Britton Sauerbrei
@brittonsauerbrei.bsky.social
Neurophysiologist working on motor control and neural population dynamics. Assistant Prof. at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
https://sauerbreilab.org/
https://sauerbreilab.org/
Pinned
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How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? I’m beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk @eric-kirk.bsky.social with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do neural dynamics in motor cortex interact with those in subcortical networks to flexibly control movement? I’m beyond thrilled to share our work on this problem, led by Eric Kirk @eric-kirk.bsky.social with help from Kangjia Cai!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Got this gem (1956 edition!) from Minotavros Books in Whitby, ON!
November 11, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Got this gem (1956 edition!) from Minotavros Books in Whitby, ON!
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
I entirely agree.
Research in rodents has enabled remarkable technical advances and deepened our understanding of brainstem circuits and general brain physiology.
However, only NHPs possess cognitive, visual, and motor faculties necessary to advance human-relevant systems neuroscience.
Research in rodents has enabled remarkable technical advances and deepened our understanding of brainstem circuits and general brain physiology.
However, only NHPs possess cognitive, visual, and motor faculties necessary to advance human-relevant systems neuroscience.
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of brain-computer interfaces and artificial neural networks. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk, write Cory Miller, @movshon.bsky.social and Doris Tsao.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
Without monkeys, neuroscience has no future
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of BCIs, ANNs. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk.
bit.ly
November 11, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I entirely agree.
Research in rodents has enabled remarkable technical advances and deepened our understanding of brainstem circuits and general brain physiology.
However, only NHPs possess cognitive, visual, and motor faculties necessary to advance human-relevant systems neuroscience.
Research in rodents has enabled remarkable technical advances and deepened our understanding of brainstem circuits and general brain physiology.
However, only NHPs possess cognitive, visual, and motor faculties necessary to advance human-relevant systems neuroscience.
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of brain-computer interfaces and artificial neural networks. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk, write Cory Miller, @movshon.bsky.social and Doris Tsao.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
Without monkeys, neuroscience has no future
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of BCIs, ANNs. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk.
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Research in primate brains has been essential for the development of brain-computer interfaces and artificial neural networks. New funding and policy changes put future such advances at risk, write Cory Miller, @movshon.bsky.social and Doris Tsao.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/47MXYLH
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
Subsecond dopamine fluctuations do not specify the vigor of ongoing actions
Nature Neuroscience - Liu and colleagues show that the vigor (that is, speed and amplitude) of dexterous movements is not controlled by ongoing fluctuations in extracellular dopamine within the...
rdcu.be
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
New preprint:
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
New preprint:
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Neural manifolds that orchestrate walking and stopping
Here we develop a new theory for neural generation of walking and how it can stop- Next we test the theory using Neuropixels probes in the lumber spinal cord of freely moving rats. See more:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Fear, monkeys, and institutional courage
When news broke of an explosion inside Harvard’s neurobiology building early Saturday morning, every scientist who works with monkeys felt it—an involuntary jolt, a spike of cortisol, the silent thought: what if it had been us? Neither animals nor people…
When news broke of an explosion inside Harvard’s neurobiology building early Saturday morning, every scientist who works with monkeys felt it—an involuntary jolt, a spike of cortisol, the silent thought: what if it had been us? Neither animals nor people…
Fear, monkeys, and institutional courage
When news broke of an explosion inside Harvard’s neurobiology building early Saturday morning, every scientist who works with monkeys felt it—an involuntary jolt, a spike of cortisol, the silent thought: what if it had been us? Neither animals nor people were hurt, thankfully. It doesn’t appear to have been an attack. But it didn’t matter. For those of us who work with monkeys, the fear is always near the surface.
micheleabasso7.wordpress.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Fear, monkeys, and institutional courage
When news broke of an explosion inside Harvard’s neurobiology building early Saturday morning, every scientist who works with monkeys felt it—an involuntary jolt, a spike of cortisol, the silent thought: what if it had been us? Neither animals nor people…
When news broke of an explosion inside Harvard’s neurobiology building early Saturday morning, every scientist who works with monkeys felt it—an involuntary jolt, a spike of cortisol, the silent thought: what if it had been us? Neither animals nor people…
Considering an “adversarial journal club,” with pro and anti presentations followed by an open discussion aimed at achieving consensus. Has anyone tried this format?
November 7, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Considering an “adversarial journal club,” with pro and anti presentations followed by an open discussion aimed at achieving consensus. Has anyone tried this format?
A remarkable monograph.
November 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM
A remarkable monograph.
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
🚨Job alert🚨
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
3 Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
November 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
🚨Job alert🚨
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
A delightful academic farce.
November 1, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A delightful academic farce.
“Like the reading of tea leaves, this approach can be used to create an impression, by projecting conceptual schemes onto suggestive patterns. … Thus, the search for explicit coding may actually be misleading …”
October 31, 2025 at 7:51 PM
“Like the reading of tea leaves, this approach can be used to create an impression, by projecting conceptual schemes onto suggestive patterns. … Thus, the search for explicit coding may actually be misleading …”
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Stoked to see our study out in final form! Big kudos to @jonathanamichaels.bsky.social for driving this along for the past 5 years.
