Kevin Bender
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neurobender.bsky.social
Kevin Bender
@neurobender.bsky.social
Neuroscientist at UCSF.
Studies everything related to neuronal ion channels—their modulation, their role in neuronal integration, and the intersection between these functions and neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.
We use pipettes glued to piezos

They do make noise so you have to counterbalance that with another unattached piezo to ensure the mice and paying attention to their whiskers.

People use magnets, too. Air puffs are probably not a good option.
October 21, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Thanks Pierre! It’s been a ride, but there’s lots more to do…
September 24, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Yes wild is right! Our pet theory, without too much to back it up yet, is that neocortical pyramidal cells freeze in a pre-critical period state waiting for activity dependent refinement signals if they’re missing half their dendritic NaVs. Much more to look at related to that….
September 17, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Thank you!

This is the first for CRISPRa for a neurodevelopmental disorder, as far as I'm aware, but Navneet Matharu (also an author here!) and @nadavahituv.bsky.social used this approach to treat obesity related to Sim1 and and Mc4r: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
CRISPR-mediated activation of a promoter or enhancer rescues obesity caused by haploinsufficiency
Obesity caused by loss of function of one gene copy can be rescued via CRISPR-mediated activation of the normal copy.
www.science.org
September 17, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I’m still sore.
August 6, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Yeah we tried 3 different tomes. Two different cables. I can verify that the diode works and that the LED is lighting up. So it’s on the circuit board unfortunately.

Havent tried checking voltage dividers yet (I did fix a tv once that way!).

Blood sacrifice already performed, as is tradition
August 6, 2025 at 11:56 PM
We are somewhat pot committed with two tomes, unfortunately.
June 25, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Oh there’s a bonus question too! The IPSC kinetics speed up as more HCN channels open. If anyone can figure out why have em rotate ;)
January 3, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Thank you, Thøm.
December 20, 2024 at 9:54 PM
Those BK currents always washed out for me. Is this within the first minute or two or should we switch up internal?
November 24, 2024 at 8:06 PM
Cartwheel? Perf patch? Thems real purty spikes you got there…
November 24, 2024 at 4:40 AM
Cool. 6 more chaperones!
October 2, 2023 at 9:29 PM