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Ofer Yizhar

@oyiz.bsky.social

1.3K followers 420 following 24 posts

Neuroscientist at the Weizmann Institute. Neural circuits for social behavior, memory and decisions; developer of optogenetic tools. Outside the lab, it’s family, running, music in many forms.

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

Excited to share our latest paper - now out in @science.org - we showed how oxytocin modulates maternally-directed behavior in young mice (P15).

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 20d

Really cool stuff! Engineered excitatory opsins responding to 15nW light

BejaLab @bejalab.bsky.social · 20d

WAChRs are excitatory opsins sensitive to indoor lighting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Niv Reggev ניב רגב نيڤ ريچيڤ @nivreggev.bsky.social · 22d

Breaking a hiatus to post this.

A group of Israeli Social Psychologists, myself included, wrote a letter to speak out clearly against the Israeli government’s decisions and the resulting devastation in Gaza.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

In hopes of peace and safety for all, and soon

A Letter by Israeli Social Psychologists

Dear friends of the Social Psychology community, After October 7, a group of Israeli social psychologists, including many of us, wrote a letter expressing our deep shock at the massacre, abuse, rape,...

docs.google.com

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 25d

Thanks Tallie for your support and inspiration 🙏

Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 25d

Thanks @gozziale.bsky.social !

Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 25d

Follow @dzelmanoff.bsky.social who led this work and just joined the bsky party!

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 26d

Very cool study by @oyiz.bsky.social using optogenetics to shed light on how oxytocin signaling regulates vocalization to maintain maternal bonds (with nice write-up by @bellonec.bsky.social, “Cries into ties” indeed) 🧪

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cries into ties

Oxytocin neurons in mouse pups regulate vocalization to maintain maternal bonds

www.science.org

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

Congrats Noa, Yuval and the team! Beautiful work!

Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

And to Shari Ross for the beautiful drawings

Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

Many thanks to my amazing team at @weizmanninstitute.bsky.social, our colleagues at the Dept. of Brain Sciences and at the Dept. of Molecular Neuroscience and the generous support of @erc.europa.eu and the NIH BRAIN Initiative

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

And this article at the Transmitter by Claudia Lopez: www.thetransmitter.org/oxytocin/oxy...

Oxytocin shapes both mouse mom and pup behavior

Distressed pups emit distinct cries for help, which depend on oxytocin neurons in their hypothalamus.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

See also this really nice write-up by @bellonec.bsky.social : www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cries into ties

Oxytocin neurons in mouse pups regulate vocalization to maintain maternal bonds

www.science.org

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

This study was led by my fantastic PhD student Daniel Zelmanoff and a wonderful team from the lab. Check out the full paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Oxytocin signaling regulates maternally directed behavior during early life

Oxytocin is essential in shaping social behavior across the lifespan. Although the role of oxytocin signaling in parental care has been widely investigated, little is known about its function in socia...

www.science.org

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

Using this approach, we were able to show that silencing oxytocin neurons specifically alters the vocal behaviors of pups when they are separated from their dam and littermates, and also alters their vocal behavior upon reunion.

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

Since optogenetic manipulations are very difficult to perform at such a young age, we devised a new approach that uses our mosquito opsin eOPN3, which is red-shifted and highly light-sensitive, for transcranial silencing of hypothalamic oxytocin cells in freely-behaving pups.

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

We found that oxytocin neurons are activated during a 3-hour separation from the home cage, and are also transiently recruited during the emission of ultrasonic vocalization bouts.

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

This study was ignited by the discovery that oxytocin receptors reach peak expression in the brain during early life - both in humans and rodents! In mice, P14-21 and in humans from birth to 3 years. We wondered how oxytocin contributes to behavior at this critical period in an animal's lifetime.

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Ofer Yizhar @oyiz.bsky.social · 26d

Excited to share our latest paper - now out in @science.org - we showed how oxytocin modulates maternally-directed behavior in young mice (P15).

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Jonathan Kadmon @kadmonj.bsky.social · Jul 27

In the past year and a half, we have been intensively protesting and fighting the Israeli government in an attempt to stop the war, secure the release of all hostages, and prevent the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Until now, our protests have primarily been focused internally.

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

SPIE @spie.org · Jan 26

What time is it? ⏰
Time to talk about the brain! 🧠

Opening the Neurotechnologies plenary session is @oyiz.bsky.social of Weizmann Inst. of Science. He is discussing new tools that allow highly light-sensitive silencing AND facilitate spectral multiplexing for modulation + imaging.

#PhotonicsWest

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Yulong Li Lab @yulonglilab.bsky.social · Dec 24

First post on Bluesky!✨
(1/7) Far-red dopamine sensor is coming! Excited to introduce our chemigenetic DA sensor, HaloDA1.0! #Dopamine #FarRedSensors, #GRAB www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Jonas Wietek @jwietek.bsky.social · Dec 23

Optogenetics 7.0
🍾 Cheers 🥂
@johvierock.bsky.social
@oyiz.bsky.social
@deisseroth.bsky.social

Pictures of scientists at the symposium in honor of P.H.'s 70th birthday.

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Luke Sjulson @lukesjulson.bsky.social · Dec 13

Neuroscience students asked us to teach a PRACTICAL course on experimental methods, and it is now on YouTube!

Please like and repost to help us get the word out!

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Lecture 1: Signals and data acquisition
Focusing on hardware, digital/analog I/O, synchronization
🧵

Neuroscience methods - YouTube

Nanocourse: Approaches to Study Neural Circuits This course was taught by Anita Autry, Tiago Gonçalves, and Luke Sjulson at Albert Einstein College of Medici...

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

JB Manent @jbmanent.bsky.social · Nov 14

Related to this, I created a starter pack for those interested/involved in Epilepsy research. Many of the DBS folks may also be interested.

go.bsky.app/B8pPi1n

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · Nov 13

Upon popular demand I created a started pack for people interested in Deep Brain Stimulation!
Lmk if you'd like to be added!

go.bsky.app/B9A9Cho

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Reposted by Ofer Yizhar

Nikolas Karalis @nikolaskaralis.bsky.social · Nov 17

How to rebuild your network on @bsky.app and improve your experience here?

I made a short starter guide with resources.
www.neuronaldynamics.eu/resources/bl...

Also, a thread 🧵 below.

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