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Clyde Francks

@clydefrancks.bsky.social
316 followers 197 following 91 posts

Prof. of Brain Imaging Genomics @ Max Planck Institute & Donders Institute, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Biologist interested in genes, brains, behaviour, psychiatry, left-right asymmetry. www.mpi.nl/people/francks-clyde

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Reposted by Clyde Francks
Ev Fedorenko @evfedorenko.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
100% on this! Inspired by this piece in 2014 (www.nature.com/articles/nrn...; @clydefrancks.bsky.social @profsimonfisher.bsky.social), we've stopped excluding left handers about a decade ago and have never looked back. :)
nature.com
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Loïc Labache @loiclabache.cpesr.fr · 02/07/2026
Happy to share that our work is finally published in @commsbio.nature.com! We identify molecular and cellular signatures of hemispheric specialization, linking language and attention to distinct neurotransmitter, mitochondrial, & cellular organization across the cortex 🧠 doi.org/10.1038/s420...
doi.org
Molecular and cellular correlates of human cortical lateralization - Communications Biology
Multimodal analyses reveal the molecular and cellular asymmetries underlying human cortical lateralization. Distinct neurotransmitter, mitochondrial, and cellular gradients support left-lateralized la...
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Avram Holmes @avramholmes.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Hemispheric specialization is core to brain organization, but its biological basis has been unclear. New @holmeslab-bhi.bsky.social paper links neurochemical & cellular asymmetries to left-lateralized language & right-lateralized attention networks, with implications for evolution & psych illness.
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Reposted by Clyde Francks
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics @mpi-nl.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Patterns of language and visuospatial Lateralisation in three-year-old children. Final version by Josephine Quin-Conroy & al. with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social @clydefrancks.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2026.109434
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Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics @mpi-nl.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Patterns of Language and Visuospatial Lateralisation in Three-Year-Old Children. New paper by Josephine Quin-Conroy et al. with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social and @clydefrancks.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
New study: Population-wide variation in connectopic organization of cerebral language hubs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Summary over on my LinkedIn account: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
linkedin.com
New study: Brain language hubs examined with connectopic mapping in over 40,000 people: https://lnkd.in/eudABwGE For his final PhD study in my group at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and… ...
New study: Brain language hubs examined with connectopic mapping in over 40,000 people: https://lnkd.in/eudABwGE For his final PhD study in my group at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and D...
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Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics @mpi-nl.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Structural and functional brain asymmetry in relation to heterogeneous causes of situs inversus totalis. New paper by @meng-yun.bsky.social & al. with Nicole Ying Ting Ng, Else Eising, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social , @clydefrancks.bsky.social doi.org/10.1007/s00429-026-03098-5
doi.org
Structural and functional brain asymmetry in relation to heterogeneous causes of situs inversus totalis - Brain Structure and Function
Brain Structure and Function - Various aspects of brain organization differ between the left and right hemispheres. Clues to the developmental origins of these asymmetries may be gained through...
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Reposted by Clyde Francks
Michel Nivard @michelnivard.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
It’s on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/posts/clyde-...
linkedin.com
The wrong number of chromosomes in this supposed genetic study of human handedness suggests AI-generated nonsense (as do various other errors such as a fake reference attributed to yours truly, or… | ...
The wrong number of chromosomes in this supposed genetic study of human handedness suggests AI-generated nonsense (as do various other errors such as a fake reference attributed to yours truly, or 'tr...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Seemingly fake genetic study of left-handedness, first drawn to my attention by @ocklenburg.bsky.social , with laughable / frighteningly bad figures and false citations...!
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
I joined the The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Matchmaking Platform as a potential hosting group. Please be in touch if you might be interested to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship in the next round. Maybe you could join us and work on brain imaging genomics! www.b2match.com/e/radiance-m...
b2match.com
Hosting Postdoctoral Fellows in Brain Imaging Genomics | The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Matchmaking Platform
The platform provides an opportunity for companies, SMEs, Universities, Research Centres, NGOs, to find partners and offer opportunities to future MSCA fellows
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Integrating brain structure and function for the neurobiology and genetics of language www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... New study in which @jsamelink.bsky.social examined brain data from >32,000 people from @ukbiobank.bsky.social ... 1/4 ⬇️
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Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics @mpi-nl.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein- altering variants in living human adults. New paper by Barbara Molz, Mikel Lana Alberro, Else Eising, Dick Schijven, @gokberkalagoz.bsky.social @clydefrancks.bsky.social @profsimonfisher.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1126/scia....
