Valerie Tsai
@val-tsais.bsky.social
Neurosciences PhD Student @ Stanford 🌲
NSF GRFP fellow | prev: NIMH postbac, UW undergrad | ML & social behavior & patching ✨🐭 |
I write, sometimes...
vtsai881.github.io
NSF GRFP fellow | prev: NIMH postbac, UW undergrad | ML & social behavior & patching ✨🐭 |
I write, sometimes...
vtsai881.github.io
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Extremely proud to share @acara333.bsky.social and my new paper, out today in @cp-neuron.bsky.social, where we develop a new fluorescent reporter of neural responses to estrogen! 🔬
paper 📝: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
addgene page 🧬: www.addgene.org/254753/
#neuroskyence 🧪
1/10
paper 📝: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
addgene page 🧬: www.addgene.org/254753/
#neuroskyence 🧪
1/10
August 28, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Extremely proud to share @acara333.bsky.social and my new paper, out today in @cp-neuron.bsky.social, where we develop a new fluorescent reporter of neural responses to estrogen! 🔬
paper 📝: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
addgene page 🧬: www.addgene.org/254753/
#neuroskyence 🧪
1/10
paper 📝: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
addgene page 🧬: www.addgene.org/254753/
#neuroskyence 🧪
1/10
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Our digital sphinx, a cautionary tale about the interpretation of connectome-body models, is now a reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social. We are grateful to the reviewers for engaging seriously with what we hope is a useful (if absurd) demonstration.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
August 17, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Our digital sphinx, a cautionary tale about the interpretation of connectome-body models, is now a reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social. We are grateful to the reviewers for engaging seriously with what we hope is a useful (if absurd) demonstration.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
preprint🚨 ✨A Stickiness Response System in Rats
tinyurl.com/4wnu88v9
What underlies that sticky, icky feeling? Sticky sensing is surprisingly underexplored. we investigated its neural and behavioural basis
Congrats to Sandra, @simonerencken.bsky.social @jasmine-stone.bsky.social Adam, Tom & Pam! 👏
tinyurl.com/4wnu88v9
What underlies that sticky, icky feeling? Sticky sensing is surprisingly underexplored. we investigated its neural and behavioural basis
Congrats to Sandra, @simonerencken.bsky.social @jasmine-stone.bsky.social Adam, Tom & Pam! 👏
August 12, 2026 at 4:31 PM
preprint🚨 ✨A Stickiness Response System in Rats
tinyurl.com/4wnu88v9
What underlies that sticky, icky feeling? Sticky sensing is surprisingly underexplored. we investigated its neural and behavioural basis
Congrats to Sandra, @simonerencken.bsky.social @jasmine-stone.bsky.social Adam, Tom & Pam! 👏
tinyurl.com/4wnu88v9
What underlies that sticky, icky feeling? Sticky sensing is surprisingly underexplored. we investigated its neural and behavioural basis
Congrats to Sandra, @simonerencken.bsky.social @jasmine-stone.bsky.social Adam, Tom & Pam! 👏
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
1/6 Opioids trigger a dopamine surge that can create dangerous reward associations—yet that same dopamine signal may help shape central pain perception.
Can the dopamine surge and reward associations be separated?
Our recent Nature study says yes
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Can the dopamine surge and reward associations be separated?
Our recent Nature study says yes
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 5, 2026 at 3:19 PM
1/6 Opioids trigger a dopamine surge that can create dangerous reward associations—yet that same dopamine signal may help shape central pain perception.
Can the dopamine surge and reward associations be separated?
Our recent Nature study says yes
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Can the dopamine surge and reward associations be separated?
Our recent Nature study says yes
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
How do you "see" with electric eyes? How does collective behavior emerge from individual interactions?
Nocturnal weakly electric fish evolved to do this, but studying naturalistic social behavior is very hard.
Our solution? Virtual 'fish' 🤖🐟⚡
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2511.08436
Nocturnal weakly electric fish evolved to do this, but studying naturalistic social behavior is very hard.
