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Mick Craig

@mickcraig.bsky.social

2.7K followers 3.2K following 680 posts

Glaswegian Neuroscientist running a systems neuro lab @uofglasgow.bsky.social. Interests: ephys, interneurons, thalamus, oscillations, dementia, schiz & neuroinflammation. Dad, leftie, runner, wannabe chef, atheist. He/him

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · Jun 11

Preprint alert! An update to our main neuroinflammation in depression project. A brief 🧵.

tl;dr altered ahalamostriatal signalling appears to undelie depression / anhedonia in both humans and a preclinical mouse model. Glia & infiltrating immune cells all contribute

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

Immune-mediated inflammation modulates the thalamostriatal circuitry regulating depression-like behaviour in both mice and humans

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects 3.8% of the world population, representing a significant contribution to the global burden of disease (WHO). Around a quarter of people living with MDD demonstr...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Mick Craig

Dr Nick @nmwilkinson.bsky.social · 6d

For Starmer and Labour the point is to beat Reform in elections. Maybe this will work, to that end.

But for the public and the nation, the important thing is to defeat the fascism and its racism. And this approach will achieve the very opposite

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 6d

Once again Labour's strategy is to say that racism is terrible, and therefore we will defeat the racists by giving them almost everything they want
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/01/k...

Keir Starmer's Farage-Dominated Conference Takes Labour Up a 'Darker Path' Towards a Reform Government

The Prime Minister's condemnations of Reform's racist rhetoric, was undermined by him accepting the central premise of Nigel Farage's anti-migrant politics, argues Adam Bienkov

bylinetimes.com

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 8d

Details on how to apply can be found here: www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences

NorthWest Bio is a new BBSRC-funded doctoral training partnership. Discover more about the programme and how to apply.

www.gla.ac.uk

Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 8d

Fully funded #FindAPhD! We'll be studying neurobiology of motivation in mice hunting crickets, using a combination of genetic manipulations, behaviour and in vivo ephys. Co-suprvised by the amazing @agonru.bsky.social and Gareth Arnott at QUB. #Neuroskyence Pls share

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Animal Biology in Health & Disease - Mick Craig

www.gla.ac.uk

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 9d

Damn, this must have been quite the faff! Congratulations to you and the team 💪💪

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Reposted by Mick Craig

Butt Lab - Oxford @interneuron.bsky.social · 20d

A rather 'unique' paper from our lab is online in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social now. Unique in the sense that I don't think anyone else will be rushing to optotag cortical interneurons in the early postnatal brain... because it is nigh on impossible!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

GABAergic circuits reflect different requirements for sensory integration in postnatal mouse neocortex

Information transfer in mammalian cerebral cortex is dependent on GABAergic interneuron circuits that are widely assumed to be uniform across the neoc…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Mick Craig

Jan Broder Engler @jbengler.de · Jul 8

This is how you can test selected comparisons in #tidyplots 0.3.1 📋

#rstats #dataviz #phd

library(tidyplots)

study |>
tidyplot(x = treatment, y = score, color = treatment) |>
add_mean_dash() |>
add_sem_errorbar() |>
add_data_points() |>
add_test_pvalue(comparisons = list(c(1,3),c(2,4)))

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

Machiavellan. Love it 😂

Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

Daaaaammmmn. Impressive.

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

This is interesting. Yeah, people are petty. I had a big name in the field send a tetchy email as I discussed a caveat of their work in a review (I was very complementary overall). Never meet your heroes... 🙄🫣

Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

Ah, fair enough. It's still a brave move, I guess someone has to lead from the front. Well done!

Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

This is a sensible approach and definitely part of my reluctance...

