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Amber Howell

@ambrains.bsky.social
96 followers 259 following 1 posts

Neuroscientist studying corticosubcortical circuitry in humans and NHP. Currently a postdoc at Rutgers; PhD at Yale

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Reposted by Amber Howell
Ahmad Beyh @ahmadbeyh.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
⚠️ Preprint alert ⚠️ How does the brain's fixed anatomy support flexible function? We explore this using recurrent neural networks with increasing levels of brain-like constraints, comparing them to empirical fMRI activity. (1/8) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Geometric constraints and cognitive inputs jointly shape emergent brain dynamics and topology
How the brain's physical geometry gives rise to its flexible functional repertoire remains a central question in neuroscience. Here, we trained three classes of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) on a w...
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Michael W. Cole @mwcole.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
My latest post to Neural Flows! “What’s generative about generative network neuroscience" Introducing a new field of network neuroscience covered in my forthcoming book Brain Flows Gaining fundamental understanding of cognition by modeling connectivity-constrained neural generative processes
neuralflows.substack.com
What’s generative about generative network neuroscience
Getting to a new level of understanding in neuroscience and cognitive science
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OHBM Brain Art @ohbmbrainart.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
LAST CALL! The deadline for proposal submissions is fast approach for the 2026 Brain Art Exhibit in Bordeaux! 📆 Submit your proposal by March 15: forms.gle/Gsf1SjiCSxd7... See link for more information: tinyurl.com/2026-Brain-A... #brainart #neuroart #sciart #ArtMeetsScience #OHBM
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OHBM Brain Art @ohbmbrainart.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
A new call for artists, scientists, and creators! We are thrilled to announce our #BrainArt 🧠🎨 exhibition theme for 2026. 📆 Submit your proposal by March 15, 2026 using this form: forms.gle/9DNEPxNXwjU3WyAn7 For more information: tinyurl.com/2026-Brain-A...
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Linden Parkes @lindenmp.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Thanks to the Allen Institute for the write-up of our recent work! 👏 Paper is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Inferring intrinsic neural timescales using optimal control theory - Nature Communications
Here, the authors develop novel dynamical methods to model brain regions’ intrinsic neural timescales (INTs) from data, and find that they couple whole-brain structural connectivity to dynamic switchi...
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Kangjoo Lee @kangjoolee.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
📢 PhD Opportunities at FIU Biomedical Engineering – Apply by Dec 31 (Priority Deadline) I’m thrilled to share that I will be joining the Dept of Biomedical Engineering at Florida International University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Jan 2026! 1/n
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Linden Parkes @lindenmp.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Woohoo! So good to see @ahmadbeyh.bsky.social winning the Best Poster Award at this year's Rutgers BHI Symposium! 🤘🔥👏
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Linden Parkes @lindenmp.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Check out our latest paper, led by Jason Kim, out now in Nature Communications‼️🧠
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jason-z-kim.bsky.social @jason-z-kim.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
The brain computes by processing information over time through interactions between connectivity and dynamics that are hard to model. Here we infer these interactions from data and find they better predict cognitive performance! www.nature.com/articles/s41... w/ @lindenmp.bsky.social
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Holmes Lab @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
The Holmes Lab is #hiring a full-time research assistant/predoc! Our work focuses on functional brain networks-- how they change, how they are impacted in psychiatric illness, and much more! Please rt and reach out if you’re interested 👀 Find out more holmeslab.rutgers.edu
Flyer to join Holmes Lab
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Avram Holmes @avramholmes.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Looking for a post-bac RA position focused on the brain bases of affective and psychotic illness? @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social is hiring! @cahbir.bsky.social @rutgersbhi.bsky.social @rutgersu.bsky.social @sobp-org.bsky.social @hitop-system.bsky.social @ohbmofficial.bsky.social
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Holmes Lab @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Holmes Lab + Parkes Lab had a great fall social a few weeks back!! Pottery painting (including an awesome brain-art mug by @ambrains.bsky.social 🧠). Thank you to our awesome mentors @avramholmes.bsky.social and @lindenmp.bsky.social for encouraging these great lab events! 💫
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David Baranger @davidbaranger.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Interesting approach that aligns mouse and human brain-wide data using transcriptomics and structural connectivity. I'm curious if anyone here has tried using it yet? #neuroskyence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... transbrain.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
biorxiv.org
TransBrain: A computational framework for translating brain-wide phenotypes between humans and mice
Despite remarkable advances in whole-brain imaging technologies, the lack of quantitative approaches to bridge rodent preclinical and human studies remains a critical challenge. Here we present TransB...
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more mr. spice guy @juniorhoncho.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
the climate's probably just changing for attention
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bioRxiv Neuroscience @biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Resting-State fMRI and the Risk of Overinterpretation: Noise, Mechanisms, and a Missing Rosetta Stone www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
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Alex Fornito @alexfornito.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Interested in the mechanisms shaping the extraordinary complexity of the connectome? Then check out our new preprint, lead by Francis Normand with a stellar team, showing how geometry constrains connectome architecture: biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Full thread here: tinyurl.com/sfv3yf73
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Damien Fair @drdamienfair.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
I still get chills Meet Mike *30+ years severe depression *first hospitalized @ 13y *20 meds *3 rounds of ECT *2 near-fatal suicide attempts Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE see videos, read paper, follow thread doi.org/10.31234/osf...
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Arielle Keller @ariellekeller.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Absolutely thrilled to share the 🌟 FIRST PAPER 🌟 from ACORN Lab! 🐿️ I’m beyond proud of all-star grad student @heatherarobinson.bsky.social for this review of “exposome” effects on neurodevelopment & cognition! Paper here rdcu.be/ezUqx & thread below 👇 /1 #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky #devsky #cogdev
rdcu.be
The effect of the “exposome” on developmental brain health and cognitive outcomes
Neuropsychopharmacology - The effect of the “exposome” on developmental brain health and cognitive outcomes
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Carrisa V. Cocuzza, PhD (she/her) @carrisacocuzza.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
🚨Preprint!🚨 So excited to share my 1st major study as a postdoc at @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social!🤘 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Using a transdiagnostic framework, we found that brain network dynamics were able to discriminate individualized psychiatric symptom profiles with high accuracy 🧵1/9👇
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Kenji Lee @kenjilee.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
On behalf of Nicole Carr: new preprint from the Chand/Moore labs! High-resolution laminar recordings reveal structure-function relationships in monkey V1. 1/4 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
High–resolution laminar recordings reveal structure–function relationships in monkey V1
The relationship between the structural properties of diverse neuronal populations in the monkey primary visual cortex (V1) and their functional visual processing in vivo remains a critical knowledge ...
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Annie G. Bryant @anniegbryant.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Info theory offers powerful measures for capturing complexity & interaction among elements of a complex system, like the brain! 🧠 Here's our new unified reference for key info-theoretic time series measures ft. 📊 visuals, ➗equations, & 💬descriptions: arxiv.org/abs/2505.13080
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Sidhant Chopra @sidchop.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
🧠💊New preprint differentiating antipsychotic medication vs. illness effects on cortical thickness in people w/ psychosis. Finding: People receiving placebo show prominent cortical thinning over 1st year of illness, whereas those receiving antipsychotics do not. 1/3 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Lucina Uddin @lucinauddin.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Check out our new special issue on cognitive flexibility @coolscontrol.bsky.social: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l4vl8MqMi...
authors.elsevier.com
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Rutgers Brain Health Institute @rutgersbhi.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
🧠 Check out the new preprint from Dr. Linden Parkes, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Core member of Rutgers Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) and BHI! @lindenmp.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Inferring macroscopic intrinsic neural timescales using optimal control theory
The temporal evolution of brain activity relies on complex interactions within and between brain regions that are mediated by neurobiology and connectivity. To understand these interactions, many larg...
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Linden Parkes @lindenmp.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Excited to share the first major piece of work and preprint from my lab! Led by Jason Kim! 🥳🎉🤘 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
media.tenor.com
a man applauds with the words so proud of my team above him
ALT: a man applauds with the words so proud of my team above him
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
The scientific community needs to develop processes to support, hire and retain researchers whose work sits between traditional fields of study, writes @avramholmes.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/future-of-fm...
thetransmitter.org
fMRI must break out of its silo
We need to develop research programs that link phenomena across levels, from genes and molecules to cells, circuits, networks and behavior.
