Pierre Apostolides
@pfapostolides.bsky.social
Cellular physiologist LARPing as a systems neuroscientist. Enthusiastic about new age music, fine scale model building (mostly styrene, sometimes computational), and non-linear processes in biological networks.
www.apostolideslab.org
www.apostolideslab.org
Reposted by Pierre Apostolides
Presynaptic control of top-down signaling in neocortical layer 1 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.31.703032v1
February 2, 2026 at 5:15 AM
Presynaptic control of top-down signaling in neocortical layer 1 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.31.703032v1
Reposted by Pierre Apostolides
In Cambridge in the 1970s, my dad, Colin Blakemore, worked and lectured on sensitive periods of sensory development. In my Cambridge undergrad lectures on this topic, I show a clip from one of his TV shows, which describes sensitive periods for sound categorisation, and features Prof Janet Werker:
February 1, 2026 at 2:09 PM
In Cambridge in the 1970s, my dad, Colin Blakemore, worked and lectured on sensitive periods of sensory development. In my Cambridge undergrad lectures on this topic, I show a clip from one of his TV shows, which describes sensitive periods for sound categorisation, and features Prof Janet Werker:
Finally, Gary Larson’s “cow tools” comic is cited in a scientific paper. Job well done
Our new paper (with @biotay.bsky.social) is out and on the cover story of @currentbiology.bsky.social !!!! Veronika, a Carinthian mountain cow flexibly uses a “multi-purpose tool” to scratch herself. A video and more information will follow in the comments.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
January 20, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Finally, Gary Larson’s “cow tools” comic is cited in a scientific paper. Job well done
Another classic for the textbooks from the Marty lab
Synaptic vesicle undocking induces low frequency depression https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.15.699619v1
January 16, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Another classic for the textbooks from the Marty lab
Coolest kids in Santa Clara County
January 12, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Coolest kids in Santa Clara County
Listened to the single this afternoon, it rules. Excited for the full release.
"Bosse-de-Nage return with their first new full-length in eight years. “Hidden Fires Burn Hottest” is out March 6.
Listen to the first single, “No Such Place,” now. Pre-order limited neon vinyl, CD, cassette, and a new t-shirt design at nowflensing.com.
Listen to the first single, “No Such Place,” now. Pre-order limited neon vinyl, CD, cassette, and a new t-shirt design at nowflensing.com.
January 12, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Listened to the single this afternoon, it rules. Excited for the full release.
Can’t wait to do an olivocochlear project myself. but until then I’m pretty satisfied reading the great work others are doing on the topic.
Age-Related Changes to Olivocochlear Efferent Neurons in Mice with Pathological Hearing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.27.696605v1
December 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Can’t wait to do an olivocochlear project myself. but until then I’m pretty satisfied reading the great work others are doing on the topic.
I love this approach of looking at the same ensembles across a variety of behavioral tasks. Requires careful experimenters though. Great work Travis and team.
A shared ensemble in the prelimbic cortex links impulsivity and anxiety-like behavior. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.25.696439v1
December 28, 2025 at 9:59 AM
I love this approach of looking at the same ensembles across a variety of behavioral tasks. Requires careful experimenters though. Great work Travis and team.
Axons. They do things they don’t just axe
Excitatory nicotinic signaling drives action potential bursting in dopaminergic axons https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.19.695584v1
December 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Axons. They do things they don’t just axe
Probably the most important declassification since project blue book.
no epstein files today but as consolation it seems that they have finally chosen to declassify the infamous "MODIFICATIONS OF THE FLY FOOT FOR HUMAN NEEDS" technical report from the US Army Tank Automotive Command and it's even more salacious than anticipated
apps.dtic.mil/sti/html/tr/...
apps.dtic.mil/sti/html/tr/...
December 19, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Probably the most important declassification since project blue book.
I’m going to be the “old man yells at cloud” meme right now but this issue is a particular nuisance in modern restaurants and public indoor spaces. Ya can’t hear a thing in there these days.
Reverberation exacerbates effects of interruption on auditory spatial selective attention https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.15.694434v1
December 17, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I’m going to be the “old man yells at cloud” meme right now but this issue is a particular nuisance in modern restaurants and public indoor spaces. Ya can’t hear a thing in there these days.
Btw, I still have open positions available for post-docs. Esp if you’re interested in applying modern dimensionality reduction approaches to in vivo Ca2+ imaging or ephys datasets. Please get in touch pierre.apostolides@umich.edu
December 11, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Btw, I still have open positions available for post-docs. Esp if you’re interested in applying modern dimensionality reduction approaches to in vivo Ca2+ imaging or ephys datasets. Please get in touch pierre.apostolides@umich.edu
No more pre-auth for >500k budgets. Curious if we’ll see a much needed revision of modular budget policy as well, or if modular will go the way of the Dodo given the decreasing purchasing power of 250k/year
For you NIH folks, two interesting announcements. 1) no more LOIs. 2) No more needing permission to apply with a budget of over $500K per year. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-26-019: Updated Application Policies: NIH Administrative Burden Reduction Effort Removal of Requirements for Letters of Intent and Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Dire...