Our solution? Virtual 'fish' 🤖🐟⚡
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2511.08436
July 29, 2026 at 3:49 PM
How do you "see" with electric eyes? How does collective behavior emerge from individual interactions?
Nocturnal weakly electric fish evolved to do this, but studying naturalistic social behavior is very hard.
Our solution? Virtual 'fish' 🤖🐟⚡
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2511.08436
Nocturnal weakly electric fish evolved to do this, but studying naturalistic social behavior is very hard.
Our solution? Virtual 'fish' 🤖🐟⚡
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2511.08436
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Excited to share the full work! Many thanks to Pascal and the team for their guidance and support 🥂✨
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Norepinephrine and dopamine sensor crosstalk depends on local innervation density - Nature Neuroscience
This study shows that GPCR-based norepinephrine and dopamine sensors display crosstalk in several brain areas. Relative innervation densities determine the extent of crosstalk, and loss-of-function co...
www.nature.com
August 5, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Excited to share the full work! Many thanks to Pascal and the team for their guidance and support 🥂✨
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Directional elements: the preprints are out! 1/n
Congratulations to our amazing team:
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We screened for principles governing global brain dynamics by developing a set of new methods: 1) conformal immersion microscopy;
Congratulations to our amazing team:
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We screened for principles governing global brain dynamics by developing a set of new methods: 1) conformal immersion microscopy;
June 1, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Directional elements: the preprints are out! 1/n
Congratulations to our amazing team:
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We screened for principles governing global brain dynamics by developing a set of new methods: 1) conformal immersion microscopy;
Congratulations to our amazing team:
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We screened for principles governing global brain dynamics by developing a set of new methods: 1) conformal immersion microscopy;
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
We tracked mice in space!
This video shows our estimate of their self-induced centripetal force during circling in 3D 👩🚀
Preprint thread below 👇
This video shows our estimate of their self-induced centripetal force during circling in 3D 👩🚀
Preprint thread below 👇
May 5, 2026 at 8:08 PM
We tracked mice in space!
This video shows our estimate of their self-induced centripetal force during circling in 3D 👩🚀
Preprint thread below 👇
This video shows our estimate of their self-induced centripetal force during circling in 3D 👩🚀
Preprint thread below 👇
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Excited to see our paper describing a stereotyped receptor map for smell (led by @davidhbrann.bsky.social ) out in the world! See below for short thread with open access link to paper
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/s...
Scientists Unveil ‘Long Lost’ Map for Smell
www.nytimes.com
April 29, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Excited to see our paper describing a stereotyped receptor map for smell (led by @davidhbrann.bsky.social ) out in the world! See below for short thread with open access link to paper
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/s...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Super excited to (finally!) show our work on identifying cell types! Now in press www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We show how to identify cell types from ephys recordings *without* optotagging. This opens the study of not just individual cell types, but the interacting neural circuit during behavior
April 27, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Super excited to (finally!) show our work on identifying cell types! Now in press www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We show how to identify cell types from ephys recordings *without* optotagging. This opens the study of not just individual cell types, but the interacting neural circuit during behavior
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
🧵 New preprint led by @bingbrunton.bsky.social, @elliottabe.bsky.social, @lawrencehu.bsky.social
We gave a worm brain control of a fly body and it walked
What did we learn? Nothing, other than deep reinforcement learning is effective
We call it the digital sphinx
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We gave a worm brain control of a fly body and it walked
What did we learn? Nothing, other than deep reinforcement learning is effective
We call it the digital sphinx
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
March 24, 2026 at 11:32 PM
🧵 New preprint led by @bingbrunton.bsky.social, @elliottabe.bsky.social, @lawrencehu.bsky.social
We gave a worm brain control of a fly body and it walked
What did we learn? Nothing, other than deep reinforcement learning is effective
We call it the digital sphinx
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We gave a worm brain control of a fly body and it walked
What did we learn? Nothing, other than deep reinforcement learning is effective
We call it the digital sphinx
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Have you ever wondered why mice do what they do when they are free to do whatever they want? Check out our latest (and this slightly delayed thread about our recent paper, led by Caleb Weinreb and friends...) www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Spontaneous behavior is a succession of self-directed tasks
Weinreb et al. reveal a hierarchy of timescales in mouse behavior, including low-level
syllables and high-level behavioral states. States and syllables are encoded in different
brain areas. Prefrontal...
www.cell.com
March 25, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Have you ever wondered why mice do what they do when they are free to do whatever they want? Check out our latest (and this slightly delayed thread about our recent paper, led by Caleb Weinreb and friends...) www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Great work from Claire, Ravi, and the whole team– the initial lifelong continuous screen of behaving vertebrates provided a wealth of ideas on progression/staging of brain function across lifespan. Behavior is unmatched as a noninvasive quantitative readout of brain function (and, one that matters).
Youthful antics predict lifespan? Using machine learning & continuous recordings of #killifish behavior from adolescence until death, @brunetlab.bsky.social & @deisseroth.bsky.social find early-life behavior predicted future lifespan! Now published @science.org: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪 1/2
March 15, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Great work from Claire, Ravi, and the whole team– the initial lifelong continuous screen of behaving vertebrates provided a wealth of ideas on progression/staging of brain function across lifespan. Behavior is unmatched as a noninvasive quantitative readout of brain function (and, one that matters).
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
🚨: Mark your calendars! SNAAP is hosting a virtual Q&A panel led by current Stanford Neurosciences PhD students for any and all last minute grad school application questions!✍️RSVP here with this link (forms.gle/AErxr4rPr1Wz...) or by using the QR code below! ⏬
November 16, 2025 at 1:20 AM
🚨: Mark your calendars! SNAAP is hosting a virtual Q&A panel led by current Stanford Neurosciences PhD students for any and all last minute grad school application questions!✍️RSVP here with this link (forms.gle/AErxr4rPr1Wz...) or by using the QR code below! ⏬
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Very excited and proud to share my postdoctoral research with @neurrriot.bsky.social looking at the context-specific encoding of social behavior 💃🕺 in hormone-sensitive, large-scale brain networks in mice!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
September 25, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Very excited and proud to share my postdoctoral research with @neurrriot.bsky.social looking at the context-specific encoding of social behavior 💃🕺 in hormone-sensitive, large-scale brain networks in mice!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroskyence #compneurosky 🧪
1/12
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io
September 25, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Good morning everyone!
So, I wrote a book (!!) and it’s coming out November 4th in physical and audiobook form. It’s called *How to Change a Memory*
www.amazon.com/How-Change-M...
So, I wrote a book (!!) and it’s coming out November 4th in physical and audiobook form. It’s called *How to Change a Memory*
www.amazon.com/How-Change-M...
How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past
Buy How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Good morning everyone!
So, I wrote a book (!!) and it’s coming out November 4th in physical and audiobook form. It’s called *How to Change a Memory*
www.amazon.com/How-Change-M...
So, I wrote a book (!!) and it’s coming out November 4th in physical and audiobook form. It’s called *How to Change a Memory*
www.amazon.com/How-Change-M...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Super excited to share the first cooperative foraging paradigm in freely interacting mouse pairs! Stable leader and follower roles emerge spontaneously and predict learning. Well-trained mice show stereotyped, role-specific “behavioral motifs” absent in naive animals (1/5)
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
September 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Super excited to share the first cooperative foraging paradigm in freely interacting mouse pairs! Stable leader and follower roles emerge spontaneously and predict learning. Well-trained mice show stereotyped, role-specific “behavioral motifs” absent in naive animals (1/5)
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Two flagship papers from the International Brain Laboratory, now out in @Nature.com:
🧠 Brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
🧠 Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1 +
🧠 Brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
🧠 Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1 +
September 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Two flagship papers from the International Brain Laboratory, now out in @Nature.com:
🧠 Brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
🧠 Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1 +
🧠 Brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
🧠 Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1 +
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
New preprint!
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats
Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...
www.biorxiv.org
July 25, 2025 at 3:57 PM
New preprint!
