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Ciaran Murphy-Royal

@murphyroyallab.org
2.1K followers 955 following 390 posts

Neuroscientist | Associate Professor @ University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre Astrocytes as contextual regulators of brain states & behaviour PI @ murphyroyallab.org

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Reposted by Ciaran Murphy-Royal
Baptiste Lacoste @blacoste.bsky.social · 4h
🚨 Excited to share that our new paper is published today in Neuron ! We show that P2Y2 receptor activation restores cerebrovascular function and reverses behavioural impairments in mice carrying a 16p11.2 deletion. #Autism #Publication #BasicScience www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
cell.com
Purinergic receptor activation rectifies autism-associated endothelial dysfunction
Ouellette et al. report that a 16p11.2 deletion induces a bioenergetic failure in brain endothelial cells. Activation of purinergic signaling via P2Y2 receptors restored endothelial function and impro...
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alquierthierry.bsky.social @alquierthierry.bsky.social · 21h
1-Lipid droplet (LD) lipolysis in neurons exerts cell type-specific effects within the arcuate nucleus. New pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
| bioRxiv
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by openRxiv, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing scientific communication
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 29/09/2026
New preprint from our close collaborator @alquierthierry.bsky.social investigating cellular mechanisms underlying whole-body energy homeostasis! In males and females nonetheless!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Lipid droplet lipolysis in POMC neurons regulates energy homeostasis in a sex-specific manner
The hypothalamus is a central regulator of glucose and energy homeostasis, with arcuate nucleus (ARC) neurons orchestrating these processes. Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) and pro-opiomelanocortin (POM...
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 25/09/2026
Come join us at the @crchum.bsky.social ! It really is as good as it looks!
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Sylvain Baillet @sylvainbaillet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
👉 Tenure-track opening in neuroscience @crchum.bsky.social @umontreal.ca crchum.carrieresante.gouv.qc.ca/poste/profes...
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BCCHR ResDev (DM) @resdevbcch.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
‼️ attention Canadian health researchers ‼️ #CIHR has posted the Project Grants Discussion Paper and a related *survey* cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54821.html Please please participate 🙏
photo of the “help shape the future of the project grant program” announcement by CIHR. TEXT is accessible in the hyperlink in this post.
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Robert Rozeske @rrrozeske.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I'm thrilled to share our recent publication “Overlapping representations in the ventral hippocampus support rapid fear memory retrieval” www.nature.com/articles/s41... We asked, what is the moment-to-moment link between HPC spatial representations, memory retrieval, and fear behaviour?
nature.com
Overlapping representations in the ventral hippocampus support rapid fear memory retrieval - Nature Neuroscience
Fear learning increases the similarity of threatening and neutral context representations in ventral CA1, which may enable faster reinstatement of threat memories, compared to dorsal CA1.
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Tomás Ryan @tjryan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"MIT wants to rebuild education around the things AI can't replace. That means oral exams, semester portfolios, in-person project work, and a required social component in every subject. The report even floats the idea of rethinking grades entirely..." This is the way forward @tcddublin.bsky.social
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Lewis Holt @lewisholt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🚨🚨 New preprint from us at the LGC lab. Super excited to share this story since starting my post-doc! 🤩 If you are interested in astrocytes, mitochondria, and anxiety behaviour be sure to check it out!! Thanks to all the collaborators :)
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Network Glia | European Glia Meeting @gliameeting.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Spotlight on Emerging Talent Congrats to Lewis Depaauw-Holt (Université de Montréal), a #GLIA2025 stipend winner! His research shows how #astrocytes regulate stress responses in a sex-specific manner by shaping orexin neuron activity and behaviour. #NetworkGlia #Astrocytes
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Carmen Sandi @carmensandi10.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Join us in Lausanne on 7 Oct for a 1-day Symposium We will bridge the field of stress & resilience with cognitive ageing and brain rejuvenation Outstanding keynotes, talks, posters & discussion Places first come first served Poster abstracts + registration by 7 Sept: www.epfl.ch/research/dom...
