Donald Iain MacDonald
@dimacd.bsky.social
Neuroscience researcher @NIH. Branco Weiss Fellow. Formerly @UZH @UCL @StJohnsOx. Neuropeptides, pain and inflammation. Tha Gàidhlig agam
Still amazing that a specific language impairment can be mapped to a mendelian single gene mutation. Reading about this discovery of a "language gene" is what first got me interested in biology, genetics and ultimately neuroscience!
More than two decades have passed since we discovered that rare disruptions of the FOXP2 gene disturb development of proficient speech/language skills. Today we know of multiple FOXP genes that are directly implicated in distinct brain-related conditions with differences in symptoms & severity.🧪 1/n
October 30, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Still amazing that a specific language impairment can be mapped to a mendelian single gene mutation. Reading about this discovery of a "language gene" is what first got me interested in biology, genetics and ultimately neuroscience!
Enjoyed this gig. Or as they're known in the UK: Maudlin-a Bay...
October 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Enjoyed this gig. Or as they're known in the UK: Maudlin-a Bay...
Reposted by Donald Iain MacDonald
"The connectome is like a road map."
October 3, 2025 at 1:23 PM
"The connectome is like a road map."
Really enjoyed this great book telling the story (and experiments) behind our understanding of the hypothalamus, neuron coding, and 'wireless' neurochemical signaling (oxytocin, prolactin etc)... mitpress.mit.edu/978026255193...
August 11, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Really enjoyed this great book telling the story (and experiments) behind our understanding of the hypothalamus, neuron coding, and 'wireless' neurochemical signaling (oxytocin, prolactin etc)... mitpress.mit.edu/978026255193...
Some very nice 50 year old immunostaining that showed for the first time that Substance P was in sensory neurons and their central terminals. Only three pictures, published in Science! www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...
June 6, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Some very nice 50 year old immunostaining that showed for the first time that Substance P was in sensory neurons and their central terminals. Only three pictures, published in Science! www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...
"A distributed coding logic for thermosensation and inflammatory pain" Proud to have been involved in this! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
April 23, 2025 at 9:49 PM
"A distributed coding logic for thermosensation and inflammatory pain" Proud to have been involved in this! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Donald Iain MacDonald
Turns out, two of pain’s most famous messengers — Substance P and CGRPα — might not be so essential after all. Mice missing both still felt pain just fine, challenging decades of assumptions about how pain signals travel.
buff.ly/ypISrtx
buff.ly/ypISrtx
April 19, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Turns out, two of pain’s most famous messengers — Substance P and CGRPα — might not be so essential after all. Mice missing both still felt pain just fine, challenging decades of assumptions about how pain signals travel.
buff.ly/ypISrtx
buff.ly/ypISrtx
Reposted by Donald Iain MacDonald
In science, we don’t give negative data nearly enough love. Showing with genetic precision that CGRP and Substance P aren’t needed for different kinds of acute and chronic pain? That’s huge.
April 20, 2025 at 2:34 PM
In science, we don’t give negative data nearly enough love. Showing with genetic precision that CGRP and Substance P aren’t needed for different kinds of acute and chronic pain? That’s huge.
I'm shook!! www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Carriers of SCN9A variants linked to inherited and acquired pain syndromes show no alteration in the prevalence of pain or analgesic usage in the UK Biobank cohort
The voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.7, encoded by the SCN9A gene, is integral to nociceptor excitability and pain sensation. Multiple gain-of-function SCN9A variants have been reported to cause auto...
www.medrxiv.org
March 19, 2025 at 1:36 PM
I'm shook!! www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Donald Iain MacDonald
Come join our lab as Postdoctoral Fellow! The project will investigate the maturation of spinal circuits and their plasticity within chronic widespread pain states.
Apply here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... until 11th April.
@ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclnpp.bsky.social @jobrxiv.bsky.social
Apply here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... until 11th April.
@ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclnpp.bsky.social @jobrxiv.bsky.social
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
March 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Come join our lab as Postdoctoral Fellow! The project will investigate the maturation of spinal circuits and their plasticity within chronic widespread pain states.
Apply here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... until 11th April.
@ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclnpp.bsky.social @jobrxiv.bsky.social
Apply here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... until 11th April.
@ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclnpp.bsky.social @jobrxiv.bsky.social
Reposted by Donald Iain MacDonald
This study challenges traditional views of pain biology by showing that deleting Substance P and CGRPα does not affect acute or chronic pain in mice, underscoring the complexity of finding effective pain targets.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Pain persists in mice lacking both Substance P and CGRPα signaling
The neuropeptides Substance P and CGRPα have long been thought important for pain sensation. Both peptides and their receptors are expressed at high levels in pain-responsive neurons from the peripher...
www.biorxiv.org
December 11, 2024 at 9:30 PM
This study challenges traditional views of pain biology by showing that deleting Substance P and CGRPα does not affect acute or chronic pain in mice, underscoring the complexity of finding effective pain targets.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...