doi.org
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
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Soren Larsen (SEGL) @sorenlarsen.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
"Despite widespread claims linking gut health to autism spectrum disorder, a comprehensive analysis published in the journal Neuron has found no scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism."
thedebrief.org
No, Your Gut Microbiome Doesn't Contribute to Autism—New Study Dismantles Decades of Misleading Claims
A comprehensive analysis has found no scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism.
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
www.popsci.com/science/why-...
popsci.com
Why are most people right-handed?
A mix of biology, environment, and evolution helps explain our rightie-dominated world.
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Asymmetries of the brain and body - are they linked genetically? In a new study we sequenced the genomes of people with their visceral organs reversed on the left-right axis, in a rare congenital condition called situs inversus totalis: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Short thread below ⬇️ 1/5
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
CALL FOR INVESTIGATOR AWARD NOMINATIONS 2026 The International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society Early Career Achievement Award and Distinguished Investigator Award DEADLINE: December 2nd, 2025 www.ibngs.org/ibangs-awards
ibngs.org
Awards
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
New PhD program: the Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network is.mpg.de/news/new-max...
is.mpg.de
New Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network Starts Call for Applications for its Ph.D. Program
The Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network is a Ph.D. Program that provides doctoral researchers with fully funded Ph.D. fellowships and a pool of outstanding faculty comprising directors and inde...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
New @maxplanck.de study: We looked for left-right differences of gene expression and cell-type abundances in the brains of MICE 🐭using Xenium @10xgenomics.bsky.social. Possible clues to how functional brain asymmetry is supported !! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Short thread below ⬇️
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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Spatially distributed and regionally unbound cellular resolution brain-wide processing loops in mice 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀? Dynamical processing winding through most brain regions. Looks like a must read. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #neuroskyence
biorxiv.org
Spatially distributed and regionally unbound cellular resolution brain-wide processing loops in mice
Until recently, it has been possible to examine activity in the brain globally through regional averaging or locally at cellular resolution. These studies characterized regions as functionally homogen...
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Steve Smith @fmrib-steve.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Latest processing of UK Biobank brain imaging data - now with 82,000 usable first-scan datasets. Correlating brain IDPs with 13,000 non-imaging variables gives a rich manhattan-stye plot. 324,000 Bonferroni-significant associations.
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Armin Raznahan @bogglerapture.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Emergence of genetic variants linked to brain and cognitive traits in human evolution academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...
academic.oup.com
The emergence of genetic variants linked to brain and cognitive traits in human evolution
Abstract. Human evolution involved major anatomical transformations, including a rapid increase in brain volume over the last 2 million years. Examination
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Zhiqiang Sha (X: @sha_zhiqiang) @zhiqiangsha.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
💥🧠🧬Finally out!! Our new paper on the overlapping genetic basis of brain structures and psychiatric disorders has been published in Nature Mental Health. The full list of shared genetic loci is also available online. Thank you so much, Aaron and all co-authors. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
The overlapping genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders and cortical brain structure - Nature Mental Health
This study highlights sex differences in major depressive disorder using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Findings suggest hormonal fluctuations influence onset, emphasizing the ne...
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Bratislav Misic @misicbata.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Integrating and interpreting brain maps | doi.org/10.1016/j.ti... Imaging and recording technologies make it possible to map multiple biological features of the brain. How can these features be conceptually integrated into a coherent understanding of brain structure and function? ⤵️
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Fascinating study suggests that left-right differences in the fly brain arise from asymmetrical twist of neurons www.biorxiv.org/node/4751792... Might also be true for human brains as we suggested here www.nature.com/articles/s41... after implicating microtubules in human structural brain asymmetry
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Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Terrific new preprint charting structural brain asymmetry across the human lifespan By @aarona-b.bsky.social and collaborators 🧪🧠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Charting structural brain asymmetry across the human lifespan
Lateralization is a fundamental principle of structural brain organization. In vivo imaging of brain asymmetry is essential for deciphering lateralized brain functions and their disruption in neurodev...
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Check out our latest work co-led by @dcsoto.bsky.social and @jmuribescr.bsky.social identifying hundreds of human duplicated gene families using the new T2T-CHM13 assembly, with a focus on those potentially contributing to brain evolution 🧪: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTQtL7PXu...
authors.elsevier.com
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Nobel prize winner loses Dutch nationality...
nltimes.nl
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Donders Institute @dondersinst.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
🎥🌍 Over 1,000 neuroscience talks now free on YouTube and published at @apertureohbm.bsky.social. 🧠 “Now anyone, anywhere can binge-watch brain science like a box set,” says @stephforkel.bsky.social: www.ru.nl/en/donders-i... @alfiewearn.bsky.social @sitek.bsky.social @sofievalk.bsky.social
ru.nl
Global access to brain science: OHBM launches channel with 1,000+ talks | Radboud University
What if you could journey back in time to hear world-leading neuroscientists present the ideas that shaped today's brain science? A new open-access initiative led by researchers from the Donders Insti...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Plus, we've begun to uncover how DNA variants contribute to connectivity of language circuits in the human brain, via largescale genomic analyses of resting-state functional neuroimaging data. Check out this @commsbio.nature.com paper by @jsamelink.bsky.social @clydefrancks.bsky.social & co. 🧬🧠🧪7/n
nature.com
Imaging genetics of language network functional connectivity reveals links with language-related abilities, dyslexia and handedness - Communications Biology
Common and rare genetic variants, as well as polygenic scores of dyslexia and handedness are associated with the functional brain language network and hemispheric differences within this network, shed...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Ending the thread with one last illustration of novel avenues opened up by genomics of language-/reading-related traits. In a recent Science Advances paper, @clydefrancks.bsky.social's lab identified associations of dyslexia-disposing DNA variants with various aspects of human brain structure. 🧬🧠8/8
science.org
Distinct impact modes of polygenic disposition to dyslexia in the adult brain
Genetic disposition to dyslexia is associated with brain structure in the general population.
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Rósa S. Gísladóttir @rosagisladottir.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
I'm so excited to see this online now in TRENDS IN GENETICS: Advancing GWAS of Human Communication. I review latest developments in genetics of speech and language and highlight opportunities for research on genetics and evolution of human communication. authors.elsevier.com/a/1lHgMcQbJF...
authors.elsevier.com
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Many congratulations to former member of my research group @zhiqiangsha.bsky.social , now setting up his own group in South Carolina! ⬇️
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
'A double-blind study was designed, in which the same set of research proposals and referee reports were assessed by two different committees.' I wonder how reproducible would be the funding decisions if different referees were involved, not only different committees? www.nwo.nl/en/news/nwo-...
nwo.nl
NWO conducts double-blind study on assessment procedure Open Competition Domain Science-M (ENW-M) | NWO
The assessment procedure used by NWO within the Open Competition of Domain Science (hereafter: ENW-M) turns out to be just. That is the conclusion of a scientifically based study concerning the ENW-M ...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Rare ‘ambidextrous’ protein breaks rules of handedness www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Rare ‘ambidextrous’ protein breaks rules of handedness
Most proteins are left-handed, but scientists have found an ancient molecule that works in both mirror-image forms.
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Sebastian Ocklenburg @ocklenburg.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
If you are interested in laterality and left-handedness, have a look at the second edition of „The lateralized brain“ 🧠 which came out in 2024: www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780323...
sciencedirect.com
The Lateralized Brain
The second edition of The Lateralized Brain: The Neuroscience and Evolution of Hemispheric Asymmetries provides for readers a volume detailing the fun...
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Jitse S. Amelink @jsamelink.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Presented my latest #PhD work at #BioSB2025 to the Dutch bioinformatics community. Had a great time connecting with all my colleagues! #imaging #language #genomics #brain
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
There are European and Global postdoctoral fellowships ⬇️
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
The call for MSCA postdoctoral fellowships is open until 10 September marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post... so please be in touch if you are interested in neuroimaging genomics and see a possible fit with my group in the Netherlands
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu
Postdoctoral Fellowships
The information provided on this page is a summary of the main rules and requirements for Postdoctoral Fellowships (PFs) and who can apply for them.
