Matt Kirkcaldie
@matttkk.bsky.social
Neuroscientist obsessed with brain structure and comparative neuroanatomy.
They’re not circuits. It’s not wiring. Cortex is a resonant mesh.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matt-Kirkcaldie [ image by https://mattcoyle.net ]
They’re not circuits. It’s not wiring. Cortex is a resonant mesh.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matt-Kirkcaldie [ image by https://mattcoyle.net ]
A favourite #neuroanatomy study: Lewis Weed making paper cutouts of brainstem sections, stacking them in register, then drawn by Max Brödel. Over a century old but still fresh!
Weed LH. A reconstruction of the nuclear masses in the lower portion of the human brain-stem. Carnegie Inst. Wash., 1914.
Weed LH. A reconstruction of the nuclear masses in the lower portion of the human brain-stem. Carnegie Inst. Wash., 1914.
July 13, 2025 at 1:26 AM
A favourite #neuroanatomy study: Lewis Weed making paper cutouts of brainstem sections, stacking them in register, then drawn by Max Brödel. Over a century old but still fresh!
Weed LH. A reconstruction of the nuclear masses in the lower portion of the human brain-stem. Carnegie Inst. Wash., 1914.
Weed LH. A reconstruction of the nuclear masses in the lower portion of the human brain-stem. Carnegie Inst. Wash., 1914.
Did not expect to see a barrelfield in the morning sky here #neuroanatomy #cortex
July 10, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Did not expect to see a barrelfield in the morning sky here #neuroanatomy #cortex
"Brainbow" multi-neuron labelling in mouse brain (Jean Livet, 2007).
July 8, 2025 at 5:16 AM
"Brainbow" multi-neuron labelling in mouse brain (Jean Livet, 2007).
OK - here's a human cortex diagram I made for a lecture, intended to show that primary regions (M1, S1, A1, V1) are surrounded by fields of increasing abstraction related to them, and that across the postcentral cortex these influences mix. I'm interested to hear whether you think it's useful.
January 29, 2025 at 2:01 AM
OK - here's a human cortex diagram I made for a lecture, intended to show that primary regions (M1, S1, A1, V1) are surrounded by fields of increasing abstraction related to them, and that across the postcentral cortex these influences mix. I'm interested to hear whether you think it's useful.
I can't distinguish between the "executive" gradient from grey to white, versus the "perceptual" gradient from grey to white. Do they define them?
Not to be entirely negative: here's one I drew for a lecture, not specifically about memory except that most cortical structure encodes prior experience.
Not to be entirely negative: here's one I drew for a lecture, not specifically about memory except that most cortical structure encodes prior experience.
January 29, 2025 at 12:15 AM
I can't distinguish between the "executive" gradient from grey to white, versus the "perceptual" gradient from grey to white. Do they define them?
Not to be entirely negative: here's one I drew for a lecture, not specifically about memory except that most cortical structure encodes prior experience.
Not to be entirely negative: here's one I drew for a lecture, not specifically about memory except that most cortical structure encodes prior experience.
Also the planet is missing the polar hexagon, and about 15% too large compared to the rings:
December 3, 2024 at 12:42 AM
Also the planet is missing the polar hexagon, and about 15% too large compared to the rings:
Charles Watson and I were writing The Brain: An Introduction to Functional Neuroanatomy and I wanted to show the complexity of an astrocyte. I coloured each layer of this confocal stack from the CCDB: green at the rear, cycling blue, red then yellow in front. The green branch wraps a capillary.
November 28, 2024 at 4:10 AM
Charles Watson and I were writing The Brain: An Introduction to Functional Neuroanatomy and I wanted to show the complexity of an astrocyte. I coloured each layer of this confocal stack from the CCDB: green at the rear, cycling blue, red then yellow in front. The green branch wraps a capillary.
Pleased to meet a traveller in my kitchen this morning - a pink bellied moth, Oenochroma vinaria, identified thanks to @kristiellingsen.bsky.social 's wonderful website.
November 22, 2024 at 11:46 PM
Pleased to meet a traveller in my kitchen this morning - a pink bellied moth, Oenochroma vinaria, identified thanks to @kristiellingsen.bsky.social 's wonderful website.
Yeah, 86 according to Azevedo et al. J Comp Neurol. 2009;513(5):532-41. doi:10.1002/cne.21974
These figures which also explain the sampling:
These figures which also explain the sampling:
November 22, 2024 at 4:33 AM
Yeah, 86 according to Azevedo et al. J Comp Neurol. 2009;513(5):532-41. doi:10.1002/cne.21974
These figures which also explain the sampling:
These figures which also explain the sampling:
Delighted for Laura De Paoli in Dr Jess Collins' lab at the Wicking Centre - her first paper is a review of the complex landscape of neurofilament biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases. She's done the hard yards so you don't have to!
