Malu Murugan
@malu-murugan.bsky.social
Neuroscientist, Assistant Professor at Emory University www.muruganlab.com
Pinned
www.biorxiv.org
Our newest preprint! Work led by Ben Dykstra (co-mentored by @gordonberman.bsky.social). Some of the first recordings from the iCA3 region during social behaviors. Ben found that iCA3 neurons more strongly represent social recognition information relative to iCA1 . www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Thanks @sfn.org. truly an honor.
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2025 Early Career awards & Promotion of Women in Neuroscience awards!
These researchers are advancing neuroscience through groundbreaking discoveries, mentorship, & scientific excellence.
Listen to their remarks: vist.ly/4e2ut
#SfN25 #neurosky
These researchers are advancing neuroscience through groundbreaking discoveries, mentorship, & scientific excellence.
Listen to their remarks: vist.ly/4e2ut
#SfN25 #neurosky
November 18, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Thanks @sfn.org. truly an honor.
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
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
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!
Happy Halloween!
November 1, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Happy Halloween!
Reposted by Malu Murugan
Really fantastic work led by Ben Dykstra!
Our newest preprint! Work led by Ben Dykstra (co-mentored by @gordonberman.bsky.social). Some of the first recordings from the iCA3 region during social behaviors. Ben found that iCA3 neurons more strongly represent social recognition information relative to iCA1 . www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
www.biorxiv.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Really fantastic work led by Ben Dykstra!
Our newest preprint! Work led by Ben Dykstra (co-mentored by @gordonberman.bsky.social). Some of the first recordings from the iCA3 region during social behaviors. Ben found that iCA3 neurons more strongly represent social recognition information relative to iCA1 . www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
www.biorxiv.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Our newest preprint! Work led by Ben Dykstra (co-mentored by @gordonberman.bsky.social). Some of the first recordings from the iCA3 region during social behaviors. Ben found that iCA3 neurons more strongly represent social recognition information relative to iCA1 . www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Reposted by Malu Murugan
Very happy to share an expansion to the comparative gene editing toolkit: AAVs to reduce dopamine receptor levels that are functional in many rodent species. Fun collaboration with @malu-murugan.bsky.social, Elliott Albers and Frank Meye.
Comparative gene editing reduces dopamine receptor levels across rodent species
Translational challenges in neuroscience originate from species-specific differences that limit the generalizability of experimental findings. Comparative approaches can help distinguish conserved fro...
www.biorxiv.org
October 22, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Very happy to share an expansion to the comparative gene editing toolkit: AAVs to reduce dopamine receptor levels that are functional in many rodent species. Fun collaboration with @malu-murugan.bsky.social, Elliott Albers and Frank Meye.
Check out this exciting new tool from @ajboender.bsky.social - An aav based CRISPR-Cas9 strategy to knockdown dopamine receptors. Works in mice, voles and hamsters. It was a fun collaboration. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Comparative gene editing reduces dopamine receptor levels across rodent species
Translational challenges in neuroscience originate from species-specific differences that limit the generalizability of experimental findings. Comparative approaches can help distinguish conserved fro...
www.biorxiv.org
October 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Check out this exciting new tool from @ajboender.bsky.social - An aav based CRISPR-Cas9 strategy to knockdown dopamine receptors. Works in mice, voles and hamsters. It was a fun collaboration. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Malu Murugan
Non-overlapping social and food reward representations in the basolateral amygdala https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.06.680770v1
October 7, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Non-overlapping social and food reward representations in the basolateral amygdala https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.06.680770v1
Excited to share our latest preprint led by @jarildy.bsky.social looking at social and non social reward representations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... with help from @hyma2194.bsky.social and @jennisisaac.bsky.social.
Non-overlapping social and food reward representations in the basolateral amygdala
The ability to consider and appraise positively valenced stimuli in the environment, such as food and social interaction, to guide appropriate action is important for survival of most animals. Several...
www.biorxiv.org
October 8, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Excited to share our latest preprint led by @jarildy.bsky.social looking at social and non social reward representations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... with help from @hyma2194.bsky.social and @jennisisaac.bsky.social.
Come be my colleague! Lots of exciting science, fantastic students and supportive colleagues. Emory University Biology Department tenure-track assistant professor position in neuroscience. share.google/945Jko4W1MTA.... Please feel free to retweet and share widely.
Emory University Biology Department tenure-track assistant professor position in neuroscience - Atlanta, Georgia job with malia.escobar@emory.edu | 675335
Candidate uses experimental approaches to examine any aspect of neural function, including molecular, cellular, systems, or developmental neuroscience
share.google
September 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Come be my colleague! Lots of exciting science, fantastic students and supportive colleagues. Emory University Biology Department tenure-track assistant professor position in neuroscience. share.google/945Jko4W1MTA.... Please feel free to retweet and share widely.
Accepted manuscript version of this paper up on J.Neuro. @sfnjournals.bsky.social . Beautiful work led by @jennisisaac.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social with help from @hyma2194.bsky.social characterizing various LS projection populations and their inputs. www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
September 8, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Accepted manuscript version of this paper up on J.Neuro. @sfnjournals.bsky.social . Beautiful work led by @jennisisaac.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social with help from @hyma2194.bsky.social characterizing various LS projection populations and their inputs. www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
Beautiful story on the lateral septum!
Our new preprint: 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
We describe how the LS guides defensive responses by forming critical computations built from functionally and molecularly distinct cells and their afferent inputs.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...
We describe how the LS guides defensive responses by forming critical computations built from functionally and molecularly distinct cells and their afferent inputs.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...
Feature-specific threat coding in lateral septum guides defensive action
The ability to rapidly detect and evaluate potential threats is essential for survival and requires the integration of sensory information, with internal state and prior experience. The lateral septum...
www.researchsquare.com
June 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Beautiful story on the lateral septum!
Lab t-shirts are here finally. Thanks to fab undergrad Paul Kim for designing them.
June 10, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Lab t-shirts are here finally. Thanks to fab undergrad Paul Kim for designing them.
A ventral hippocampal-lateral septum pathway regulates social novelty preference. Version of record - now available on @elife.bsky.social check it out doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
A ventral hippocampal-lateral septum pathway regulates social novelty preference
Projection-specific optogenetic and chemogenetic experiments reveal a hippocampal-lateral septal pathway that potentially acts via the ventral tegmental area to regulate social novelty preference beha...
doi.org
June 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
A ventral hippocampal-lateral septum pathway regulates social novelty preference. Version of record - now available on @elife.bsky.social check it out doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Reposted by Malu Murugan
The Telly Awards has named our short film on the life and impact of our co-founder Jim Simons as a People’s Telly Gold Winner in the general non-broadcast category. Read more: www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/05/20/f... #science #philanthropy
Foundation’s Film About Jim Simons Named People’s Gold Winner at Telly Awards
The Simons Foundation’s short film on the life and impact of Jim Simons is a People’s Telly Gold Winner.
www.simonsfoundation.org
May 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The Telly Awards has named our short film on the life and impact of our co-founder Jim Simons as a People’s Telly Gold Winner in the general non-broadcast category. Read more: www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/05/20/f... #science #philanthropy
Reposted by Malu Murugan
We’re hiring a postdoc with slice patch-clamp expertise to study head direction circuits and plasticity during spatial learning. Ideal for a neurophysiologist excited to combine ex vivo and in vivo approaches. Come join us in beautiful Cambridge! 🐭🧭🧠
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
May 13, 2025 at 1:00 PM
We’re hiring a postdoc with slice patch-clamp expertise to study head direction circuits and plasticity during spatial learning. Ideal for a neurophysiologist excited to combine ex vivo and in vivo approaches. Come join us in beautiful Cambridge! 🐭🧭🧠
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
Congratulations on a masterful defense @jennisisaac.bsky.social So incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to mentor you. Can't wait to see all the insanely cool stuff you do. Keep an eye out for Jenni's work on the lateral septum soon
May 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Congratulations on a masterful defense @jennisisaac.bsky.social So incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to mentor you. Can't wait to see all the insanely cool stuff you do. Keep an eye out for Jenni's work on the lateral septum soon
Let us know what you think.
Organization of brainwide inputs to discrete lateral septum projection populations https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.23.650257v1
April 29, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Let us know what you think.
Reposted by Malu Murugan
I would be happy to host a HFSP fellowship @hfspo.bsky.social in Edinburgh. Write to me if you're interested 🧠🐀🔬
Got a radical idea that doesn’t fit the mold?
#HFSP supports bold, high-risk postdoctoral research in #LifeSciences 🧪
Challenge the norm. Go international. Think beyond disciplines 💪
Apply now!
💥 Deadline May 15 | Initiate LOI by May 7
🔗zurl.co/gtbWu
#sts
#HFSP supports bold, high-risk postdoctoral research in #LifeSciences 🧪
Challenge the norm. Go international. Think beyond disciplines 💪
Apply now!
💥 Deadline May 15 | Initiate LOI by May 7
🔗zurl.co/gtbWu
#sts
April 29, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I would be happy to host a HFSP fellowship @hfspo.bsky.social in Edinburgh. Write to me if you're interested 🧠🐀🔬
Reposted by Malu Murugan
We’ve been working on this project for several years and it’s finally out on bioarxiv! Check out the anatomical organization of the lateral septum and its connectivity
Lateral septum enthusiast? Interested in learning more about how LS projection populations and their inputs are organized. Check out our preprint in which @jennisisaac.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social map out brain wide inputs to 6 LS projection populations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Organization of brainwide inputs to discrete lateral septum projection populations
The lateral septum (LS) is anatomically positioned to play a critical role in directing information from the hippocampus and cortex to downstream subcortical structures, such as the hypothalamus. In f...
www.biorxiv.org
April 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
We’ve been working on this project for several years and it’s finally out on bioarxiv! Check out the anatomical organization of the lateral septum and its connectivity
Lateral septum enthusiast? Interested in learning more about how LS projection populations and their inputs are organized. Check out our preprint in which @jennisisaac.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social map out brain wide inputs to 6 LS projection populations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Organization of brainwide inputs to discrete lateral septum projection populations
The lateral septum (LS) is anatomically positioned to play a critical role in directing information from the hippocampus and cortex to downstream subcortical structures, such as the hypothalamus. In f...
www.biorxiv.org
April 29, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Lateral septum enthusiast? Interested in learning more about how LS projection populations and their inputs are organized. Check out our preprint in which @jennisisaac.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social map out brain wide inputs to 6 LS projection populations. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Check out our protocol paper in @cp-starprotocols.bsky.social on operant social reward seeking. Work from @jennisisaac.bsky.social @hyma2194.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social
Protocol for the quantitative assessment of social and nonsocial reward-seeking in mice using an automated two choice operant assay #protocol #starprotocols #cellpress
Protocol for the quantitative assessment of social and nonsocial reward-seeking in mice using an automated two choice operant assay
The complexity of social behaviors makes it difficult to study the neural mechanisms that underlie them. Here, we describe an automated, low-cost two choice operant assay to directly compare social and nonsocial reward-seeking in mice. We provide instructions for the assembly of the operant chamber and conducting behavioral experiments, which include a graphical user interface (GUI)-based acquisition system that can be readily combined with various experimental manipulations. This assay allows f...
dlvr.it
April 28, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Check out our protocol paper in @cp-starprotocols.bsky.social on operant social reward seeking. Work from @jennisisaac.bsky.social @hyma2194.bsky.social and @soniakarkare.bsky.social
Want to compare social and nonsocial reward seeking behavior?
On STAR Protocols, we provide instructions for the assembly of a 2 choice operant chamber with an easy to use GUI-based acquisition system. Low cost and fully automated. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Protocol for the quantitative assessment of social and nonsocial reward-seeking in mice using an automated two choice operant assay
The complexity of social behaviors makes it difficult to study the neural mechanisms that underlie them. Here, we describe an automated, low-cost two …
www.sciencedirect.com
April 28, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Want to compare social and nonsocial reward seeking behavior?
On STAR Protocols, we provide instructions for the assembly of a 2 choice operant chamber with an easy to use GUI-based acquisition system. Low cost and fully automated. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
An exciting day for the lab. @jennisisaac.bsky.social wins the Emory Neuroscience Scientific Achievement award. @hyma2194.bsky.social wins the Mentorship award and @jarildy.bsky.social wins the Leadership award. What rockstars! May congratulations on your well deserved honors.
April 24, 2025 at 4:44 AM
An exciting day for the lab. @jennisisaac.bsky.social wins the Emory Neuroscience Scientific Achievement award. @hyma2194.bsky.social wins the Mentorship award and @jarildy.bsky.social wins the Leadership award. What rockstars! May congratulations on your well deserved honors.
Are we sure this evolved from wolves ? 😂
March 9, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Are we sure this evolved from wolves ? 😂