Lisa Fenk

New #PhD on #bees (BeeHd?)! Despite the ad saying "UK Students only", a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!

Schematic of how ER-EPG plasticity enables the bump of activity in EPGs to accurately track visual cues. As a fly makes a counter-clockwise turn (top to bottom) it will view visual cues (e.g. the sun) from a new angle and the EPG activity bump (red) will swing clockwise around the network by integrating self motion signals with these visual inputs. When the fly faces a different angle, distinct visual ER neurons are active. Plasticity forms a trough of weak synapses (large circles - strong synapses, small circles - weak synapses) that allow ER neurons with distinct visual tuning to move the EPG bump via disinhibition.

*First preprint from our lab* !!!!!
How does the brain learn to anchor its internal sense of direction to the outside world? 🧭
led by Mark Plitt @markplitt.bsky.social & Dan Turner-Evans, w/ Vivek Jayaraman:
“Octopamine instructs head direction plasticity” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread ⬇️

How do neural circuits generate the walking rhythm?

Using connectome simulations, @sarahpugly.bsky.social found a minimal central pattern generator (CPG) that produces oscillations in leg motor neurons. Same circuit motif for each 🪰 leg.

w @bingbrunton.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Have you ever wondered what you would find if you could keep your eyes on a bee for more than a few meters? Us, too!

preprint (with videos!) + thread 🧵

Precise, individualized foraging flights in honey #bees 🐝 revealed by multicopter drone-based tracking

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

1/9

Jumping spiders can recognise one another. This ability to learn, remember and represent images is quite surprising for such a tiny-brained animal!
buff.ly/dCkwPr0

🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!

Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.

Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

Excited to announce our new pre-print (www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...)!

This collaborative work (co-led by Adriane Otopalik and Gerry Rubin) examines how neuronal circuits regulate social behaviors, like courtship🫶 and aggression🥊, across sexes. #neuroscience #Drosophila #WomenInSTEM 🧪1/

Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint:
“Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10

Apply now to become a speaker at our Institute! We invite excellent postdocs in neuroscience, ecology and other fields related to our research to apply for our Emerging Scientist Talk Series. Apply by October 24: www.bi.mpg.de/ess

@chr-mayer.bsky.social @fleyes.bsky.social @michaelahau.bsky.social

Grass Fellowship application flyer

Come to the MBL in Woods Hole @mblscience.bsky.social for a GRASS FELLOWSHIP @grassfoundation.bsky.social 🦑 🐙🐛
There are two application deadlines this year: Oct 15, 2025 (submit by then to receive feedback on your application!), and Dec 1, 2025 (final deadline). grassfoundation.org/application-...

Job Alert! The University of Tübingen is hiring a FULL PROFESSOR (W3) in FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY! Come and join our institute, and maybe our new excellence clusters @terra-cluster.org and @greenrobust.de. @gfoesoc.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Please repost!

Recurrent connectivity supports carbon dioxide sensitivity in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes The mosquito Aedes aegypti′s human host-seeking behavior depends on the integration of multiple sensory cues. One of these cues, carbon dioxide (CO2), gates odorant and heat pathways and activates hos...

New preprint from @darbly.bsky.social‬ @briandepasquale.bsky.social‬ and my labs! If you love (or hate) mosquitoes, have a look:

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We used TEM to describe the circuitry used for CO2 detection by mosquitoes. As usual with mosquitoes, nothing is as expected! 🌬️🦟

a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people ALT: a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

Happy Friday! The female adult fly brain-and-nerve-cord (BANC) connectome is now LIVE!

Explore the data here: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Check out the preprint here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Temporal control of progenitor competence shapes maturation in GABAergic neuron development in mice - Nature Neuroscience Unlike cortical progenitors, ventral telencephalic progenitors retain the ability to generate diverse neuron types during neurogenesis. Here, the authors show that ventral telencephalic progenitor mat...

