Claire O'Callaghan's Avatar

Claire O'Callaghan

@claireocallaghan

Working in neuroscience etc. Sydney, Australia

1,257
Followers
1,255
Following
57
Posts
07.09.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Claire O'Callaghan @claireocallaghan

Post image

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

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

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

20.02.2026 12:28 πŸ‘ 80 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Neural connectome of the ctenophore statocyst Volume EM and connectome reconstruction of the apical organ of a ctenophore combined with high-speed imaging reveals a neuronal coordination of balancer cilia in the gravisensory organ.

In @eLife: Neural connectome of the ctenophore statocyst https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.108420
Version of record of our ctenophore nerve-net connectome paper.

18.02.2026 10:30 πŸ‘ 37 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Excited to share newly minted PhD Anu Korukonda's tour de force thesis work describing the impact of pathogenic tau on #locuscoeruleus function in a mouse model of early #Alzheimers. A must for #BlueSpot researchers! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1/3

02.02.2026 13:12 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
The biological role of local and global fMRI BOLD signal variability in multiscale human brain organization - Nature Communications Baracchini et al. reveal that temporal variability in fMRI brain signals encodes biologically meaningful information across spatial and temporal scales, highlighting its role in healthy brain function...

Now in press one of my last PhD projects! We traced the neurobiological profile of fMRI BOLD signal variability, a measure that has been related to age, behaviour, disease status, but had not yet been fully contextualised within the brain's multiscale architecture. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

30.01.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 38 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

Our latest preprint on how regional cellular, molecular, and other forms of heterogeneity shape macroscopic wave dynamics is now out:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

For a full thread, see:
x.com/_victorbarne...

26.01.2026 08:22 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Nine subcortical/cerebellar atlases included in the subcortex_visualization Python package (and subcortexVisualizationR package in R). The atlases are depicted in two-dimensional vector graphic format.

Nine subcortical/cerebellar atlases included in the subcortex_visualization Python package (and subcortexVisualizationR package in R). The atlases are depicted in two-dimensional vector graphic format.

The extended version of my thesis procrastination project/subcortex visualization package is out now in both Python and R, now that I’ve graduated 🀠 This figure shows the 9 atlases included (and counting)!

Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Website: anniegbryant.github.io/subcortex_vi...

27.01.2026 03:04 πŸ‘ 115 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 5
Preview
Predatory aggression evolved through adaptations to noradrenergic circuits - Nature Noradrenergic circuits support and balance aggressive behavioural states in predatory nematodes, distinguish predatory from non-predatory nematode species and are associated with the evolution of comp...

Why do some worms graze on bacteria while others hunt and kill?
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.

21.01.2026 16:31 πŸ‘ 80 πŸ” 35 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 5
Video thumbnail

Excited to share our new preprint! We explore the link between the locus coeruleus (LC) and arousal for astrocytes, pyramidal cells, interneurons in the hippocampus. A fantastic collaboration with @sianduss.bsky.social @bohaceklab.bsky.social, and many others: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/5

19.01.2026 13:36 πŸ‘ 65 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Video thumbnail

What is the computational role of dendritic excitations? Byung Hun Lee and team mapped voltage dynamics throughout the dendritic trees of CA1 pyramidal neurons in mice navigating in virtual reality. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

04.01.2026 06:17 πŸ‘ 130 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
Most researchers miss out on innovation grants while medical fund sits on $25b Nine in 10 Australian researchers had their β€œideas grant” applications rejected last year, even as Australia’s medical investment fund sits on $5 billion more than it was designed to hold.

A major part of our future health & prosperity lies in medical research. There are billions of available dollars that can be used for vital medical science. Please join the campaign for our government to act urgently to fully disperse these funds: aamri.org.au/mrff/
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

03.01.2026 22:21 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Great to see this out, had read it as a preprint and thought it was really cool. Congrats!

16.12.2025 06:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Locus coeruleus norepinephrine neurons facilitate orbitofrontal cortex remapping and behavioral flexibility Ogg et al. use in vivo imaging techniques to record activity in the locus coeruleus (LC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during a reversal learning task in freely moving rodents. They show that man...