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Updated Application Policies: NIH Administrative Burden Reduction Effort Removal of Requirements for Letters of Inten...
grants.nih.gov
December 7, 2025 at 12:31 PM
No more pre-auth for >500k budgets. Curious if we’ll see a much needed revision of modular budget policy as well, or if modular will go the way of the Dodo given the decreasing purchasing power of 250k/year
Reposted by Pierre Apostolides
A computational model of the mammalian auditory periphery with a multichannel, energy-driven, medial olivocochlear reflex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.26.690762v1
December 1, 2025 at 4:15 PM
A computational model of the mammalian auditory periphery with a multichannel, energy-driven, medial olivocochlear reflex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.26.690762v1
Feeling spicy this morning so I’ll just say: it comes as no surprise that certain “reputable” journals now masquerade nonsense as peer reviewed versions of record. Alas, I worry this problem will persist until we as a field re-examine our collective values for “prestige”
Nature Sci Rep publishes incoherent AI slop. eLife publishes a paper which the reviewers didn't agree with, making all the comments and responses public with thoughtful commentary. One of these journals got delisted by Web of Science for quality concerns from not doing peer review. Guess which one?
November 29, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Feeling spicy this morning so I’ll just say: it comes as no surprise that certain “reputable” journals now masquerade nonsense as peer reviewed versions of record. Alas, I worry this problem will persist until we as a field re-examine our collective values for “prestige”
What space clamp problem?
November 26, 2025 at 11:31 PM
What space clamp problem?
Interesting counter arguments.
I’ll read the paper over break.
Just thankful this bluesky thingie promotes scientific discussion rather than shitposts like that other app I deleted a while back
I’ll read the paper over break.
Just thankful this bluesky thingie promotes scientific discussion rather than shitposts like that other app I deleted a while back
Y’all are reading this paper in the wrong way.
We love to trash dominant hypothesis, but we need to look for evidence against the manifold hypothesis elsewhere:
This elegant work doesn't show neural dynamics are high D, nor that we should stop using PCA
It’s quite the opposite!
(thread)
We love to trash dominant hypothesis, but we need to look for evidence against the manifold hypothesis elsewhere:
This elegant work doesn't show neural dynamics are high D, nor that we should stop using PCA
It’s quite the opposite!
(thread)
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
November 26, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Interesting counter arguments.
I’ll read the paper over break.
Just thankful this bluesky thingie promotes scientific discussion rather than shitposts like that other app I deleted a while back
I’ll read the paper over break.
Just thankful this bluesky thingie promotes scientific discussion rather than shitposts like that other app I deleted a while back
Reposted by Pierre Apostolides
Dissociating the neural codes for multiple pitch perception in humans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.21.689749v1
November 23, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Dissociating the neural codes for multiple pitch perception in humans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.21.689749v1
Haven’t even opened the pdf but this sounds pretty cool. Don’t throw out the low explained variance PCs!
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
Neural dynamics outside task-coding dimensions drive decision trajectories through transient amplification
Most behaviors involve neural dynamics in high-dimensional activity spaces. A common approach is to extract dimensions that capture task-related variability, such as those separating stimuli or choice...
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Haven’t even opened the pdf but this sounds pretty cool. Don’t throw out the low explained variance PCs!
🎵won’t you be my neighbor 🎵
Happy to announce that the Kresge Hearing Research Institute at @umich.edu is running a tenure-track faculty search again this year! Come join our amazing group of auditory and vestibular scientists. Details below.
October 21, 2025 at 9:56 PM
🎵won’t you be my neighbor 🎵
iGABASnFR Imaging Reveals Diffusion-Driven GABA Clearance in the Cerebral Cortex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.680664v1
October 8, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Cool paper. love how far the work has come from initial characterization of cellular consequences of SCN2A mutations to roadmap for therapeutic strategies.
SCN2A loss is strongly linked to neurodevelopmental delays and, at times, seizure. In an amazing collaboration with @nadavahituv.bsky.social, led by Serena Tamura, Andrew Nelson, and Perry Spratt, we leveraged CRISPR activator approaches to rescue this loss.
rdcu.be/eGU0W
rdcu.be/eGU0W
CRISPR activation for SCN2A-related neurodevelopmental disorders
Nature - Using SCN2A haploinsufficiency as a proof-of-concept, upregulation of the existing functional gene copy through CRISPR activation was able to rescue neurological-associated phenotypes in...
rdcu.be
September 24, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Cool paper. love how far the work has come from initial characterization of cellular consequences of SCN2A mutations to roadmap for therapeutic strategies.
Thank you to NIMH for supporting our work. Excited to keep thinking about reinforcement learning in the auditory midbrain.
September 22, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Thank you to NIMH for supporting our work. Excited to keep thinking about reinforcement learning in the auditory midbrain.
Reposted by Pierre Apostolides
Coincidence detection supported by electrical synapses is shaped by the D-type K+ current https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.17.676857v1
September 18, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Coincidence detection supported by electrical synapses is shaped by the D-type K+ current https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.17.676857v1