Now out in @natneuro.nature.com: Temporal control of progenitor competence shapes maturation in GABAergic neuron development in mice. Congrats to first authors @annrosebright.bsky.social, Yana Kotlyarenko, @flo-neuhaus.bsky.social, and thanks to all collaborators!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n

Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night - Nature Every spring, Bogong moths use the starry night sky as a compass to navigate up to 1,000 km towards their alpine migratory goal.

cool new paper in @nature.com about moth migration, showing they use the stars to navigate up to the mountains in the summer 🧪🌍🐙

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Neural Systems & Behavior Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory is going to be looking for a co-director. If you're a faculty member who is interested in helping to organize and run this incredible course, submit a brief statement and your CV at this website. www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

Are you interested in visual systems? How are they similar or different across species? Read the review by Ryosuke @ryosuketanaka.bsky.social and Ruben published today in @natrevneuro.nature.com. It is available here: rdcu.be/enlpC

Interested in a PhD connecting sensory ecology and evolutionary genetics? Applications are now open for a project on the Speciation Genomics of Eye Size Variation in Heliconius Butterflies in our lab at LMU Munich: www.evol.bio.lmu.de/research/mer... Please repost!

Beetz Lab Our group studies the neural mechanisms underlying spatial memory in insects. As central place foragers, honeybees begin their foraging trip at a fixed location, i.e., their nest. This site fidelity.....

Today, I signed my first contract as a principal investigator @uni-wuerzburg.de. My Emmy-Noether group can now officially start on 1st of May. If someone is interested working with me on the spatial memory of 🐝 as a PhD student or postdoc, contact me. More details: www.spatial-navigation.com

😳 #FirstInFly as often!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#DrosoFeed

Connectome-driven neural inventory of a complete visual system - Nature A connectome of the right optic lobe from a male fruitfly is presented together with an extensive collection of genetic drivers matched to a comprehensive neuron-type catalogue.

I know there's a 𝒍𝒐𝒕 going on right now, but I couldn’t be prouder to share this long-incubated labor of love: the complete connectome of the male 𝐷𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎 optic lobe 🧠🪰
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🪰A connectome of the fruit fly visual system & classification of its 53K neurons unlock new possibilities for probing vision in fruit flies hhmi.news/3XyqYCy

🔗Read more about these #openscience tools from our FlyEM Project Team & collaborators, first published as a 2024 #preprint: hhmi.news/4iIsavL

Beetz Lab Our group studies the neural mechanisms underlying spatial memory in insects. As central place foragers, honeybees begin their foraging trip at a fixed location, i.e., their nest. This site fidelity.....

Let me introduce our new lab homepage.

www.spatial-navigation.com

We are looking for PhD students and one Postdoc that can start in November 2025.

Contact me if you are in to studying spatial memory of honeybees. @uni-wuerzburg.de
@neuroethology.org

Munich city skyline

📢 🚨 Postdoc Opportunity 📢 🚨
Join us at @lmumuenchen.bsky.social to study how neural circuits 🧠 drive adaptive behavior. The lab uses state-of-the-art neuroscience technologies and offers a supportive environment 🤗!
⏳ Deadline: 15. April 2025
Learn more and apply: www.fens.org/careers/job-...

Spatial transcriptomics in fly brain and body. Wonderful collaboration with @steinaerts.bsky.social led by @jasperjanssens.bsky.social @pierremangeol.bsky.social Nikolai Hecker & Gabriele Partel - look at mRNA patterns in muscles and brains spatialfly.aertslab.org
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

From receptors to circuits: Join our next keynote lecture on mechanisms of adaptive behavior by neuroscientist @rockefelleruniv.bsky.social Vanessa Ruta!

TODAY, February 18 at 11am in NQ105 in Martinsried
Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

(Senior) Laboratory Research Scientist - Prieto Godino Lab Salary for this Role: LRS - From £31,675 with benefits subject to skills and experience. SLRS - From £39,950 with benefits, subject to skills and experience. Job Title: (Senior) Laboratory Research Sc...

We are hiring a new (Senior) Lab Research scientist to work in our team together with @antoniotorm.bsky.social to understand how virus alter neural circuit function to manipulate behavior. More details and how to apply: crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...

A breeding ruff male (Calidris pugnax) in alert posture scans the breeding area for mating opportunities at Liminka Bay, Finland. Ruff males deploy one of three mating tactics that differ in aggressive and courtship behaviors. Differences in aggression between tactics are tied to concentrations of circulating androgens, which are modulated by the actions of a single gene.

A single gene underlies male mating morphs in ruff sandpipers, a new Science study finds. The results show how evolutionary changes in a single gene's structure, sequence, and regulation can drive significant diversity within a single species.

Learn more in our new issue: https://scim.ag/4arzNmU

I'm thrilled to be opening my own lab this Fall at the @maxplanck.de MPI for Brain Research in Frankfurt. The lab is going to investigate the neuronal and genetic underpinnings of behavioral evolution. We are hiring on all levels. Don't hesitate to share widely and reach out if interested.

👋