Andrew Lutas
@andrewlutas.bsky.social
Stadtman investigator at NIH, NIDDK. Neuromodulation and motivation section. All views/posts are my own.
Pinned
Andrew Lutas
@andrewlutas.bsky.social
· Jun 9
An amygdalopontine pathway promotes motor programs of ingestion https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.05.657686v1
First preprint from our lab: How might the brain override fullness signals to allow feeding after you’re full?
We set out to test how central amygdala inhibitory neurons gate satiation/satiety signals in the pons.
We set out to test how central amygdala inhibitory neurons gate satiation/satiety signals in the pons.
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
Sigh. NIH normally sends several hundred scientists to the SFN annual meeting to learn, exchange info, come up with new ideas, and advance science. (The exchange of ideas is the very core of the scientific enterprise.)
This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.
This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.
Enjoy a broad range of lectures and network with experts in the field at #SfN25! 🧠
Gain valuable insights and tools to enhance your research and career.
Browse through to lectures and build your itinerary in the 2025 Neuroscience Meeting Planner
🔗 vist.ly/4de72
#neurosky #neuroskyence
Gain valuable insights and tools to enhance your research and career.
Browse through to lectures and build your itinerary in the 2025 Neuroscience Meeting Planner
🔗 vist.ly/4de72
#neurosky #neuroskyence
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Sigh. NIH normally sends several hundred scientists to the SFN annual meeting to learn, exchange info, come up with new ideas, and advance science. (The exchange of ideas is the very core of the scientific enterprise.)
This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.
This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
Abstract submissions are now OPEN for the Dopamine 2026 meeting!
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
October 22, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Abstract submissions are now OPEN for the Dopamine 2026 meeting!
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
Share your latest discoveries and join the global dopamine community in advancing the science of motivation, movement, and reward.
Submit here: dopaminesociety.org/abstracts/
#Dopamine2026
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
I am thrilled to share our latest work: we identified a population of central amygdala neurons that promote the earliest and perhaps most important social behavior: pup suckling!... We also developed new tools for pup neuroscience
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
October 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
I am thrilled to share our latest work: we identified a population of central amygdala neurons that promote the earliest and perhaps most important social behavior: pup suckling!... We also developed new tools for pup neuroscience
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
Ed Kravitz passed away yesterday.
He was a remarkable scientist and mentor- brilliant, curious, creative, and kind. I am grateful to have learned from him. His legacy will endure through his science and through the many people he inspired.
We will miss you, Ed.
He was a remarkable scientist and mentor- brilliant, curious, creative, and kind. I am grateful to have learned from him. His legacy will endure through his science and through the many people he inspired.
We will miss you, Ed.
September 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Ed Kravitz passed away yesterday.
He was a remarkable scientist and mentor- brilliant, curious, creative, and kind. I am grateful to have learned from him. His legacy will endure through his science and through the many people he inspired.
We will miss you, Ed.
He was a remarkable scientist and mentor- brilliant, curious, creative, and kind. I am grateful to have learned from him. His legacy will endure through his science and through the many people he inspired.
We will miss you, Ed.
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
The New York Times piece today about US science is terrible and wrong—in many ways.
I could write a whole article about this, but as one example:
“To close observers, the original crisis began well before any of this…”
No. I’m a close observer of science, and this is incorrect.
I could write a whole article about this, but as one example:
“To close observers, the original crisis began well before any of this…”
No. I’m a close observer of science, and this is incorrect.
September 22, 2025 at 12:20 PM
The New York Times piece today about US science is terrible and wrong—in many ways.
I could write a whole article about this, but as one example:
“To close observers, the original crisis began well before any of this…”
No. I’m a close observer of science, and this is incorrect.
I could write a whole article about this, but as one example:
“To close observers, the original crisis began well before any of this…”
No. I’m a close observer of science, and this is incorrect.
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
🚨Our preprint is online!🚨
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
September 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
🚨Our preprint is online!🚨
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do #dopamine neurons perform the key calculations in reinforcement #learning?
Read on to find out more! 🧵
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
WE ARE... hiring!
Penn State Biology & the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences is recruiting a tenure track or tenured neurobiologist (Assistant or Associate Professor rank), and the committee is open to a broad scope of scientific questions.
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
Penn State Biology & the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences is recruiting a tenure track or tenured neurobiologist (Assistant or Associate Professor rank), and the committee is open to a broad scope of scientific questions.
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
September 18, 2025 at 9:56 AM
WE ARE... hiring!
Penn State Biology & the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences is recruiting a tenure track or tenured neurobiologist (Assistant or Associate Professor rank), and the committee is open to a broad scope of scientific questions.