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Neuropsychology @neuropsychblog.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Future of #fMRI: To make a meaningful contribution to neuroscience, fMRI must break out of its silo www.thetransmitter.org/future-of-fm... #neuropsychology #cognition
thetransmitter.org
fMRI must break out of its silo
We need to develop research programs that link phenomena across levels, from genes and molecules to cells, circuits, networks and behavior.
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Loïc Labache @loiclabache.cpesr.fr · 12/04/2025
🚨 New #preprint: The molecular and cellular underpinnings of human brain lateralization 🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025... 🧠 We identify an acetylcholine-norepinephrine axis underlying functional lateralization, along with mitochondrial and cellular correlates. 🧵1/9👇 #neuroskyence
doi.org
The molecular and cellular underpinnings of human brain lateralization
Hemispheric specialization is a fundamental characteristic of human brain organization, where most individuals exhibit left-hemisphere dominance for language and right-hemisphere dominance for visuosp...
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Avram Holmes @avramholmes.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
The molecular and cellular basis of human brain lateralization. Latest paper from @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social led by @loiclabache.bsky.social. @rutgersbhi.bsky.social, @cahbir.bsky.social
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Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Excellent preprint by a great team @loiclabache.bsky.social @sidchop.bsky.social @xi-hanzhang.bsky.social @avramholmes.bsky.social on the underpinnings of human brain lateralization: an Acetylcholine-Norepinephrine axis for functional lateralization + mitochondrial substrates & cellular correlates🧪
biorxiv.org
The molecular and cellular underpinnings of human brain lateralization
Hemispheric specialization is a fundamental characteristic of human brain organization, where most individuals exhibit left-hemisphere dominance for language and right-hemisphere dominance for visuosp...
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Reposted by Amber Howell
Avram Holmes @avramholmes.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
"To make a meaningful contribution to #neuroscience, #fMRI must break out of its silo." My latest attempt to convince you of the importance of multi-scale approaches for the study of the human brain.
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Until recently, in-vivo brain imaging has largely been absent from… integrative efforts, limiting the opportunities to contribute our discoveries, theories or vision toward a comprehensive view of brain function, writes @avramholmes.bsky.social. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/future-of-fm...
thetransmitter.org
fMRI must break out of its silo
We need to develop research programs that link phenomena across levels, from genes and molecules to cells, circuits, networks and behavior.
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Rutgers Brain Health Institute @rutgersbhi.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
🧠 Featured Insights! Dr. @avramholmes.bsky.social, Associate Prof of Psychiatry at RWJMS and Core Member of BHI & CAHBIR, shares insights on #fMRI and the need for integration across #neuroscience disciplines in @thetransmitter.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/future-of-fm... #neuroimaging
thetransmitter.org
fMRI must break out of its silo
We need to develop research programs that link phenomena across levels, from genes and molecules to cells, circuits, networks and behavior.
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Imaging Neuroscience @imagingneurosci.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Vaanathi Sundaresan, Anastasia Yendiki, et al: Self-supervised segmentation and characterization of fiber bundles in anatomic tracing data doi.org/10.1162/imag...
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Ian Ballard @iancballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Interested in dopamine? Have fMRI data? We’ve identified a temporal BOLD feature that carries rich information about dopamine physiology. This measure, obtainable from resting-state and task fMRI, opens new ways to indirectly probe dopamine’s role in cognition and disease. 1/n tinyurl.com/bddyz67b
biorxiv.org
Temporal fMRI Dynamics Map Dopamine Physiology
Spatial variations in dopamine function are linked to cognition and substance use disorders but are challenging to characterize with current methods. Because dopamine influences blood vessel dilation,...
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Thomas Yeo @bttyeo.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
It's finally here! Use the Network Correspondence Toolbox to help contextualize your neuroimaging findings 🧠
nature.com
A network correspondence toolbox for quantitative evaluation of novel neuroimaging results - Nature Communications
Here, the authors present the Network Correspondence Toolbox, which enables researchers to examine and report spatial correspondence between their neuroimaging results and widely used brain atlases.
