Kelsey Tyssowski
@kelseytea.bsky.social
genetic and neural basis of dexterity…in deer mice! | postdoc at Harvard OEB/MCB, BRAIN K99/R00 | plant grower, music maker, crafter, bike rider, sometimes mountain climber | she/her
in search of a faculty job 🤓
https://ktyssowski.github.io/
in search of a faculty job 🤓
https://ktyssowski.github.io/
Thanks, Arkarup! sorry you’re not able to be here—I’m hoping to make it to your labs’ posters!
November 17, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Thanks, Arkarup! sorry you’re not able to be here—I’m hoping to make it to your labs’ posters!
cool -- looks interesting! thanks!
November 13, 2025 at 3:00 AM
cool -- looks interesting! thanks!
we don't! but i think it's a great question and hope to do this experiment in the future
November 12, 2025 at 6:55 PM
we don't! but i think it's a great question and hope to do this experiment in the future
Reposted by Kelsey Tyssowski
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
November 8, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
thanks for reading! we only looked at lab-raised populations, but there's a rich natural history literature about climbing in wild deer mice, and wild forest mice are better climbers. hand dexterity is less well studied. urban vs populated, we don't know! but an interesting ? for sure!
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
thanks for reading! we only looked at lab-raised populations, but there's a rich natural history literature about climbing in wild deer mice, and wild forest mice are better climbers. hand dexterity is less well studied. urban vs populated, we don't know! but an interesting ? for sure!
...probably i have too many thoughts for this format! but it's not entirely obvious to me how an increase here relates to expectations from primate evo - other than that RFA CSNs in rodents project to deeper spinal cord lamina than CFA CSNs, so perhaps more CSNs w/ fewer synapses to motor neurons
October 26, 2025 at 10:23 PM
...probably i have too many thoughts for this format! but it's not entirely obvious to me how an increase here relates to expectations from primate evo - other than that RFA CSNs in rodents project to deeper spinal cord lamina than CFA CSNs, so perhaps more CSNs w/ fewer synapses to motor neurons
cingulate cortex (as labeled by the allen) is medial/ventral to M2/RFA, and i haven't looked at the extent to which the pattern within the rostral ctx differs - but i could, and may better answer your ?. my understanding is that RFA is often thought of as a homologue of primate SMA/premotor ctx...
October 26, 2025 at 10:23 PM
cingulate cortex (as labeled by the allen) is medial/ventral to M2/RFA, and i haven't looked at the extent to which the pattern within the rostral ctx differs - but i could, and may better answer your ?. my understanding is that RFA is often thought of as a homologue of primate SMA/premotor ctx...
we looked at all of cortex, but only neurons that project to C5-C7ish (b/c we labeled by retrograde AAV inj). we see more CSNs in what the allen atlas labels as M2 and S2, but not M1/S1. here's max intensity proj across cortex of labeled neurons -- just to clarify what i mean w/ area labels...
October 26, 2025 at 10:23 PM
we looked at all of cortex, but only neurons that project to C5-C7ish (b/c we labeled by retrograde AAV inj). we see more CSNs in what the allen atlas labels as M2 and S2, but not M1/S1. here's max intensity proj across cortex of labeled neurons -- just to clarify what i mean w/ area labels...
there are more CSNs in RFA specifically! (we’re calling RFA m2 here). I don’t have a definitive answer on other spinal proj neurons (but preliminarily, i don’t think there’s a decrease). def very open to any feedback you have after reading!
October 25, 2025 at 1:25 AM
there are more CSNs in RFA specifically! (we’re calling RFA m2 here). I don’t have a definitive answer on other spinal proj neurons (but preliminarily, i don’t think there’s a decrease). def very open to any feedback you have after reading!
...which means that they don't completely diverge. but it's complicated. you could get a genetic change that stops them from mating with one another. natural selection is not entirely predictable.
October 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
...which means that they don't completely diverge. but it's complicated. you could get a genetic change that stops them from mating with one another. natural selection is not entirely predictable.
thank you! the question of "what is a species?" in these kinds of closely related populations is a bit hard to answer. but one thing we know is that there is some crossover between these populations in the wild, causing "gene flow", i.e., sharing of genetic info, between populations...
October 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
thank you! the question of "what is a species?" in these kinds of closely related populations is a bit hard to answer. but one thing we know is that there is some crossover between these populations in the wild, causing "gene flow", i.e., sharing of genetic info, between populations...
thanks for sharing!! i think it's possible spinal cord and other brain regions could also show evolved variation and work with ctx to support this behavior...imo, it's an interesting question how different parts of the nervous system evolve together/not to result in behavioral variation!
October 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
thanks for sharing!! i think it's possible spinal cord and other brain regions could also show evolved variation and work with ctx to support this behavior...imo, it's an interesting question how different parts of the nervous system evolve together/not to result in behavioral variation!
Hahaha love it!!
October 23, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Hahaha love it!!