(((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
@aheadofthenerve.bsky.social
Proud scientist. BRAIN K99/R00. HPC experimental & computational systems neuro. Ephys4life.
Postdoc @NUFeinbergMed w @Disterhoftlab & @SaraASolla.
PhD @MITbiology w/ Matt Wilson
🔬🧠🐀🌈
Postdoc @NUFeinbergMed w @Disterhoftlab & @SaraASolla.
PhD @MITbiology w/ Matt Wilson
🔬🧠🐀🌈
Pinned
Conserved neural population geometry supports behavioral generalization
Learned behaviors often generalize across contexts even though neural representations can vary substantially between environments. How the brain preserves task-relevant information across these changi...
www.biorxiv.org
Major preprint update! 🎉
How can learned behaviors generalize across environments when the hippocampus remaps?
Our original preprint showed that task-related latent structure persisted across contextual remapping. In this revision, we add the major finding that...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How can learned behaviors generalize across environments when the hippocampus remaps?
Our original preprint showed that task-related latent structure persisted across contextual remapping. In this revision, we add the major finding that...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Human evidence tying hippocampal CA1 function directly to sleep-dependent memory is hard to come by. A pre-print from Hanert et al. found that transient CA1 dysfunction impaired overnight consolidation, with recovery in NREM theta tracking memory recovery.
buff.ly/J7oQ7Jr
buff.ly/J7oQ7Jr
Hippocampal CA1 neurons are crucial for sleep-associated memory formation in humans: The role of theta power during NREM sleep
The formation of long-term memory during sleep depends on the reactivation and redistribution of recently acquired mnemonic information during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Animal studies sugge...
buff.ly
September 18, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Human evidence tying hippocampal CA1 function directly to sleep-dependent memory is hard to come by. A pre-print from Hanert et al. found that transient CA1 dysfunction impaired overnight consolidation, with recovery in NREM theta tracking memory recovery.
buff.ly/J7oQ7Jr
buff.ly/J7oQ7Jr
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Butterflies and axolotls: our acquisition systems had a busy summer at the MBL @mblscience.bsky.social ! 🦋🧠
This year, we supported Grass Fellow Jack Supple and Whitman Fellow Angelo Forli @aforli89.bsky.social with Open Ephys acquisition boards. Here’s what they’ve been up to.
This year, we supported Grass Fellow Jack Supple and Whitman Fellow Angelo Forli @aforli89.bsky.social with Open Ephys acquisition boards. Here’s what they’ve been up to.
September 18, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Butterflies and axolotls: our acquisition systems had a busy summer at the MBL @mblscience.bsky.social ! 🦋🧠
This year, we supported Grass Fellow Jack Supple and Whitman Fellow Angelo Forli @aforli89.bsky.social with Open Ephys acquisition boards. Here’s what they’ve been up to.
This year, we supported Grass Fellow Jack Supple and Whitman Fellow Angelo Forli @aforli89.bsky.social with Open Ephys acquisition boards. Here’s what they’ve been up to.
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Hi friends & colleagues! I’m on the hunt for a tenure-track home! I’m a BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 scholar studying learning & memory at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theory, & machine learning/AI. I’d love to connect & would appreciate help spreading the word! web.mit.edu/hsw/www/
September 15, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Hi friends & colleagues! I’m on the hunt for a tenure-track home! I’m a BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 scholar studying learning & memory at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theory, & machine learning/AI. I’d love to connect & would appreciate help spreading the word! web.mit.edu/hsw/www/
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
NEW: Yet another group of researchers is suing the NIH and HHS over a massive purge of federal research grants.
The class-action suit alleges the Trump admin is violating scientists' first amendment rights by using keyword searches to censor science that doesn't align with its political views.
The class-action suit alleges the Trump admin is violating scientists' first amendment rights by using keyword searches to censor science that doesn't align with its political views.
