Spikes, adaptation / short term plasticity, dendritic structure, synaptic turnover, neuromodulators, ... Basically everything?
December 15, 2024 at 9:17 PM
Spikes, adaptation / short term plasticity, dendritic structure, synaptic turnover, neuromodulators, ... Basically everything?
This study makes it clear: thinking doesn't come for free!
#neuroskyence
They found the frontal regions _consume_ about 60% more than sensory areas, likely because of metabotropic neuromodulators' activity.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#neuroskyence
They found the frontal regions _consume_ about 60% more than sensory areas, likely because of metabotropic neuromodulators' activity.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An energy costly architecture of neuromodulators for human brain evolution and cognition
Humans spend excessive brain energy on the slow-acting neuromodulation of signaling pathways, yielding cognitive functions.
www.science.org
March 17, 2025 at 3:38 PM
This study makes it clear: thinking doesn't come for free!
#neuroskyence
They found the frontal regions _consume_ about 60% more than sensory areas, likely because of metabotropic neuromodulators' activity.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#neuroskyence
They found the frontal regions _consume_ about 60% more than sensory areas, likely because of metabotropic neuromodulators' activity.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Help bluesky neurohivemind!
If you know of any computational / theoretical work modelling neuromodulators please share it 🙏 if you don't, please retweet!
If you know of any computational / theoretical work modelling neuromodulators please share it 🙏 if you don't, please retweet!
December 7, 2024 at 6:06 PM
Help bluesky neurohivemind!
If you know of any computational / theoretical work modelling neuromodulators please share it 🙏 if you don't, please retweet!
If you know of any computational / theoretical work modelling neuromodulators please share it 🙏 if you don't, please retweet!
New preprint! What happens if you add neuromodulation to spiking neural networks and let them go wild with it? TLDR: it can improve performance especially in challenging sensory processing tasks. Explainer thread below. 🤖🧠🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Neuromodulation enhances dynamic sensory processing in spiking neural network models
Neuromodulators allow circuits to dynamically change their biophysical properties in a context-sensitive way. In addition to their role in learning, neuromodulators have been suggested to play a role ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
New preprint! What happens if you add neuromodulation to spiking neural networks and let them go wild with it? TLDR: it can improve performance especially in challenging sensory processing tasks. Explainer thread below. 🤖🧠🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁
Circuits and networks can shift "computations" quite dramatically.
Check this computational model of the role of neuromodulators.
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.1162/Neco...
Circuits and networks can shift "computations" quite dramatically.
Check this computational model of the role of neuromodulators.
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.1162/Neco...
February 18, 2026 at 4:41 PM
𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁
Circuits and networks can shift "computations" quite dramatically.
Check this computational model of the role of neuromodulators.
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.1162/Neco...
Circuits and networks can shift "computations" quite dramatically.
Check this computational model of the role of neuromodulators.
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.1162/Neco...
Do brain circuits really sit in a 'soup' of neuromodulators? Are neurons like soggy bits of bread soaked in signaling factors? Is the whole brain just squelching around in one big pool of warm modulators?
May 13, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Do brain circuits really sit in a 'soup' of neuromodulators? Are neurons like soggy bits of bread soaked in signaling factors? Is the whole brain just squelching around in one big pool of warm modulators?
Excited to move to the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota in the fall. We will continue our work on neuromodulators and behavior. Positions available in the lab. Please get in touch if interested, and share broadly!
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
June 18, 2026 at 2:08 AM
Excited to move to the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota in the fall. We will continue our work on neuromodulators and behavior. Positions available in the lab. Please get in touch if interested, and share broadly!
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374...
I’m building a foundational reading list for our lab (systems & circuit neuroscience, compneuro, modeling, neuromodulators, population coding etc.).
I’d like to crowdsource recommendations.
Which review(s) would you consider mandatory reading for the next generation of researchers?
I’d like to crowdsource recommendations.