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Vincent Breton-Provencher @handle.invalid · 17/08/2026
Happy to share this new paper from the lab. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Region-specific weighting of sensory intensity and reward prediction error by dopamine signals
Growing evidence shows that dopamine signaling is diverse, with dopaminergic neurons responding to rewarding and aversive stimuli. Here, we hypothesiz…
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Lewis Holt @lewisholt.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
🚨🚨 just over 2-months until the Brain Resilience Symposium here at EPFL! Super excited to be sharing some of the work we've been doing here in the LGC lab 💪
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 10/08/2026
Excellent reporting on astrocyte-engram work from @junnagai.bsky.social, @m-r-williamson.bsky.social and others. This article captures just how much of a frontier research area astrocyte engrams represent, and I’m excited to see how the field unfolds. www.thetransmitter.org/memory/are-p...
thetransmitter.org
Are parts of the memory trace found in the ‘astroengram?’
Neurons have long taken top billing in memory, but researchers are making the case for astrocytes.
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Dr. Cate Peña @cate-cholamine.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
So proud to have “Early-life stress alters H3K4me1 in VTA to prime stress sensitivity” out now in Neuron! This work spanned Many years and Many people contributed. Huge thanks to @hyejaykim.bsky.social, @ja-balouek.bsky.social, Luke Geiger, and Meaghan Creed www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
cell.com
Early-life stress alters H3K4me1 in VTA to prime stress sensitivity
Kim, Geiger et al. report that early-life stress increases the chromatin modification H3K4me1 and its enzymatic writer, SETD7, in the ventral tegmental area. They show that this form of epigenetic pri...
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 31/07/2026
Super fun symposium at Neuro2026 Kobe discussing ‘Adaptive glia: from homeostasis to allostasis under stress’ with Micheal Wheeler, @cate-cholamine.bsky.social , Josselyn Soto, @junnagai.bsky.social and myself! Such a fascinating and innovative field!
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 31/07/2026
After a busy week in Nagoya at the Neuroendocrinology meeting, both @mathiasgua.bsky.social & @ossamaghenissa.bsky.social made the lab proud, presenting at the Japanese Neuroscience society meeting (Neuro2026) in Kobe
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Sylvain Baillet @sylvainbaillet.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Pain avoidance can protect us, but in chronic pain, it can become part of the problem. Our new collaborative study reveals altered pain-avoidance learning in CRPS, linked to anxiety and reduced prefrontal alpha activity. doi.org/10.1002/ejp.... #CRPS #PainResearch @crchum.bsky.social
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 15/07/2026
Excellent overview of our recent publication in Neuron by Xinzhu Yu and Bal Khakh ! www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
cell.com
Amygdala astrocytes encode anxiety states
In this issue of Neuron, Ghenissa and colleagues1 show that intracellular Ca2+ signaling within populations of astrocytes in the basolateral amygdala of mice encodes anxiety states that are regulated ...
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Isabel N Christie PhD @izzynchristie.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
It was lovely to see Thomas Papouin at #FENS2026. Thomas presented a really exciting story and it was lovely to catch up! He's such a star ✨ @papouinlab.bsky.social
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Isabelle Arnoux @isabellearnoux.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The social event of the European Glial Cells Network was a fantastic opportunity to meet, connect, and exchange ideas with fellow glial cell researchers over delicious tapas 🥘, refreshing beers 🍻, and authentic sangria 🍷. Great conversations, new connections, and a wonderful atmosphere! 🧠✨ #FENSGlia
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Isabelle Arnoux @isabellearnoux.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Excellent symposium on glial cell sex differences at #FENS2026! A great reminder that sex is a critical biological variable in neuroscience. Thanks to Kerstin Lenk, Julia Schulze-Hentrich, @murphyroyallab.org and @dibenedetto-lab.bsky.social for the inspiring talks! #FENSGlia #Astrocytes
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Network Glia | European Glia Meeting @gliameeting.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
FENSGlia – Building the International Glia Community We end today's series by bringing the community together! Join us for the #FENSGlia Social Evening on Wed, 8 July, 20:00 at Plaça d'Osca, Barcelona. Wear your GLIA sticker from Booth 158 to spot fellow gliologists. See you there! #FENS2026
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 30/06/2026
Delighted to see @lewisholt.bsky.social receive this prestigious recognition for all his hard work in the lab! 💪
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Kurt Fraser @kurtfraser.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I'm looking to hire a research technician/lab manager. This role is ideal for someone looking to gain experience and independence after undergraduate research on their way to graduate school. Please encourage anyone interested to apply: hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/374... (job code 374183)
hr.myu.umn.edu
Careers
The Fraser Lab at the University of Minnesota (https://fraserlab.psych.umn.edu/) is recruiting a full-time research technician to support the lab. As a part of the Department of Psychology we are involved in the greater neuroscience research community at the University of Minnesota which provides excellent access to training and professional development. The Fraser Lab is interested in the neurobiological basis of motivated behavior and investigates how defined brain circuits contribute to behavioral regulation. We make use of modern neuroscience approaches to record and manipulate neural activity in real-time as rodents perform complex behavioral tasks to relate precise aspects of neural activity to well-defined psychological processes. To do so, we regularly use optogenetics, chemogenetics, calcium imaging, biosensors, pharmacology, and immunohistochemistry. Our ultimate goal is to decipher the neural mechanisms regulating behavior and to characterize how these are altered in psychiatric illness, such as addiction, or by differences in lived experience, such as after early life adversity, to potentially identify novel therapeutics. We seek a team member who can play a lead role in lab operations, collaborate closely with the PI, and engage in team-building and growth.Duties:Laboratory logistics, maintenance and operations (30%):
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Naguib Mechawar @naguibmechawar.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
www.journaldemontreal.com/2026/06/16/3...
journaldemontreal.com
Pour étudier l'alzheimer, le suicide et la dépression: 3800 cerveaux conservés dans une banque à Montréal
La plus grande banque de cerveaux au Canada permet des études sur l’alzheimer, le parkinson, mais aussi le suicide et la dépression majeure.
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 28/05/2026
Great initiative from Marie-Josette de Medeiros (PhD student) who invited a group of local high-school students to spend a day seeing what being a scientist is all about ! Most have never visited a lab, so it’ll be interesting to hear their opinions by the end of the day.
Marie-Jo !Lab members and visiting students!
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 28/05/2026
Lab views on point this morning!
Picture from the 12th floor of the CRCHUM with views of Jacques Cartier bridge, Viger Square etc
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Reposted by Ciaran Murphy-Royal
João Filipe Oliveira @joaofoliveira.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
🧠 New preprint from our lab! #Hippocampal #astrocytes actively contribute to: 👉 the encoding of #context-specific #aversive stimuli 👉 predict #recall of #fear #behavior. @icvs-uminho.bsky.social @caixaresearch.bsky.social #PTglia
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 21/05/2026
Great turnout for the career networking session this afternoon at @canacn.bsky.social ! Huge thanks to all the participants for making it great!
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Michael Williamson @m-r-williamson.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Thrilled to share that I’ll be starting my lab at the SickKids Research Institute and University of Toronto in August! williamsonlab.ca Recruiting at all levels. Get in touch if you’re interested in astrocyte biology of cognition and disease!
williamsonlab.ca
Williamson Lab
The Williamson Lab studies astrocyte biology across development, cognition, and disease.
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 16/05/2026
Lots of great feedback on some of the lab work I shared today at CANGlia. Thanks to all the organisers for putting on such a fantastic meeting!
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Lewis Holt @lewisholt.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Honoured to be included in this years selection! Thank you CAN and CIHR-INMHA! 🙌
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 15/05/2026
@mathiasgua.bsky.social doing the lab proud at @canglia.bsky.social meeting in the @theneuro.bsky.social
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 15/05/2026
Such a great list of up and coming stars in Canadian neuroscience including former student from our lab @lewisholt.bsky.social !
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CANGlia @canglia.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Glial poster session #1 is officially underway!! 🧠🍁
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Sylvain Baillet @sylvainbaillet.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Congrats to @maxlevinson.bsky.social for pulling this off in the middle of 2020's lockdown and the shortage of liquid helium in 🇨🇦. Grateful to our 🇬🇧 colleagues who saved us with grace and wit and more.
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 07/05/2026
Not long left til the @canacn.bsky.social annual meeting in Montreal! I'm excited for the Career Networking event that I am hosting with @lohmanaw.bsky.social We'll give you a free lunch and a chance to sit down with people from all different career trajectories! 👇 can-acn.org/meeting-2026...
can-acn.org
Career Networking event – Canadian Association for Neuroscience
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Paul Frankland @franklandlab.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Sharing the latest from the lab. Led by Yunlong Liu, this work explores how microglia and engram neurons interact during fear extinction in the hippocampus. rdcu.be/fgNH7
rdcu.be
Microglia-dependent regulation of fear memory extinction
Nature Neuroscience - Liu et al. show in mice that microglia are recruited to the soma and dendritic processes of fear engram neurons during extinction learning and that they weaken fear memories...