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Marc L Seal @parkvillegeek.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
👇 Multimodal precision MRI of the individual human brain at ultra-high fields | bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Holmes Lab @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
PsyPost covered @lydiaquq.bsky.social's new paper linking internalizing/externalizing symptoms to distinct features! Check it out ⬇️ 🖇️https://www.psypost.org/scientists-identify-distinct-brain-patterns-linked-to-mental-health-symptoms #SciComm #Neuroscience
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Tim Verstynen @tdverstynen.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
🚨New lab preprint alert!🚨 Grab a drink, sit down, and let me walk you through the moment-by-moment process of how information loops through basal ganglia circuits during a decision. (Link at the end of the thread) 1/9
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Sidhant Chopra @sidchop.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
🧩New study: "Network Constraints on 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰 Synaptic Alterations in Schizophrenia" medrxiv.org/content/10.1... We map a prominent brain-wide pattern of synaptic defects in people with Schizophrenia using PET, then model the molecular, cellular & connectomic features shaping this pattern 🧵1/3👇
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NeuroecologyLab @neuroecologylab.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Always thought we should use connectivity blueprints to investigate differences between human, chimpanzee, and macaque brains? www.jneurosci.org/content/earl... For Katherine Bryant’s latest masterpiece.
jneurosci.org
Connectivity profile and function of uniquely human cortical areas
Determining the brain specializations unique to humans requires directly comparative anatomical information from other primates, especially our closest relatives. Human ( Homo sapiens ) (m/f), chimpan...
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Imaging Neuroscience @imagingneurosci.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Yaotian Wang, Tingting Zhang, et al: Analysis of functional connectivity changes from childhood to old age: A study using HCP-D, HCP-YA, and HCP-A datasets doi.org/10.1162/imag...
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Bratislav Misic @misicbata.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Cerebral blood perfusion across biological systems and the human lifespan | doi.org/10.1101/2025... How does blood perfusion map onto canonical features of brain structure and function? @asafarahani.bsky.social investigates ⤵️
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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Rhythms and communication in the brain doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
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Ali Cohen @aliocohen.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Excited to share this brief review where @katieinsel.bsky.social & I discuss studying adolescence to understand how brains work! We highlight avenues for future collaborative work at the intersection of cognitive, computational, & developmental neuroscience 🧠 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Current Directions in Psychological Science article entitled More Than Just a Phase: Adolescence as a Window Into How the Brain Generates Behavior
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Yourong Guo @yrguo.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
I'm very excited to share my PhD work "Motifs of brain cortical folding from birth to adulthood: structural asymmetry and folding-functional links". We identified and characterised the lobe-wise folding patterns using both 1110 young adults (HCP) and 781 term-age neonates (dHCP & BIBS studies). 1/9
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Neuroskeptic @neuroskeptic.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Noise in Cognition: Bug or Feature? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40035520/ "We propose that the brain approximates probabilistic inference... using randomness to drive its exploration of alternative hypotheses"
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Adriana Guatame-García @adriguatame.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.” Absurd we still need to go through this 🧪👩‍🔬
There have been people less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, bc I know I am not unique in this experience.
No thank you to the physics study assoc that made me sing songs about how women couldn't study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a stripper name within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of computer girl. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to apologise months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so no hard feelings remain hopefully And no thank you to him for attending every conference I've been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was surprising that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with you should consider it. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists don't know how to design an experiment. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent.
And finally, no thank you to the exec board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.
... You have made me feel like I do not belong in science & I cannot forgive you for that.
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Romain Brette @romainbrette.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
I wrote a book: "The brain, in theory". First chapter and TOC: romainbrette.fr/WordPress3/w...
romainbrette.fr
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Holmes Lab @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
We are thrilled that Holmes lab recent paper by Xihan Zhang et al. has been featured on the cover of The Transmitter!@thetransmitter.bsky.social! Check out the paper here: tinyurl.com/cellnetworks And the article 🖇️ 🧬 www.thetransmitter.org/neuroanatomy...
thetransmitter.org
Cell ‘fingerprints’ identify distinct cortical networks
These networks align with different assemblages of cells, a finding that could reveal how cellular diversity influences brain function, according to a new study.
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