Which review(s) would you consider mandatory reading for the next generation of researchers?
March 1, 2026 at 2:03 PM
I’m building a foundational reading list for our lab (systems & circuit neuroscience, compneuro, modeling, neuromodulators, population coding etc.).
I’d like to crowdsource recommendations.
Which review(s) would you consider mandatory reading for the next generation of researchers?
I’d like to crowdsource recommendations.
Which review(s) would you consider mandatory reading for the next generation of researchers?
Forget about dopamine, let's talk about octopamine! Neurotransmitters run the world, but how, why, what's the circuit? Bit by bit, scientists are mapping it. Using locusts. #ScienceSky #NeuroSky 🧠 🧪 🪳
engineering.washu.edu/news/2026/Wh...
engineering.washu.edu/news/2026/Wh...
What a locust can teach us about how neuromodulators alter odor processing
Barani Raman’s lab finds how two neuromodulators amplify or dampen neural and behavioral responses to odorants
engineering.washu.edu
September 25, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Forget about dopamine, let's talk about octopamine! Neurotransmitters run the world, but how, why, what's the circuit? Bit by bit, scientists are mapping it. Using locusts. #ScienceSky #NeuroSky 🧠 🧪 🪳
engineering.washu.edu/news/2026/Wh...
engineering.washu.edu/news/2026/Wh...
April 28, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Recent studies have revealed the synchronization of neuromodulators including norepinephrine, serotonin, acetylcholine, dopamine, and histamine during sleep.
A new #ScienceReview explores what potential role the synchronization of these oscillations may play in health. https://scim.ag/3PEGdsW
A new #ScienceReview explores what potential role the synchronization of these oscillations may play in health. https://scim.ag/3PEGdsW
The oscillatory biology of sleep: Linkage to dementia
During wakefulness, neuromodulators operate largely independently to support behavior and cognition. By contrast, sleep reorganizes their activity into a coordinated brain rhythm. During sleep, the ma...
scim.ag
May 28, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Recent studies have revealed the synchronization of neuromodulators including norepinephrine, serotonin, acetylcholine, dopamine, and histamine during sleep.
A new #ScienceReview explores what potential role the synchronization of these oscillations may play in health. https://scim.ag/3PEGdsW
A new #ScienceReview explores what potential role the synchronization of these oscillations may play in health. https://scim.ag/3PEGdsW
That's just the "wiring diagram." Now add constantly changing sensory input, new experiences (which change the architecture) neuromodulators including hormones and cytokines, and shifting synaptic activity under all of these influences. I
Harvard and Google AI mapped one cubic millimeter of a human brain. It took up 1.4 petabytes of storage just in pictures of the specimen. So the entire brain would take ~ 1.6 zettabytes of storage, cost $50 billion, and require 140 acres. It would be the largest data center on the planet— one brain.
Full scan of 1 cubic millimeter of brain tissue took 1.4 petabytes of data, equivalent to 14,000 4K movies — Google's AI experts assist researchers
Mind-boggling mind research.
www.tomshardware.com
December 23, 2024 at 10:20 PM
That's just the "wiring diagram." Now add constantly changing sensory input, new experiences (which change the architecture) neuromodulators including hormones and cytokines, and shifting synaptic activity under all of these influences. I
Nice - made this some time ago based on a Brain Emulation Roadmap Report: github.com/ihstevenson/... Interesting idea that, possibly unlike brain regions, all of the neuromodulators haven't even been discovered yet
April 28, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Nice - made this some time ago based on a Brain Emulation Roadmap Report: github.com/ihstevenson/... Interesting idea that, possibly unlike brain regions, all of the neuromodulators haven't even been discovered yet
Behavioral biases drift in individuals.
• Drift happens on many timescales
• Drift rate depends on genetics and neuromodulators
• It might be adaptive for rapidly changing environments
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
• Drift happens on many timescales
• Drift rate depends on genetics and neuromodulators
• It might be adaptive for rapidly changing environments
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Drift in Individual Behavioral Phenotype as a Strategy for Unpredictable Worlds
elifesciences.org
February 12, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Behavioral biases drift in individuals.
• Drift happens on many timescales
• Drift rate depends on genetics and neuromodulators
• It might be adaptive for rapidly changing environments
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
• Drift happens on many timescales
• Drift rate depends on genetics and neuromodulators
• It might be adaptive for rapidly changing environments
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
All neuromodulators are more spatially and temporally specific than was often believed!
May 13, 2026 at 7:10 PM
All neuromodulators are more spatially and temporally specific than was often believed!
What do #neuromodulators do in the #brain? Two recent papers give new insights:
@nishantjoshi.bsky.social shows they do not only reshape individual cellular properties, but also the architecture linking them, thereby expanding the computational repertoire.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@nishantjoshi.bsky.social shows they do not only reshape individual cellular properties, but also the architecture linking them, thereby expanding the computational repertoire.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
April 10, 2026 at 8:22 AM
What do #neuromodulators do in the #brain? Two recent papers give new insights:
@nishantjoshi.bsky.social shows they do not only reshape individual cellular properties, but also the architecture linking them, thereby expanding the computational repertoire.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@nishantjoshi.bsky.social shows they do not only reshape individual cellular properties, but also the architecture linking them, thereby expanding the computational repertoire.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
>it's just spiking neurons on a connectome, not simulating the inputs
>it's just a nervous system with plasticity and neuromodulators, there's basically no biology
>it's just calibrated against neural recordings, it's obviously not conscious
>it's just 10,000 copies reporting extreme distress
>it's just a nervous system with plasticity and neuromodulators, there's basically no biology
>it's just calibrated against neural recordings, it's obviously not conscious
>it's just 10,000 copies reporting extreme distress
the fly connectome manipulation stuff is fine and cool but I do think we should start discussing at what level of fidelity a line ought to be drawn
September 13, 2026 at 8:48 PM
>it's just spiking neurons on a connectome, not simulating the inputs
>it's just a nervous system with plasticity and neuromodulators, there's basically no biology
>it's just calibrated against neural recordings, it's obviously not conscious
>it's just 10,000 copies reporting extreme distress
>it's just a nervous system with plasticity and neuromodulators, there's basically no biology
>it's just calibrated against neural recordings, it's obviously not conscious
>it's just 10,000 copies reporting extreme distress
I’m thrilled to share our preprint presenting MORSE: a new way to simultaneously & quantitatively track patterns of neuromodulators/neuropeptides in vitro & in vivo using spatially multiplexed 3D imaging of 10+ green optical sensors on a microendoscope
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.26.634931v1
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.26.634931v1
January 27, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I’m thrilled to share our preprint presenting MORSE: a new way to simultaneously & quantitatively track patterns of neuromodulators/neuropeptides in vitro & in vivo using spatially multiplexed 3D imaging of 10+ green optical sensors on a microendoscope
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.26.634931v1
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.26.634931v1
Peter Kalugin's paper on optical tracking of up to ten neuromodulators simultaneously is out in Neuron with some cool new results, including quantitative demixing of norepinephrine and dopamine concentrations. Please check it out!
MORSE is out now in Neuron, with an expanded dataset: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Using crosstalk to our advantage, we demixed norepinephrine & dopamine's binding at each other’s sensors to simultaneously quantify their release from locus coeruleus with resolution in the tens of nM.
Using crosstalk to our advantage, we demixed norepinephrine & dopamine's binding at each other’s sensors to simultaneously quantify their release from locus coeruleus with resolution in the tens of nM.
August 10, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Peter Kalugin's paper on optical tracking of up to ten neuromodulators simultaneously is out in Neuron with some cool new results, including quantitative demixing of norepinephrine and dopamine concentrations. Please check it out!
Three new papers in Science report that astrocytes are indispensable for neuromodulatory signaling across diverse neural circuits, behavioral contexts, and species.
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/43iprSX
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/43iprSX
Astrocytes, hidden puppet masters of the brain
Astrocyte signaling pathways influence neuronal networks and behavioral responses to neuromodulators
scim.ag
May 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Three new papers in Science report that astrocytes are indispensable for neuromodulatory signaling across diverse neural circuits, behavioral contexts, and species.
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/43iprSX
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/43iprSX
It has been an enormous pleasure to host @yulonglilab.bsky.social at @westernu.bsky.social @westernubrainscan.bsky.social @tridentpct.bsky.social MouseTRAP seminar series presenting on GRAB sensors and neuromodulators
May 20, 2025 at 3:08 PM
It has been an enormous pleasure to host @yulonglilab.bsky.social at @westernu.bsky.social @westernubrainscan.bsky.social @tridentpct.bsky.social MouseTRAP seminar series presenting on GRAB sensors and neuromodulators
Cytokines as neuromodulators: insights from experimental studies in humans and non-human primates
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
July 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Cytokines as neuromodulators: insights from experimental studies in humans and non-human primates
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Getting ready for #FENS2026 at Barcelona?
Our lab will be there with 7 posters and a symposium.
fens2026.neuronaldynamics.eu
Come by our posters 611 - 617 on Thursday morning to learn the latest about neuromodulators and how they organize neural activity and computation.
@fens.org
Our lab will be there with 7 posters and a symposium.
fens2026.neuronaldynamics.eu
Come by our posters 611 - 617 on Thursday morning to learn the latest about neuromodulators and how they organize neural activity and computation.
@fens.org
July 2, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Getting ready for #FENS2026 at Barcelona?
Our lab will be there with 7 posters and a symposium.
fens2026.neuronaldynamics.eu
Come by our posters 611 - 617 on Thursday morning to learn the latest about neuromodulators and how they organize neural activity and computation.
@fens.org
Our lab will be there with 7 posters and a symposium.
fens2026.neuronaldynamics.eu
Come by our posters 611 - 617 on Thursday morning to learn the latest about neuromodulators and how they organize neural activity and computation.
@fens.org
New research - Khasanaweh et al - Efficacy of gut–brain neuromodulators in irritable bowel syndrome: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#WorldIBSDay #IBSAwarenessMonth #IrritableBowelSyndrome #IBS #GastroSky #MedSky
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#WorldIBSDay #IBSAwarenessMonth #IrritableBowelSyndrome #IBS #GastroSky #MedSky
Efficacy of gut–brain neuromodulators in irritable bowel syndrome: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Some gut–brain neuromodulators are efficacious in reducing global symptoms and abdominal
pain in IBS. The findings support guidelines that recommend use of tricyclic antidepressants
for ongoing global...
www.thelancet.com
April 19, 2025 at 6:47 AM
New research - Khasanaweh et al - Efficacy of gut–brain neuromodulators in irritable bowel syndrome: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#WorldIBSDay #IBSAwarenessMonth #IrritableBowelSyndrome #IBS #GastroSky #MedSky
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#WorldIBSDay #IBSAwarenessMonth #IrritableBowelSyndrome #IBS #GastroSky #MedSky
Excited to share that the astrocyte-centered half of my thesis work is now out @science.org ! With @mishaahrens.bsky.social and @marcduque.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/... 1/8
science.org/doi/10.1126/... 1/8
Norepinephrine changes behavioral state through astroglial purinergic signaling
Both neurons and glia communicate through diffusible neuromodulators; however, how neuron-glial interactions in such neuromodulatory networks influence circuit computation and behavior is unclear. Dur...
science.org
May 16, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Excited to share that the astrocyte-centered half of my thesis work is now out @science.org ! With @mishaahrens.bsky.social and @marcduque.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/... 1/8
science.org/doi/10.1126/... 1/8