Thrilled this is out, led by former PD Cameron Ogg (now with her own lab at @rhodescollege.bsky.social!). It was a driven by a desire to see, in real-time, how LC activity/NE release influences downstream targets in behaving animals. SO hard to do, but Cameron did it! www.cell.com/cell-reports...

15.12.2025 14:47 πŸ‘ 63 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0
Monash University - Sign In Sign in with your account to access PageUp

Exciting announcement!

Our Institute is calling for applications for a EMCR 2-year fellowship .

Come and join a great team @turnerinstitute!

Details here:
careers.pageuppeople.com/513/ci/en/jo...

14.12.2025 21:45 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Very normal. Totally normal. πŸ˜‰

11.12.2025 04:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
OHBM 2025 | Oral Session | Stuart Oldham | Only a matter of time: developmental heterochronicity c…
OHBM 2025 | Oral Session | Stuart Oldham | Only a matter of time: developmental heterochronicity c… YouTube video by Organization for Human Brain Mapping

My very normal, by the book presentation from this years OHBM is now available. So if you weren't at OHBM, were there but happened to miss it, or if you did see it and just want to relive it all over again, here is your chance :)

I'm quite fond of this one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP86...

11.12.2025 04:20 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Excellent read for a clear take on the current state of Australian scientific research funding

10.12.2025 22:56 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Gavan McNally (@gavanmcnally) Australia is sleepwalking into scientific irrelevance Β  Australia is living through a dangerous contradiction: we publicly praise science while systematically dismantling the conditions required for...

substack.com/@gavanmcnall...

05.12.2025 08:10 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3

We used rabies virus πŸ‘Ύ to map how #psilocybin modifies long-range circuits 🧠, revealing network-specific reorganization that we didn’t expect.

The full study is now online at Cell. @cp-cell.bsky.social

Paper πŸ‘‰ www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Thread for a synopsis πŸ‘‰
bsky.app/profile/alex...

05.12.2025 16:29 πŸ‘ 113 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 1

Very important! If you are an Australian researcher, please complete

05.12.2025 01:24 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Saved by Stoppard

Sir, In 1993 my wife and I went to see the first production of Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (obituary, Dec 1), and in the interval I experienced a Damascene conversion. As a clinical scientist I was trying to understand the enigma of the behaviour of breast cancer, the assumption being that it grew in a linear trajectory spitting off metastases on its way. In the first act of Arcadia, Thomasina asks her tutor, Septimus: β€œIf there is an equation for a curve like a bell, there must be an equation for one like a bluebell, and if a bluebell, why not a rose?” With that Stoppard explains chaos theory, which better explains the behaviour of breast cancer. At the point of diagnosis, the cancer must have already scattered cancer cells into the circulation that nest latent in distant organs. The consequence of that hypothesis was the birth of β€œadjuvant systemic chemotherapy”, and rapidly we saw a striking fall of the curve that illustrated patients’ survival.

Stoppard never learnt how many lives he saved by writing Arcadia.

Michael Baum
Professor emeritus of surgery; visiting professor of medical humanities, UCL

Saved by Stoppard Sir, In 1993 my wife and I went to see the first production of Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (obituary, Dec 1), and in the interval I experienced a Damascene conversion. As a clinical scientist I was trying to understand the enigma of the behaviour of breast cancer, the assumption being that it grew in a linear trajectory spitting off metastases on its way. In the first act of Arcadia, Thomasina asks her tutor, Septimus: β€œIf there is an equation for a curve like a bell, there must be an equation for one like a bluebell, and if a bluebell, why not a rose?” With that Stoppard explains chaos theory, which better explains the behaviour of breast cancer. At the point of diagnosis, the cancer must have already scattered cancer cells into the circulation that nest latent in distant organs. The consequence of that hypothesis was the birth of β€œadjuvant systemic chemotherapy”, and rapidly we saw a striking fall of the curve that illustrated patients’ survival. Stoppard never learnt how many lives he saved by writing Arcadia. Michael Baum Professor emeritus of surgery; visiting professor of medical humanities, UCL

Amazing letter in The Times (also an unbelievable play fwiw)

02.12.2025 12:33 πŸ‘ 122 πŸ” 36 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 7
Post image

πŸ”₯πŸ”₯The Program for the 2026 Noosa Brain Workshop is now Available!!! πŸ”₯πŸ”₯

We have an incredible line up of confirmed speakers!

Commuter registrations are still available, but places are limited.

Check the website for details:
www.monash.edu/turner-insti...

28.11.2025 03:51 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

Rapid neocortical network modifications via dendritic plateau potential induced plasticity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.19.689338v1

20.11.2025 08:15 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
Postdoctoral Researcher (2288) - Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck

πŸš€ We're hiring !

πŸ•΅οΈ Seeking a postdoc to study the development & individual-level organization of brain circuits supporting (in)flexible behavior in psychiatric populations.

🧠 Precision functional mapping, fMRI, normative modelling

Details πŸ‘‰ tinyurl.com/3h8tcv2e

πŸ—“οΈ Apply by Dec 10! Please RT πŸ™Œ

06.11.2025 10:56 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 28 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
Post image

πŸ”₯πŸ”₯Great news!πŸ”₯πŸ”₯

The registration deadline for the Noosa Brain Workshop is extended to Nov 17.

Register by this date to guarantee accomodation:

monash.edu/turner-insti...

05.11.2025 21:32 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
University of Rochester Neurobiologist Suzanne Haber Elected to National Academy of Medicine An internationally recognized scientist, her work has transformed our understanding of the brain networks that play a central role in many mental health disorders, including obsessive compulsive disor...

Suzanne Haber was just elected to the National Academy of Medicine! Her work on the organization of the cortex and basal ganglia has had a huge impact. Please take the opportunity to congratulate her the next time you see her. www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/u...

21.10.2025 14:48 πŸ‘ 75 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3
Preview
A Minimal Quantitative Model of Perceptual Suppression and Breakthrough in Visual Rivalry When conflicting images are presented to either eye, binocular fusion is disrupted. Rather than experiencing a blend of both percepts, often only one eye's image is experienced, whilst the other is su...

The final paper of my PhD is now out as a preprint. This is a follow-up piece in series of two companion papers modelling awareness and suppression in a new variant of continuous flash suppression.

arxiv.org/abs/2510.17154

🧡 1/3

21.10.2025 06:10 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

always liked mesolimbic DA as an activational construct, a gain control over behavioural output pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16977476/ cool to think of DA & NA complementing as gain control systems eg NA preserving selectivity/accuracy in the face of DA invigorating behav pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6709778/

14.10.2025 21:12 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Really interesting work by Bakhurin and colleagues challenging the reward prediction error hypothesis of dopamine:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).

14.10.2025 11:05 πŸ‘ 141 πŸ” 52 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 6
Preview
And then there were none: Australia’s only shrew declared extinct The tally of Australian mammals extinct since 1788 is now 39 species – far more than for any other country

As I argue in #PlatypusMatters, Australia has the world's best mammals, but is sadly the worst place on Earth to be a mammal, with the planet's worst #extinction rate.
The Christmas Island shrew is now the latest species to be officially declared extinct.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

11.10.2025 15:05 πŸ‘ 104 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 4
In the middle, there is an AI-generated picture of a duck. Below it, there is a human-illustrated Duck, looking at the other duck in shock, and saying "Wtf is this?"

In the middle, there is an AI-generated picture of a duck. Below it, there is a human-illustrated Duck, looking at the other duck in shock, and saying "Wtf is this?"

AI-generated content is flooding the internet, and we're entering a new era of information overload. Watch our latest video to find out how AI slop affects the internet and why kurzgesagt videos will always remain human-made: https://kgs.link/AISlop

07.10.2025 14:02 πŸ‘ 1263 πŸ” 398 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 27