Reposted by Mick Craig

iucounu @iucounu.bsky.social · Sep 5

Spider-Man asking dinosaur mad scientist Sauron why he is using his 170 seat majority to constantly fuck up instead of fixing Britain and Sauron saying that’s the way he likes it

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

Interesting. Is this the norm in computational biology? It's unusual for the kid of reviews I get, but not unheard of. This journal publishes the reviews too, so I was torn between being accountable for my review and, erm, hiding behind anonymity, I guess. Review was fair but I was still reluctant 🤔

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 11d

Do you ever sign a peer review? I reviewed a paper last night and the journal have the option to sign the review. I almost did but then decided against it. #NeuroSkyence

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Reposted by Mick Craig

Kasia @scullingmonkey.bsky.social · 12d

I guess mathematically speaking you can’t count zeros

Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 12d

Digital ID cards to have “countless benefits” for Brits says PM
www.channel4.com/news/digital...

Digital ID cards to have “countless benefits” for Brits says PM

You won't have to carry it - but new digital ID cards will be compulsory for anyone who wants to work in the UK, under new plans outlined by Sir Keir Starmer.

www.channel4.com

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 12d

I don't understand #UCU at the moment. Am I happy having had several years of continuous pay cuts with very below-inflation pay rises? Absolutely not. But UK higher education is in crisis. Do I want to go on strike to force pay rises that may result in my colleagues losing their jobs? Also: no.🤦‍♂️

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 13d

I'm sure there probably have been bigger acts of urban vandalism than running a major motorway through the heart of a city, but I can't think of right now. #Glasgow

The M8 motorway running through the heart of Glasgow

Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 13d

Yeah, deleted this a long time ago...

Ordinary Notes @hystericalblkns.bsky.social · 21d

If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.

The new TOC from academia dot edu.

By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu's Services.

Reposted by Mick Craig

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 15d

IMPORTANT 🧵

We've been seeing how RFK Jr & anti-vax lobby has been steadily and effectively reducing access to vaccines in the US.

But it could happen in UK too.

It's a threat worth considering given Malhotra's speech at Reform conf & big overlap between anti-vax and RW populsim.

Read on!
1/11

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 16d

Yup. Absolutely bat-shit.

Unrelated: why is bat poop considered particularly unhinged and eccentric? I've always wondered about this.

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 16d

I wish I knew. If not this, then what!?

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 16d

It's utterly shameful that it's only "in doubt"...

Matthew B @matthewbroome.bsky.social · 20d

Musk's fellowship of Royal Society in doubt after rally address www.bbc.com/news/article...

Musk's fellowship of Royal Society in doubt after rally address

The world's most prestigious scientific body raised concerns about the "language of violence" at the march.

www.bbc.com

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 16d

US Ambassador doesn't like #ElbowsUp as he thinks it's anti-American, but it's fine for the US president to speculate about annexing Canada? This idiot needs to get a fucking grip.

Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 20d

MAGA ambassador Pete Hoosktra is telling Canada that he doesn't like the term "elbows up." He says it's anti-American.
Sorry Pete, your president might be able to fire Jimmy Kimmel but you don't get to tell Canadians how to talk.
Elbows up Mother-stucker.

Reposted by Mick Craig

Euan @euan.bsky.social · 25d

There’s a real generational divide between Labour MPs leaking to the Guardian and Labour MPs leaking to the Huffington Post

here has been a joke going around
Labour MPs over the past week about three envelopes in Soviet Russia. "Whenever you run into
trouble, open them in order," the instructions go. Envelope one says: "Blame your predecessor." So he does - and it works. The party officials are satisfied. A year later, problems arise again. He opens envelope two.
It says: "Restructure the organisation."
He does a big reshuffle, changes some titles, and again buys himself some time. Finally, another crisis comes. He opens envelope three. It says: "Prepare three envelopes."

A famous GlF has been doing the rounds on Labour WhatsApp groups in the last couple of weeks.
Taken from a comic strip by KC Green, it shows a dog called Question Hound sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, ignoring the fact that the room he is sitting in is on fire. Above him is the legend 'THIS IS FINE.
For many Labour MPs, the image perfectly sums up No.10's attitude towards the multiple crises facing the government.

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Mick Craig @mickcraig.bsky.social · 26d

Small victories #SpellingBee

Screen shot from my phone showing me getting Queen Bee on NYTimes Spelling Bee game