Xin Zhao
@xinzhao322.bsky.social
Assistant Professor | Behavioral Neuroscience | Texas Christian University
https://xzhao322.wixsite.com/xinzhaolab
https://xzhao322.wixsite.com/xinzhaolab
Pinned
Fully funded Ph.D. Opportunity - Behavioral Neuroscience @ TCU (Fall 2026)
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
Reposted by Xin Zhao
Our Behavioural Brain Research special issue on Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents is growing, rapidly – and actually a lot faster than I manage to post about it. Nine new manuscripts got accepted since my last post. Quite impressive work. Check it out:
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
November 6, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Our Behavioural Brain Research special issue on Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents is growing, rapidly – and actually a lot faster than I manage to post about it. Nine new manuscripts got accepted since my last post. Quite impressive work. Check it out:
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Fully funded Ph.D. Opportunity - Behavioral Neuroscience @ TCU (Fall 2026)
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
November 4, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Fully funded Ph.D. Opportunity - Behavioral Neuroscience @ TCU (Fall 2026)
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
Reposted by Xin Zhao
The published version of our study on the early-life transition from isolation USVs to adult-like USVs in juvenile mice is out in Animal Behaviour!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1m1YDmjMA4GP
bsky.app/profile/kati...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1m1YDmjMA4GP
bsky.app/profile/kati...
November 3, 2025 at 1:49 PM
The published version of our study on the early-life transition from isolation USVs to adult-like USVs in juvenile mice is out in Animal Behaviour!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1m1YDmjMA4GP
bsky.app/profile/kati...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1m1YDmjMA4GP
bsky.app/profile/kati...
Reposted by Xin Zhao
The Tschida Lab is recruiting a new PhD student this cycle! We have ongoing projects related to (1) neural circuits that regulate vocal communication across behavioral contexts and/or development and (2) motor control of different vocalization types. Please RT! Strong neuro background a plus.
October 20, 2025 at 6:38 PM
The Tschida Lab is recruiting a new PhD student this cycle! We have ongoing projects related to (1) neural circuits that regulate vocal communication across behavioral contexts and/or development and (2) motor control of different vocalization types. Please RT! Strong neuro background a plus.
Reposted by Xin Zhao
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.
Reposted by Xin Zhao
New story to share! We routinely put running wheels in our mouse cages. The mice love them, and there's lots of evidence that exercise is great for health. Given our focus on social behaviors, though, we wondered whether running wheels change mouse social behavior.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
a hamster is sitting in a hamster wheel in a cage
ALT: a hamster is sitting in a hamster wheel in a cage
media.tenor.com
September 29, 2025 at 6:42 PM
New story to share! We routinely put running wheels in our mouse cages. The mice love them, and there's lots of evidence that exercise is great for health. Given our focus on social behaviors, though, we wondered whether running wheels change mouse social behavior.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Xin Zhao
This was a fun piece to write for @cp-trendspharma.bsky.social
“The ABCs of Psychedelics: A Preclinical Roadmap for Drug Discovery” with John McCorvy and @jmantsch.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/pharm...
“The ABCs of Psychedelics: A Preclinical Roadmap for Drug Discovery” with John McCorvy and @jmantsch.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/pharm...
August 28, 2025 at 1:58 PM
This was a fun piece to write for @cp-trendspharma.bsky.social
“The ABCs of Psychedelics: A Preclinical Roadmap for Drug Discovery” with John McCorvy and @jmantsch.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/pharm...
“The ABCs of Psychedelics: A Preclinical Roadmap for Drug Discovery” with John McCorvy and @jmantsch.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/pharm...
Reposted by Xin Zhao
New study from the lab! A follow-up to our finding that short-term social isolation promotes same-sex mounting in female mice. Led by grad student Cassidy Malone and post-doc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from undergrad Selina Xu!
Same-sex mounting in single-housed C57BL/6J female mice is not regulated by estrous state https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.01.662591v1
July 4, 2025 at 1:43 AM
New study from the lab! A follow-up to our finding that short-term social isolation promotes same-sex mounting in female mice. Led by grad student Cassidy Malone and post-doc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from undergrad Selina Xu!
Reposted by Xin Zhao
Hello friends, our 🆕 lab preprint w/ @jordanmarrocco.bsky.social is here; please enjoy!
Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch
Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch
Investigating milk derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention
Parental communication signals are transmitted through nursing and critically shape neurodevelopmental trajectories. Mirroring some well characterized effects of gestational challenges in rodents, mat...
www.biorxiv.org
June 3, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Hello friends, our 🆕 lab preprint w/ @jordanmarrocco.bsky.social is here; please enjoy!
Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch
Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch
Reposted by Xin Zhao
Very happy to share the newest work from our lab, led by postdoc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from many past and present undergrad RAs.
elifesciences.org/articles/94924
elifesciences.org/articles/94924
Short-term social isolation acts on hypothalamic neurons to promote social behavior in a sex- and context-dependent manner
A population of neurons in the hypothalamus promotes social behaviors in female mice following a period of short-term social isolation.
elifesciences.org
March 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Very happy to share the newest work from our lab, led by postdoc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from many past and present undergrad RAs.
elifesciences.org/articles/94924
elifesciences.org/articles/94924