Datta Lab
@dattalab.bsky.social
Neuroscientist @Harvard asking how sensation and action are entwined to facilitate cognition. Natural behavior, circuits for scents and movement, curiosity, biological and artificial intelligence
Reposted by Datta Lab
🚨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 Datta Lab
If you’re interested in ants, olfaction, gene regulation, or all of the above, here’s a new preprint from the lab for you. It describes an unorthodox mechanism of transcriptional interference by which ant olfactory sensory neurons produce a single functional receptor.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Transcriptional Interference Gates Monogenic Odorant Receptor Expression in Ants
Communication is crucial to social life, and in ants, it is mediated primarily through olfaction. Ants have more odorant receptor (OR) genes than any other group of insects, generated through tandem d...
www.biorxiv.org
August 21, 2025 at 9:31 PM
If you’re interested in ants, olfaction, gene regulation, or all of the above, here’s a new preprint from the lab for you. It describes an unorthodox mechanism of transcriptional interference by which ant olfactory sensory neurons produce a single functional receptor.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Datta Lab
More new science from the lab! Led by @nathancsharris.bsky.social (now at GA State) and PD Priya Dutta.
We describe how experience tunes the ratios of functional receptors in a single sensory neuron via coordinating transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms to drive response plasticity.
We describe how experience tunes the ratios of functional receptors in a single sensory neuron via coordinating transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms to drive response plasticity.
Experience-dependent reconfiguration of receptors at a sensory compartment regulates neuronal plasticity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.13.670147v1
August 15, 2025 at 12:58 AM
More new science from the lab! Led by @nathancsharris.bsky.social (now at GA State) and PD Priya Dutta.
We describe how experience tunes the ratios of functional receptors in a single sensory neuron via coordinating transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms to drive response plasticity.
We describe how experience tunes the ratios of functional receptors in a single sensory neuron via coordinating transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms to drive response plasticity.
Reposted by Datta Lab
Very happy about my former mentor Sara Solla having received the Valentin Braitenberg Award for her lifelong contributions to computational neuroscience!
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Sara A. Solla receives the Valentin Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience 2025 – Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience
bernstein-network.de
August 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Very happy about my former mentor Sara Solla having received the Valentin Braitenberg Award for her lifelong contributions to computational neuroscience!
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Sara will be giving a lecture at the upcoming @bernsteinneuro.bsky.social meeting which you shouldn't miss.
bernstein-network.de/en/newsroom/...
Reposted by Datta Lab
Some parts of the Drosophila olfactory circuit have evolved more than others, according to a new comparison of two fruit fly species’ connectomes.
By @martajhill.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/connectome/c...
By @martajhill.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/connectome/c...
Cross-species connectome comparison shows uneven olfactory circuit evolution in flies
The findings start to reveal evolutionary changes that may have helped two species develop different olfactory preferences and adapt to their particular environments.
www.thetransmitter.org
August 1, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Some parts of the Drosophila olfactory circuit have evolved more than others, according to a new comparison of two fruit fly species’ connectomes.
By @martajhill.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/connectome/c...
By @martajhill.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/connectome/c...
Reposted by Datta Lab
Well, none of us may ever get funded again but in the meantime, here's some new science!
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
A lateralized sensory signaling pathway mediates context-dependent olfactory plasticity in C. elegans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.25.666858v1
July 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Well, none of us may ever get funded again but in the meantime, here's some new science!
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
Reposted by Datta Lab
Ok, reinforcement learning fans: RL is great, but what do we do when there's no obvious reward from the environment? What about perfecting a golf swing or a foxtrot or a musical performance? We may have an answer. A tale of 🐦 🎶 + 🧠. 🧵1/ #bioacoustics #prattle 💬 #neuroai #compneuro
I am happy to share our new preprint! In this work, we proposed a theory about how zebra finches bootstrap their error signals for self-guided RL via predictive coding 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Correctness is its own reward: bootstrapping error signals in self-guided reinforcement learning
Reinforcement learning (RL) offers a compelling account of how agents learn complex behaviors by trial and error, yet RL is predicated on the existence of a reward function provided by the agent's env...
