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stanfordbrain.bsky.social
@stanfordbrain.bsky.social
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stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Scientists and ethicists, including Wu Tsai Neuro affiliates @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Hank Greely, call for an international process to guide the field of human neural organoids.

Read the full @statnews.com story: www.statnews.com/2025/11/06/n...
Confocal light micrograph of a synaptic conjugation between three dimensional (3D) human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived brain organoids grown on an organ-on-chip (OOC) system. An OOC is a multi-channel 3D microfluidic cell culture. Organoids are miniature, simplified versions of organs grown in the laboratory. These organoids are being grown to study neural tube formation and neuronal development. Image credit: Arthur Chien, Science Photo Library.
November 12, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
“We’re making a helmet people can wear that delivers ultrasound to the brain, and we plan to initiate clinical testing of this protocol in the next few months,” said Raag Airan.

With Knight Initiative support, they plan to test it on people soon.

🔗 brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-ult...
Raag Airan, Matine Azadian, Payton Martinez and Yun Xiang in the lab. Azadian is holding a version of their ultrasound apparatus designed for humans.
November 10, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
Fantastic talks at yesterday's seminar!

Ted Wilson - Unveiling early Alzheimer’s: biomarkers and breakthroughs on the path to brain resilience.

Raag Airan - Ultrasonic debris clearance for improving neurofluid flow and decreasing neuroinflammation.
Ted Wilson shared his research on "Unveiling early Alzheimer’s: biomarkers and breakthroughs on the path to brain resilience," at our monthly seminar series. Raag Airan gave a talk on "Ultrasonic debris clearance for improving neurofluid flow and decreasing neuroinflammation" at the Knight Initiative's monthly seminar.
November 5, 2025 at 1:00 AM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
We welcome three Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellows (SIGFs)—Sarah Zou, Nick M, and Pengli Wang! Projects include efforts to decode traumatic brain injury (TBI), map brain-body communication, and find treatments for rare childhood diseases.

🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/wu-tsai...
Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Welcomes 2025 Stanford Interdisciplinary
Stanford doctoral students spanning neuroscience, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering are
neuroscience.stanford.edu
November 3, 2025 at 8:55 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
How can brain activity predict stock prices or viral videos?

In today’s podcast, Stanford neuroeconomist Brian Knutson explores how brain signals shape choice, risk, and attention—bridging neuroscience, psychology, and economics.

Listen now: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/neurofo...
Brian Knutson is a professor of psychology in Stanford's School or Humanities and Sciences, a Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute affiliate, and a leader of the NeuroChoice Big Ideas in Neuroscience Initiative. From Our Neurons to Yours, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University.
October 31, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
“By the time we examine an autopsied brain-tissue sample, a pathologist will have rinsed it with alcohol, removing lipids,” said Knight Initiative director Tony Wyss-Coray, D. H. Chen Professor II and @stanfordneuro.bsky.social professor. “So, we can miss them.”

med.stanford.edu/news/insight...
Rethinking Alzheimer's: How these tiny balls of fat factor in
A classic but ignored Alzheimer’s hallmark — myriad oily droplets in brain cells called microglia — may help connect several of the disorder’s better known but not well understood features.
med.stanford.edu
October 29, 2025 at 9:38 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Ask someone about the nervous system in the gut, and chances are you’ll get a blank stare—or maybe, “There’s a nervous system in the gut?”

Dr Kaltschmidt and Dr. Coleman discuss exciting discoveries from the frontiers of the “gut-brain axis.”

Read more: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/celebra...
‘A celebration’ of the gut and the brain
Organizers of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute’s 12th annual symposium share exciting new discoveries
neuroscience.stanford.edu
October 29, 2025 at 8:45 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Last week, our lab directors hosted a Neurosciences Community Labs Lunch & Learn. Attendees interested in using the facilities learned about the internal and external resources offered by the community labs. Thanks to everyone who joined us!
Tim Doyle, Director of Wu Tsai Neuro's Community Labs, shares MRI images from the Neurosciences Preclinical Imaging Lab (NPIL), one of the community labs at Wu Tsai Neuro. Jieun Kim, Director of the Neurosciences Preclinical Imaging Lab (NPIL), waves at the audience. Tim Doyle, Director of Wu Tsai Neuro's Community Labs, discusses resources available to Stanford affiliates through the Neurosciences Community Labs to a large audience. Bryce Grier, Neural Data Architect at Wu Tsai Neuro, discusses data best practices and resources.
October 27, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Reposted
We're incredibly proud of this recognition — thanks so much to everyone for listening and sharing our conversations from the frontiers of brain science!
stanfordbrain.bsky.social stanfordbrain.bsky.social @stanfordbrain.bsky.social · 23d
Our podcast won 2 Signal Awards (@signalawards.bsky.social) for brand storytelling in Science & Education!
🥈 Silver Signal Award
🏅 Listener's Choice Award

