Brian Russ
Brian Russ
@russbeneuro.bsky.social
Neuroscientist, surfer, dog lover, lifter, and procrastinator.
Reposted by Brian Russ
Eye movements, vision and memory through the lens of Sherlock - awesome collaborative project led by @matthiasnau.bsky.social
August 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Awesome work by Paul @afni-pt.bsky.social and team showing the importance of viewing all the data! Data visualization is methods are critical. Happy to have been a small part of this
The result of a large (42 authors!) collaboration:
"Go Figure: Transparency in neuroscience images preserves context and clarifies interpretation"
arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824
TL;DR: The FMRI world can (and should) improve results interpretation and reproducibility *today*, via transparent thresholding.
April 11, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
If you are interested in a post-doc studying the neural control of movement in humans or NHPs, check out this program and get in touch soon! www.uwo.ca/research/fun...
Western Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.
www.uwo.ca
March 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
The NIH intramural program is a unparalleled in both its ability to do bleeding edge science and train the next generation of scientists. Not renewing Title 42 employees is hellacious.

www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research
Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs
www.science.org
February 27, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
I remember when the water in lakes in Upstate NY was brown from the impact of acid rain. I was a teenager. This change has happened in < 25 years.

Regulation works.
Another dataset I like is from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, which has maps of the US that show we fixed the acid rain problem by implementing stricter emission controls on power plants.

nadp.slh.wisc.edu/maps-data/nt...
February 22, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
The members of the review panel should refuse to serve unless the applications are reinstated.
February 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Neuroscientists - your society has a call to action for you and a page for tracking action alerts.

It's built to take your location & give you specific support on what to say and who to say it to. www.sfn.org/Advocacy/Adv...
February 6, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Since it’s pretty obvious to everyone that the executive order will be tested in court and then at least partially blocked or rescinded, there is no motivation to move quickly other than hurrying up the boot-licking embrace of racism and fascism.
At NASA, officials are moving quickly to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order directing agencies to cease funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
DEI order grounds NASA program to link undergraduates with mission scientists
Program gave students from underrepresented groups a taste of space science
scim.ag
January 31, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
This account is for sharing info with US scientists, both extramural and intramural to NIH, about attacks on science in the US.

Education is power, and we can help advocate for science and medicine together. 💪🧪

We are a team of NIH people. Please ask us questions you might have.
January 30, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Brian Russ
I am grateful that many of us are doing this but it also ticks me off that we have to do it (instead of focusing on our science) in part because university media relations and admins have done a poor job of lobbying for science and scientists
The rapid actions of the Trump Administration to shut down all communication by NIH, thus putting both study sections and councils on hold, is challenging for all of us. We can make our voices known. Below is an example email I sent to both NC Senators (text in alt text) 1/2 🧪
January 24, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
I have an article posting on arXiv tomorrow. I realized after I submitted that the posting schedule will announce it *during* the inauguration tomorrow. 🙃

It’s a review/perspectives about how recurrent cortical networks in diff sensory areas all seem to selectively filter inputs, boosting…
January 20, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Research funded by NIH is the foundation for these advances -- contact your Congress person to support continued funding for science. 🧪
Childhood cancer death rates in the United States have declined six-fold over the last seventy years. 🧵
January 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Delighted to share our new paper, "Dynamic effects of psychiatric vulnerability, #loneliness and isolation on distress during the first year of the #COVID-19 pandemic", out today in @naturementalhealth.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Dynamic effects of psychiatric vulnerability, loneliness and isolation on distress during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic - Nature Mental Health
In this new study, the authors analyzed data from a longitudinal US-based survey during the first year of the pandemic, focusing on social distancing, psychiatric vulnerability and loneliness in adult...
www.nature.com
January 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Here, Koyano et al. show that 🐒 neurons in certain face patches barely react to pareidolia (illusory faces in objects).
doi.org/10.1016/j.pn...

To those who have argued that the brain "obviously" processes stimuli that look like faces as faces—it's not that simple.
January 5, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
I'm going to make enemies, but saying that we know the number of parameters of the brain is akin to saying that you have no clue about the brain. It's a complex multilevel system tightly integrated with the rest of the body. The statement doesn't even make sense, or "not even wrong" as they say.
December 23, 2024 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Teachers, parents, and everyone: You should know Frontiers for Young Minds!

It's a terrific (free) online journal with cutting-edge science articles, written for different age groups. Scientists write. *Kids* are the reviewers. Available in 5 languages.

kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
The Tiny Brains of Wasps Can Learn and Remember Information
If you have a garden, you have probably seen many insects flying around looking for food. Despite having miniature brains, these small creatures can learn and memorize flower features, mainly colors a...
kids.frontiersin.org
December 13, 2024 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
I'm searching for a research assistant to help with our new "models of mood" effort. Great fit for someone pre-PhD. If you know someone who might be interested, please pass this job ad along - thanks!

wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recrui...

What effort? This:
www.nicolerust.com/thepivot
Research Specialist
University Overview The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school co...
wd1.myworkdaysite.com
December 5, 2024 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Would you like to see @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social add a share to blue sky button?! I know I would! Share this post to let @richardsever.bsky.social @erictopol.bsky.social and others at bioarxiv know!
December 2, 2024 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
I am old so I can say this: innovation in neuroscience research can be accelerated if we did not waste so much resources repeating what we already know from NHP and rat research in Cre mouse lines
November 25, 2024 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Led by Satoka Fujimoto & with @russbeneuro.bsky.social and Helen Mayberg our first paper on the effects of deep brain stimulation for depression in the brain. What’s exciting is that we find it induces localized white matter remodeling in cingulum bundle. @SinaiBrain www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 15, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
NIA is hiring Scientific Review Officers
acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?u...
Adobe Acrobat
acrobat.adobe.com
January 23, 2024 at 8:00 PM
We are looking for a postdoc to join our team! If you're interested in NHP, chemogenetics, and/or Parkinson's, we'd love to hear from you.
December 21, 2023 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
If you're at SfN and you're interested in fMRI and LLMs, go check out @rjantonello.bsky.social's poster "Scaling laws for language encoding models in fMRI" at WW27 Tuesday afternoon!

Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2305.11863
Scaling laws for language encoding models in fMRI
Representations from transformer-based unidirectional language models are known to be effective at predicting brain responses to natural language. However, most studies comparing language models...
arxiv.org
November 14, 2023 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
For the first time in a few years, the lab is headed to SfN together - stop by the posters and say 'hi'!
November 10, 2023 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Brian Russ
Looking for a funded postdoctoral position in the neuroscience of learning, affect, & pain? Join my lab at NIH Intramural! You'll lead multimodal projects in an environment full of experts in methods, clinical science, & basic science. Pls spread the word. www.nccih.nih.gov/about/jobs/p...
Postdoctoral Researcher Positions: Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain (ANP), Division of Int...
Dr. Lauren Atlas’s laboratory is recruiting up to two postdoctoral researchers with expertise in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and affective science to join the Section on Affective ...
www.nccih.nih.gov
October 17, 2023 at 3:30 PM