www.biorxiv.org
July 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Ok, reinforcement learning fans: RL is great, but what do we do when there's no obvious reward from the environment? What about perfecting a golf swing or a foxtrot or a musical performance? We may have an answer. A tale of 🐦 🎶 + 🧠. 🧵1/ #bioacoustics #prattle 💬 #neuroai #compneuro
Reposted by Datta Lab
Very cool new paper by @thegulab.bsky.social published in Cell, showing that arterial endothelial coupling via gap junctions determines the speed and spread of vasodilation induced by neuronal activity ! #cerebrovascular #bloodflow #endothelium
Brain endothelial gap junction coupling enables rapid vasodilation propagation during neurovascular coupling
Vasodilatory signals are rapidly communicated across long distances by endothelial-endothelial
gap junctions, enabling coordinated dilation of the arterial network during neurovascular
coupling.
www.cell.com
July 25, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Very cool new paper by @thegulab.bsky.social published in Cell, showing that arterial endothelial coupling via gap junctions determines the speed and spread of vasodilation induced by neuronal activity ! #cerebrovascular #bloodflow #endothelium
Reposted by Datta Lab
1/ Mapping synaptic connectivity between individual neurons is extremely laborious. We developed BRISC, a new method that makes it possible to map inputs onto 100s of neurons in the same animal in a matter of weeks! Led by Alex Becalick and @antblot.bsky.social. 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Barcoded Rabies In Situ Connectomics for high-throughput reconstruction of neural circuits
Sequencing of oligonucleotide barcodes holds promise as a high-throughput approach for reconstructing synaptic connectivity at scale. Rabies viruses can act as a vehicle for barcode transmission, than...
www.biorxiv.org
July 21, 2025 at 7:58 AM
1/ Mapping synaptic connectivity between individual neurons is extremely laborious. We developed BRISC, a new method that makes it possible to map inputs onto 100s of neurons in the same animal in a matter of weeks! Led by Alex Becalick and @antblot.bsky.social. 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Datta Lab
This research has widespread implications for treatments of chronic pain, autistic hypersensitivity, sexual dysfunction, and other ailments.
@harvardmed.bsky.social
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
@harvardmed.bsky.social
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
Highly sensitive science — Harvard Gazette
Harvard neurobiologist David Ginty probes pleasure and pain to shed light on autism and other conditions.
news.harvard.edu
July 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
This research has widespread implications for treatments of chronic pain, autistic hypersensitivity, sexual dysfunction, and other ailments.
@harvardmed.bsky.social
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
@harvardmed.bsky.social
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
Reposted by Datta Lab
What’s in a sniff? Wonderful new work from Kevin Franks revealing the mechanisms for responding to odour molecules at different stages of the respiration cycle. UK Semiochemical Network Workshop in Cambridge
July 10, 2025 at 8:55 AM
What’s in a sniff? Wonderful new work from Kevin Franks revealing the mechanisms for responding to odour molecules at different stages of the respiration cycle. UK Semiochemical Network Workshop in Cambridge
Reposted by Datta Lab
Finally out! 🥳 Our paper showing how a transposable element (TE) insertion can cause developmental phenotypes is now published @natgenet.nature.com 🧬🦠🐁
Below is a brief description of the major findings. Check the full version of the paper for more details: www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02248-5
Below is a brief description of the major findings. Check the full version of the paper for more details: www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02248-5
Enhancer adoption by an LTR retrotransposon generates viral-like particles, causing developmental limb phenotypes - Nature Genetics
Activation of an LTR retrotransposon inserted upstream of the Fgf8 gene produces viral-like particles in the mouse developing limb, triggering apoptosis and causing limb malformation. This phenotype c...
www.nature.com
July 9, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Finally out! 🥳 Our paper showing how a transposable element (TE) insertion can cause developmental phenotypes is now published @natgenet.nature.com 🧬🦠🐁
Below is a brief description of the major findings. Check the full version of the paper for more details: www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02248-5
Below is a brief description of the major findings. Check the full version of the paper for more details: www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02248-5
Reposted by Datta Lab
Franklin W. Stahl, 95, Dies; Helped Create a ‘Beautiful’ DNA Experiment www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/s...
Franklin W. Stahl, 95, Dies; Helped Create a ‘Beautiful’ DNA Experiment
www.nytimes.com
July 8, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Franklin W. Stahl, 95, Dies; Helped Create a ‘Beautiful’ DNA Experiment www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/s...
