The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives

Today’s action potentials

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
Dana Foundation Letter of Interest (LOI) 2025 Rolling Submission
SUBMIT APPLICATION BY 31 JANUARY 2025
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QUOTE

That was a surprise. Both of them pretty much have the same phenotype, but it turned out the mechanisms are different, and the consequences on the cortex are different. — SERGIU PAŞCA, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, STANFORD UNIVERSITY

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NEW PERSPECTIVE
“Microglia as hunters or gatherers of brain synapses”
By Marta Pereira-Iglesias et al. in Nature Neuroscience
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Upcoming Online Seminars

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Upcoming Webinar
Jan
09
2025
Iain Couzin | Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Konstanz
The neural basis of exploration and decision-making in individuals and groups
10:15 A.M. EST
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Upcoming Webinar
Jan
24
2025
Papanikolopoulou Katerina | Biomedical Sciences Research Centre "Alexander Fleming
Neurobiological Pathways to Tau-dependent Pathology: Perspectives from flies to humans
06:00 A.M. EST
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Upcoming Webinar
May
09
2025
Salta Evgenia | Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Dutch Academy of Science
Rejuvenating the Alzheimer’s brain: Challenges & Opportunities
06:00 A.M. EST
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Illustration of a lab with a smoking crater in the middle of the floor.

A scientific fraud. An investigation. A lab in recovery.

Science is built on trust. What happens when someone destroys it?

By Calli McMurray
4 October 2024 | 27 min listen
Research image of green and purple mouse brain slices.
Brain stimulation

Putting a bright idea to the test

A surprising wave of findings in mice suggests that light and sound flickering at 40 hertz clears the brain of Alzheimer’s-disease-linked plaques. Several companies are hoping to prove it works in people.

By Shaena Montanari
21 August 2024 | 11 min read
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Dima Rinberg smells one of the compounds in his lab, looking at camera with a quizzical expression.
Olfaction

Sniffing out the mysteries of olfaction

By Lina Zeldovich
11 December 2024 | 13 min read
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Illustration of an image of a landscape repeated over and over again, with some versions distorted and warped.
The big picture

What makes memories last—dynamic ensembles or static synapses?

Teasing out how different subfields conceptualize central terms might help move this long-standing debate forward. I asked eight scientists to weigh in.

By Jason Shepherd
14 October 2024 | 7 min read
Collage of different images of brains and mechanical devices in the background with a suitcase in the foreground.
The big picture

What are mechanisms? Unpacking the term is key to progress in neuroscience

Mechanism is a common and powerful concept, invoked in grant calls and publication guidelines. But scientists use it in different ways, making it difficult to clarify standards in the field. We asked nine scientists to weigh in.

By Dani S. Bassett, Lauren N. Ross
7 October 2024 | 5 min read
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