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Sebastian Ocklenburg @ocklenburg.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
New fully open access article published in @tandfresearch.bsky.social Laterality: „Limb preferences in non-human vertebrates: A new decade“ - After more than 10 years we give an update on our 2013 paper on limb preferences across vertebrates! Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Limb preferences in non-human vertebrates: A new decade
Over a decade ago, we demonstrated that population-level asymmetries in limb preferences are not uniquely human but occur in various species of non-human animals (Ströckens, F., Güntürkün, O., & Oc...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Do mice🐭 show molecular and cellular differences between the left and right sides of their brains? If so they could be helpful models to understand brain asymmetry in human health and disease. Danielle Houwing will present our results using @10xgenomics.bsky.social Xenium data at NWO Life conference
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Gerome Breen @psychgenomics.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Awesome news I think: Regeneron buy 23andMe investor.regeneron.com/news-release... HT @michelnivard.bsky.social
investor.regeneron.com
Regeneron Enters into Asset Purchase Agreement to Acquire 23andMe® for $256 Million; Plans to Maintain Consumer Genetics Business and Advance Shared Goals of Improving Human Health and Wellness | Rege...
Purchase is subject to bankruptcy court and regulatory approvals Regeneron will prioritize the privacy, security and ethical use of 23andMe’s customer data; stands ready to work with independent, cour...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Are the asymmetries of body and brain linked genetically?@meng-yun.bsky.social will present our latest work on the genetics of visceral organ asymmetry in relation to functional brain laterality at #ESHG2025 in Milan this weekend. Stop by his poster to find out!
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Brain asymmetry in adolescence www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence - Nature Communications
Cerebral asymmetry, crucial for cognitive functions, often changes in neuropsychiatric disorders. This study maps structural brain asymmetry in 11,000 children aged 10–14 years, identifying age-relate...
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Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
9 Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
nytimes.com
9 Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything
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Michel Nivard @michelnivard.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
This is about NHANES, a great openly available study, the same dynamic is seen with Mendelian Randomization. I am reminded of the line: “Strange game, the only way to win is not to play”… the game being rigged is “peer reviewed publications” and we don’t have a consensus on abandoning those….
science.org
Low-quality papers are surging by exploiting public data sets and AI
Paper mills are also likely contributing to “false discoveries”
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Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Great @nature.com paper on the early stages of human cortical development, led by @qianxuyu.bsky.social from C. Walsh’s lab, in collaboration with @drmingyaoli.bsky.social A wonderful new resource to probe area & layer specification 🧪🧠🧬
nature.com
Spatial transcriptomics reveals human cortical layer and area specification - Nature
Multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH) together with deep-learning-based nucleus segmentation enabled the construction of a highly detailed and informative spatially res...
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Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
How Your Brain Splits Space to Double Its Perception Power neurosciencenews.com/brain-hemisp... #neuroscience
neurosciencenews.com
How Your Brain Splits Space to Double Its Perception Power - Neuroscience News
Despite popular myths about left- and right-brain thinking, research shows the hemispheres truly do divide up certain tasks—especially visual spatial perception.
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Angelica Ronald @angelicaronald.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Our gene discovery project on age at onset of walking is out today! Find the paper here www.nature.com/articles/s41... Huge thanks to the cohorts, collaborators & coauthors, in particular first author Dr Anna Gui 1/n
nature.com
Genome-wide association meta-analysis of age at onset of walking in over 70,000 infants of European ancestry - Nature Human Behaviour
A genome-wide association study of age at onset of walking in over 70,000 infants found 11 significant loci. Age at onset of walking showed SNP heritability of 24%, a reliable polygenic score and gene...
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Clyde Francks @clydefrancks.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Development of functional differences between left and right auditory cortex in the mouse brain rdcu.be/ekRqR #laterality
rdcu.be
Asynchronous development of the mouse auditory cortex is driven by hemispheric identity and sex
Nature Communications - What drives the development of lateralized sound processing in the brain remains unclear. Here, the authors find that sex and hemispheric identity underlie asynchronous...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
The message here is that even when individual variation in a human feature seems simple on the surface, it’s not a guide to the genetics that lies beneath. Take right- vs left-handedness. When I began my career in genetics in the 1990’s, it was common to hear talk of “the gene for handedness”. 8/n
Photograph of a person poised to write with their left hand on the blank white page of a spiral-bound notebook.
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