Inbal Shainer 🎗️
@ishainer.bsky.social
assistant professor at https://www.technion.ac.il/, studying visual neuroethology in zebrafish 🐟🔬🏳️🌈
https://shainer-lab.net.technion.ac.il/
https://shainer-lab.net.technion.ac.il/
Pinned
Inbal Shainer 🎗️
@ishainer.bsky.social
· Feb 13
Excited to share our new paper in Nature! 'Transcriptomic neuron types vary topographically in function and morphology' explores how neurons in the zebrafish optic tectum exhibit diverse functions and shapes despite similar transcriptional profiles.
🔗 rdcu.be/d9GVM
🔗 rdcu.be/d9GVM
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
November 10, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
How does a fish know when to blend in? Scientists identified a key circuit controlling camouflage in zebrafish – from cells in the retina sensing light to nerve cells in the brain controlling the release of a hormone that pales the skin to match bright backgrounds.
www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-11...
www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-11...
November 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
How does a fish know when to blend in? Scientists identified a key circuit controlling camouflage in zebrafish – from cells in the retina sensing light to nerve cells in the brain controlling the release of a hormone that pales the skin to match bright backgrounds.
www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-11...
www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Excited to share our paper now published in Cell!
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Vertebrate eyes first evolved in water, where spectral content rapidly fades with
distance. Zebrafish exploit this loss by antagonizing cone signals to suppress the
background, pointing to distance es...
www.cell.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Excited to share our paper now published in Cell!
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Now online! Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Vertebrate eyes first evolved in water, where spectral content rapidly fades with distance. Zebrafish exploit this loss by antagonizing cone signals to suppress the background, pointing to distance estimation—rather than color—as an ancestral cone function.
dlvr.it
November 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Now online! Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by Kaarthik A Balakrishnan: We identify medullary circuits that represent the valence of thermal stimuli and control both long-term strategies of cold-avoidance and short term hot avoidance behaviors to enable thermoregulation. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Behavioral and circuit principles of temperature gradient navigation
Behavioral thermoregulation is critical for survival across animals. Balakrishnan
and Haesemeyer discover that thermoregulatory behavior in larval zebrafish is organized
into longer-term swim modes. T...
www.cell.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by Kaarthik A Balakrishnan: We identify medullary circuits that represent the valence of thermal stimuli and control both long-term strategies of cold-avoidance and short term hot avoidance behaviors to enable thermoregulation. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
🧠🌟🐭 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 Inbal Shainer 🎗️
I am excited to share my PhD work on head-direction cells recorded in the wild, now published in @science.org, where we recorded neurons in bats flying outdoors on an island.
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
October 16, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I am excited to share my PhD work on head-direction cells recorded in the wild, now published in @science.org, where we recorded neurons in bats flying outdoors on an island.
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint:
“Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10
“Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10
October 15, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint:
“Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10
“Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Our review is out 🎉
We discuss how neural computations in the retina shape behavior, continuing the top-down tradition of Lettvin et al.'s classic bug-detector neurons
Check it out 👀 arevie.ws/46HMEjd @annualreviews.bsky.social w/ coauthors @serenariccitelli.bsky.social @annaintegrated.bsky.social
We discuss how neural computations in the retina shape behavior, continuing the top-down tradition of Lettvin et al.'s classic bug-detector neurons
Check it out 👀 arevie.ws/46HMEjd @annualreviews.bsky.social w/ coauthors @serenariccitelli.bsky.social @annaintegrated.bsky.social
October 7, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Our review is out 🎉
We discuss how neural computations in the retina shape behavior, continuing the top-down tradition of Lettvin et al.'s classic bug-detector neurons
Check it out 👀 arevie.ws/46HMEjd @annualreviews.bsky.social w/ coauthors @serenariccitelli.bsky.social @annaintegrated.bsky.social
We discuss how neural computations in the retina shape behavior, continuing the top-down tradition of Lettvin et al.'s classic bug-detector neurons
Check it out 👀 arevie.ws/46HMEjd @annualreviews.bsky.social w/ coauthors @serenariccitelli.bsky.social @annaintegrated.bsky.social
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
“Blame your parents if you can’t pay enough attention." At least when you are a zebrafish! Our new study on attentional switching together with Kumaresh Krishnan, @paulapflitsch.bsky.social , @zwitscherarmin.bsky.social and Florian Engert is out in Science Advances:
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
October 3, 2025 at 9:23 PM
“Blame your parents if you can’t pay enough attention." At least when you are a zebrafish! Our new study on attentional switching together with Kumaresh Krishnan, @paulapflitsch.bsky.social , @zwitscherarmin.bsky.social and Florian Engert is out in Science Advances:
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Our latest study on the neurobiology of collective behavior is now posted as a preprint, led by UCSD PhD student Jo-Hsien Yu @anitajhyu.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social @danionella.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 30, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Our latest study on the neurobiology of collective behavior is now posted as a preprint, led by UCSD PhD student Jo-Hsien Yu @anitajhyu.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social @danionella.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Check out this exciting study led by Anh-Tuan Trinh from our lab, where we investigated how thalamocortical-like circuits in the zebrafish pallium receive, represent, and integrate sensory information:
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Hierarchical processing of sensory information across topographically organized thalamocortical-like circuits in the zebrafish brain
Thalamocortical projections contribute to the spatial organization and functional hierarchies of the mammalian cortex. Primary sensory cortices receive topographically segregated information from firs...
doi.org
September 16, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Check out this exciting study led by Anh-Tuan Trinh from our lab, where we investigated how thalamocortical-like circuits in the zebrafish pallium receive, represent, and integrate sensory information:
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Excited to share our latest paper - now out in @science.org - we showed how oxytocin modulates maternally-directed behavior in young mice (P15).
September 12, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Excited to share our latest paper - now out in @science.org - we showed how oxytocin modulates maternally-directed behavior in young mice (P15).
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
First sneak peek into SimFish! 🐟
Long in development with @isaacbianco.bsky.social and Sam Pink, our fish-on-chips now captures key aspects of larval #zebrafish sensory processing and motor control.
Long in development with @isaacbianco.bsky.social and Sam Pink, our fish-on-chips now captures key aspects of larval #zebrafish sensory processing and motor control.
September 3, 2025 at 10:30 PM
First sneak peek into SimFish! 🐟
Long in development with @isaacbianco.bsky.social and Sam Pink, our fish-on-chips now captures key aspects of larval #zebrafish sensory processing and motor control.
Long in development with @isaacbianco.bsky.social and Sam Pink, our fish-on-chips now captures key aspects of larval #zebrafish sensory processing and motor control.
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 across 𝟲𝟬 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
August 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 across 𝟲𝟬 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
🚀 Hiring in Paris: 1 PhD + 1 Postdoc for an ANR project on gut-brain biology in zebrafish (imaging, optogenetics). Leads: P. Hernandez (Curie) & G. Sumbre (ENS-IBENS). Start flexible 2026. Also M2 internships (Jan–Feb 2026). Details in the call.
Please share! #PhDposition #Postdoc #Paris #Zebrafish
Please share! #PhDposition #Postdoc #Paris #Zebrafish
August 23, 2025 at 10:35 PM
🚀 Hiring in Paris: 1 PhD + 1 Postdoc for an ANR project on gut-brain biology in zebrafish (imaging, optogenetics). Leads: P. Hernandez (Curie) & G. Sumbre (ENS-IBENS). Start flexible 2026. Also M2 internships (Jan–Feb 2026). Details in the call.
Please share! #PhDposition #Postdoc #Paris #Zebrafish
Please share! #PhDposition #Postdoc #Paris #Zebrafish
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Happy to see our work, led by @ivanbassi.bsky.social, out today in @jem.org! #Zebrafish help us find new treatments for a #rare_disease affecting #lymphatic vessels! Congrats to all authors and thanks to #MDBRide4Rare, #ODC_UPenn, @erc.europa.eu for support @weizmanninstitute.bsky.social
Bassi et al. @karinayaniv.bsky.social @weizmanninstitute.bsky.social use #zebrafish to help identify new treatments for a severe lymphatic malformation. rupress.org/jem/article/...
#CardiovascularBiology #HumanDiseaseGenetics
#CardiovascularBiology #HumanDiseaseGenetics
August 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Happy to see our work, led by @ivanbassi.bsky.social, out today in @jem.org! #Zebrafish help us find new treatments for a #rare_disease affecting #lymphatic vessels! Congrats to all authors and thanks to #MDBRide4Rare, #ODC_UPenn, @erc.europa.eu for support @weizmanninstitute.bsky.social
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Can't wait to read this preprint from Misha Ahrens and team. Calcium imaging in larval zebrafish, in every cell in the body! Amazing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 22, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Can't wait to read this preprint from Misha Ahrens and team. Calcium imaging in larval zebrafish, in every cell in the body! Amazing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
#ICYMI Small electric shocks to ear can help make compassion meditation training more effective at boosting people’s capacity for self-kindness and mindfulness, finds a new study led by UCL PALS researchers.
Small electric shocks to ear can boost self-compassion from meditation training
Stimulating the vagus nerve with a device attached to the outer ear can help make compassion meditation training more effective at boosting people’s capacity for self-kindness and mindfulness, finds…
www.ucl.ac.uk
August 23, 2025 at 10:08 AM
#ICYMI Small electric shocks to ear can help make compassion meditation training more effective at boosting people’s capacity for self-kindness and mindfulness, finds a new study led by UCL PALS researchers.
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Neuronal diversity is written in transcriptional codes 🧬. But what is the logic of these codes that define cell types and wiring patterns?
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8
August 21, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Neuronal diversity is written in transcriptional codes 🧬. But what is the logic of these codes that define cell types and wiring patterns?
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
highlight of two recent fantastic comparative inter-species single-cell atlases, by @live-large.bsky.social from @jisaacmurray.bsky.social, and Itai Toker from Oliver Hobert's lab
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Evolution of nervous systems: Molecular divergence in a conserved body plan
Comparative inter-species single-cell atlases of Caenorhabditis whole embryos and larval nervous systems reveal deep conservation of cell type identit…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 8, 2025 at 11:01 AM
highlight of two recent fantastic comparative inter-species single-cell atlases, by @live-large.bsky.social from @jisaacmurray.bsky.social, and Itai Toker from Oliver Hobert's lab
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
our new paper on pelagic #Asgard archaea that use #rhodopsins with carotenoid antennas to harvest light energy in the oceans.
Structural insights into light-harvesting by antenna-containing rhodopsins in marine Asgard archaea www.nature.com/articles/s41... @galitzlil.bsky.social
Structural insights into light-harvesting by antenna-containing rhodopsins in marine Asgard archaea www.nature.com/articles/s41... @galitzlil.bsky.social
August 3, 2025 at 11:58 AM
our new paper on pelagic #Asgard archaea that use #rhodopsins with carotenoid antennas to harvest light energy in the oceans.
Structural insights into light-harvesting by antenna-containing rhodopsins in marine Asgard archaea www.nature.com/articles/s41... @galitzlil.bsky.social
Structural insights into light-harvesting by antenna-containing rhodopsins in marine Asgard archaea www.nature.com/articles/s41... @galitzlil.bsky.social
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
Become our colleague! Tenure-track Assistant Professor position at The Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. unil.ch/cig/en/home....
More details for how to apply are here:
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
More details for how to apply are here:
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
July 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Become our colleague! Tenure-track Assistant Professor position at The Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. unil.ch/cig/en/home....
More details for how to apply are here:
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
More details for how to apply are here:
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Reposted by Inbal Shainer 🎗️
A new study led by @timothysit.bsky.social reveals that different layers of mouse V1 integrate visual and non-visual signals differently.
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
A new study led by @timothysit.bsky.social reveals that different layers of mouse V1 integrate visual and non-visual signals differently.
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Activity is dominated by vision (or spontaneous fluctuations) in L2/3 and by movement in L5. This leads to different geometries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...