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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

Andreas Schaefer @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social · 7d

Lots of exciting clinical PhD projects at Crick - including the opportunity for neurosurgeons to work with us and record electrical activity in patients with neuropixels probes. Please share widely!

The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 8d

We're looking for clinicians who are passionate about research to join our 3-year fully funded clinical PhD programme. 🔬🩺

Apply by 14 November 2025. 👇

www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Doctoral clinical fellows

The Crick's clinical PhD programme.

www.crick.ac.uk

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

Venki Murthy @neurovenki.bsky.social · 19d

(edited repost) Thrilled to see our computational work on adaptive shaping of behavior (we call it outcome-based curriculum learning) in PLoS Comp Biol! @wl-tong.bsky.social, @gautamreddy.bsky.social & I formalize curricula in any RL task that can be framed as sequential simple-to-complex behavior.

Adaptive algorithms for shaping behavior

Author summary Animals are commonly trained by ‘shaping’ their behavior using a sequence of simpler tasks towards a complex behavior. Numerous schools of thought have proposed heuristics for shaping b...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

Simone Pigolotti @simonepigolotti.bsky.social · Sep 3

Open faculty positions in Physics at OIST

OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) @oistedu.bsky.social · Aug 19

📢 #FacultyHiring: OIST is hiring! We invite exceptional scientists to apply for faculty positions in:
- Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography
- Physics and Quantum Science (including related fields)
🔗: www.oist.jp/careers/facu...

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

Venki Murthy @neurovenki.bsky.social · Sep 1

We watched mice follow scent trails drawn on an “endless” treadmill. By manipulating trail geometry/statistics, perturbing mouse nose & brain, and modeling behavior with a Bayesian framework, we show that mice use predictive (rather than reactive) strategies.

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Aug 5

Humans and Neanderthals are virtually identical at the genetic level.

Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.

One gene reveals clues to why humans thrived and Neanderthals didn’t

Some mice were more adept at seeking water after the gene change, signaling a behavioral change and potential cognitive advantage.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) @oistedu.bsky.social · Aug 5

Tiny changes in our brain chemistry sets us apart from Neanderthals and Denisovans – and when introduced into mice, seem to help females compete better for scarce resources 🧠 Read about how ADSL may have influenced our evolution www.oist.jp/news-center/...

Tracing brain chemistry across humanity’s family tree

Small changes to an enzyme suggest how modern humans differ from Neanderthals and Denisovans in biochemistry and behavior.

www.oist.jp

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Izumi Fukunaga @ifukunaga.bsky.social · Aug 4

You can read more about it in the press release

www.oist.jp/news-center/...

Tracing brain chemistry across humanity’s family tree

Small changes to an enzyme suggest how modern humans differ from Neanderthals and Denisovans in biochemistry and behavior.

www.oist.jp

Izumi Fukunaga @ifukunaga.bsky.social · Aug 4

We don’t yet understand how our findings translate to human behavior and cognition, but hopefully they offer clues to our origins.

Grateful for the opportunity to take part in this fascinating collaborative work and to @oistedu.bsky.social for all the support.

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Izumi Fukunaga @ifukunaga.bsky.social · Aug 4

What’s more, another mutation in the non coding region - also positively selected - reduces the ADSL expression in humans. So, reduction in the ADSL activity seems overall beneficial.

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Izumi Fukunaga @ifukunaga.bsky.social · Aug 4

Turns out this mutation reduces the stability of the enzyme.

When the “humanised” ADSL was introduced into the mouse, the enzyme substrates increased particularly in the brain, and female mice became adept at accessing a scarce resource (in this case, water in the cage).

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Izumi Fukunaga @ifukunaga.bsky.social · Aug 4

ADSL is an enzyme crucial for purine biosynthesis.

As the modern human lineage split from those of Neanderthals and Denisovans, a single amino acid mutation in this enzyme became fixed.

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Izumi Fukunaga @ifukunaga.bsky.social · Aug 4

Talking of understanding the brain in the evolutionary context…

We have a new study out, led by Xiang-Chun Ju in Svante Pääbo’s lab at OIST:

The activity and expression of adenylosuccinate lyase were reduced during modern human evolution, affecting brain and behavior

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

FarrowLab @farrowlab.bsky.social · Jul 23

Fantastic to see this collaborative work with Hopi Hoekstra out in Nature (tinyurl.com/3at3zvby). Lead by @felixbaier.bsky.social and @katjareinhard.bsky.social. Not possible without @bramnuttin.bsky.social , Chen Liu and @arnausd.bsky.social.

Excited to see where this work leads.

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · Jul 21

Great technique from my @crick.ac.uk colleagues in @petrznam.bsky.social lab

Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Barcoded Rabies In Situ Connectomics for high-throughput reconstruction of neural circuits

Sequencing of oligonucleotide barcodes holds promise as a high-throughput approach for reconstructing synaptic connectivity at scale. Rabies viruses can act as a vehicle for barcode transmission, than...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga

Andreas Schaefer @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social · Jun 11

Massive congratulations to everyone - predominantly of course @janice-bulk.bsky.social and @sophiesteculorum.bsky.social

Sophie Steculorum @sophiesteculorum.bsky.social · Jun 11

📢 🤩Excited to share our latest paper👃🧠! Huge thanks to the amazing first author @janice-bulk.bsky.social‬ and all co-authors, especially @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social and ‪@tobiasackels.bsky.social‬ 🙌! ‬‬
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A food-sensitive olfactory circuit drives anticipatory satiety - Nature Metabolism

The authors describe a sensory circuit involving the medial septum (MS), where MS glutamatergic neurons integrate food odours to prime satiety and regulate nutrient intake.

www.nature.com

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