Jessica Tollkuhn
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tollkuhn.bsky.social
Jessica Tollkuhn
@tollkuhn.bsky.social
scientist.
tollkuhnlab.org
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
The link between the gut #microbiome and autism is not backed by science, researchers say.

Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA

@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Oxytocin isn’t just the “love hormone”: it helps wire the brain’s metabolic circuits! 🧠
In our new @plosbiology.org study, we show that OT neurons guide the postnatal development of POMC and AgRP pathways that control energy balance
Oxytocin neurons drive melanocortin circuit maturation via vesicle release during a neonatal critical period
The melanocortin circuit of the hypothalamus is crucial for regulating energy balance, but the development of this circuit is incompletely understood. This study in mice shows that activity and vesicl...
journals.plos.org
November 13, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
#MondayMood 🛫⁠

A striking white coloration makes this spiny skate (Bathyraja spinosissima) easy to spot. These active swimmers hover and glide well above the seafloor, while their relatives tend to stay close to the bottom. This species is especially common in rocky lava fields.
November 10, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Delighted to see this finally out: rdcu.be/eO9oW
We tested whether brief striatal dopamine release events influence the vigor of skilled movements. Despite popular belief, we did not find any evidence linking rapid dopamine dynamics to motor vigor on a moment-by-moment basis.
Subsecond dopamine fluctuations do not specify the vigor of ongoing actions
Nature Neuroscience - Liu and colleagues show that the vigor (that is, speed and amplitude) of dexterous movements is not controlled by ongoing fluctuations in extracellular dopamine within the...
rdcu.be
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Just got the best out-of-office message I've ever seen from a fellow academic:

"I am currently away on leave. If this is an emergency... well, I doubt it. What could possibly be an emergency in my line of work?"
November 8, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Conrad Hal Waddington was born OTD in 1905.

His “epigenetic landscape” is a diagrammatic representation of the constraints influencing embryonic development.

On his 50th birthday, his colleagues gave him a pinball machine on the model of the epigenetic landscape.

🧪 🦫🦋 🌱🐋 #HistSTM #philsci #evobio
November 8, 2025 at 4:03 PM
the coolest
New article from the lab out today, in which we discuss how social behavior evolves at the molecular level. From parenting across the animal tree of life to caste systems in social insects, it’s all connected (and, therefore, slowly starts to make sense)…
Parental care, and more complex cooperative systems of care, have independently evolved in hundreds of animal lineages. In an article published today, we explore how these behaviors evolve 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭l shorturl.at/g5OPw /1
November 4, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
First paper from the lab!
We propose a model that separates estimation of odor concentration and presence and map it on olfactory bulb circuits
Led by @chenjiang01.bsky.social and @mattyizhenghe.bsky.social joint work with @jzv.bsky.social and with @neurovenki.bsky.social @cpehlevan.bsky.social
November 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
In Kensington, at least one voter was thinking about her daughter's future:

hellgatenyc.com/election-day...
November 4, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
🚨Job alert🚨

The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour

This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"

euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
3 Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
November 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Thanks Barb, I guess many folks haven't heard. We lost Bill on October 7, 2025 to cancer.
news.ucsc.edu/2025/10/in-m...
November 4, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Most importantly, the Chinese names are homophonous with "Zohran Kwame" when pronounced in both Cantonese (the spoken language used by first-wave Chinese immigrants from the South) and Mandarin (the spoken language used by new-wave Chinese immigrants from the North).

What an absolute masterstroke.
November 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
I'm incredibly honored to receive the Janett Rosenberg Trubatch Career Development Award from @sfn.org SFN was the first research conference I ever attended and presented at. I feel truly humbled! Thanks to my fab research team who make me look good!
Congratulations to the 2025 SfN award & prize recipients!

Their dedication to advancing the understanding of the brain paves the way for future discoveries.

SfN looks forward to celebrating their achievements at #SfN25.

Learn about the recipients.

🔗 vist.ly/4cni8

#neurosky
November 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.

certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Steven Spielberg as a clerk in the Cook County Assessors Office. #BluesBrothers
November 3, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Picard: there ARE FOUR GUYS! FOUR
November 3, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
feel a kind of sadness every time i see a street called "station road" that's right next to a train line but doesn't have a train station anymore. this is what they took from us.
November 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
We’re hiring a technician!!

We’re an inclusive team of behavioral neuroscientists trying to discover the brain circuits of learning, decision making, and habit. More info👇
wassumlab.psych.ucla.edu/join-the-lab/

Job posting:
jobs.ucla.edu/jobs/8968
November 3, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
dissatisfied by the New York Times coverage of Zohran Mamdani?

great news! I talked to the guy Thursday about his campaign’s success at bringing community together beyond this election, and contextualized how it’s potentially shifted youth engagement with politics by simply listening @teenvogue.com
Zohran Mamdani's Establishment-Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People
“What Mamdani has done is not only inspire and mobilize young people, but he has exposed the establishment and some of their calcified views of participation and inclusion.”
www.teenvogue.com
November 2, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
🧠✨ Genetic Tools Atlas 3.0 is here!

The GTA now has an additional 750 datasets, including 80+ mouse whole-brain light sheet microscopy images as well as the first macaque datasets.

🔗 https://portal.brain-map.org/genetic-tools/genetic-tools-atlas

#neuroskyence
November 2, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
The winning entry at today’s 27th annual Great PUPkin dog costume contest in Fort Greene Park.
📷 📸 🐶 🫐 🧑‍🍳 🎃 #photography
October 25, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
No matter the platform you should have your default feed be reverse chron of who/what you follow and curate and diversify that feed.

You’ll be better informed and less prone to disinfo and group think.

This is a hill I will die on.
“As users ‘dislike’ posts, the system will learn what sort of content they want to see less of. This will help to inform more than just how content is ranked in feeds, but also reply rankings.”
Bluesky hits 40 million users, introduces 'dislikes' beta | TechCrunch
As users "dislike" posts, the system will learn what sort of content they want to see less of. This will help to inform more than just how content is ranked in feeds, but also reply rankings.
techcrunch.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
so my friend asked me to help him get to the Halloween parade
October 31, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
My last Halloween as a Controller.

Time for a (Nintendo) Switch.
October 31, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Jessica Tollkuhn
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
October 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM