It was also an excellent opportunity to host Richard Robitaille from the Université de Montréal. Seeing Richard discussing with my student feels like seeing a fish in water.

I'm super proud of João Viana for his excellent PhD defense! João is a central and vital piece in my lab, and it felt like a walk in the park.
I'm thankful to Richard Robitaille, Albino Oliveira-Maia, and Sandra Vaz for the terrific discussion!
@icvs-uminho.bsky.social
@champalimaudr.bsky.social

I had a great time at the #Glial #Symposium of the @warsawgliacomm.bsky.social in Warsaw. Awesome presentations and excellent discussions with this emerging #glial community. I'm looking forward to the next endeavors and collaborations!
@szewczyklukasz.bsky.social

4/ Next, we flipped the switch—overexpressed mGluR5 in hippocampal astrocytes. This enhanced behavior flexibility but impaired place memory. A double-edged effect.

3/ This pointed us to the #hippocampus as a key region. We then deleted mGluR5 specifically in hippocampal astrocytes using AAVs.
This affected both basal synaptic transmission and plasticity. Behaviorally, it reproduced anxiety and social deficits, plus long-term memory loss.

2/ So we deleted mGluR5 across the brain.
The result? Mice showed anxiety- and depression-like behaviors, reduced sociability, and impaired memory.

Here is our constructive reflection on the announced Agency for Research and Innovation (AI2) for PT Science @publico.pt

"there will be no quality science without budgetary reinforcement and explicit protection of fundamental science."

@publico.pt

www.publico.pt/2025/08/19/c...

It was an awesome year for my team, with exciting "ups" and also some painful "downs".
Before a well-deserved vacation pause, we reflected and prepared for the future... together!
@icvs-uminho.bsky.social

What an amazing #glia #meeting in Marseille.
It was great to have a symposium with @inbalgoshen.bsky.social @julimrosa.bsky.social and Mattias Ollivier.
It was also great to meet good old friend-shining scientists, and make some new too!

We needed a trolley to carry all the new ideas ;)
You girls rock @navarrete-llinas.bsky.social @julimrosa.bsky.social and Lucile Ben Haim! It's always great to meet old friends!

Still digesting the past few weeks, full of excellent scientific discussions and fun. @esnsociety.bsky.social meeting was excellent: our gender unbalanced symposium on #astrocyte regulation of #brain #circuits was a success.

What a great start to 2025!
Alexandra Veiga and Duarte Dias just defended their MSc projects with distinction!
I'm more than proud of their achievement and my whole team. Witnessing their scientific (and personal) growth has been rewarding.
Excellent discussions by Sandra Vaz and Ana Falcão!

I'm still overwhelmed by the success of the #Iberian #Glial #Symposium!
The excellent quality of the students and postdoc presentations and nearly 200 participants make us confident of a bright #future for #glial #research!
We could not be prouder!
Thanks, #RedGlial, for the idea and logistics!