sinan malik
@sinanmalik.bsky.social
RA @juliesemmelhack.bsky.social Lab| systems neuroscience | writes @preLights
Pinned
sinan malik
@sinanmalik.bsky.social
· Oct 6
Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish
www.nature.com
My first paper is out!
“Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish” — research from my internship in the Neuronal Plasticity Group on how social context can suppress aggression. #zebrafishrocks 🐟
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish” — research from my internship in the Neuronal Plasticity Group on how social context can suppress aggression. #zebrafishrocks 🐟
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by sinan malik
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 sinan malik
Thank you so much for featuring our study🙏
Found them: the brain's specific "go" neurons for swimming. @fumikubo.bsky.social team discovers the inhibitory pretextal cells essential for optomotor response, dissociating it from eye movements. A stunning map from function to molecular identity. Thrilled to highlight this work! 🐟
Molecular roadmap of functionally defined optic-flow circuits. #neuroscience
As a “blend of careful physiology, elegant genetic access and rigorous behavioral readouts”, @sinanmalik.bsky.social highlights a #preprint @fumikubo.bsky.social & team
#preLight⬇️
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...
As a “blend of careful physiology, elegant genetic access and rigorous behavioral readouts”, @sinanmalik.bsky.social highlights a #preprint @fumikubo.bsky.social & team
#preLight⬇️
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...
October 31, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Thank you so much for featuring our study🙏
Found them: the brain's specific "go" neurons for swimming. @fumikubo.bsky.social team discovers the inhibitory pretextal cells essential for optomotor response, dissociating it from eye movements. A stunning map from function to molecular identity. Thrilled to highlight this work! 🐟
Molecular roadmap of functionally defined optic-flow circuits. #neuroscience
As a “blend of careful physiology, elegant genetic access and rigorous behavioral readouts”, @sinanmalik.bsky.social highlights a #preprint @fumikubo.bsky.social & team
#preLight⬇️
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...
As a “blend of careful physiology, elegant genetic access and rigorous behavioral readouts”, @sinanmalik.bsky.social highlights a #preprint @fumikubo.bsky.social & team
#preLight⬇️
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...
Molecular and functional dissection using CaMPARI-seq reveals the neuronal organization for dissociating optic flow-dependent behaviors - preLights
Molecular roadmap of functionally defined optic-flow circuits.
prelights.biologists.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Found them: the brain's specific "go" neurons for swimming. @fumikubo.bsky.social team discovers the inhibitory pretextal cells essential for optomotor response, dissociating it from eye movements. A stunning map from function to molecular identity. Thrilled to highlight this work! 🐟
Reposted by sinan malik
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...
Witnessed an Orchestra for the first time 'Silk Notes From Pipa'. Simply beautiful. Definition of teamwork and synchronicity.
October 22, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Witnessed an Orchestra for the first time 'Silk Notes From Pipa'. Simply beautiful. Definition of teamwork and synchronicity.
Reposted by sinan malik
Naturalistic approaches such as Ulanovsky’s open up “potential opportunities to really reveal why the brain is structured in the way it’s structured,” says Iain Couzin.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
Diving in with Nachum Ulanovsky
With an eye toward realism, the neuroscientist, who has a new study about bats out today, creates microcosms of the natural world to understand animal behavior.
www.thetransmitter.org
October 20, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Naturalistic approaches such as Ulanovsky’s open up “potential opportunities to really reveal why the brain is structured in the way it’s structured,” says Iain Couzin.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
Reposted by sinan malik
"Fishman", proposal for a journal cover.
Commissioned by MY Dennis' lab @mydennis.bsky.social for a study focused on identifying human-specific gene duplications and their role in brain evolution using genomics and zebrafish as model. @dcsoto.bsky.social
#art #digitalart #sciart #fish
Commissioned by MY Dennis' lab @mydennis.bsky.social for a study focused on identifying human-specific gene duplications and their role in brain evolution using genomics and zebrafish as model. @dcsoto.bsky.social
#art #digitalart #sciart #fish
September 25, 2025 at 9:33 AM
"Fishman", proposal for a journal cover.
Commissioned by MY Dennis' lab @mydennis.bsky.social for a study focused on identifying human-specific gene duplications and their role in brain evolution using genomics and zebrafish as model. @dcsoto.bsky.social
#art #digitalart #sciart #fish
Commissioned by MY Dennis' lab @mydennis.bsky.social for a study focused on identifying human-specific gene duplications and their role in brain evolution using genomics and zebrafish as model. @dcsoto.bsky.social
#art #digitalart #sciart #fish
Reposted by sinan malik
Just out in Nature! “The astrocytic ensemble acts as a multiday trace to stabilize memory.” We identified astrocytic ensembles that link experiences across days to stabilize memory nature.com/articles/s41.... New astrocyte tools are openly available at Addgene: addgene.org/Jun_Nagai/. 1/8
October 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Just out in Nature! “The astrocytic ensemble acts as a multiday trace to stabilize memory.” We identified astrocytic ensembles that link experiences across days to stabilize memory nature.com/articles/s41.... New astrocyte tools are openly available at Addgene: addgene.org/Jun_Nagai/. 1/8
Cool work! from Engert Lab
“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 16, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Cool work! from Engert Lab
My first paper is out!
“Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish” — research from my internship in the Neuronal Plasticity Group on how social context can suppress aggression. #zebrafishrocks 🐟
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish” — research from my internship in the Neuronal Plasticity Group on how social context can suppress aggression. #zebrafishrocks 🐟
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish
www.nature.com
October 6, 2025 at 6:19 AM
My first paper is out!
“Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish” — research from my internship in the Neuronal Plasticity Group on how social context can suppress aggression. #zebrafishrocks 🐟
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Social maintenance masks induced aggression in zebrafish” — research from my internship in the Neuronal Plasticity Group on how social context can suppress aggression. #zebrafishrocks 🐟
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by sinan malik
How is valence computed in the brain? Check out our new preprint about a single cell that integrates excitatory and inhibitory input across modalities according to valence and impacts behavioral decisions. An exciting collaboration across many labs. Enjoy reading!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A multisensory, bidirectional, valence encoder guides behavioral decisions
A key function of the brain is to categorize sensory cues as repulsive or attractive and respond accordingly. While we have some understanding of how sensory information is processed in the sensory pe...
www.biorxiv.org
September 27, 2025 at 5:46 AM
How is valence computed in the brain? Check out our new preprint about a single cell that integrates excitatory and inhibitory input across modalities according to valence and impacts behavioral decisions. An exciting collaboration across many labs. Enjoy reading!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by sinan malik
1/8
How can the brain create countless unique memories using a single, universal metric of space? We’ve been waiting for the answer to this for two decades!
Read it here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How can the brain create countless unique memories using a single, universal metric of space? We’ve been waiting for the answer to this for two decades!
Read it here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 25, 2025 at 4:15 AM
1/8
How can the brain create countless unique memories using a single, universal metric of space? We’ve been waiting for the answer to this for two decades!
Read it here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How can the brain create countless unique memories using a single, universal metric of space? We’ve been waiting for the answer to this for two decades!
Read it here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by sinan malik
(edited repost) Thrilled to see our computational work on adaptive shaping of behavior (we call it outcome-based curriculum learning) in PLoS Comp Biol! @wl-tong.bsky.social, @gautamreddy.bsky.social & I formalize curricula in any RL task that can be framed as sequential simple-to-complex behavior.
Adaptive algorithms for shaping behavior
Author summary Animals are commonly trained by ‘shaping’ their behavior using a sequence of simpler tasks towards a complex behavior. Numerous schools of thought have proposed heuristics for shaping b...
journals.plos.org
September 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
(edited repost) Thrilled to see our computational work on adaptive shaping of behavior (we call it outcome-based curriculum learning) in PLoS Comp Biol! @wl-tong.bsky.social, @gautamreddy.bsky.social & I formalize curricula in any RL task that can be framed as sequential simple-to-complex behavior.
Reposted by sinan malik
In this month’s “Liftoff,” @matthiasnau.bsky.social talks about the importance of making quick decisions as a PI, and @kmcostalab.com shares how lab members being mad at a PI can sometimes be a good thing.
By @franciscorr25.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...
By @franciscorr25.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...
Liftoff: New lab alerts
Learn about early-career scientists starting their own labs.
www.thetransmitter.org
September 17, 2025 at 4:30 PM
In this month’s “Liftoff,” @matthiasnau.bsky.social talks about the importance of making quick decisions as a PI, and @kmcostalab.com shares how lab members being mad at a PI can sometimes be a good thing.
By @franciscorr25.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...
By @franciscorr25.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...
Reposted by sinan malik
Hierarchical processing of sensory information across topographically organized thalamocortical-like circuits in the zebrafish brain https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.15.675867v1
September 16, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Hierarchical processing of sensory information across topographically organized thalamocortical-like circuits in the zebrafish brain https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.15.675867v1
Reposted by sinan malik
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 sinan malik
Beyond Locomotion: How Specialized Motor Rhythms Enable Vertebrate Escape from Capture https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.08.674955v1
September 14, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Beyond Locomotion: How Specialized Motor Rhythms Enable Vertebrate Escape from Capture https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.08.674955v1
Reposted by sinan malik
(4/8) Beyond neural predictions, POCO's learned unit embeddings independently reproduce brain region clustering without any anatomical labels.
That means at single-cell resolution across entire brains, POCO mimics biological organization purely from neural activity patterns ✨
That means at single-cell resolution across entire brains, POCO mimics biological organization purely from neural activity patterns ✨
September 12, 2025 at 8:33 PM
(4/8) Beyond neural predictions, POCO's learned unit embeddings independently reproduce brain region clustering without any anatomical labels.