Thanks to our fascinating guests, wonderful audience, host Nicholas Weiler, and podcast producer Michael Osborne for making this possible!
Signal Awards. 4th Annual Signal Award Winner. From Our Neurons to Yours, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University. Signal Awards. 2025 Silver Winner. Signal Awards. 2025 Listener's Choice.
October 24, 2025 at 5:34 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Our podcast won 2 Signal Awards (@signalawards.bsky.social) for brand storytelling in Science & Education!
🥈 Silver Signal Award
🏅 Listener's Choice Award

Thanks to our fascinating guests, wonderful audience, host Nicholas Weiler, and podcast producer Michael Osborne for making this possible!
Signal Awards. 4th Annual Signal Award Winner. From Our Neurons to Yours, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University. Signal Awards. 2025 Silver Winner. Signal Awards. 2025 Listener's Choice.
October 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Why does social isolation reshape the brain?

This week, Ben Rein, a Neuroscientist, science communicator, and author of 'Why Brains Need Friends,' shares how connection influences brain health and what science says about loneliness in the modern world.

🎙️ neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/why-our...
From Our Neurons to Yours, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University Stanford neuroscientist and science communicator Ben Rein, PhD.
October 16, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
Thank you to our wonderful speakers and everyone who joined us at the Fall 2025 Symposium and Poster Session! It was a day full of insights into the latest research on healthy brain aging, resilience, and various neuroscience studies at Stanford.
Audience members listen attentively to a speaker with research posters in the background. Attendees Tolu Oyeniyi and Veronica Augustina Bot network at the symposium poster session. David Seong discusses his research from the lab of Nima Aghaeepour at the symposium poster session. Aaron Gitler, a Stanford Medicine Basic Science Professor in the Department of Genetics and a member of the Knight Initiative Steering Committee, and Elizabeth Mormino, an associate professor (research) of neurology and neurological sciences (neurology research), smile for the camera at the symposium poster session.
October 13, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
Our Fall Symposium is today! We look forward to our poster session and talks by:

John W. Day, Soyon Hon @soyonhonglab.bsky.social,
Alina Isakova, Andrew C. Yang, Hongkui Seng @hongkuizeng.bsky.social, and Xuchen Zhang.
Text: Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience Fall 2025 Symposium. Image collage, top row, from left: 1. Digital Pathology — Oil Red O staining of a prefrontal cortex sample. It stains neutral lipids to assess lipid pathology. (triacylglycerols and sterol esters). The lipid staining gives an idea of lipid pathology to track a feature of brain aging. The red stains are positive stains (neutral lipid aggregates within cells). 2.Dr. John W. Day, Stanford University. 3. Dr. Soyon Hong, University College London. 4. Dr. Alina Isakova, Stanford University. Bottom row, from left: 1. Dr. Andrew C. Yang, UCSF, Gladstone Institutes. 2. Dr. Hongkui Zeng, Allen Institute for Brain Science. 3. Dr. Xuchen Zhang, Stanford University. 4. Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience logo.
October 9, 2025 at 6:13 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Congrats to Bianxiao Cui on receiving the Transformative Research Award from the National Institutes of Health!

Dr. Cui will use this grant to support research to uncover and target a newly identified survival mechanism of metastatic cancer cells.

Read more: news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
NIH Directors Transformative Research Award Bianxiao Cui, the Job and Gertrude Tamaki Professor of Chemistry in the School of Humanities and Sciences, and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute affiliate.
October 9, 2025 at 4:51 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Six @stanford.edu scientists, including Anne Brunet @brunetlab.bsky.social, have been awarded High-Risk, High-Reward Research program grants from the National Institutes of Health.

This will support Brunet's work on the peripheral nervous system, organs & aging.

news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
Image of the Stanford Discovery walk. Anne Brunet, the Michele and Timothy Barakett Professor of Genetics at Stanford Medicine and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute affiliate.
October 8, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
Great talks at our recent seminar! Featuring:

Kristy Zera - Blocking the VLA4/VCAM1 axis prevents infarct-induced neurodegeneration by reducing neuroinflammation & promoting vascular integrity

Carla Shatz - Convergence of signals for pruning at a synaptic receptor implicated in Alzheimer's Disease
Dr. Kristy Zera gave a talk on “Blocking the VLA4/VCAM1 axis prevents infarct-induced neurodegeneration by reducing neuroinflammation and promoting vascular integrity" at the monthly Brain Resilience Seminar Series. Dr. Carla Shatz gave a talk on “Convergence of signals for pruning at a synaptic receptor implicated in Alzheimer's disease" at the monthly Brain Resilience Seminar Series.
October 8, 2025 at 6:46 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
What happens in our brains when we sketch?

Explore the neuroscience of sketching ideas with Stanford psychologist @judyefan. We discuss how we can better understand what we observe, how we process info, what happens when we put it on a canvas, and more.

🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/doodles...
From Our Neurons to Yours, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University Judy Fan, assistant professor of psychology and affiliate of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
October 7, 2025 at 9:16 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Congrats to the Seed Grant awardees! Projects include efforts to develop new tools for delivering drugs to the brain; study the role of neuropeptide molecules in pain & brain signaling; and probe the links between genetics, inflammation, & Alzheimer’s.

🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/pain-al...
2025 Seed Grant awardees (10 awardees across 5 projects)
October 2, 2025 at 10:29 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Great news! Our podcast, From Our Neurons to Yours, is a finalist for the Listener’s Choice Award in Science & Education at @signalawards.bsky.social!🎙️

Help us win and vote here by Oct. 9: vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting...
The Signal Listener's Choice Award needs YOU
I just voted for this finalist to win a Signal Listener's Choice Award. You should too.
vote.signalaward.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
Join us on Oct 9 at a symposium featuring brain resilience and aging research, including a clinical presentation with a patient’s perspective, poster session, and social! Registration required.

Stanford affiliates, sign up to present a poster by Oct 2.

brainresilience.stanford.edu/events/knigh...
Text: Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University. Fall 2025 Symposium and Poster Session. October 9, 2025, 12:30 PM to 6:00 PM. Image description: Digital Pathology. Oil Red O staining of a prefrontal cortex sample. It stains neutral lipids to assess lipid pathology. (triacylglycerols and sterol esters). The lipid staining gives an idea of lipid pathology to track a feature of brain aging. The red stains are positive stains (neutral lipid aggregates within cells). One of many stains that are possible. Image credit: Brain Resilience Lab.
September 25, 2025 at 5:40 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Wu Tsai Neuro affiliate Jessica Ross and colleagues used TMS pulses to induce movements in people's hands—a common testing ground for new ideas in the field. By carefully timing those pulses to music, the team found they could double the impact of TMS.

neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/groove-...
Koret Human Neurosciences Community Laboratory Director Milena Kaestner (left) and study author Corey Keller (right). Jessica Ross, an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford Medicine.
September 24, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted
I was floored by this conversation. Thanks so much to Dr. Ballon and soon-to-be-doctor Pagdon (@spagdon.bsky.social) for helping me better understand how our sense of reality is built, and what it feels like to have it slip.
stanfordbrain.bsky.social stanfordbrain.bsky.social @stanfordbrain.bsky.social · Sep 18
What can neuroscience tell us about psychosis?

Stanford psychiatrist Jacob Ballon and peer advocate Shannon Pagdon join our podcast to explore neuroscience, lived experience, and the shift toward recovery-oriented care.

Listen now: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/what-ps...
From Our Neurons to Yours. Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University. Jacob Ballon, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine and founding co-director of the Stanford Inspire Clinic. Shannon Pagdon, doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, the co-creator of Psychosis Outside the Box and current Vice President of lived experience research for the International Early Psychosis Association.
September 19, 2025 at 11:01 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
What can neuroscience tell us about psychosis?

Stanford psychiatrist Jacob Ballon and peer advocate Shannon Pagdon join our podcast to explore neuroscience, lived experience, and the shift toward recovery-oriented care.

Listen now: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/what-ps...
From Our Neurons to Yours. Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University. Jacob Ballon, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine and founding co-director of the Stanford Inspire Clinic. Shannon Pagdon, doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, the co-creator of Psychosis Outside the Box and current Vice President of lived experience research for the International Early Psychosis Association.
September 18, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted
brainresilience.bsky.social
Amyloid beta and inflammation may converge on the LilrB2 receptor, according to new research led by Carla Shatz and supported by a Knight Initiative Catalyst Award. This may help explain synapse loss in Alzheimer’s.

Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/buildin...
Building bridges between Alzheimer’s theories
A new study finds links between two popular models of the disease—and the results could change how
brainresilience.stanford.edu
September 16, 2025 at 6:58 PM
stanfordbrain.bsky.social
Stanford undergrads and local community college students paired with Wu Tsai Neuro researchers to find new ways to head off strokes, predict Alzheimer's disease, and more at the Annual NeURO and NeURO-CC Poster Session.

Read the full story in the comments.
2025 cohort of NeURO and NeURO-CC fellows. Aja Zou presents her research at the poster session. Ayushi Mohanty presents her research at the poster session. Samuel Egboh presents his research at the poster session.
September 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM