Our paper on ketamine’s effect on astrocytes and behavior is out in @NeuroCellPress , with Alex Chen, Eric Hsu, and colleagues @alexbchen , @EricT_Hsu , with the @EngertLab , Fishman, & Bergles labs cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S08…

Engineers in Ed Boyden's lab have developed a microscope that captures electrical activity across an entire zebrafish brain at millisecond speed—revealing how neurons coordinate as an emergent whole. mcgovern.mit.edu/2026/08/14/…

Check out this article in @QuantaMagazine about how astrocytes influence neural activity, including our work from last year! quantamagazine.org/once-thou…

The final first author paper from my PhD is finally out!!! We find that DOI changes total movement in rats and mice differently, and not all strains of mice respond the same way. This change in locomotion at 1mg/kg DOI seems to be 5HT2A dependent. sciencedirect.com/science/ar…

BioFestival 2025: Zymo Lightning Talk and Poster Competition Winners Announced #LifeScience #BioFestival @RachelleGaudet @ZymoResearch @Harvard @HarvardGSAS @HSCRB @hseas @broadinstitute @harvardmed mcb.harvard.edu/department/n…

Just out! “The astrocytic ensemble acts as a multiday trace to stabilize memory.” We identified astrocytic ensembles that link experiences across days to stabilize memory nature.com/articles/s41586-0…. New astrocyte tools are openly available at Addgene: addgene.org/Jun_Nagai/. 1/8

We used protein engineering to develop cocaine-gated ion channels. Our approach simplifies chemogenetic applications for cocaine addiction by having cocaine itself activate inhibitory and/or excitatory channels. Collaboration between @mikelides @BrainCaRMA rdcu.be/eCJK4

🐟 New research led by the Ahrens Lab reveals how astrocytes trigger a biochemical circuit that regulates neuronal activity in zebrafish, causing the fish to stop swimming when they aren’t getting anywhere – a behavior critical for survival. ➡️ janelia.org/news/on-the-side…

Shoutout @marcduque3

Congratulations to the Rising Stars in Neuroscience – Class of 2025! This is one of my favorite events each year, and this year was no exception. Keep an eye on this incredible group of scientists—they’re doing amazing things!

Do we need to rethink near-death experiences? What’s really happening in the brain? NDEs might be a hardwired coping strategy: the dissociation, calmness, and detachment when facing death may actually be an evolutionarily protective response. For decades, people have asked me: "Is there something happening in the brain when people have a near-death experience?" How does the brain, at the edge of life, produce the powerful, often mystical experiences so many people describe. New insights on the topic have just been published in Nature Reviews Neurology by Martial and colleagues. Key Points: - This study by Martial and colleagues offers a compelling neuroscientific model of near-death experiences (NDEs). - The authors try to move us from spiritual speculation toward biological plausibility. - If we rethink these experiences, we might also learn something crucial about human consciousness itself. - NDEs seem to involve a cascade of neurophysiological and psychological processes. - These events can be triggered by physiological crises like a cardiac arrest (heart attack). - These experiences seem to be linked to massive releases of neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, GABA, endorphins). - The default mode network, temporoparietal junction, and brainstem arousal systems may all play key roles. - Serotonin (5-HT1A, 5-HT2A) and glutamate are particularly implicated in the peaceful feelings and vivid hallucinations. - The authors review the newly proposed NEPTUNE model that actually frames NDEs as "evolutionarily conserved responses." - These episodes may not just be 'brain failures.' Should we be thinking of them as potential survival mechanisms. My take: Why does this matter? This paper bridges what we once pictured as the mystical with the medical. It helps us understand that NDEs are not a supernatural anomaly, but rather a biological response to an extreme crisis. These NDEs may have evolved to help the brain cope, survive, and even encode memory in the final seconds of life. My 5 Key Takeaways: 1- NDEs may reflect a brain in survival mode. In other words, these experiences likely originate from complex brain activity, not from flatlining or from brain inactivity. 2- REM intrusion, not just hypoxia, plays a role. The features of REM sleep (like atonia and vivid dreams) can possibly intrude into waking consciousness, helping explain out-of-body sensations. 3- Neurotransmitter surges may create mystical content. The massive releases of serotonin and dopamine can produce hyper-reality, hallucinations, and euphoria. These effects are similar to what is observed when using psychedelics. 4- NDEs might be a hardwired coping strategy. Think about it: the dissociation, calmness, and detachment when facing death may be evolutionarily protective responses. Ever heard the terms: playing dead or thanatosis. 5- We must rethink brain death and consciousness Brain activity may persist or surge briefly after cardiac arrest, suggesting we have much more to learn about when and how consciousness truly ends. What is the bottom line? As we edge closer to understanding the neural basis of NDEs, we also open doors to new insights into the biology of consciousness. What we once attributed to metaphysics may now be understood as neurophysics. Let’s keep asking bold questions. Because understanding near-death may bring us closer to understanding what it means to be fully alive. nature.com/articles/s41582-0… #Consciousness #Neuroscience #NearDeathExperience #Neurology #Serotonin #NDE #BrainScience #NatureNeuro #NEPTUNEModel

New Stars in Neural Circuits: Astrocytes Guide Brain State Changes @alexbchen @marcduque3 @EngertLab @MishaAhrens @HarvardGSAS @Harvard @RachelleGaudet @harvardmed @HHMIJanelia mcb.harvard.edu/department/n…

Check out @alexbchen's thesis work, along with the other astrocyte papers in this @ScienceMagazine issue! From flies to fish to mice - air, water and earth, the science is fire 🔥🧯

Finally, stay tuned for other part of my thesis work, covering all of the other non-astrocyte cells in the brain, called neurons! Fish connectome dropping hopefully before GTA VI

Locus Coeruleus to Medial Prefrontal Cortex Noradrenergic Neural Circuit Modulates States of Consciousness during Sevoflurane Anesthesia in Mice biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…

Honored and excited to present my work at the Rising Stars in Neuroscience Symposium! Grateful to @EricJNestler, @SinaiBrain and @UUNeurobiology for this opportunity — can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on!

Interestingly, work by @marcduque3, @EricT_Hsu, and I has shown that the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine blunts astroglial responsiveness to norepinephrine (cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S08…). It would be interesting to see if lateral habenula astrocytes are affected in similar ways!

A rare carnivorous caterpillar, previously unknown to biologists, stalks spiderwebs for food whilst dressed in the remains of its prey, researchers report in Science. This unique new species, dubbed the “bone collector,” is found only on a single mountainside on the Hawai’ian island of Oa’hu. scim.ag/4jMV8uk

nature.com/articles/s41593-0… Fascinating!!