Jared Nielsen

1/7 🧠 My journey into development begins with this work and question: how does the brain's spatial navigation system develop? We found that the neural networks for spatial navigation (tori and rings) are preconfigured and only later anchor gradually to the world with experience! 🧵

Securing the academic pipeline amid uncertain U.S. funding climate Finding creative ways to keep early-career researchers in academia—for example, through part-time roles—can help the field weather the storm.

My latest in @thetransmitter.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

Tragic. Please pass this along to US Chairs and Deans, and consider it when you sit on promotion committees. This, combined with the review backlog, is dire - especially for our early career researchers.

It’s official, Rep. Trevor Lee did not get a single bill he sponsored through this session.

He went 0-for-12.

Autism researchers rebuke Kennedy, form independent advisory group A group of autism researchers and advocates are forming an independent advisory body to develop a scientific agenda for the autism community.

nice move to counter pseudoscience
www.statnews.com/2026/03/03/a...

We think of white matter as the highways of the brain. But when we followed development along those highways, we were surprised. The journey is more complex than we thought. My final PhD paper, “Two Axes of White Matter Development”, is now out in @natcomms.nature.com! 🛣️🧠✨
🔗 bit.ly/wm2axes

That's right. Worse than Pointless
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

I’m building a foundational reading list for our lab (systems & circuit neuroscience, compneuro, modeling, neuromodulators, population coding etc.).

I’d like to crowdsource recommendations.

Which review(s) would you consider mandatory reading for the next generation of researchers?

‘Unbelievably dangerous’: experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases

Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

A recent paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com raised concerns about the lesion network mapping method. Our team of 16 coauthors analyzed >1000 lesions and 34 symptoms and found that "The methodological foundations of lesion network mapping remain sound" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A recent paper in Nature Neuroscience raised concerns about the lesion network mapping method. Our team of 16 coauthors analyzed >1000 lesions and 34 symptoms and found that "The methodologic... A recent paper in Nature Neuroscience raised concerns about the lesion network mapping method. Our team of 16 coauthors analyzed >1000 lesions and 34 symptoms and found that "The methodological found...

Lesion network mapping experts respond to recent questions about their methods.

www.linkedin.com/posts/michae...

after failed military incursion, us government responds with economic sanctions

Pope Leo Will Spend July 4 Visiting Migrant Crossing Island Pope Leo has spoken out against the treatment of migrants in the United States several times over the last year.

JD Vance personally invited Pope Leo to the U.S. 250th celebration on the 4th of July. Today the Vatican announced Leo will be spending the day with migrants instead.

Volunteer Join us in creating an uplifting and unforgettable event that champions a more inclusive world!

Minnesota is just months away from hosting the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games for the first time, and we need volunteers.

Sign up here, and let’s keep showing the world what it means to be a good neighbor:

2026specialolympicsusagames.org/get-involved...

Utah Supreme Court upholds fairer map for midterm elections, rejects GOP appeal That fairer map creates a district where Democratic voters can meaningfully compete.

🚨BREAKING: In a decisive win for voters, the Utah Supreme Court dismissed the GOP legislature’s appeal in the state’s landmark redistricting case — clearing the way for a fairer congressional map to be used in the 2026 elections. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

"You see what you look for, and you look for what you know."

We are proud to release FOCUS: a 100 μm deformable human subcortical atlas precisely registered to MNI space.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

PINE Lab is hiring up to two postdoctoral fellows to join our community in Boston summer 2026! If you are a senior graduate student interested in doing postdoctoral studies with PINE Lab, please submit an application here: lnkd.in/evTakygw

Are you a junior faculty member interested in spending 2-4 weeks at Princeton Psych? Please apply for our Microsabbatical program! It’s a fully funded visit for professional development and creating long-term collaborations.
psych.princeton.edu/diversity/mi...

Neuroscience has a species problem If neuroscience is serious about building general principles of brain function, cross-species dialogue must become a core organizing principle.

If neuroscience is serious about building general principles of brain function, cross-species dialogue must become a core organizing principle rather than an afterthought, writes @suthanalab.bsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/animal-model...

The Project 2025 architect who promised to put federal employees “in trauma” is spending $15 million of former USAID funding—money that would have gone toward fighting HIV, polio, malaria, and other diseases—to bankroll his security detail. trib.al/TSV3cmb

Are you doing ephys in humans? Come do neuroscience with us!

Letter: Utah lawmaker’s bill to rename the West Bank is designed to foment violence Letter: As a Jew and a rabbi, I believe the Jewish people have a historical connection to the West Bank — but so do Palestinians. Karianne Lisonbee’s bill to rename it will do nothing except inflame tensions and foment violence.

Letter: As a Jew and a rabbi, I believe the Jewish people have a historical connection to the West Bank — but so do Palestinians. Karianne Lisonbee’s bill to rename it will do nothing except inflame tensions and foment violence.

I know $1 billion sounds like a lot, but it's incredibly, astonishingly cheap to get the best minds to work over a decade on fundamental research critical to Australia.

A decade!

Vaccines are truly one of the most incredible things in all of human history. We founds ways to literally defeat communicable deadly diseases at almost no cost and at no harm to ourselves.

And someone who had literal brain worms is working to undermine that and get people killed.

To encourage reuse of our data, Pew Research Center, with support from the John Templeton Foundation, invites researchers to submit proposals for new research publications that use one or more of the following datasets (collectively, Datasets) from the Global Religious Futures (GRF) project: Global Restrictions on Religion 2007-2022 dataset. This cumulative dataset includes measures of government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion in nearly 200 countries and territories. Spring 2024 Survey. This dataset includes measures of religion and spirituality in 35 countries. (Comparable data was also collected in 2023 and 2024 for the United States. The downloadable materials which accompany the international dataset include additional information about U.S. data.) Dataset of Global Religious Composition Estimates for 2010 and 2020. This dataset includes estimates of the size of seven major religious groups in more than 200 countries and territories. We encourag

Please share: 2 weeks remain to submit a proposal for $3k for writing a paper using recent Pew-Templeton global datasets. We will support 19 projects. Submit by Monday, March 2.
https://www.pewresearch.org/2026/01/16/seeking-research-using-recent-pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-datasets/

Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief and an archit...

Reuters Exclusive:

The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from USAID, the former U.S. foreign aid agency, to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, Trump's budget chief and an architect of the government overhaul cut thousands of federal jobs.

I am looking to hire 2-3 post-docs over the course of the next few months to work on questions related to cognitive control in humans, broadly construed. EEG, TMS, DBS, sEEG, fMRI or related methodological experience preferred.
Apply here:

jobs.uiowa.edu/jobSearch/po...

Lab website: wessellab.org

Another NIH institute loses its director Health department declines to renew Lindsey Criswell, head of arthritis institute, to another 5-year term

The chief of NIAMS, Lindsey Criswell, has told her staff that her 5-year leadership appointment had not been renewed, meaning 16 out of 27 NIH institutes and centers will be operating without a permanent director. https://scim.ag/4cr5wHI

🎉 PINE Lab is hiring a postbacc Research Coordinator! Projects include cohort studies examining brain mechanisms linking adversity to cognition/language & RCTs of early interventions on neurodevelopment.
apply: forms.gle/Dyay39x2XEMn...
more info: www.plasticityinneurodevelopmentlab.com/join-us