Kelsey Tyssowski
@kelseytea.bsky.social
genetic and neural basis of dexterity…in deer mice! | postdoc at Harvard OEB/MCB, BRAIN K99/R00 | plant grower, music maker, crafter, bike rider, sometimes mountain climber | she/her
in search of a faculty job 🤓
https://ktyssowski.github.io/
in search of a faculty job 🤓
https://ktyssowski.github.io/
Pinned
Kelsey Tyssowski
@kelseytea.bsky.social
· Oct 22
🧠🌟🐭 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 Kelsey Tyssowski
Why do some worms graze on bacteria while others hunt and kill?
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.
Predatory aggression evolved through adaptations to noradrenergic circuits - Nature
Noradrenergic circuits support and balance aggressive behavioural states in predatory nematodes, distinguish predatory from non-predatory nematode species and are associated with the evolution of comp...
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Why do some worms graze on bacteria while others hunt and kill?
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
1. If the goal is to stop us from doing science, then doing science is more important than ever now.
2. We have radical uncertainty about the future. There is no sense in giving up in advance.
3. We have agency over the future. If you don't like what's happening, work to change what is happening.
2. We have radical uncertainty about the future. There is no sense in giving up in advance.
3. We have agency over the future. If you don't like what's happening, work to change what is happening.
Getting asked about how academics can continue to do science & inspire trainees even in the midst of a continued (escalated) assault on science, reason, truth, & human rights. I don’t have great answers.
I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.
I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.
January 18, 2026 at 1:24 AM
1. If the goal is to stop us from doing science, then doing science is more important than ever now.
2. We have radical uncertainty about the future. There is no sense in giving up in advance.
3. We have agency over the future. If you don't like what's happening, work to change what is happening.
2. We have radical uncertainty about the future. There is no sense in giving up in advance.
3. We have agency over the future. If you don't like what's happening, work to change what is happening.
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Excited to share @rbrianroome.bsky.social ‘s beautiful paper on development of the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord @science.org
This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn
The dorsal horn of the mammalian spinal cord is organized into laminae where each layer is populated by different neuron types, has distinctive circuit connections, and plays specialized roles in beha...
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Excited to share @rbrianroome.bsky.social ‘s beautiful paper on development of the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord @science.org
This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
"My New Year's Resolution is to find a principled way to think about all those cell types in the brain"
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
How heterogeneity shapes dynamics and computation in the brain
Much effort has been spent clustering neurons into transcriptomic or functional cell types and characterizing the differences between them. Beyond sub…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
"My New Year's Resolution is to find a principled way to think about all those cell types in the brain"
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
in non-science announcements: tonight I’ll be participating in the first ever live performance of Ian’s 20-years and counting original Christmas music project. If you’re in the Boston area, join us!
Just follow the sound of sleigh bells and the smell of fried chicken…
December 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
in non-science announcements: tonight I’ll be participating in the first ever live performance of Ian’s 20-years and counting original Christmas music project. If you’re in the Boston area, join us!
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Spinal motor neurons in dazzling detail. ✨
Each green dot is a spinal motor neuron - crucial but rare cells making up just 1% of neurons in the spinal cord. In diseases like ALS, they are selectively damaged, making them of special interest to neuroscientists.
#neuroskyence #FluorescenceFriday
Each green dot is a spinal motor neuron - crucial but rare cells making up just 1% of neurons in the spinal cord. In diseases like ALS, they are selectively damaged, making them of special interest to neuroscientists.
#neuroskyence #FluorescenceFriday
December 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Spinal motor neurons in dazzling detail. ✨
Each green dot is a spinal motor neuron - crucial but rare cells making up just 1% of neurons in the spinal cord. In diseases like ALS, they are selectively damaged, making them of special interest to neuroscientists.
#neuroskyence #FluorescenceFriday
Each green dot is a spinal motor neuron - crucial but rare cells making up just 1% of neurons in the spinal cord. In diseases like ALS, they are selectively damaged, making them of special interest to neuroscientists.
#neuroskyence #FluorescenceFriday
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
This is insane
For one investment manager's compensation, you could hire 50-60 (!!) lecturers. Yet the endowment performance often lags the S&P 500. They could just put the money in index funds and double all the lecturer salaries.
cepr.net/publications...
cepr.net/publications...
University Endowment Returns Don’t Measure Up
cepr.net
December 10, 2025 at 2:39 PM
This is insane
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Second this.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
Again, there is no plan for running our universities without federal funding, or foreign students, at scale. But the public has no idea about this because no. one. is. telling. them. this. They expect their kids are still going to be able to do all the things at college in the next 4 years, & well:
The entire business model of R1 public universities rests on 4 revenue sources:
1. Federal grants
2. Private gifts/endowments
3. Tuition (esp. from foreign students)
4. State $
For decades, 📈 in 1-3 offset a secular 📉 in 4. Now, 1 & 3 are being decimated & 4 ain't coming back. The math is clear.
1. Federal grants
2. Private gifts/endowments
3. Tuition (esp. from foreign students)
4. State $
For decades, 📈 in 1-3 offset a secular 📉 in 4. Now, 1 & 3 are being decimated & 4 ain't coming back. The math is clear.
November 27, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Second this.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
We need more people saying this:
It’s not just US science and cancer cures at risk, it’s the whole US university system top to bottom.
CEU and Orban are their model. CEU is now gone from Hungary. And the response needed is public pushback, not quiet go-along-to-get-along.
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Thrilled to share our new paper!
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evolution of taste processing shifts dietary preference - Nature
Calcium imaging of taste neurons and the ventral brain provides insight into evolutionary divergence of food choice in Drosophila species, supporting a role of sensorimotor processing in addition to p...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper!
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
ChaCha wants me to tell everyone she knows she's a different species from wolves because she's obviously a human
November 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
ChaCha wants me to tell everyone she knows she's a different species from wolves because she's obviously a human
Congrats!! Was fun to hear about this at SfN!
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Congrats!! Was fun to hear about this at SfN!
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Great @currentbiology.bsky.social study by @xmikezheng20.bsky.social @cliffscience.bsky.social @arkarupbanerjee.bsky.social 🧪🧠🐭🎶
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
Zheng and Harpole et al. show that singing mice produce two major vocal modes: ancestral
USVs and novel songs that follow a linearly decelerating rhythm. Although acoustically
distinct, songs and USVs...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Great @currentbiology.bsky.social study by @xmikezheng20.bsky.social @cliffscience.bsky.social @arkarupbanerjee.bsky.social 🧪🧠🐭🎶
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node
www.cell.com/current-biol...
ha! yeah the late breaking posters are a trek 😩
November 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
ha! yeah the late breaking posters are a trek 😩
Thanks, Arkarup! sorry you’re not able to be here—I’m hoping to make it to your labs’ posters!
November 17, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Thanks, Arkarup! sorry you’re not able to be here—I’m hoping to make it to your labs’ posters!
My poster is today!
November 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
My poster is today!
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers
We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!
www.sosaneurolab.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 PM
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
PSA: it’s gonna rain at #sfn25! @krissylyon.bsky.social tried to warn me, but I’d already left my house without a rain coat 🙀
November 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
PSA: it’s gonna rain at #sfn25! @krissylyon.bsky.social tried to warn me, but I’d already left my house without a rain coat 🙀
Heading to San Diego for #sfn25 today! I’ll be presenting a poster on this work Monday afternoon!
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
🧠🌟🐭 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🧵
November 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Heading to San Diego for #sfn25 today! I’ll be presenting a poster on this work Monday afternoon!
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence
cool -- looks interesting! thanks!
November 13, 2025 at 3:00 AM
cool -- looks interesting! thanks!
we don't! but i think it's a great question and hope to do this experiment in the future
November 12, 2025 at 6:55 PM
we don't! but i think it's a great question and hope to do this experiment in the future
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
November 8, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
thanks for reading! we only looked at lab-raised populations, but there's a rich natural history literature about climbing in wild deer mice, and wild forest mice are better climbers. hand dexterity is less well studied. urban vs populated, we don't know! but an interesting ? for sure!
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
thanks for reading! we only looked at lab-raised populations, but there's a rich natural history literature about climbing in wild deer mice, and wild forest mice are better climbers. hand dexterity is less well studied. urban vs populated, we don't know! but an interesting ? for sure!
...probably i have too many thoughts for this format! but it's not entirely obvious to me how an increase here relates to expectations from primate evo - other than that RFA CSNs in rodents project to deeper spinal cord lamina than CFA CSNs, so perhaps more CSNs w/ fewer synapses to motor neurons
October 26, 2025 at 10:23 PM
...probably i have too many thoughts for this format! but it's not entirely obvious to me how an increase here relates to expectations from primate evo - other than that RFA CSNs in rodents project to deeper spinal cord lamina than CFA CSNs, so perhaps more CSNs w/ fewer synapses to motor neurons