Recruitment of new faculty is a core activity of academic institutions, and diversity contributes to excellence in all professions, including academia.

Networking is crucial to establishing and growing in your career.

Ca2+-binding proteins (CaBPs; CaBP1-5) are a subfamily of neuronal Ca2+ sensors with high homology to calmodulin. Notably, CaBP4, which is exclusively expressed in rod and cone photoreceptors, is crucial for maintaining normal retinal functions. However, the functional roles of CaBP1, CaBP2, and CaBP5 in the retina remain elusive, primarily due to limited understanding of their expression patterns within inner retinal neurons. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive transcript analysis using single-cell RNA sequencing datasets to investigate the gene expression profiles of CaBPs in mouse and human retinal neurons. Our findings revealed notable similarities in the overall expression patterns of CaBPs across both species. Specifically, nearly all amacrine cell, ganglion cell, and horizontal cell types exclusively expressed CaBP1. In contrast, the majority of bipolar cell types, including rod bipolar (RB) cells, expressed distinct combinations of CaBP1, CaBP2, and CaBP5, rather than a single CaBP as previ...

Social recognition is an essential part of social function and often promotes specific social behaviors based on prior experience. Social and defensive behaviors in particular often emerge with prior experiences of familiarity or novelty/stress, respectively. This is also commonly seen in rodents towards same-strain and inter-strain conspecifics. Medial amygdala (MeA) activity guides social choice based on age and sex recognition and is sensitive to social experiences. However, little is known about whether the MeA exhibits differential responses based on strain or how this is impacted by experience. Social stress impacts posterior MeA (MeAp) function and can shift measures of social engagement. However, it is unclear how stress impacts MeAp activity and contributes to altered social behavior. The primary goal of this study in adult male Sprague Dawley rats was to determine whether prior stress experience with a different strain (Long Evans) rat impacts MeAp responses to same-strain and different-strain co...

Conscious reportability of visual input is associated with a bimodal neural response in primary visual cortex (V1): an early-latency response coupled to stimulus features and a late-latency response coupled to stimulus report or detection. This late wave of activity, central to major theories of consciousness, is thought to be driven by prefrontal cortex (PFC), responsible for “igniting” it. Here we analyzed two electrophysiological studies in mice performing different stimulus detection tasks, and characterize neural activity profiles in three key cortical regions: V1, posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and PFC. We then developed a minimal network model, constrained by known connectivity between these regions, reproducing the spatio-temporal propagation of visual- and report-related activity. Remarkably, while PFC was indeed necessary to generate report-related activity in V1, this occurred only through the mediation of PPC. PPC, and not PFC, had the final veto in enabling the report-related late wave of V1 ...

From stem cells to brain-computer interfaces, novel functional neuroimaging techniques to new animal model approaches, stroke research is pushing the boundaries of neuroscience. The Neurobiology of Disease Workshop provides students and early-career scientists with in-depth overviews of diseases of the nervous system. In this webinar, faculty from the 2014 Neurobiology of Disease Workshop will further develop topics introduced in the live session and explore the role of brain age in pediatric and neonatal strokes and gender effects.

Susan Andersen, McLean Hospital, Harvard University, Belmont, USA, talks about Animal models of ADHD: What they can tell us about underlying pathology.

You’re finally at your desk after an endless day in the lab. You’re editing a grant proposal due soon before heading out to a seminar and reception.

Diversity: not just a buzzword. It could very well fuel the next major scientific breakthrough.

While a successful career in academia can be a very set path, a career in science writing has the breadth of options to fit a wider range of lifestyles.