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 02/05/2026
Incredibly proud of both @mathiasgua.bsky.social and @ossamaghenissa.bsky.social who were both offered doctoral fellowships from @fondsrechercheqc.bsky.social !! 🥳🥳 It’s been a terrific year for the lads 💪(photo from past summer in France)
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SJo @sjo09.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Anyone who has seen me talk lately knows that i have a fascination with Taylor Swift. I was introduced to her music by my daughter & her friends. So when @sfn.org asked me to write a review... Engrams and Memory: My Scientific "Eras Tour" www.jneurosci.org/content/jneu...
eras tour poster
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Melissa Cooper, PhD @melcooperphd.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Astrocytes do so much more than any of us thought - they even communicate among specific brain regions across hemispheres! The journey to this paper spanned nearly a decade, but I'm most excited to see what everyone else does with the tools we've built. There's so much for all of us to explore!
nature.com
Astrocytes connect specific brain regions through plastic networks - Nature
Communication between distant brain regions is mediated by plastic networks of gap junction-coupled astrocytes.
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Canadian Association for Neuroscience @canacn.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Proud to share an overview of the CAN Hill Day which took place last week - engaging with Parliamentarians and civil servants to highlight the important work neuroscientists do for Canada and the importance of government support for Canadian Research. can-acn.org/can-parliame...
can-acn.org
CAN Parliament Hill Day 2026 – Canadian Association for Neuroscience
Canadian Association for Neuroscience
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 21/04/2026
Really fun session on astrocytes and behaviour organized by @papouinlab.bsky.social at the American Society of Neurochemistry meeting in St Charles With @olsenlab-vt.bsky.social , Grant Gordon, Xinzhu Yu, and myself
Thomas introducing Michelle OlsenXinzhu YU presenting her acknowledgments slideMichelle OlsenGrant Gordon
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 19/04/2026
Very nice manuscript from @papouinlab.bsky.social ! Take a look at the figures 🤩 Great timing as I catch a flight to see Thomas at the American Society for Neurochemostry meeting
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Caroline Menard @caromenard666.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Excited to share the latest one from the lab led by José Solano @jolusolo.bsky.social who explored how early life #stress impacts the mouse 🐭 brain 🧠 vasculature Science 🧪🔬 can be surprising & 2x stress can induce beneficial adaptations leading to resilience, phew! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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mark cembrowski @markcembrowski.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Trainees attending @canacn.bsky.social 2026 Meeting - @franklandlab.bsky.social and I are co-hosting the Circuits & Behaviour satellite and seeking 4 trainee speakers (one of whom will receive a $500 "Best Talk" prize). Register by next Friday for consideration: www.eventbrite.ca/e/neural-cir...
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Ciaran Murphy-Royal @murphyroyallab.org · 14/04/2026
Great to discuss the importance of sustained funding for research including neuroscience with MP Shannon Miedema Part of @can-acn.bsky.social Hill day with @labfranklin.bsky.social, Derek Bowie & Jarrad Perron
Group photo left to right - Derek Bowie, Ciaran Murphy-Royal, Shannon Miedema, Jarrad Perron, Tamara Franklin
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alquierthierry.bsky.social @alquierthierry.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
1/ Excited & proud to share the results of an exceptional collaboration with @ejrideout.bsky.social led by R. Manceau & D. Majeur @crchum.bsky.social & @umontreal-en.bsky.social, demonstrating the conserved role of lipid droplet function in hunger-activated neurons. www.nature.com/articles/s42...
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Isabel N Christie PhD @izzynchristie.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
This meeting looks like its going to be bigger and better than 2024. Come to Bristol in June for the chance to mingle with the glia glitterati of the United Kingdom #neuroscience #glia #science #events #conference #networking www.physoc.org/events/uk-gl...
physoc.org
UK Glia 2026
UK Glia 2026 meeting will highlight the pivotal role of glia in brain physiology, offering invaluable insights for those investigating glia function in both health and disease. Find out more about the...
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