That means at single-cell resolution across entire brains, POCO mimics biological organization purely from neural activity patterns ✨
That means at single-cell resolution across entire brains, POCO mimics biological organization purely from neural activity patterns ✨
Reposted by sinan malik
(1/8) New paper from our team!
Yu Duan & Hamza Chaudhry introduce POCO, a tool for predicting brain activity at the cellular & network level during spontaneous behavior.
Find out how we built POCO & how it changes neurobehavioral research 👇
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14957
Yu Duan & Hamza Chaudhry introduce POCO, a tool for predicting brain activity at the cellular & network level during spontaneous behavior.
Find out how we built POCO & how it changes neurobehavioral research 👇
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14957
September 12, 2025 at 8:33 PM
(1/8) New paper from our team!
Yu Duan & Hamza Chaudhry introduce POCO, a tool for predicting brain activity at the cellular & network level during spontaneous behavior.
Find out how we built POCO & how it changes neurobehavioral research 👇
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14957
Yu Duan & Hamza Chaudhry introduce POCO, a tool for predicting brain activity at the cellular & network level during spontaneous behavior.
Find out how we built POCO & how it changes neurobehavioral research 👇
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14957
Reposted by sinan malik
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 sinan malik
Nemo needs gap junctions, too. New preprint with Marleen Klann, Vincent Laudet, et al. showing anemonefish Snowflake mutant due to E42K substitution in Connexin Gja5b. Found exact same E42K in zebrafish gja5b (= leopard) by ENU, to the nucleotide! Details, inferences: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Nemo needs gap junctions, too. New preprint with Marleen Klann, Vincent Laudet, et al. showing anemonefish Snowflake mutant due to E42K substitution in Connexin Gja5b. Found exact same E42K in zebrafish gja5b (= leopard) by ENU, to the nucleotide! Details, inferences: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by sinan malik
I am thrilled to share the main result of our work at @nordenlab.bsky.social with @liormoneta.bsky.social and @carldmodes.bsky.social . We bridged DevBiology + theoretical physics to understand how the eye becomes round #morphogenesis #devbio #biophysics #zebrafish www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The Optic cup is actively shape programmed by independently patterned apical forces
During morphogenesis, initially flat tissues often must transition into complex 3D shapes, reminiscent of shape-programmable systems in physics and engineering. One key question in developmental biolo...
www.biorxiv.org
September 1, 2025 at 9:22 PM
I am thrilled to share the main result of our work at @nordenlab.bsky.social with @liormoneta.bsky.social and @carldmodes.bsky.social . We bridged DevBiology + theoretical physics to understand how the eye becomes round #morphogenesis #devbio #biophysics #zebrafish www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by sinan malik
🐟 Autism, genes and setting
Zebrafish with an autism-linked mutation acted less social in a stressful Styrofoam tank but less so in clear Plexiglass.
This shows how environment can shape social behaviour in genetically predisposed animals.
🔗 www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
#SciComm 🧪
Zebrafish with an autism-linked mutation acted less social in a stressful Styrofoam tank but less so in clear Plexiglass.
This shows how environment can shape social behaviour in genetically predisposed animals.
🔗 www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
#SciComm 🧪
Tiny fish open new horizons for autism research.
This study demonstrated that environment influences autism-like behaviours in genetically predisposed zebrafish. By altering perceived safety and anxiety levels, the study revealed that lack of social...
www.eurekalert.org
September 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
🐟 Autism, genes and setting
Zebrafish with an autism-linked mutation acted less social in a stressful Styrofoam tank but less so in clear Plexiglass.
This shows how environment can shape social behaviour in genetically predisposed animals.
🔗 www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
#SciComm 🧪
Zebrafish with an autism-linked mutation acted less social in a stressful Styrofoam tank but less so in clear Plexiglass.
This shows how environment can shape social behaviour in genetically predisposed animals.
🔗 www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
#SciComm 🧪
Reposted by sinan malik
Extremely proud to have contributed to this monumental effort of recording the entire mouse brain, at cellular resolution, during complex behavior 🧠🐭
Two flagship papers from the International Brain Laboratory, now out in @Nature.com:
🧠 Brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
🧠 Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1 +
🧠 Brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09235-0
🧠 Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09226-1 +
September 3, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Extremely proud to have contributed to this monumental effort of recording the entire mouse brain, at cellular resolution, during complex behavior 🧠🐭
Reposted by sinan malik
The mouse brain lights up during decision making, showing widespread activity across both predictable as well as unexpected areas.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.
www.thetransmitter.org
September 3, 2025 at 9:37 PM
The mouse brain lights up during decision making, showing widespread activity across both predictable as well as unexpected areas.
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...
By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/decision-mak...