Researchers Challenge NIH Screening of Grants for Disfavored Viewpoints | American Civil Liberties Union
Class action lawsuit seeks to stop censorship and termination of federally funded scientific research
www.aclu.org
September 16, 2026 at 5:08 PM
NEW: Yet another group of researchers is suing the NIH and HHS over a massive purge of federal research grants.
The class-action suit alleges the Trump admin is violating scientists' first amendment rights by using keyword searches to censor science that doesn't align with its political views.
The class-action suit alleges the Trump admin is violating scientists' first amendment rights by using keyword searches to censor science that doesn't align with its political views.
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Another great @thetransmitter.bsky.social piece from Matt Perich about dimensionality in neural data. All his pieces are well worth a read: www.thetransmitter.org/neural-dynam... and www.thetransmitter.org/neural-dynam...
September 15, 2026 at 9:35 PM
Another great @thetransmitter.bsky.social piece from Matt Perich about dimensionality in neural data. All his pieces are well worth a read: www.thetransmitter.org/neural-dynam... and www.thetransmitter.org/neural-dynam...
Hi friends & colleagues! I’m on the hunt for a tenure-track home! I’m a BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 scholar studying learning & memory at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theory, & machine learning/AI. I’d love to connect & would appreciate help spreading the word! web.mit.edu/hsw/www/
September 15, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Hi friends & colleagues! I’m on the hunt for a tenure-track home! I’m a BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 scholar studying learning & memory at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theory, & machine learning/AI. I’d love to connect & would appreciate help spreading the word! web.mit.edu/hsw/www/
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
“The greater danger is allowing uncertainty to convince us to stop building, mentoring, investing in ambitious ideas, supporting vulnerable communities, or imagining a future worth creating until conditions improve.” #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/4ivIdj8
September 15, 2026 at 8:02 PM
“The greater danger is allowing uncertainty to convince us to stop building, mentoring, investing in ambitious ideas, supporting vulnerable communities, or imagining a future worth creating until conditions improve.” #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/4ivIdj8
still true :-p ah I miss grad school
September 15, 2026 at 5:41 PM
still true :-p ah I miss grad school
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Most cortical neurons exhibit mixed selectivity rather than specializing in a single function. Our limited ability to juggle tasks may therefore reflect interference among overlapping neural representations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience
Feature interference underlies a neuronal basis for the behavioral cost of task uncertainty - Nature Neuroscience
Using a combined approach of monkey electrophysiology, artificial neural networks and human psychophysics, Xue et al. show that neuronal interference from irrelevant information underlies behavioral e...
www.nature.com
September 14, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Most cortical neurons exhibit mixed selectivity rather than specializing in a single function. Our limited ability to juggle tasks may therefore reflect interference among overlapping neural representations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Why put visual information there? Because movement rarely enters that part of neural state space.
By constraining movement to a low-dimensional manifold, the circuit effectively creates another coding space where sensory information can be represented with less interference from movement.
By constraining movement to a low-dimensional manifold, the circuit effectively creates another coding space where sensory information can be represented with less interference from movement.
September 14, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Why put visual information there? Because movement rarely enters that part of neural state space.
By constraining movement to a low-dimensional manifold, the circuit effectively creates another coding space where sensory information can be represented with less interference from movement.
By constraining movement to a low-dimensional manifold, the circuit effectively creates another coding space where sensory information can be represented with less interference from movement.
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
We have a tenure-track faculty position in Evolutionary Biology in Columbia's E3B Department.
Application deadline is October 15.
Come be our colleague.
Please RT!
apply.interfolio.com/193016
Application deadline is October 15.
Come be our colleague.
Please RT!
apply.interfolio.com/193016
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
September 11, 2026 at 4:20 PM
We have a tenure-track faculty position in Evolutionary Biology in Columbia's E3B Department.
Application deadline is October 15.
Come be our colleague.
Please RT!
apply.interfolio.com/193016
Application deadline is October 15.
Come be our colleague.