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics in motor circuits
Nature - Experiments with human volunteers and macaques show that expectations produced by probabilistic cueing of future sensory inputs shape motor circuit dynamics in order to increase the...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Stoked to see our study out in final form! Big kudos to @jonathanamichaels.bsky.social for driving this along for the past 5 years.
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics in motor circuits
Nature - Experiments with human volunteers and macaques show that expectations produced by probabilistic cueing of future sensory inputs shape motor circuit dynamics in order to increase the...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Apply to become a CSHL-Simons Fellow in Neuroscience!
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; ≤~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; ≤~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Fellows Positions | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
CSHL Simons Fellow in NEUROSCIENCE Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is seeking to fill a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellow position in the area of NEUROSCIENCE (experimental and/or computationa...
www.cshl.edu
October 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Apply to become a CSHL-Simons Fellow in Neuroscience!
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; ≤~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; ≤~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
October 22, 2025 at 8:41 PM
🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity!
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have:
(1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs)
(2) better hand dexterity
(3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
October 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Excited that this work discovering cross-species signatures of stabilizing foot placement control is now out in PNAS!
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@antoinecomite.bsky.social
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
🚨Pre-print alert! 🚨https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.683171v1
Our new study tackles the question: do all neurons in motor cortices (MC) encode movement & coordinate as we move? Answering this question will be key for effectively targeting motor representations in BCIs.
Our new study tackles the question: do all neurons in motor cortices (MC) encode movement & coordinate as we move? Answering this question will be key for effectively targeting motor representations in BCIs.
The spatiotemporal structure of neural activity in motor cortex during reaching
Intracortical brain-computer interfaces (BCI) leverage knowledge about neural representations to translate movement-related neural activity into actions. BCI implants have targeted broad cortical regi...
www.biorxiv.org
October 20, 2025 at 6:54 PM
🚨Pre-print alert! 🚨https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.683171v1
Our new study tackles the question: do all neurons in motor cortices (MC) encode movement & coordinate as we move? Answering this question will be key for effectively targeting motor representations in BCIs.
Our new study tackles the question: do all neurons in motor cortices (MC) encode movement & coordinate as we move? Answering this question will be key for effectively targeting motor representations in BCIs.
Agreed! I find Nelson Goodman’s analysis persuasive:
October 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Agreed! I find Nelson Goodman’s analysis persuasive:
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Neuroscience faculty job Alert! We are hiring at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine! Apply at apply.interfolio.com/171533. Please repost.
October 7, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Neuroscience faculty job Alert! We are hiring at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine! Apply at apply.interfolio.com/171533. Please repost.
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
Despite These Times...my department is hiring! I really like my department, we have a good mix of disciplines and organisms and we're really low-drama. We also get pizza at faculty meeting. So if you're a computational and structural biologist, join us! 🧪 jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/260...
Assistant Professor - Tenure Track Faculty
The Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is inviting applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position. The position requires a doc...
jobs.rutgers.edu
October 1, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Despite These Times...my department is hiring! I really like my department, we have a good mix of disciplines and organisms and we're really low-drama. We also get pizza at faculty meeting. So if you're a computational and structural biologist, join us! 🧪 jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/260...
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
The neural control & computation lab is recruiting!
If you're interested in using large-scale neural population recordings to study how the brain learns to produce complex and flexible behaviours, please get in touch.
www.ncclab.ca
If you're interested in using large-scale neural population recordings to study how the brain learns to produce complex and flexible behaviours, please get in touch.
www.ncclab.ca
October 1, 2025 at 11:23 PM
The neural control & computation lab is recruiting!
If you're interested in using large-scale neural population recordings to study how the brain learns to produce complex and flexible behaviours, please get in touch.
www.ncclab.ca
If you're interested in using large-scale neural population recordings to study how the brain learns to produce complex and flexible behaviours, please get in touch.
www.ncclab.ca
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
The Department of Kinesiology at Penn State is inviting applications for an open-rank faculty position in sensorimotor control and rehabilitation neuroscience. Please share this opportunity with interested colleagues in your network.
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
Open-Rank Faculty Position in Sensorimotor Control and Rehabilitation Neuroscience
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The Department of Kinesiology at Penn State is inviting applications for an open-rank faculty position in sensorimotor control and rehabilitation neuroscience. Please share this opportunity with interested colleagues in your network.
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...
Reposted by Britton Sauerbrei
My department at Case Western Reserve is recruiting an Assistant / Associate Professor of Neurosciences - come be our colleague!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
October 1, 2025 at 4:45 PM
My department at Case Western Reserve is recruiting an Assistant / Associate Professor of Neurosciences - come be our colleague!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
www.nature.com/naturecareer...