Reposted by Datta Lab
Just noticed that Stavros has put out another 'solid' paper last month. 🔥 Impressive given what he has to deal with these days.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Solid phase transitions as a solution to the genome folding paradox - Nature
In vitro reconstitution and in vivo live-cell imaging of LHX2–EBF1–LDB1 enhancer hubs in olfactory sensory neurons reveals that these transcription factors form condensates with solid, rathe...
www.nature.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Just noticed that Stavros has put out another 'solid' paper last month. 🔥 Impressive given what he has to deal with these days.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Datta Lab
Your brain doesn’t just passively track time ⏳ - it structures it.
In @Science.org we show that activity in 🧠 memory circuits (LEC) drifts constantly, but makes sharp jumps at key moments, segmenting life into meaningful events. (1/2)
👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
In @Science.org we show that activity in 🧠 memory circuits (LEC) drifts constantly, but makes sharp jumps at key moments, segmenting life into meaningful events. (1/2)
👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Event structure sculpts neural population dynamics in the lateral entorhinal cortex
Our experience of the world is a continuous stream of events that must be segmented and organized at multiple timescales. The neural mechanisms underlying this process remain unknown. In this work, we...
www.science.org
June 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Your brain doesn’t just passively track time ⏳ - it structures it.
In @Science.org we show that activity in 🧠 memory circuits (LEC) drifts constantly, but makes sharp jumps at key moments, segmenting life into meaningful events. (1/2)
👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
In @Science.org we show that activity in 🧠 memory circuits (LEC) drifts constantly, but makes sharp jumps at key moments, segmenting life into meaningful events. (1/2)
👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Datta Lab
Very happy to see a Transmitter (@thetransmitter.bsky.social) piece on our recent work on estrous cycle modulation of hippocampal structure and function. Thanks to Sydney Wyatt (@sydneywyatt.bsky.social) for covering the work and its context:
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroendocri...
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroendocri...
Spatial learning circuitry fluctuates in step with estrous cycle in mice
Cyclic shifts in estradiol levels coincide with changes in dendritic spine density and the activity of place cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, a new study shows.
www.thetransmitter.org
June 25, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Very happy to see a Transmitter (@thetransmitter.bsky.social) piece on our recent work on estrous cycle modulation of hippocampal structure and function. Thanks to Sydney Wyatt (@sydneywyatt.bsky.social) for covering the work and its context:
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroendocri...
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroendocri...
Reposted by Datta Lab
Animals’ sniffing drives rhythmic input to the olfactory system.
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Decoding olfactory bulb output: A behavioral assessment of rate, synchrony, and respiratory phase coding
Neurogenetics; Behavioral neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience
www.cell.com
June 13, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Animals’ sniffing drives rhythmic input to the olfactory system.
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Reposted by Datta Lab
My latest Aronov lab paper is now published @Nature!
When a chickadee looks at a distant location, the same place cells activate as if it were actually there 👁️
The hippocampus encodes where the bird is looking, AND what it expects to see next -- enabling spatial reasoning from afar
bit.ly/3HvWSum
When a chickadee looks at a distant location, the same place cells activate as if it were actually there 👁️
The hippocampus encodes where the bird is looking, AND what it expects to see next -- enabling spatial reasoning from afar
bit.ly/3HvWSum
June 11, 2025 at 10:24 PM
My latest Aronov lab paper is now published @Nature!
When a chickadee looks at a distant location, the same place cells activate as if it were actually there 👁️
The hippocampus encodes where the bird is looking, AND what it expects to see next -- enabling spatial reasoning from afar
bit.ly/3HvWSum
When a chickadee looks at a distant location, the same place cells activate as if it were actually there 👁️
The hippocampus encodes where the bird is looking, AND what it expects to see next -- enabling spatial reasoning from afar
bit.ly/3HvWSum
Reposted by Datta Lab
How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇
bit.ly/44aVm9E
bit.ly/44aVm9E
June 12, 2025 at 11:04 AM
How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇
bit.ly/44aVm9E
bit.ly/44aVm9E
Reposted by Datta Lab
Excited to share our Science paper on HaloDA1.0-the first genetically encoded far-red dopamine sensor! 🥳It enables powerful multiplex imaging in neurons, brain slices, and live animals.🧠🔬 #GRABsensors #Dopamine www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
In vivo multiplex imaging of dynamic neurochemical networks with designed far-red dopamine sensors
Dopamine (DA) plays a crucial role in a variety of brain functions through intricate interactions with other neuromodulators and intracellular signaling pathways. However, studying these complex netwo...
