iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Hardaway @andrewhardaway.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Reposted by Lex Kravitz

@kravitzlab.com doing show and tell at #SSIB2026 poster session unveiling FED4 which has a redesigned hopper, touch plate sensors, activity sensors, improved screen, built in steel nose piece, a tactical rail, and WIRELESS data logging. @ssibsociety.bsky.social

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Open Ephys @open-ephys.org · 06/08/2026

We're excited to be in Philly for the SSIB @ssibsociety.bsky.social Annual Meeting. Come say hi and try to get a treat from a @kravitzlab.com FED device! See Harp in action in @bonsai-rx.org and discuss open behavior tools with Cris. #ssib2026 #OpenEphys

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 30/07/2026

The work funded "in part" by Calocurb, a supplement company that makes a weight loss product using .... bitter hops extract. Not saying it doesn't work, but this isn't an independent test of it!

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Thank you to Justin, all of our co-authors, and our NIH funding for supporting this work!

Incredibly, mice with ablated VPGABA neurons (red line) completely failed to gain weight on high-fat diet. Normal control mice are in gray. By turning off over-eating outside of caloric need, we blocked obesity in mice.

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There's much more in the paper but I'll end this thread here - what if we remove VPGABA neurons? If animals don't eat outside of hunger, will they still gain weight if we challenge them with high-fat diets? We used a caspase approach to selectively ablate GABA neurons in the VP.

Using a licking assay we found super reliable feeding from VPGABA stim - blue ticks are them drinking Boost chocolate drink whenever VPGABA cells are activated!

With transcriptomic analyses and fiber photometry we determined that VPGABA neurons, despite driving feeding, do not sense the hunger hormone ghrelin. So we have a neural population that doesn't sense hunger, but can drive feeding.... it can literally drive feeding independent of caloric need

We compared optogenetic stimulation of the classic "homeostatic" arcuate AGRP neuron population to GABA neurons in the ventral pallidum, finding that both drove feeding, but VPGABA stimulation only drove feeding for palatable high-fat diet

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For the purposes of controlling obesity, it would be beneficial to find neural circuits that can reduce hedonic feeding (and over-eating) while sparing the homeostatic drive.

Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 15/04/2026

What are hedonic vs homeostatic feeding? The homeostatic appetite describes the drive to consume food to meet energy needs, whereas the hedonic appetite refers to feeding outside of energy needs, which is frequently directed toward palatable foods.

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Not necessary IMO, I think co-authored publications are a fairly noisy signal early in one's career

tomate 🍅 @jascha.ohai.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/03/2026

Reposted by Lex Kravitz

When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 17/01/2026

Strange story! Hopefully you can walk the line and teach them about remixing permissions while also not inhibiting their interests in 3d design, printing, and even business! If possible I'd try communicating with their parents instead of the 10yo directly.

Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 06/01/2026

Yeah let's send the findings through their tool!

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 06/01/2026

If it's the group from U Chicago I did it. It was fine, but none of the suggestions made sense as actual experiments to complete, and I responded as such. I can't seem to find the results in my email but they did not make enough of an impression on me to save them or think about them again.

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Oded Rechavi @odedrechavi.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

2025 was a rough year for science worldwide (and in general), but, despite everything, I am optimistic. Why? Because of @qedscience.bsky.social! This crazy endeavour actually has a chance of changing how academia works.. 👇

media.tenor.com

a man pointing to a sign that says believe

ALT: a man pointing to a sign that says believe

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 31/12/2025

Thanks for your work on this, it's really really really impressive! I look forward to the updates!

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 16/12/2025

Haha thanks! I love how you're rocking the DIY build!

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 15/12/2025

I totally agree it was needless on a short piece like this!

Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 14/12/2025

This statement gave me a hall of mirrors feeling.

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 25/09/2025

Just got home from a trip and received this book by @juliabelluz.bsky.social and @kevinh-phd.bsky.social!

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Open Ephys @open-ephys.org · 02/09/2025

pyPhotometry v2 is now in our store! 🚀 ⚡Output current of the 2 onboard LED drivers increased to 300 mA 🔦🔦 2 alternative LED digital output channels to trigger external optical hardware that have integrated LED drivers 🔌Additional connections to the pyBoard for expansion #OpenEphys #pyPhotometry

open-ephys.org

pyPhotometry V2 — Open Ephys

SKU: OEPS-8011 pyPhotometry is an open source system for fiber photometry data acquisition . Version 2 includes: 2x Analog inputs for photometry signals. The system supports time-division mul...

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Lisa Beutler @lbeutler.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Excited to share work led by my PhD student Hayley McMorrow now published in @jclinical-invest.bsky.social. Hayley showed that GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonists rapidly inhibit AgRP neurons and that endogenous GIP is important for nutrient-mediated AgRP neuron inhibition. doi.org/10.1172/JCI1...

doi.org

JCI - Incretin receptor agonism rapidly inhibits AgRP neurons to suppress food intake in mice

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 24/07/2025

Thank you for your kind reply!

Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 07/07/2025

I've found rotary joints unusable for photometry, we've tried a few types (doric, Thor) but they introduce a lot of artifacts when they rotate. So we don't use rotary joints, instead use long 3 meter cables and loop them up high so there's room for the fibers to twist up some without tangling.

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Jibran Khokhar @drjkhokhar.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

If you missed out on a spot at the other neuroscience/psychoactive drug GRCs this summer, we still have spots open at the Cannabinoid GRC with an exciting program ranging from clinical to pre-clinical to big data to society! Register today! grc.org/cannabinoid-... RT please!

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Julie Lasselin @julielasselin.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

‼️🚨 postdoc position 🚨‼️ I am looking for a postdoc in psychoneuroimmunology - come join our group to work on sickness behavior in humans 🤒🦠 at Karolinska Institutet @ki.se !! ki.varbi.com/en/what:job/... deadline July 31st @pnirs.bsky.social #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky #interoception

ki.varbi.com

Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychoneuroimmunology

Do you want to contribute to improving human health? Join a dynamic and inclusive research group at the forefront of psychoneuroimmunology, where we investigate the interplay between behavior, brain f

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Reposted by Lex Kravitz

Amy Gleichman @amygleichman.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Thrilled to announce that my lab is now open at Ohio State! We study astrocytes as gene therapy targets for brain repair after ischemic stroke and in vascular dementia, developing new viral tools along the way. If you're interesting in joining or collaborating, please reach out! gleichmanlab.com

gleichmanlab.com

The Gleichman lab

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 02/05/2025

I found Jimmy Carter's Environmental Program (fittingly?) in the dumpster in the alley behind my house. "The sight of earthrise was awesome. It was also sobering. From that moment we could no longer avoid understanding that all life must share this one small planet and its limited resources."

Pamphlet of the President's Environmental Program 1979

Quote from Jimmy Carter: "Ten years ago, at the dawn of the environmental decade, we landed on the moon. For the first time people could stand on the surface of another world and look at the whole earth. The sight of earthrise was awesome. It was also sobering. From that moment we could no longer avoid understanding that all life must share this one small planet and its limited resources."

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 26/04/2025

It's funny that ChatGPT does this shit too

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Lex Kravitz @kravitzlab.com · 21/04/2025

The fit line looks like poverty is rising robustly, but I'm not seeing that in the data points themselves. Maybe end the fit line at the min and max of the data instead of extending past it?