decimated & 4 ain't coming back. The math is clear.
1. Federal grants
2. Private gifts/endowments
3. Tuition (esp. from foreign students)
4. State $
For decades, 📈 in 1-3 offset a secular 📉 in 4. Now, 1 & 3 are being decimated & 4 ain't coming back. The math is clear.
November 27, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Second this.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Thrilled to share our new paper!
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evolution of taste processing shifts dietary preference - Nature
Calcium imaging of taste neurons and the ventral brain provides insight into evolutionary divergence of food choice in Drosophila species, supporting a role of sensorimotor processing in addition to p...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper!
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
ChaCha wants me to tell everyone she knows she's a different species from wolves because she's obviously a human
November 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
ChaCha wants me to tell everyone she knows she's a different species from wolves because she's obviously a human
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Great @currentbiology.bsky.social study by @xmikezheng20.bsky.social @cliffscience.bsky.social @arkarupbanerjee.bsky.social 🧪🧠🐭🎶
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
Zheng and Harpole et al. show that singing mice produce two major vocal modes: ancestral
USVs and novel songs that follow a linearly decelerating rhythm. Although acoustically
distinct, songs and USVs...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Great @currentbiology.bsky.social study by @xmikezheng20.bsky.social @cliffscience.bsky.social @arkarupbanerjee.bsky.social 🧪🧠🐭🎶
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
My poster is today!
November 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
My poster is today!
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers
We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!
www.sosaneurolab.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 PM
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
PSA: it’s gonna rain at #sfn25! @krissylyon.bsky.social tried to warn me, but I’d already left my house without a rain coat 🙀
November 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
PSA: it’s gonna rain at #sfn25! @krissylyon.bsky.social tried to warn me, but I’d already left my house without a rain coat 🙀
Heading to San Diego for #sfn25 today! I’ll be presenting a poster on this work Monday afternoon!
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
November 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Heading to San Diego for #sfn25 today! I’ll be presenting a poster on this work Monday afternoon!
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
November 8, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
www.science.org
October 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
I want to emphasize that this work is NIH-funded! I'm supported by the BRAIN Initiative on a fellowship program that has been prematurely discontinued (i.e., no new applicants). It's time to organize, call our reps, and make sure we're supporting the NIH and basic research!
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
October 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I want to emphasize that this work is NIH-funded! I'm supported by the BRAIN Initiative on a fellowship program that has been prematurely discontinued (i.e., no new applicants). It's time to organize, call our reps, and make sure we're supporting the NIH and basic research!
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
October 22, 2025 at 8:41 PM
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
@luxorboero.bsky.social featured in the Humans of HBI series! @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social
Luis E. Boero - Harvard Brain Science Initiative
brain.harvard.edu
October 20, 2025 at 1:44 PM
@luxorboero.bsky.social featured in the Humans of HBI series! @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Neuroscience projects last several years, and you are usually a bit jaded by the time you wrap it up. Not this one– spending several months on an island in the middle of nowhere, away from all the craziness of the world reminds you how beautiful the world really is.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=46sv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=46sv...
Bat Island: The New Era of Science
YouTube video by Weizmann Institute of Science
www.youtube.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Neuroscience projects last several years, and you are usually a bit jaded by the time you wrap it up. Not this one– spending several months on an island in the middle of nowhere, away from all the craziness of the world reminds you how beautiful the world really is.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=46sv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=46sv...
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
October 16, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
New paper out! It was an honor to collaborate with the legend Leah Krubitzer on this review to show that paleontologists and neurobiologists working together can only improve our understanding of brain evolution 🧠
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Full access to the paper: rdcu.be/eK167
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Full access to the paper: rdcu.be/eK167
The functional adaptations of mammalian brain structures through a behavioural ecology lens - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
Palaeontologists and comparative neurobiologists share a common interest in the evolution of the mammalian brain, but often fail to realize the benefits of this shared interest. This Review draws thes...
www.nature.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:52 AM
New paper out! It was an honor to collaborate with the legend Leah Krubitzer on this review to show that paleontologists and neurobiologists working together can only improve our understanding of brain evolution 🧠
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Full access to the paper: rdcu.be/eK167
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Full access to the paper: rdcu.be/eK167
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Reposting this open postdoc position with more detailed specifications. Couldn't find the right fit in the first round—not due to lack of strong candidates, but because we're looking for someone whose expertise matches a specific project. More details in the job ad. Apply!
tinyurl.com/2uskxyrp
tinyurl.com/2uskxyrp
Postdoctoral Research Associate - Biology
Position Summary A postdoctoral position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Andreas Kautt in the Department of Biology on the Danforth Campus at WashU in St. Louis. The Kautt Lab studies the mechan...
tinyurl.com
October 3, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposting this open postdoc position with more detailed specifications. Couldn't find the right fit in the first round—not due to lack of strong candidates, but because we're looking for someone whose expertise matches a specific project. More details in the job ad. Apply!
tinyurl.com/2uskxyrp
tinyurl.com/2uskxyrp
thank you to @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social for featuring me in #HumansofHBI and for doing a fun photo shoot with me at the Museum of Natural History!
go check out other members of the HBI community in the #HumansofHBI!
go check out other members of the HBI community in the #HumansofHBI!
Meet @kelseytea.bsky.social on #HumansofHBI
How does genetic and molecular variation, either through evolution or within a species, result in neural and behavioral variation? How many different ways can you evolve a similar behavior?
brain.harvard.edu/hbi_humans/k...
How does genetic and molecular variation, either through evolution or within a species, result in neural and behavioral variation? How many different ways can you evolve a similar behavior?
brain.harvard.edu/hbi_humans/k...
October 8, 2025 at 3:19 PM
thank you to @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social for featuring me in #HumansofHBI and for doing a fun photo shoot with me at the Museum of Natural History!
go check out other members of the HBI community in the #HumansofHBI!
go check out other members of the HBI community in the #HumansofHBI!
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
DHS is proposing a rule that would end "duration of status" for J, F and other visa holders. This would decimate the international graduate student and postdoc population, which are a crucial part of the United States biomedical workforce. There's still time for you to comment on the proposed rule.
Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media
Unlike most nonimmigrant classifications, which are admitted for a fixed time period, aliens in the F (academic student), J (exchange visitor), and most I (representatives of foreign information media...
www.federalregister.gov
September 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
DHS is proposing a rule that would end "duration of status" for J, F and other visa holders. This would decimate the international graduate student and postdoc population, which are a crucial part of the United States biomedical workforce. There's still time for you to comment on the proposed rule.
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Wrote a eulogy for the yellow letters in my office window. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
My Lab Displayed A Message of Solidarity on Our Windows. Harvard Took It Down. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
If we continue down this path, we risk not only Harvard’s future as an institution of free inquiry and expression but also its integrity and trustworthiness.
www.thecrimson.com
August 25, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Wrote a eulogy for the yellow letters in my office window. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Vox has a very good article explaining the mess that just happened at the Supreme Court. In the end, they are ensuring that no matter what happens to the canceled grants, there’s no chance of resolving fast enough to matter for the work or PIs. Struck a death blow www.vox.com/scotus/45886...
August 22, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Vox has a very good article explaining the mess that just happened at the Supreme Court. In the end, they are ensuring that no matter what happens to the canceled grants, there’s no chance of resolving fast enough to matter for the work or PIs. Struck a death blow www.vox.com/scotus/45886...
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Seeking scientist volunteers for this fall! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? I need collaborators for the next cohort of SciComm & Comics art and design students. All countries and scientific fields eligible.
August 20, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Seeking scientist volunteers for this fall! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? I need collaborators for the next cohort of SciComm & Comics art and design students. All countries and scientific fields eligible.
Amazing work on the neural basis of the evolution of escape behavior in peromyscus! congrats, Felix!!
🚨Very happy that my PhD work is now out in @nature.com!
We discovered that evolution, by acting in the midbrain, shifted the threshold to escape in Peromyscus mice, to fine-tune defensive strategies in different environments
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This was a truly collaborative effort! 🧵⬇️
We discovered that evolution, by acting in the midbrain, shifted the threshold to escape in Peromyscus mice, to fine-tune defensive strategies in different environments
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This was a truly collaborative effort! 🧵⬇️
July 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Amazing work on the neural basis of the evolution of escape behavior in peromyscus! congrats, Felix!!
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
House FY26 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill proposes a 23% cut to funding for the National Science Foundation.
Call your legislators and tell them no cuts to science funding!
appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
Call your legislators and tell them no cuts to science funding!
appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
July 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
House FY26 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill proposes a 23% cut to funding for the National Science Foundation.
Call your legislators and tell them no cuts to science funding!
appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
Call your legislators and tell them no cuts to science funding!
appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.