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
Penn State Biology & the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences is recruiting a tenure track or tenured neurobiologist (Assistant or Associate Professor rank), and the committee is open to a broad scope of scientific questions.
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
Co-discoverer of reverse transcriptase at 32, Nobel Prize at 37, played a key role at the 1975 Asilomar comference.
David Baltimore, Nobel-Winning Molecular Biologist, Dies at 87
www.nytimes.com
September 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Co-discoverer of reverse transcriptase at 32, Nobel Prize at 37, played a key role at the 1975 Asilomar comference.
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
My new essay for @thetransmitter.bsky.social. Why is understanding emotion so challenging? The debates around what counts as an "emotion" shed insight.
These disputes are multidimensional, principled and fascinating. Here, I unpack them.
www.thetransmitter.org/the-big-pict...
These disputes are multidimensional, principled and fascinating. Here, I unpack them.
www.thetransmitter.org/the-big-pict...
Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13…
www.thetransmitter.org
September 5, 2025 at 11:15 AM
My new essay for @thetransmitter.bsky.social. Why is understanding emotion so challenging? The debates around what counts as an "emotion" shed insight.
These disputes are multidimensional, principled and fascinating. Here, I unpack them.
www.thetransmitter.org/the-big-pict...
These disputes are multidimensional, principled and fascinating. Here, I unpack them.
www.thetransmitter.org/the-big-pict...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
The mouse brain lights up during decision making, showing widespread activity across both predictable as well as unexpected areas.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.
www.thetransmitter.org
September 3, 2025 at 9:37 PM
The mouse brain lights up during decision making, showing widespread activity across both predictable as well as unexpected areas.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
Statistics
xkcd.com
September 1, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
Come join our new Department of Neuroscience @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social as an Assistant Professor! aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05041
Assistant Professor - Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Neuroscience - Department of Neuroscience
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
August 20, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Come join our new Department of Neuroscience @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social as an Assistant Professor! aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05041
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
We are deeply saddened to share that our friend and colleague Jim Hudspeth passed away on Saturday. We will remember and continue to be inspired by Jim’s integrity, his humility, and his unwavering commitment to discovery.
A. James Hudspeth, neuroscientist who unlocked secrets of hearing, has died - News
A. James Hudspeth, a Rockefeller neuroscientist who discovered how sound waves are converted into electrical signals in the ear's cochlea, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. A pioneering scientist and dedicated mentor, he was the university's F.M. ...
www.rockefeller.edu
August 18, 2025 at 7:59 PM
We are deeply saddened to share that our friend and colleague Jim Hudspeth passed away on Saturday. We will remember and continue to be inspired by Jim’s integrity, his humility, and his unwavering commitment to discovery.
Rigorous dissection of the signaling mechanisms and circuits underlying GLP1R agonist weight loss effects mice. Huge achievement by Claire Gao and team @mikekrashes.bsky.social. Potential avenues for harnessing complexity of signaling to create novel treatments. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Semaglutide drives weight loss through cAMP-dependent mechanisms in GLP1R-expressing hindbrain neurons
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP1R) agonists like semaglutide drive weight loss through the brain, but insights into their intracellular signaling mechanisms are lacking. Although canonically GLP...
www.biorxiv.org
August 17, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Rigorous dissection of the signaling mechanisms and circuits underlying GLP1R agonist weight loss effects mice. Huge achievement by Claire Gao and team @mikekrashes.bsky.social. Potential avenues for harnessing complexity of signaling to create novel treatments. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
"why [would] anyone intelligent enough to be a scientist choose to be one [given] the unfavorable risk-to-reward ratio "?
One of the most intelligent people you could meet offers some answers: having ideas, watching them develop, and sharing them journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
One of the most intelligent people you could meet offers some answers: having ideas, watching them develop, and sharing them journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Why would anyone want to be a scientist?
It is difficult to fathom why anyone intelligent enough to be a scientist would actually choose to be one. Doing good science requires the utmost exertion of body, mind and spirit, yet is consistently...
journals.biologists.com
August 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM
"why [would] anyone intelligent enough to be a scientist choose to be one [given] the unfavorable risk-to-reward ratio "?
One of the most intelligent people you could meet offers some answers: having ideas, watching them develop, and sharing them journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
One of the most intelligent people you could meet offers some answers: having ideas, watching them develop, and sharing them journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
1/ Excited to share a new preprint!
Our latest study uncovers how serotonin precisely controls the “time window” for fear learning, ensuring that our brains link cues (CS) & threats (US) only when it’s adaptive.
#Neuroscience #FearLearning
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our latest study uncovers how serotonin precisely controls the “time window” for fear learning, ensuring that our brains link cues (CS) & threats (US) only when it’s adaptive.
#Neuroscience #FearLearning
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Serotonin shapes the temporal window for associative fear learning
Fear learning is a critical adaptive mechanism that enables the association of an environmental cue (the conditioned stimulus, CS) with a potential threat (the unconditioned stimulus, US), even when t...
www.biorxiv.org
August 8, 2025 at 4:05 PM
1/ Excited to share a new preprint!
Our latest study uncovers how serotonin precisely controls the “time window” for fear learning, ensuring that our brains link cues (CS) & threats (US) only when it’s adaptive.
#Neuroscience #FearLearning
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our latest study uncovers how serotonin precisely controls the “time window” for fear learning, ensuring that our brains link cues (CS) & threats (US) only when it’s adaptive.
#Neuroscience #FearLearning
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We are looking for a postdoc fellow to join the group. Focus on studying feeding-relevant slow dynamics in the brain using invivo microscopy approaches. Please share with anyone interested. Thank you. www.training.nih.gov/jobs/pdf-inf...
www.training.nih.gov
August 6, 2025 at 5:47 PM
We are looking for a postdoc fellow to join the group. Focus on studying feeding-relevant slow dynamics in the brain using invivo microscopy approaches. Please share with anyone interested. Thank you. www.training.nih.gov/jobs/pdf-inf...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
"The peril of preconceived narratives" in @cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social with @vdarcey.bsky.social in response to the fall out from our recent study that failed to show significant brain dopamine responses to UPF milkshakes similar to highly addictive drugs. authors.elsevier.com/c/1lYiE5WXUl...
authors.elsevier.com
August 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
"The peril of preconceived narratives" in @cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social with @vdarcey.bsky.social in response to the fall out from our recent study that failed to show significant brain dopamine responses to UPF milkshakes similar to highly addictive drugs. authors.elsevier.com/c/1lYiE5WXUl...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
The Neuroscience Dept at American University is hiring for a tenure-track position at the Assistant level with expertise in Computational Neuroscience. Apply by Sep 15:
american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...
#FacultyJobs #AcademicJob #Neuroscience #CompNeuro #AI #ComputationalPsychiatry
american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...
#FacultyJobs #AcademicJob #Neuroscience #CompNeuro #AI #ComputationalPsychiatry
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
American University is a student-centered research institution located in Washington, DC, with highly-ranked schools and colleges, internationally-renowned faculty, and a reputation for creating meani...
american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
August 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The Neuroscience Dept at American University is hiring for a tenure-track position at the Assistant level with expertise in Computational Neuroscience. Apply by Sep 15:
american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...
#FacultyJobs #AcademicJob #Neuroscience #CompNeuro #AI #ComputationalPsychiatry
american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...
#FacultyJobs #AcademicJob #Neuroscience #CompNeuro #AI #ComputationalPsychiatry
Sinner is looking strong. Entertaining Wimbledon final so far
July 13, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Sinner is looking strong. Entertaining Wimbledon final so far
3 years ago today was my last day at Beth Israel.
June 25, 2025 at 12:13 AM
3 years ago today was my last day at Beth Israel.
Sunday morning tennis before it gets unbearably hot.
June 22, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Sunday morning tennis before it gets unbearably hot.
First preprint from our lab: How might the brain override fullness signals to allow feeding after you’re full?
We set out to test how central amygdala inhibitory neurons gate satiation/satiety signals in the pons.
We set out to test how central amygdala inhibitory neurons gate satiation/satiety signals in the pons.
An amygdalopontine pathway promotes motor programs of ingestion https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.05.657686v1
June 9, 2025 at 1:40 PM
First preprint from our lab: How might the brain override fullness signals to allow feeding after you’re full?
We set out to test how central amygdala inhibitory neurons gate satiation/satiety signals in the pons.
We set out to test how central amygdala inhibitory neurons gate satiation/satiety signals in the pons.
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
I am excited to share our preprint on how hypothalamic dopamine neurons govern slow changes in motivation over days! Below are our findings:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Slow-Timescale Regulation of Dopamine Release and Mating Drive over Days
The rise and fall of motivational states may take place over timescales as long as many days. We used mouse mating behavior to model how the brain orchestrates slow-timescale changes in motivation. Ma...
www.biorxiv.org
June 2, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I am excited to share our preprint on how hypothalamic dopamine neurons govern slow changes in motivation over days! Below are our findings:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Andrew Lutas
Basolateral amygdala dopamine transmits a nonassociative emotional salience signal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.15.654323v1
May 17, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Basolateral amygdala dopamine transmits a nonassociative emotional salience signal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.15.654323v1