Talia Lerner
@talialerner.bsky.social
Neuroscientist, Associate Professor, Lerner Lab. Dopamine and basal ganglia circuits controlling reinforcement learning and decision-making. Open/inclusive science. Happy working mom of 3.
Yale ➡️ UCSF ➡️ Stanford ➡️ Northwestern
lernerlab.org
Yale ➡️ UCSF ➡️ Stanford ➡️ Northwestern
lernerlab.org
Congrats to the new #GRCBasalGanglia vice-chairs! See you in Ventura, California 2028!
February 5, 2026 at 8:13 AM
Congrats to the new #GRCBasalGanglia vice-chairs! See you in Ventura, California 2028!
Happy to share this Spotlight article, drawing attention to recent work by @borgkvistlab.bsky.social on the mechanisms of dopamine action in the SNr.
Read our summary and then read their paper! Many cool implications!
@cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Read our summary and then read their paper! Many cool implications!
@cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Dopamine’s secret agent: serotonin
Dopamine suppresses GABA release from striatal terminals in the substantia nigra pars
reticulata. Molinari et al. recently demonstrated that this suppression is frequency-dependent—instituting
a high-...
www.cell.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Happy to share this Spotlight article, drawing attention to recent work by @borgkvistlab.bsky.social on the mechanisms of dopamine action in the SNr.
Read our summary and then read their paper! Many cool implications!
@cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
Read our summary and then read their paper! Many cool implications!
@cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
#GRCBasalGanglia co-chairs 4 life 🫶🏼
February 3, 2026 at 2:55 PM
#GRCBasalGanglia co-chairs 4 life 🫶🏼
Taking the #GRCBasalGanglia Oath ✋🏼
I acknowledge that the go/no-go model of the BG was useful but it is outdated and incorrect, or at least incomplete. I pledge not to use the go/no-go model as a strawman to motivate my work.
I acknowledge that the go/no-go model of the BG was useful but it is outdated and incorrect, or at least incomplete. I pledge not to use the go/no-go model as a strawman to motivate my work.
February 2, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Taking the #GRCBasalGanglia Oath ✋🏼
I acknowledge that the go/no-go model of the BG was useful but it is outdated and incorrect, or at least incomplete. I pledge not to use the go/no-go model as a strawman to motivate my work.
I acknowledge that the go/no-go model of the BG was useful but it is outdated and incorrect, or at least incomplete. I pledge not to use the go/no-go model as a strawman to motivate my work.
Congratulations to the new 2028 Basal Ganglia GRS chairs, Amy Gottschalk and Rodrigo Paz! #GRCBasalGanglia
February 1, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Congratulations to the new 2028 Basal Ganglia GRS chairs, Amy Gottschalk and Rodrigo Paz! #GRCBasalGanglia
Reposted by Talia Lerner
I am really angry about all of the scientists who cozied up to Epstein even after it was known who he was.
I am nearly as angry at how many people are justifying this as "they had to, it's how academia works"
NO IT FUCKING WELL ISN'T
I am nearly as angry at how many people are justifying this as "they had to, it's how academia works"
NO IT FUCKING WELL ISN'T
You don't have to dirty your soul to be a successful academic or a scientist. Have some fucking pride. Have some fucking principles.
If you think you DO need to do that, all I can say is that I beg you not to go into academia or science.
If you think you DO need to do that, all I can say is that I beg you not to go into academia or science.
February 1, 2026 at 3:35 AM
I am really angry about all of the scientists who cozied up to Epstein even after it was known who he was.
I am nearly as angry at how many people are justifying this as "they had to, it's how academia works"
NO IT FUCKING WELL ISN'T
I am nearly as angry at how many people are justifying this as "they had to, it's how academia works"
NO IT FUCKING WELL ISN'T
Waking up in beautiful Tuscany - not to be underestimated! #GRCBasalGanglia 😍
February 1, 2026 at 6:56 AM
Waking up in beautiful Tuscany - not to be underestimated! #GRCBasalGanglia 😍
We cannot do science while our people are being shot down in the streets. We cannot fund DHS/ICE.
Call your representatives.
Call your representatives.
If you are a scientist funded by NIH and agree that if the HHS/NIH bill is held hostage by linkage for funding to DHS/ICE, we need to shutdown both and save lives, its time to speak up. Right now, with a few exceptions, the silence is deafening
As a someone with a 33 year NIH-funded lab whose grant is supposed to be reviewed this week, shut NIH down if that is what's needed to end ICE terrorism. Innocent lives are more important 🧪
January 26, 2026 at 6:53 PM
We cannot do science while our people are being shot down in the streets. We cannot fund DHS/ICE.
Call your representatives.
Call your representatives.
Reposted by Talia Lerner
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026
Thirteen of the agency’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members.
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:46 PM
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
Reposted by Talia Lerner
Incredibly emotional to hear my poem has been turned into a song of resistance and is being sung in Minneapolis right now. Please do not give up.
January 18, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Incredibly emotional to hear my poem has been turned into a song of resistance and is being sung in Minneapolis right now. Please do not give up.