Free here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Free here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
November 21, 2024 at 4:55 AM
Delighted for Laura De Paoli in Dr Jess Collins' lab at the Wicking Centre - her first paper is a review of the complex landscape of neurofilament biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases. She's done the hard yards so you don't have to!
Free here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Free here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Viz (adapted from Caviness and Frost 1980) - the MD projection is probably 5% of the flattened cortical sheet and tucked underneath, near the olfactory tract.
November 20, 2024 at 6:49 AM
Viz (adapted from Caviness and Frost 1980) - the MD projection is probably 5% of the flattened cortical sheet and tucked underneath, near the olfactory tract.
Here's an oldie - in the 2000s, working with the Paxinos lab towards a myelin atlas of the mouse brain, using the glorious Gallyas silver stain (Gallyas F. Acta Morphol Acad Sci Hung 1971;19:1–8). Could not get a complete set to work after a year of trying, but individual sections were spectacular!
November 15, 2024 at 11:17 PM
Here's an oldie - in the 2000s, working with the Paxinos lab towards a myelin atlas of the mouse brain, using the glorious Gallyas silver stain (Gallyas F. Acta Morphol Acad Sci Hung 1971;19:1–8). Could not get a complete set to work after a year of trying, but individual sections were spectacular!
I don't know if this counts as microscopy - it was a 60mm macro - but here's a little something:
November 13, 2024 at 8:48 AM
I don't know if this counts as microscopy - it was a 60mm macro - but here's a little something:
If you see this, post a concert pic you took:
Michael Rother @ Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Feb 25 2024.
Michael Rother @ Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Feb 25 2024.
November 11, 2024 at 12:10 PM
If you see this, post a concert pic you took:
Michael Rother @ Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Feb 25 2024.
Michael Rother @ Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Feb 25 2024.
Another PhD candidate of ours, Aidan O'Mara, wrote a very nice open-source machine-learning-based segmentation tool for ImageJ / FIJI to help us quantify these things accurately and with as little bias as possible - check it out! www.researchgate.net/publication/...
November 8, 2024 at 2:41 AM
Another PhD candidate of ours, Aidan O'Mara, wrote a very nice open-source machine-learning-based segmentation tool for ImageJ / FIJI to help us quantify these things accurately and with as little bias as possible - check it out! www.researchgate.net/publication/...
A lovely image by Ellie Bucher: perineuronal nets (green; WGA) around parvalbumin-labelled interneurons (red) near amyloid deposits (blue; Amylo-glo) in the cortex of an APPswe-PS1dE9 mouse. This network is a critical enabler of cortical processing; see our review: link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...
November 8, 2024 at 2:38 AM
A lovely image by Ellie Bucher: perineuronal nets (green; WGA) around parvalbumin-labelled interneurons (red) near amyloid deposits (blue; Amylo-glo) in the cortex of an APPswe-PS1dE9 mouse. This network is a critical enabler of cortical processing; see our review: link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...
Sometimes, you go to the beach at night to look for penguins returning home, and this happens
October 11, 2024 at 11:10 AM
Sometimes, you go to the beach at night to look for penguins returning home, and this happens
The best thing that happened to me on Naoshima was stumbling across a matsuri at the Shinto shrine near the ferry, one of the dudes carrying the platform caught my eye among the onlookers and dragged me into the team. Hilarious and friendly people. Walking the island in a loop is fun, lots to see.
December 7, 2023 at 1:38 AM
The best thing that happened to me on Naoshima was stumbling across a matsuri at the Shinto shrine near the ferry, one of the dudes carrying the platform caught my eye among the onlookers and dragged me into the team. Hilarious and friendly people. Walking the island in a loop is fun, lots to see.
Also the top right quadrant of B overlaps the lower left quadrant of C! Slight change of focal plane I think, but the cells are in the same location.
November 27, 2023 at 4:13 AM
Also the top right quadrant of B overlaps the lower left quadrant of C! Slight change of focal plane I think, but the cells are in the same location.
Glad to say my piece on animal minds and blind spots in neuroscience is published in Synthesis. Friend and colleague Mayako Murai fostered dialogue between the arts, culture and science to talk about our views of animals. Thanks @aniai_commune for pics! ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/sy...
November 13, 2023 at 10:35 PM
Glad to say my piece on animal minds and blind spots in neuroscience is published in Synthesis. Friend and colleague Mayako Murai fostered dialogue between the arts, culture and science to talk about our views of animals. Thanks @aniai_commune for pics! ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/sy...
Turning 50 this year, an alltime favourite.
November 11, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Turning 50 this year, an alltime favourite.