Please RT!
apply.interfolio.com/193016
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Come be our colleague. I have been in this Division for 27 years (4 as a postdoc and 23 as a PI). It is an amazing place to work, collaborate, and be inspired. If you are applying to be an Assistant or Associate Professor this Fall, don't miss this deadline.
Join @FredHutch.org's Basic Sciences Division as an Assistant or Associate Professor and help shape the future of fundamental biology. We welcome applicants whose work will complement, extend, or bring new directions to the division.
Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
August 6, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Come be our colleague. I have been in this Division for 27 years (4 as a postdoc and 23 as a PI). It is an amazing place to work, collaborate, and be inspired. If you are applying to be an Assistant or Associate Professor this Fall, don't miss this deadline.
please i beg of you if you ever get to rule your university please have their job app on interfolio
September 10, 2026 at 8:19 PM
please i beg of you if you ever get to rule your university please have their job app on interfolio
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
New paper from the Neurosurgery Research Team at BCM! “Neural geometry in the human hippocampus enables generalization across spatial position and gaze” led by @assiachericoni.bsky.social! 🧵
www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
Neural geometry in the human hippocampus enables generalization across spatial position and gaze
Chericoni et al. show that neurons in the human hippocampus track the positions of
multiple agents in a simple pursuit-based video game. They identified place codes
for each agent and for gaze. The co...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2026 at 3:34 PM
New paper from the Neurosurgery Research Team at BCM! “Neural geometry in the human hippocampus enables generalization across spatial position and gaze” led by @assiachericoni.bsky.social! 🧵
www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Our latest paper is now online at Advanced Science. Li et al,
Early spatial and contextual coding deficits in hippocampal CA1 precede performance decline in an Alzheimer’s disease model.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Early spatial and contextual coding deficits in hippocampal CA1 precede performance decline in an Alzheimer’s disease model.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Early Spatial and Contextual Coding Deficits in Hippocampal CA1 Precede Performance Decline in an Alzheimer's Disease Model
Two-photon calcium imaging in behaving 5xFAD mice reveals early CA1 coding deficits before behavioral decline. Task-related place cell activity and splitter cell trajectory coding are impaired, with ....
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 10, 2026 at 8:44 AM
Our latest paper is now online at Advanced Science. Li et al,
Early spatial and contextual coding deficits in hippocampal CA1 precede performance decline in an Alzheimer’s disease model.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Early spatial and contextual coding deficits in hippocampal CA1 precede performance decline in an Alzheimer’s disease model.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Very excited to share a preprint on our new work on how the brain represents time, co-led with Melissa Serrano, Andrew Sharott and David Dupret! ⏳�
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
September 10, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Very excited to share a preprint on our new work on how the brain represents time, co-led with Melissa Serrano, Andrew Sharott and David Dupret! ⏳�
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
reposting with gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/s...
September 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
reposting with gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/s...
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
The US is facing a mass exodus of scientists
The funding cuts & attacks on science are demoralizing a generation of brilliant minds
One-third of young scientists who were planning careers in academic research changed their minds in 2025 and many now plan to leave
www.nber.org/system/files...
The funding cuts & attacks on science are demoralizing a generation of brilliant minds
One-third of young scientists who were planning careers in academic research changed their minds in 2025 and many now plan to leave
www.nber.org/system/files...
September 10, 2026 at 3:23 PM
The US is facing a mass exodus of scientists
The funding cuts & attacks on science are demoralizing a generation of brilliant minds
One-third of young scientists who were planning careers in academic research changed their minds in 2025 and many now plan to leave
www.nber.org/system/files...
The funding cuts & attacks on science are demoralizing a generation of brilliant minds
One-third of young scientists who were planning careers in academic research changed their minds in 2025 and many now plan to leave
www.nber.org/system/files...
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
2025 marked the third year of our PRC model as a way to show how research publishing and assessment can be done differently. Reflect with us on our continued efforts to transform the system with our 2025 Annual Report
buff.ly/Cddp2sm
buff.ly/Cddp2sm
September 10, 2026 at 3:30 PM
2025 marked the third year of our PRC model as a way to show how research publishing and assessment can be done differently. Reflect with us on our continued efforts to transform the system with our 2025 Annual Report
buff.ly/Cddp2sm
buff.ly/Cddp2sm
👀
We wrote a tutorial guide on voltage imaging, now out in Neuron: authors.elsevier.com/a/1nlgh3BtfH...
Indicators, microscopes, and software have all advanced to the point that it's not so hard -- you can now directly watch the electrical activity of neurons in live animals or in culture.
Indicators, microscopes, and software have all advanced to the point that it's not so hard -- you can now directly watch the electrical activity of neurons in live animals or in culture.
Please wait whilst we redirect you
All content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
authors.elsevier.com
September 10, 2026 at 4:07 PM
👀
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Now out in Nature Neuroscience: fantastic work by @cxue.bsky.social, Sol Markman et al who discovered a neural reason that performance suffers under cognitive load: “Feature interference underlies a neuronal basis for the behavioral cost of task uncertainty”.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🧵1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🧵1/
Feature interference underlies a neuronal basis for the behavioral cost of task uncertainty - Nature Neuroscience
Using a combined approach of monkey electrophysiology, artificial neural networks and human psychophysics, Xue et al. show that neuronal interference from irrelevant information underlies behavioral e...
www.nature.com
September 10, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Now out in Nature Neuroscience: fantastic work by @cxue.bsky.social, Sol Markman et al who discovered a neural reason that performance suffers under cognitive load: “Feature interference underlies a neuronal basis for the behavioral cost of task uncertainty”.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🧵1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🧵1/
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Hippocampal CA1 neurons are crucial for sleep-associated memory formation in humans: The role of theta power during NREM sleep https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.748785v1
September 8, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Hippocampal CA1 neurons are crucial for sleep-associated memory formation in humans: The role of theta power during NREM sleep https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.748785v1
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Prestigious, fully funded, 3 yearlong postdoctoral fellowship ($90,000/year salary plus benefits) in neural computation and NeuroAI is available starting October 2027. The Candidate must have a very strong CV, including empirical publications. See our lab's page for our research directions.
September 8, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Prestigious, fully funded, 3 yearlong postdoctoral fellowship ($90,000/year salary plus benefits) in neural computation and NeuroAI is available starting October 2027. The Candidate must have a very strong CV, including empirical publications. See our lab's page for our research directions.
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
It’s scary to think about how, in ~10 years, some unknown but small number of children are going to start having trouble thinking, then losing motor function, then being unable to to swallow or breathe, and then they will die.
All because their parents didn’t vaccinate them against measles.
All because their parents didn’t vaccinate them against measles.
September 8, 2026 at 7:07 PM
It’s scary to think about how, in ~10 years, some unknown but small number of children are going to start having trouble thinking, then losing motor function, then being unable to to swallow or breathe, and then they will die.
All because their parents didn’t vaccinate them against measles.
All because their parents didn’t vaccinate them against measles.
Reposted by (((Dr Hannah Wirtshafter))) 🔬
Cortex, shmortex! "Both sensory evidence and maze design indicate that the acortical mouse operates using a cognitive map — the very representation the hippocampus is thought to build and store —and a reusable rule—the very function that is conventionally attributed to prefrontal cortex"
How fast can mice learn complex mazes? With @mameister4.bsky.social we reveal memory, generalization, latent learning, and remote credit assignment of mice in the Manhattan Maze. Do mice born without a cortex or hippocampus have them too? Check it out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Rapid spatial cognition in mice, with and without neocortex and hippocampus
Rapid learning, memory, and generalization are often attributed to circuits of the neocortex and hippocampus, but their specific role remains unclear. To examine these cognitive abilities together in ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 4, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Cortex, shmortex! "Both sensory evidence and maze design indicate that the acortical mouse operates using a cognitive map — the very representation the hippocampus is thought to build and store —and a reusable rule—the very function that is conventionally attributed to prefrontal cortex"