Brianna Vandrey
@brivandrey.bsky.social
Neuroscientist studying memory formation
Enthusiastic about all things entorhinal cortex
Lecturer at @uofgpsychneuro.bsky.social
Avid reader, (occasional) runner, always on a side quest
she/her, views are my own
Enthusiastic about all things entorhinal cortex
Lecturer at @uofgpsychneuro.bsky.social
Avid reader, (occasional) runner, always on a side quest
she/her, views are my own
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
🚨 Funded PhD on ageing, social cognition & self/other differentiation! 🚨
🧠 Supervised by myself (University of St Andrews) & Prof. Louise Phillips (University of Aberdeen), the project includes EEG & eye-tracking training.
🌍 Open to UK + international students!
📅 Deadline: 15th Dec 2025
🧠 Supervised by myself (University of St Andrews) & Prof. Louise Phillips (University of Aberdeen), the project includes EEG & eye-tracking training.
🌍 Open to UK + international students!
📅 Deadline: 15th Dec 2025
November 20, 2025 at 3:11 PM
🚨 Funded PhD on ageing, social cognition & self/other differentiation! 🚨
🧠 Supervised by myself (University of St Andrews) & Prof. Louise Phillips (University of Aberdeen), the project includes EEG & eye-tracking training.
🌍 Open to UK + international students!
📅 Deadline: 15th Dec 2025
🧠 Supervised by myself (University of St Andrews) & Prof. Louise Phillips (University of Aberdeen), the project includes EEG & eye-tracking training.
🌍 Open to UK + international students!
📅 Deadline: 15th Dec 2025
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
A huge thankyou to @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social for covering our research in the Marshall Islands for the @nytimes.com !
In the photo Ken Daniels (an expert indigenous sailor) is looking towards the horizon whilst wearing an fNIRS system.
Analysis underway!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/s...
In the photo Ken Daniels (an expert indigenous sailor) is looking towards the horizon whilst wearing an fNIRS system.
Analysis underway!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/s...
A Voyage Into the Art of Finding One’s Way at Sea
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
A huge thankyou to @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social for covering our research in the Marshall Islands for the @nytimes.com !
In the photo Ken Daniels (an expert indigenous sailor) is looking towards the horizon whilst wearing an fNIRS system.
Analysis underway!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/s...
In the photo Ken Daniels (an expert indigenous sailor) is looking towards the horizon whilst wearing an fNIRS system.
Analysis underway!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/s...
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
When I think about how exquisitely careful NEH staff were to be fair, impartial, and rigorous, and how much work people put into grants so small they’re pocket change…I just want to scream.
Fired Scholars and Big Grants to Favored Projects: Inside Trump’s N.E.H.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
When I think about how exquisitely careful NEH staff were to be fair, impartial, and rigorous, and how much work people put into grants so small they’re pocket change…I just want to scream.
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Great to be back at SfN in San Diego, even though the weather gods have decided to go full 'Scottish summer' this year 🌧️
If you're here and you're into spatial navigation do check out the posters below 👇 [1/n]
If you're here and you're into spatial navigation do check out the posters below 👇 [1/n]
November 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Great to be back at SfN in San Diego, even though the weather gods have decided to go full 'Scottish summer' this year 🌧️
If you're here and you're into spatial navigation do check out the posters below 👇 [1/n]
If you're here and you're into spatial navigation do check out the posters below 👇 [1/n]
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Congrats to Ella for her new paper! She asked a really interesting question about how the brain represents uncertainty during hidden state inference, and in a lovely crossover with theoretical work, she shows that in mice, acetylcholine dynamics play a crucial role. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Acetylcholine reflects uncertainty during hidden state inference
To act adaptively, animals must infer features of the environment that cannot be observed directly, such as which option is currently rewarding, or which context they are in. These internal estimates,...
www.biorxiv.org
November 14, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Congrats to Ella for her new paper! She asked a really interesting question about how the brain represents uncertainty during hidden state inference, and in a lovely crossover with theoretical work, she shows that in mice, acetylcholine dynamics play a crucial role. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers
We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!
www.sosaneurolab.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 PM
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
So so sooo cool!! 🤯 My jaw was on the floor when Nachum talked about this at FENS 2024. Unique and important work, and a far cry from the standard lab-based openfield (I'm not jealous at all, definitely not...☀️)
I am excited to share my PhD work on head-direction cells recorded in the wild, now published in @science.org, where we recorded neurons in bats flying outdoors on an island.
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
doi.org/10.1126/sci...
