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Ben Saunders

@bensaunders.bsky.social
4.9K followers 189 following 794 posts

Neuroscientist and gardener Lab site- saunderslab.com

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Reposted by Ben Saunders
Naoshige Uchida @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social · 9h
Congratulations to @deisseroth.bsky.social ! Optogenetics has transformed neuroscience. I'm also grateful for the open-source spirit Karl and colleagues championed by sharing optogenetic tools freely from the start. It made a huge difference for the field.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 8h
Yes! A huge part of the scope of the impact!
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 9h
Thanks Tom!
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Reposted by Ben Saunders
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The richest man owns X. The second richest man owns The Washington Post. The third and fifth richest men control Google. The sixth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. And the eighth richest man now owns both Paramount and Warner Bros. See the problem here?
bbc.com
Paramount takes over Warner Bros in $110bn Hollywood merger
The merger of two of Hollywood's biggest movie studios comes after months of legal disputes and concern over competition
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Very excited to share our new preprint. We identify the basolateral amygdala dopamine system as an important interface between dynamic shifts in the environment and decisions to engage in vigorous drug use. Really challenging studies led brilliantly by Dr. Megan Brickner.
biorxiv.org
The basolateral amygdala dopamine system shapes dynamic drug seeking states
Drug-associated sensory cues and contexts exert powerful influence over drug seeking motivation, but in vivo brain mechanisms governing this process remain unclear. Here, we recorded and manipulated d...
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Reposted by Ben Saunders
Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Just like that: poof & gone. RIP *all* of NSF social, behavioral and economic research (including psyc & cogneuro). I’m speechless.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 11h
Nice!!
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Dylan Gee, PhD @dylanggee.bsky.social · 15h
New lab work showing that corticolimbic stucture-function coupling is sensitive to childhood adversity, led by @lucindasisk.bsky.social! 🧠 @sfn.org
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Please find 5 minutes today to draft your response to this drastic change in NIH Peer review. The deadline is October 13. I pasted my own response below as an example--please share widely 🧪
I am an NIH-funded scientist who has run a lab for 34 years.  I have served on literally dozens of NIH peer-review study sections, most recently this past June.  I also have served in Council for both NIGMS and for CSR.  I thus am very familiar with the current review process from both the prospective of an applicant and a reviewer.  I strongly oppose the proposed changes.  While NIH peer review is not perfect, it is the best system thus far devised, and is the envy of colleagues in other countries. Three experts in the field spend hours reviewing each proposal, using their knowledge of important issues to rank proposals by signficance, feasibility and impact.  Then they present their opinions to a panel of 20 or more expert sin the broader field, and a spirited discussion ensues.  Thus each proposal is put through  very stringent process, and the resulting ranking has substantial value in times when funding is limited.  Having review many times, I know that the proposed binning would provide equal "scores" to proposals that were greet with substanailly different degrees of enthusiasm.  Further, grants binned just bowl and just above the 25% cutoff would be subsequently viewed as if the enthusiasm for them quite divergent, certainly not an accurate summary.  The current fine-grained system avoids these issues.  Removing it will  make the task of NIH Program officers more difficult.   Binning also allows non-scientific issues to take on disproportionate weight in funding, an issue that will be accentuated if political appointees are making the ultimate decisions.  Please retain the current system.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Thanks so much!
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Given the unique architecture of this amygdala dopamine circuit - low dopamine transporter levels, D1 neurons projecting both near and far across the brain, we think this is a really unique site for drug-related plasticity.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Briefly enhancing D1+ neuron activity in the BLA as drug becomes available potentiates the binge drug seeking effect - so it seems that a transformation of the emotional impact of drug-related cues into drug seeking actions is happening here.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
BLA signals are preferentially engaged by these drug availability transitions, relative to drug seeking actions and the cocaine infusions - the pattern overall suggests a hierarchical representation of the global vs proximal drug related sensory elements.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The big picture- environmental shifts signaling drug availability robustly engage sustained BLA dopamine signaling and more phasic D1 responses - plus these signals predict different features of behavior.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Addiction-related behaviors are heavily influenced by drug associated cues and contexts. Megan wanted to understand how this process is signaled in real time during active drug seeking. She recorded dopamine signaling and D1+ neuron activity in the BLA as rats developed state-guided cocaine binging.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Very excited to share our new preprint. We identify the basolateral amygdala dopamine system as an important interface between dynamic shifts in the environment and decisions to engage in vigorous drug use. Really challenging studies led brilliantly by Dr. Megan Brickner.
biorxiv.org
The basolateral amygdala dopamine system shapes dynamic drug seeking states
Drug-associated sensory cues and contexts exert powerful influence over drug seeking motivation, but in vivo brain mechanisms governing this process remain unclear. Here, we recorded and manipulated d...
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Reposted by Ben Saunders
Betty Cracker of Florida @bettycrackerfl.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Another reason it’s deeply problematic that AI development is controlled by a handful of Trump-aligned billionaire sociopaths.
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Alex DiFeliceantonio @difeliceantonio.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Out today in @naturemetabolism.bsky.social ! www.nature.com/articles/s42... Excited to see this one out. I’ve been yapping about it forever! @fralinbiomed.bsky.social
nature.com
Metabolic and neural responses to ultraprocessed foods: a randomized, controlled, crossover study - Nature Metabolism
In a randomized study in 57 healthy-weight adults, researchers compared nutritionally matched ultraprocessed and non-ultraprocessed meals and found that ultraprocessed foods elicited greater insulin a...
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NPR @npr.org · 05/10/2026
The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists working on the mechanisms the brain uses to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells. n.pr/4rNyBD2
n.pr
Nobel medicine prize goes to 3 scientists for research into brain activity
The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists working on the mechanisms the brain uses to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 03/10/2026
Killed. NSF’s SBE was killed, in violation of law. The President does not have the power to choose to kill programs at a whim by defunding them. The imperial presidency was a mistake and we are in a separation of powers constitutional crisis.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
~Approximately no one in the general public knows because the leaders of the R1 research universities - whose budgets, programs, & personnel are entirely or significantly dependent on federal funding - have been totally absent from the public square in explaining & collectively protesting this.
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Ishmail Abdus-Saboor @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Excited to share my lab’s latest preprint led by postdoc @yukihaba.bsky.social and grad student Ryan Schwark. We surprisingly find that spontaneous behavior in isolation predicts a naked mole-rat’s identity, its colony membership, and even rank within its colony. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Matt Hill @cannabrain.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
**Recruitment** We are looking to hire a psychiatrist/scientist (MD or MD/PhD) who focuses on neuromodulation, particularly rTMS in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary. Come join myself, @mayoonthebrain.bsky.social and more. Details 👇 careers.ucalgary.ca/jobs/1829278...
careers.ucalgary.ca
Academic Position in Neuromodulation Research, Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine in Calgary, ...
Academic Position in Neuromodulation Research, Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine in Calgary, ...
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Voter registration deadlines are SUNDAY in Alaska, Rhode Island, South Carolina. And MONDAY in: Arizona, Arkansas Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and *Texas*. If you live in these states, verify your registration now, literally.
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Zach Pennington @zachtpennington.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I'm SO excited to have this out in the world!!!! Check out our latest work on the contribution of the anterior hypothalamic nucleus to stress sensitivity and valence processing.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For those interested in a neuroscience PhD - the University of Minnesota Graduate Program in Neuroscience www.neuroscience.umn.edu is hosting a virtual open house event on Oct. 26th. Learn about the program and meet students and faculty! Register here: forms.gle/CXRLvz2EGPwG...
Flyer for the graduate program in neuroscience at the university of minnesota, to announce a virtual open house event on October 26th. Register at https://forms.gle/CXRLvz2EGPwGSL7J7
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Melissa Herman @melissaherman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Check out our latest work from shining star (and amazing physiologist) postdoc @juliamitchell.bsky.social investigating the effects of alcohol and nicotine polysubstance use on prelimbic cortex activity and behavior 🧠🍸🚭 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Alcohol and nicotine vapor co-exposure differentially engages prelimbic prefrontal cortex activity and decreases anxiety-like behavior in rats
Alcohol and nicotine are two leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States. Simultaneous co-use of alcohol and nicotine is rising, as is t…
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Woo congrats!!!
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Denise J. Cai, Ph.D. @denisejcai.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
NEW: The anterior hypothalamic nucleus acts like a volume knob for stress, scaling the brain’s response to threatening events 🧠 Read the Cai Lab's latest paper, led by @zachtpennington.bsky.social, in @nature.com 🎉 www.nature.com/articles/s41... More: bsky.app/profile/did:...
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bioRxiv Neuroscience @biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Divergent Dopamine Dynamics within the Accumbens Core www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Robert Phillips @rphillips3.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Very excited to share our newest preprint, led by myself and Biostats PhD Student Jianing Yao, where we generate a three dimensional reconstruction of the human NAc to understand how cell type heterogeneity and topography change across the anterior-posterior axis. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Keri Martinowich @martinowk.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Very excited to share our newest preprint, led by @rphillips3.bsky.social and @jianingyao.bsky.social , reconstructing the molecular and cellular organization of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the human 🧠 in three dimensions.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
GO MEGAN!!!
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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 25/09/2026
FYI to everyone submitting this October NIH cycle You need to re-certify your ScienCV AFTER Sept 26 (tomorrow) for your application or it may not be accepted. Great timing!
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 26/09/2026
Science world (and everyone who knows someone with cancer or dementia): Keep an eye on this! It looks like another try at the pocket rescission gambit.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Congrats!! Paper looks awesome!
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Natale R. Sciolino, PhD @sciolinolab.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Here’s the UConn Today press release covering our new Cell Reports (@cp-cellreports.bsky.social) paper on how a brainstem region reshapes the neural code for taste in mice. today.uconn.edu/2026/09/a-br...
today.uconn.edu
A Brainstem Signal Reorganizes the Neural Code for Taste - UConn Today
UConn researchers found that brief and sustained activation of an arousal-related brain region had markedly different effects on how the mouse brain encoded ...
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Steve Ramirez @okaysteve.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🚨 new work from the lab! "Dissociable cortical-hippocampal dopamine dynamics support memory-guided behavior" by @albitc.bsky.social et al. congratulations whole-heartedly to the team and we're excited to hear everyone's thoughts on the work! 👇🏽 www.cell.com/current-biol...
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Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they) @katjathieme.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Who are the scientists, what are their names, and what have they published on this topic. 🤦🏻‍♀️
Dario Amodei:
Today we announced the Claude-led discovery of a molecular machine that we suspect could represent a new gene editing mechanism. Its precise function, biotechnological utility (if any), or level of significance is not yet clear, but at minimum it is work I would have been proud to do as a PhD student. The work was done mostly, though not entirely, by Claude: our life sciences team suggested a broad area of research, Claude read through the literature and a bunch of genome data and discovered something interesting, then Claude proposed experiments to verify the discovery and our team carried them out.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Huge congrats to Fallon Curry and Julia Wells in the lab - they both received the @sfn.org Trainee Professional Development Award!!
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Ann Clemens @annmclemens.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
if you're in Edinburgh and looking for research experience 👩‍🔬 🧑‍🔬 we're offering opportunities to join our work on **the sticky sense** in humans and rodents with potential for field research 🫎 🔭 get in touch 💻 📫 📞 @sidb-edinburgh.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social @edinunineuro.bsky.social
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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Don’t forget, this is how the Kennedy center dismantling started. The folks at your institution doing equity work might be the first targeted, but the institutions themselves are always the target. Hope folks have learned this now.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Big UMN contingent and we had a blast at the Pavlovian Society this weekend, thanks to the organizers! Also Montreal rules.
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Margo Le @margole.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New preprint! 🧠🐭🔬 Reward-predictive cues can bias action selection, but can they also influence the *rules* we use to complete a sequence of actions? sPRInT through this thread to find out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Reward Memories Bias Instrumental Rule Selection via the Orbitofrontal-to-Secondary Motor cortex Pathway
Reward-predictive cues can influence decision-making and promote the pursuit of specific outcomes. This influence is classically studied using specific Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (sPIT), in wh...
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Ron Keiflin @ronkeiflin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New lab preprint! OFC—>M2 in rule selection. Project led by the amazing @margole.bsky.social
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STAT @statnews.com · 21/09/2026
“We should be strengthening our investment in the NIH, not dismantling it,” writes Reed Jobs. www.statnews.com/2026/09/21/n...
statnews.com
The NIH budget should be $100 billion per year
“We should be strengthening our investment in the NIH, not dismantling it,” writes Reed Jobs.
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Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Now this is a TOAD
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Bella Green @izzabellagreen.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Grateful to train alongside the best crew (ft @sethweir.bsky.social and @louisakuper.bsky.social) under the best mentorship (thank you @bensaunders.bsky.social!) and have the opportunity to learn and share our work at Pavlovian 2026! 🧠
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/09/2026
“The arrangement would give Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a direct role in determining how NIH distributes its $48 billion in congressionally-appropriated money.” Bypassing the many checks and balances at NIH on grant funding decisions.
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