I edited a special issue of Addiction Neuroscience on dopamine circuitry & heterogeneity in addiction - now complete!🧠🧪
Check out the full issue & my editorial (all open access) here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Check out the full issue & my editorial (all open access) here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Addiction Neuroscience | Dopamine circuitry and heterogeneity in addiction | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier
The heterogeneity of midbrain dopamine neurons is coming into focus. Distinct subtypes of dopamine neurons can be identified across the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta ...
www.sciencedirect.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:11 PM
I edited a special issue of Addiction Neuroscience on dopamine circuitry & heterogeneity in addiction - now complete!🧠🧪
Check out the full issue & my editorial (all open access) here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Check out the full issue & my editorial (all open access) here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Now back! Good, confusing, but good
Sweeping cuts to mental health and addiction programs worth more than $2 billion are being reversed. After a political backlash from Republicans and Democrats, the grant money will be restored. n.pr/3YFoZww
Trump administration rolls back mental health, addiction grant cuts
Sweeping cuts to mental health and addiction programs worth more than $2 billion are being reversed. After a political backlash from Republicans and Democrats, the grant money will be restored.
n.pr
January 15, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Now back! Good, confusing, but good
Every day, a new atrocity. This one hits close to home.
Just in: The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services.
Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants
The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services.
n.pr
January 14, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Every day, a new atrocity. This one hits close to home.
Reposted by Talia Lerner
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
January 12, 2026 at 1:45 AM
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Reposted by Talia Lerner
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.”
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
January 11, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.”
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
An attack on public health. A repudiation of science.
BREAKING: Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...
Kennedy Scales Back the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:56 PM
An attack on public health. A repudiation of science.
Reposted by Talia Lerner
Not the central point, but scientists should also say what Trump and Vought are doing to US science is illegal — illegal grant terminations, illegal mass firings, illegal remaking of science agencies without Congressional approval … Vought’s entire approach to science and universities is corrupt.
Chris Murphy: "Clearly this is wildly illegal. This is a president who has been operating illegally since he was sworn in -- stealing from the American people, seizing spending power, now dragging America into a war overseas ... Donald Trump's entire foreign policy is corrupt."
January 4, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Not the central point, but scientists should also say what Trump and Vought are doing to US science is illegal — illegal grant terminations, illegal mass firings, illegal remaking of science agencies without Congressional approval … Vought’s entire approach to science and universities is corrupt.
This was thought provoking 🧠
Doesn't invalidate computational approaches but a clear-eyed view of the limits/assumptions, and an eloquent description of why neurobiology is endlessly fascinating
Doesn't invalidate computational approaches but a clear-eyed view of the limits/assumptions, and an eloquent description of why neurobiology is endlessly fascinating
When we try to formalize a neuron computationally, we don't translate biology into code—we perform a violent collapse.
www.ocrampal.com/what-a-neuro...
#philosophy #science #psychology #AI #intelligence #physics #biology #philmind #philsci #philsky #philpsy #neurosky #neuroskyence
www.ocrampal.com/what-a-neuro...
#philosophy #science #psychology #AI #intelligence #physics #biology #philmind #philsci #philsky #philpsy #neurosky #neuroskyence
What a Neuron Teaches Us About Computation's Limits
When we try to formalize a neuron computationally, we don't translate biology into code—we perform a violent collapse. We lock causation into fixed arrows when biology lives in causal ambiguity. We sy...
www.ocrampal.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:02 PM
This was thought provoking 🧠
Doesn't invalidate computational approaches but a clear-eyed view of the limits/assumptions, and an eloquent description of why neurobiology is endlessly fascinating
Doesn't invalidate computational approaches but a clear-eyed view of the limits/assumptions, and an eloquent description of why neurobiology is endlessly fascinating
Reposted by Talia Lerner
What were the best fictions you read in 2025?
My top 3:
Orbital
Martyr!
Intermezzo
My top 3:
Orbital
Martyr!
Intermezzo
December 28, 2025 at 9:58 PM
What were the best fictions you read in 2025?
My top 3:
Orbital
Martyr!
Intermezzo
My top 3:
Orbital
Martyr!
Intermezzo
Reposted by Talia Lerner
Heads up I will be hiring a postdoc and some techs in the new year! Lots of ephys and fiber photometry. If you've got soon to graduate PhD students or undergrads, send 'em my way!
December 27, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Heads up I will be hiring a postdoc and some techs in the new year! Lots of ephys and fiber photometry. If you've got soon to graduate PhD students or undergrads, send 'em my way!
At some point about halfway through 2025, I decided I needed to stop doom scrolling. I replaced a lot of social media use with reading novels from the library, and it's been a great pleasure of the year. I still see the news, still read science, but fictional stories ask me to think differently.
December 28, 2025 at 9:25 PM
At some point about halfway through 2025, I decided I needed to stop doom scrolling. I replaced a lot of social media use with reading novels from the library, and it's been a great pleasure of the year. I still see the news, still read science, but fictional stories ask me to think differently.
Updating this graph for the holidays 🎁
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
December 24, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Updating this graph for the holidays 🎁
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
Some citations of our paper on GuPPy for fiber photometry analysis seem to actually be trying to cite another guppy nanoporetech.com/document/Gup...
How to correct this weird trend? Certain people are not reading the papers they cite, like at all 🫠
How to correct this weird trend? Certain people are not reading the papers they cite, like at all 🫠
nanoporetech.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Some citations of our paper on GuPPy for fiber photometry analysis seem to actually be trying to cite another guppy nanoporetech.com/document/Gup...
How to correct this weird trend? Certain people are not reading the papers they cite, like at all 🫠
How to correct this weird trend? Certain people are not reading the papers they cite, like at all 🫠
This made me laugh because imagine science reporters breathlessly repeating everything from our grants
Idly thinking, a big mistake we made in tech/business coverage with the rise of start-up culture was writing about things that companies *said* they were going to do, or had funding to do, as if they were done, or were certain to happen. And political reporters have caught the same fever.
December 18, 2025 at 7:27 PM
This made me laugh because imagine science reporters breathlessly repeating everything from our grants