With @ray-neuro.bsky.social, Shir Maimon, Liora Las, Nachum Ulanovsky and many others
October 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
So so sooo cool!! 🤯 My jaw was on the floor when Nachum talked about this at FENS 2024. Unique and important work, and a far cry from the standard lab-based openfield (I'm not jealous at all, definitely not...☀️)
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
New paper - Sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain higher Alzheimer’s Disease prevalence in women: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510486122
October 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM
New paper - Sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain higher Alzheimer’s Disease prevalence in women: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510486122
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Memory problems will change how you see the world...literally 👀
Across two new papers, we examined the eye movement patterns of younger adults, older adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and amnesic cases.
1/5
Across two new papers, we examined the eye movement patterns of younger adults, older adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and amnesic cases.
1/5
October 8, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Memory problems will change how you see the world...literally 👀
Across two new papers, we examined the eye movement patterns of younger adults, older adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and amnesic cases.
1/5
Across two new papers, we examined the eye movement patterns of younger adults, older adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and amnesic cases.
1/5
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Grid cell distortion is associated with increased distance estimation error in polarized environments
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Grid cell distortion is associated with increased distance estimation error in polarized environments
Duncan et al. demonstrate that distance estimation is impaired in polarized environments
like trapezoids relative to regular rectangular environments. Grid cells recorded
in the trapezoid environment ...
www.cell.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Grid cell distortion is associated with increased distance estimation error in polarized environments
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
🚨 New preprint! 🚨 Proud to have been a small part of this project
RatDISCO is a simple & affordable tissue-clearing protocol that works in rodent brains and organoids. Enormous potential for imaging long-range projections and labelled neuron populations in the whole brain 🧠
👉 tinyurl.com/670723v1
RatDISCO is a simple & affordable tissue-clearing protocol that works in rodent brains and organoids. Enormous potential for imaging long-range projections and labelled neuron populations in the whole brain 🧠
👉 tinyurl.com/670723v1
RatDISCO, a tissue clearing and immunolabelling protocol for large rat brains
RatDISCO is a simple, cost-effective, and reproducible tissue-clearing protocol optimised for immunolabeling in adult rat brains. It enables robust detection of diverse neuronal subtypes, glial popula...
www.biorxiv.org
August 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM
🚨 New preprint! 🚨 Proud to have been a small part of this project
RatDISCO is a simple & affordable tissue-clearing protocol that works in rodent brains and organoids. Enormous potential for imaging long-range projections and labelled neuron populations in the whole brain 🧠
👉 tinyurl.com/670723v1
RatDISCO is a simple & affordable tissue-clearing protocol that works in rodent brains and organoids. Enormous potential for imaging long-range projections and labelled neuron populations in the whole brain 🧠
👉 tinyurl.com/670723v1
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Europe is watching as America loses its "Gold Standard" status on #science following Trump's cuts. The EU is preparing to ramp up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change & weather extremes.
They are also aiming to recruit American scientists.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
They are also aiming to recruit American scientists.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Europe is breaking its reliance on American science
European governments are taking steps to break their dependence on critical scientific data the United States historically made freely available to the world, and are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes, according to Reuters interviews.
www.reuters.com
August 3, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Europe is watching as America loses its "Gold Standard" status on #science following Trump's cuts. The EU is preparing to ramp up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change & weather extremes.
They are also aiming to recruit American scientists.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
They are also aiming to recruit American scientists.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Bittersweet that this is my last Edinburgh Fringe festival working in George Square. I'm going to miss this view of the cow from the wet lab windows! 🐄
(I definitely won't miss commuting through the crowds though)
(I definitely won't miss commuting through the crowds though)
August 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Bittersweet that this is my last Edinburgh Fringe festival working in George Square. I'm going to miss this view of the cow from the wet lab windows! 🐄
(I definitely won't miss commuting through the crowds though)
(I definitely won't miss commuting through the crowds though)
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
A wonderful article on work (both old and new) pushing the frontier of memory research.
If you’ve ever tried to cram for an exam, you know that it’s easier to memorize something if you learn the information in shorter, spaced-out sessions. These dynamics are as relevant to each individual cell’s existence as they are to ours. Claire Evans reports: www.quantamagazine.org/what-can-a-c...
What Can a Cell Remember? | Quanta Magazine
A small but enthusiastic group of neuroscientists is exhuming overlooked experiments and performing new ones to explore whether cells record past experiences — fundamentally challenging what memory is...
www.quantamagazine.org
July 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
A wonderful article on work (both old and new) pushing the frontier of memory research.
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
New preprint!
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats
Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...
www.biorxiv.org
July 25, 2025 at 3:57 PM
New preprint!
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵
w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
This is unfortunate:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...
I wrote to the president of Harvard. I hope other faculty will speak their conscience, even if it means more struggle ahead.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...
I wrote to the president of Harvard. I hope other faculty will speak their conscience, even if it means more struggle ahead.
July 29, 2025 at 9:54 AM
This is unfortunate:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...
I wrote to the president of Harvard. I hope other faculty will speak their conscience, even if it means more struggle ahead.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...
I wrote to the president of Harvard. I hope other faculty will speak their conscience, even if it means more struggle ahead.
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Yet another study (Danish) has found no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines & 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma & autoimmune diseases. In this study, they tracked 1 million kids over 21 years.
🧪🔗 en.ssi.dk/news/news/20...
🧪🔗 en.ssi.dk/news/news/20...
Large Danish Study: No link between vaccines and autism or 49 other health conditions
A new Danish study finds no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines and 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma, and autoimmune diseases. The findings reaffirm the safety o...
en.ssi.dk
July 28, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Yet another study (Danish) has found no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines & 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma & autoimmune diseases. In this study, they tracked 1 million kids over 21 years.
🧪🔗 en.ssi.dk/news/news/20...
🧪🔗 en.ssi.dk/news/news/20...
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Reminder! Tenure track position in Genetics at Trinity College Dublin! Come join us, we're nice... 😊 Please repost! 🙏
Very pleased to say we have an Assistant Professor job opening (tenure track) in the Department of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin! 😀
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOA399/a... - deadline is August 19th! Please repost!
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOA399/a... - deadline is August 19th! Please repost!
July 29, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reminder! Tenure track position in Genetics at Trinity College Dublin! Come join us, we're nice... 😊 Please repost! 🙏
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
1
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!
🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!
🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...
July 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
1
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!
🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!
🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
Two of Israel’s best-known human rights groups said Monday that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, adding fuel to an international debate over whether the death and destruction there have crossed a moral red line.
In a First, Leading Israeli Rights Groups Accuse Israel of Gaza Genocide
Israel says it is fighting against Hamas, not Palestinians as a group. But two of Israel’s best-known rights groups — long critical of Israeli policy — now say they disagree.
nyti.ms
July 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Two of Israel’s best-known human rights groups said Monday that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, adding fuel to an international debate over whether the death and destruction there have crossed a moral red line.
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
I’m thinking today about all the women doing DEI work in universities, and how all of our canceled grants and shuttered initiatives means that not only are we losing the time we’ve already put in, we’re now even more behind our male peers who stayed focused on their research.
July 24, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I’m thinking today about all the women doing DEI work in universities, and how all of our canceled grants and shuttered initiatives means that not only are we losing the time we’ve already put in, we’re now even more behind our male peers who stayed focused on their research.
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in Gaza, mostly near food sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said.
Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, the U.N. says
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in Gaza, mostly near food sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said.
n.pr
July 23, 2025 at 4:21 PM
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in Gaza, mostly near food sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said.
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
I’m excited to share my final co-first author paper from my postdoc in Dan Dombeck's lab!
We explored how behavior, senses, and neurons influence how much information in the brain changes over time.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #research #neuroscience #hippocampus #placecells
We explored how behavior, senses, and neurons influence how much information in the brain changes over time.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #research #neuroscience #hippocampus #placecells
Hippocampal representations drift in stable multisensory environments - Nature
Tracking of individual place cells in mouse CA1 shows that representational drift is not influenced by changes in environment or behaviour, and is lower for more excitable place cells.
www.nature.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I’m excited to share my final co-first author paper from my postdoc in Dan Dombeck's lab!
We explored how behavior, senses, and neurons influence how much information in the brain changes over time.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #research #neuroscience #hippocampus #placecells
We explored how behavior, senses, and neurons influence how much information in the brain changes over time.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #research #neuroscience #hippocampus #placecells
Reposted by Brianna Vandrey
"In the letter, the signatories warned that National Science Foundation grants now underwent a 'covert and ideologically driven secondary review process'...”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/s...
Amid Fear of Retaliation, N.S.F. Workers Sign Letter of Dissent
www.nytimes.com
July 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
"In the letter, the signatories warned that National Science Foundation grants now underwent a 'covert and ideologically driven secondary review process'...”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/s...
"At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict... including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks"
“Six-week-old Yousef's lifeless body lay limp on a hospital table in Gaza City, his skin stretched over protruding ribs and a bandage where a drip had been inserted into his tiny arm. Doctors said the cause of death was starvation.”
Deliberate and foreseen.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Deliberate and foreseen.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Baby boy starves to death in Gaza as hunger spreads, medics say
Six-week-old Yousef was among 15 people to starve to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza, according to doctors.
www.reuters.com
July 23, 2025 at 12:38 PM
"At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict... including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks"