Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Victoria Abraira

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Jun 29

Often called the “love hormone” or the “cuddle hormone,” oxytocin is produced in the brain’s hypothalamus and acts as a chemical messenger. It promotes feelings of love, bonding and well-being.

Here are surprising ways to stimulate the release of oxytocin — without a hug.

7 ways to get a feel-good fix of hormone oxytocin

Many people have that I-need-a-hug feeling these days. Here are surprising ways to stimulate the release of the feel-good hormone oxytocin — without a hug.

www.washingtonpost.com

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jun 20

The concept of “genius” is exclusionary, inconsistently applied, and a license to behave badly. Why can’t we give it up?

So You Want to Be a Genius

The label is exclusionary, inconsistently applied, and a license to behave badly. Why can’t we give it up?

www.newyorker.com

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John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · Jun 19

Congrats to the 2025 cohort of McKnight Scholars!

www.mcknight.org/news-ideas/2...

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · Jun 19

@natashaobrown.bsky.social !!!! Congratulations!!!!! So proud of you!!!! Thank you HHMI for investing in young talent at State Universities!!!! www.hhmi.org/programs/fre...

The 2025 Freeman Hrabowski Scholars | HHMI

Freeman Hrabowski Scholars are outstanding early career faculty who have the potential to become leaders in their research fields.

www.hhmi.org

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Theanne Griffith, PhD 🇧🇧👩🏽‍🔬🇭🇷 @doctheagrif.bsky.social · Jun 19

I’m so honored to be selected as both a 2025 McKnight Scholar and 2025 HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. And I couldn’t be prouder to share these honors with awesome @ucdavis.bsky.social colleagues 💙💛💙💛

health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlin...

UC Davis researchers honored by McKnight and Howard Hughes Medical Institute

UC Davis faculty Sergey Stavisky, Theanne Griffith and Elisa Zhang receive prestigious early-career recognition from McKnight Endowment Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

health.ucdavis.edu

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Elisa Zhang, Ph.D. @elisazhang.bsky.social · Jun 19

I’m thrilled to have been selected as an HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar, along with my wonderful #PMB colleague @doctheagrif.bsky.social Excited for what’s to come - we’re just getting started! 🚀 @ucdavis.bsky.social
@ucd-physiology.bsky.social

health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlin...

UC Davis researchers honored by McKnight and Howard Hughes Medical Institute

UC Davis faculty Sergey Stavisky, Theanne Griffith and Elisa Zhang receive prestigious early-career recognition from McKnight Endowment Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

health.ucdavis.edu

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · Jun 17

So proud of my postdoc! She received official notice that her K99 will be awarded! That’s 3/3 postdocs with transition awards since we opened our lab in 2018! Thank you to the funding agencies for supporting the next generation!!!!

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Mackenzie Weygandt Mathis @trackingactions.bsky.social · Jun 1

(And my DL works have gone on to be my most cited, fwiw). Don’t be afraid to chase your ideas/passions!

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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · Jun 5

Carl Sagan in 1986 on the problems with media and science literacy.

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · May 21

SfN elections close SOON — 2P PT/5 PM ET today! Ellen Lumpkin and Irene Tracey are both nominated for council position. Vote to ensure that strong voices represent our sensory neuroscience community. Vote at www.directvote.net/SfN/

www.directvote.net

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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.bsky.social · May 7

The feeling of a hug comes from the pressure and vibration of millions of nerve endings.

Touch, Our Most Complex Sense, Is a Landscape of Cellular Sensors | Quanta Magazine

Every soft caress of wind, searing burn and seismic rumble is detected by our skin’s tangle of touch sensors. David Ginty has spent his career cataloging the neurons beneath everyday sensations.

www.quantamagazine.org

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · May 8

you were hoping for a complete fiscal year... I was hoping for human decency....

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Annika Barber @annikabarber.bsky.social · Apr 26

😱 😱 😱 Major life goal achieved, though not for the reasons I’d hoped. I will be on @thisamericanlife.org tomorrow. 🧪 www.thisamericanlife.org/859/chaos-gr...

Chaos Graph - This American Life

People immersed in chaos try to solve for what it all adds up to.

www.thisamericanlife.org

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · May 8

You were hoping for a complete fiscal year.... I was hoping for human decency....

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Brian Lovett @lovettbr.bsky.social · May 3

I am extremely pleased to share this feature articulating why I have lost my sanity lately. www.science.org/content/arti...

U.S. scientists’ lives and careers are being upended. Here are five of their stories

As the second Trump administration sends U.S. science into upheaval, countless researchers are fighting for their futures

www.science.org

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · May 7

having a look at the 'ol summary statement

drake meme with really bad scores from R1 and really good ones from R3

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Science Homecoming @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social · May 7

Early childhood education researchers — it’s a good time to write home about the value of public broadcasting for preschool reading, school readiness, and early math skills 🧪🍎. Start an op-ed campaign.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_...

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Takaki Komiyama @takakikomiyama.bsky.social · May 8

Our paper is out in Nature.

By examining various inputs to the motor cortex during learning, we found that thalamic inputs learn to activate the cortical neurons encoding the movement being learned.

Tour de force by Assaf in collab with Felix and Marcus. Congrats!

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

Motor learning refines thalamic influence on motor cortex - Nature

Imaging and optogenetics in mice provide insight into the interplay between the primary motor cortex and the motor thalamus during learning, showing that thalamic inputs have a key role in the executi...

www.nature.com

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · May 8

NIH termination notices arriving in my inbox....

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Neil deGrasse Tyson @neildegrassetyson.com · May 4

The plots of disaster movies that portray the end of civilization often begin with high-level Government Officials ignoring the warnings of Scientists.

One of several lesson learned from the 2.5 hour @Netflix Documentary — Don’t Look Up (2021).

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Angeline J. Dukes, PhD @heydrdukes.bsky.social · May 3

“I feel a little less despair” ❤️‍🩹
“I feel more hopeful & inspired” 🙌🏾
“It’s good to know that other people are still fighting so I can too” ✊🏾

-feedback I received from grad students and postdocs after giving my talk at Rutgers ✨

A Black woman with long curly hair taking a selfie. She is wearing a cream dress with orange and pink flowers that has green watercolor leaves, gold necklaces and a burgundy headband. She also has black glasses and red lipstick on.

A group photo of guest speaker Dr. Angeline Dukes taking a selfie with the IRACDA INSPIRE program inside a classroom at Rutgers

A selfie of Dr. Angeline Dukes and Dr. Kaliris Salas, a Black woman and Puerto Rican woman neuroscientists. Both women are smiling widely inside a classroom

A photo of Dr. Troy Roepke and Dr. Angeline Dukes sitting outside on Rutgers campus. Troy is wearing a pink and purple floral shirt with pink pants. Angeline is wearing a cream dress with watercolor pink, orange and red flowers with green leaves.

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Catherine Dulac @dulaclab.bsky.social · May 2

Congratulations to the 4 exceptional senior undergrads who defended their thesis in my lab: from left to right, Selorna, Misha, PK and Josephine, together with their postdoctoral mentors Zuri Sullivan, @dingliu.bsky.social and @mostafizurrahman.bsky.social (Tricia Horvath in maternity leave)

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Justin Burdge, PhD @justinburdge.bsky.social · May 3

Enjoyed my first times in Chicago and @usasp.bsky.social this past week! So much exciting work happening in the pain field, I have a feeling that the groundwork for some fantastic collaborations was laid this week!

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Lauren Atlas @laurenatlas.bsky.social · May 3

Here’s just the most recent of the many NCCIH studies of #pain (from colleague @alexchesler.bsky.social published last week in Nature). Nearly 50% of NCCIH funding goes to studying pain, with a focus on nonpharmacological treatments and mechanisms. The proposed budget eliminates NCCIH.

Alex Chesler @alexchesler.bsky.social · Apr 23

co-author @dimacd.bsky.social pointed out that the link was truncated in my post. Hope this works: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A distributed coding logic for thermosensation and inflammatory pain - Nature

Functional imaging and multiplexed in situ hybridization were combined to investigate how trigeminal neurons encode heat and mechanical stimuli, revealing distinct cellular mechanisms for continuing p...

www.nature.com

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Victoria Abraira @vabraira.bsky.social · May 4

So important to be spreading this message! @karalmarshall.bsky.social thank you!!!

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