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Apply to this program and share with students in your networks! We will work 1:1 with you on your applications, CVs, interviews, etc bsky.app/profile/stan...
Just a few more days until the deadline!
If you're planning to apply to Bio-based PhD programs this year, considering joining us at the Biology Preview Program where we'll walk you through the PhD application process and help you polish you application materials!
Apply here: bit.ly/4n4Nxtu
If you're planning to apply to Bio-based PhD programs this year, considering joining us at the Biology Preview Program where we'll walk you through the PhD application process and help you polish you application materials!
Apply here: bit.ly/4n4Nxtu
July 9, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Apply to this program and share with students in your networks! We will work 1:1 with you on your applications, CVs, interviews, etc bsky.app/profile/stan...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Congratulations to our Human Neural Circuitry team; bit.ly/4dEyX7Z publishes today in Science! This was the hardest challenge of my career, but one of the most rewarding, after years of rebuilding– & expanding my inpatient neuropsychiatry in the service of basic discovery bsky.app/profile/deis...
May 30, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Congratulations to our Human Neural Circuitry team; bit.ly/4dEyX7Z publishes today in Science! This was the hardest challenge of my career, but one of the most rewarding, after years of rebuilding– & expanding my inpatient neuropsychiatry in the service of basic discovery bsky.app/profile/deis...
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Maps are everywhere in the brain...and finally we've discovered one in the nose! Led by @davidhbrann.bsky.social, we uncovered the logic that specifies the positions of each of the 1,000 sensory neuron subtypes in the nose and aligns their projections to the brain.👇👃see more details below👃👇
A spatial code governs olfactory receptor choice and aligns sensory maps in the nose and brain
Although topographical maps organize many peripheral sensory systems, it remains unclear whether olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) choose which of the ~1100 odor receptors (ORs) to express based upon t...
www.biorxiv.org
May 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Maps are everywhere in the brain...and finally we've discovered one in the nose! Led by @davidhbrann.bsky.social, we uncovered the logic that specifies the positions of each of the 1,000 sensory neuron subtypes in the nose and aligns their projections to the brain.👇👃see more details below👃👇
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Calling all science advocates!! Carlos Brody+ are creating a searchable database of tangible science benefits, and they need you.
publicusaresearchbenefits.com
They are asking for suggestions - from brief to lengthy. The database is state-searchable, so all 50 states.
Please spread the word!
publicusaresearchbenefits.com
They are asking for suggestions - from brief to lengthy. The database is state-searchable, so all 50 states.
Please spread the word!
Searchable database of tangible benefits that federally-funded research gave us.
A crowd-sourced site. Health and Well-being. National Security. Prosperity.
publicusaresearchbenefits.com
May 6, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Calling all science advocates!! Carlos Brody+ are creating a searchable database of tangible science benefits, and they need you.
publicusaresearchbenefits.com
They are asking for suggestions - from brief to lengthy. The database is state-searchable, so all 50 states.
Please spread the word!
publicusaresearchbenefits.com
They are asking for suggestions - from brief to lengthy. The database is state-searchable, so all 50 states.
Please spread the word!
Reposted by Valerie Tsai
Not sure how to practice for your PhD interviews? Check out our guide below ⬇️
In addition to Mock Interview Office Hours, we also curated a guide on
📌 "How to run a grad school mock interview"! docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Check out more advice for mentees and mentors on our website: www.stanfordaap.com
📩 Share this with someone you know interviewing for grad school
📌 "How to run a grad school mock interview"! docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Check out more advice for mentees and mentors on our website: www.stanfordaap.com
📩 Share this with someone you know interviewing for grad school
2024-2025: Conducting a Mock Interview (Public copy)
2025 Stanford Neuroscience Application Assistance Program: Conducting a Mock Interview How to Conduct the Grad School Mock Interview (adapted from: https://octresources.stanford.edu/mock-interviews/...
docs.google.com
January 31, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Not sure how to practice for your PhD interviews? Check out our guide below ⬇️