www.science.org
June 6, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Excited to share our Science paper on HaloDA1.0-the first genetically encoded far-red dopamine sensor! 🥳It enables powerful multiplex imaging in neurons, brain slices, and live animals.🧠🔬 #GRABsensors #Dopamine www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Datta Lab
1/ I'm excited to share recent results from my first collaboration with the amazing @anayebi.bsky.social
and @leokoz8.bsky.social !
We show how autonomous behavior and whole-brain dynamics emerge in embodied agents with intrinsic motivation driven by world models.
and @leokoz8.bsky.social !
We show how autonomous behavior and whole-brain dynamics emerge in embodied agents with intrinsic motivation driven by world models.
June 5, 2025 at 8:03 PM
1/ I'm excited to share recent results from my first collaboration with the amazing @anayebi.bsky.social
and @leokoz8.bsky.social !
We show how autonomous behavior and whole-brain dynamics emerge in embodied agents with intrinsic motivation driven by world models.
and @leokoz8.bsky.social !
We show how autonomous behavior and whole-brain dynamics emerge in embodied agents with intrinsic motivation driven by world models.
Reposted by Datta Lab
A very nice article about our research on the octopus visual system, by @callimcflurry.bsky.social @thetransmitter.bsky.social
The octopus brain has teased researchers since the 1960s, but recording from it seemed impossible. Cris Niell and his team’s calcium imaging experiments finally “showed that this brain could be studied,” says Sam Reiter.
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/vision/cepha...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/vision/cepha...
Cephalopods, vision’s next frontier
For decades, scientists have been teased by the strange but inaccessible cephalopod visual system. Now, thanks to a technological breakthrough from a lab in Oregon, data are finally coming straight…
www.thetransmitter.org
May 27, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A very nice article about our research on the octopus visual system, by @callimcflurry.bsky.social @thetransmitter.bsky.social
Reposted by Datta Lab
More evidence for altered sensory processing in ASD- great story!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A reduced ability to discriminate social from non-social touch at the circuit level may underlie social avoidance in autism - Nature Communications
Some autistic individuals experience aversion to social touch. Authors use Neuropixels probes and demonstrate that unlike wild type mice, Fmr1 knockout mice find social and non-social interactions equ...
www.nature.com
May 20, 2025 at 1:20 PM
More evidence for altered sensory processing in ASD- great story!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Datta Lab
🚨 Preprint alert! 🚨
Can mice estimate the distance to an odour source?
New work led by Cristina Marin and colleagues, jointly supervised by @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social at the @crick.ac.uk and myself.
Spoiler alert: Yes, they can!
Read the paper here: bit.ly/43A9tF9
Short 🧵 below
Can mice estimate the distance to an odour source?
New work led by Cristina Marin and colleagues, jointly supervised by @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social at the @crick.ac.uk and myself.
Spoiler alert: Yes, they can!
Read the paper here: bit.ly/43A9tF9
Short 🧵 below
May 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
🚨 Preprint alert! 🚨
Can mice estimate the distance to an odour source?
New work led by Cristina Marin and colleagues, jointly supervised by @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social at the @crick.ac.uk and myself.
Spoiler alert: Yes, they can!
Read the paper here: bit.ly/43A9tF9
Short 🧵 below
Can mice estimate the distance to an odour source?
New work led by Cristina Marin and colleagues, jointly supervised by @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social at the @crick.ac.uk and myself.
Spoiler alert: Yes, they can!
Read the paper here: bit.ly/43A9tF9
Short 🧵 below
Reposted by Datta Lab
Online now:
The estrous cycle modulates hippocampal spine dynamics, dendritic processing, and spatial coding
In this study, Wolcott et al. explore estrous-cycle modulation of hippocampal neuron structure and function. Using longitudinal two-photon imaging across the estrous cycle, they find significant modulation at the synaptic, cellular, and population levels.
dlvr.it
May 13, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Online now: