Alex Keyes, PhD
@neuropharmnerd.bsky.social
neuro nerd. aspiring artist. UIowa PhD - Pharmacology. Interested in neuro-immune interactions in the spinal cord. my opinions are my own. they/them
Pinned
feels like there's a whole lot of people who are more committed to never doing anything wrong than actually doing something right
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Moose
Humpback whales
Giraffes
African Elephants
West African or Nile monitor lizard
Moose
Humpback whales
Giraffes
African Elephants
West African or Nile monitor lizard
November 28, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Ok one more video. the most beautiful fluke I've seen. edited for EXTRA BEAUTY!!!
November 24, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Ok one more video. the most beautiful fluke I've seen. edited for EXTRA BEAUTY!!!
i'd love to know what constellation Matteo Rizzo makes in his Interstellar free skate program's step sequence
November 22, 2025 at 5:14 PM
i'd love to know what constellation Matteo Rizzo makes in his Interstellar free skate program's step sequence
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
im so fucking lucky i was able to get through the times in my life i thought i'd never come out as trans and never survive the closet
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
November 20, 2025 at 11:02 PM
im so fucking lucky i was able to get through the times in my life i thought i'd never come out as trans and never survive the closet
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
It’s often surprising to people, but Midwestern college towns like Iowa City and Madison are highly progressive. Council meetings are all about housing costs and community resources
We love our free busses in Iowa City. Stress free too www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:11 PM
It’s often surprising to people, but Midwestern college towns like Iowa City and Madison are highly progressive. Council meetings are all about housing costs and community resources
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
So when the aurora borealis is faint enough, you can capture its glow with the Milky Way 😍
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
So when the aurora borealis is faint enough, you can capture its glow with the Milky Way 😍
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Here is my argument that the pundits are wrong. You absolutely can run a socialist in middle America and win. www.patreon.com/posts/143343...
You can run a Mamdani in Iowa and win | Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz
Get more from Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Here is my argument that the pundits are wrong. You absolutely can run a socialist in middle America and win. www.patreon.com/posts/143343...
1. of books assigned to me in school: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 AM
1. of books assigned to me in school: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
The latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social led by Katherin Gabriel and @oliviadavis.bsky.social with a huge contribution from @allanhpool.bsky.social's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A molecular map of the human spinal dorsal and ventral horn defines arrangement of neuronal types and glial sex differences
The spinal cord is the gateway for sensory information from the body as it ascends to the brain, as well as a major motor output center of the nervous system. It is also a key location for sensory-mot...
www.biorxiv.org
November 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
The latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social led by Katherin Gabriel and @oliviadavis.bsky.social with a huge contribution from @allanhpool.bsky.social's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
hey that's the paper i'm co-first on! it was a fun project to work on and there's nice example videos in the supplemental
This study by Yaroslav E. Andrianov et al. finds that activation of TRPA1 and TRPM3 triggers Ca2+ waves in central terminals of sensory #neurons and facilitates #synaptic activity in the spinal dorsal horn ⚙️ 🧠
📜 Read the #Research: physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/...
📜 Read the #Research: physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/...
November 1, 2025 at 12:19 PM
hey that's the paper i'm co-first on! it was a fun project to work on and there's nice example videos in the supplemental
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
After 13 years in the US, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave. Having packed up everything and rethought about priorities, rather painstakingly, while I’m sad to leave the life I’ve made here, I’m also relieved that I won’t have to plan my life around immigration policies anymore.
October 31, 2025 at 4:08 AM
After 13 years in the US, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave. Having packed up everything and rethought about priorities, rather painstakingly, while I’m sad to leave the life I’ve made here, I’m also relieved that I won’t have to plan my life around immigration policies anymore.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
This. This. This. Food banks generally have buying power and partnerships where your money actually buys more food and feeds more people if they’re the ones doing the purchasing.
please give money and not food, it takes a not insignificant amount of time to sort and stock donations and money goes very far. also make sure you donate to a place that treats people with dignity and respect and allows access to anyone
as we reach the SNAP cliff just a gentle reminder to do-gooders that the most efficient use of resources is to contribute to organizations that are already established. unless nothing exists in your area (and it likely does whether you know it) now is probably not the time to stand something up
October 27, 2025 at 1:41 AM
This. This. This. Food banks generally have buying power and partnerships where your money actually buys more food and feeds more people if they’re the ones doing the purchasing.
upped my donation to the local food banks & i encourage anyone who can donate to do so.
Americans brace for food stamps to run out: ‘the greatest hunger catastrophe since the Great Depression’
Americans brace for food stamps to run out: ‘the greatest hunger catastrophe since the Great Depression’
Nearly 42 million people in danger as federal government shutdown continues and Snap funding to end 1 November
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:55 AM
upped my donation to the local food banks & i encourage anyone who can donate to do so.
i really want to see high-quality photos of Mikhail Shaidorov's exhibition outfit - that embroidery work looks gorgeous!!
October 26, 2025 at 5:16 PM
i really want to see high-quality photos of Mikhail Shaidorov's exhibition outfit - that embroidery work looks gorgeous!!
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Sharing a figure from our recent paper showing excitatory synapses in the human spinal dorsal horn. I’ll never get over the awe of seeing these tiny dots, which underly such an important part of the human experience!
@tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
October 23, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Sharing a figure from our recent paper showing excitatory synapses in the human spinal dorsal horn. I’ll never get over the awe of seeing these tiny dots, which underly such an important part of the human experience!
@tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
i got pushed by docs into thinking my chronic migraines were just headaches from stress for five years - they were actually the primary manifestation of a tumor in my head. it took me a full year and half of fighting for myself to actually get the treatment i needed. it instantly cured me.
And so I anchored — I anchored on the first diagnosis I received. Even though that diagnosis was wrong. I'm sharing this experience not for sympathy or attention, but in the hope that it may be a useful cautionary tale. Do not make my mistake.
www.patreon.com/posts/141683...
www.patreon.com/posts/141683...
Don't Make The Same Mistake I Did - 🚫⚓️ | Matthew Cortland
Get more from Matthew Cortland on Patreon
www.patreon.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:27 PM
i got pushed by docs into thinking my chronic migraines were just headaches from stress for five years - they were actually the primary manifestation of a tumor in my head. it took me a full year and half of fighting for myself to actually get the treatment i needed. it instantly cured me.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
I’m not ready for the Grand Prix
a black cat with visible panic written on it
ALT: a black cat with visible panic written on it
media.tenor.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:28 AM
I’m not ready for the Grand Prix
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Finally out: our recent work with Nick Betley is a view into how the brain reshapes its behavior in the face of competing survival needs- and also a potential angle on treatment targets for enduring pain.
A brief rundown...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A brief rundown...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A parabrachial hub for need-state control of enduring pain - Nature
Activity in a set of parabranchial neurons in the mouse brain is increased during chronic pain, predicts coping behaviour, and can be modulated by circuits activated by survival threats.
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Finally out: our recent work with Nick Betley is a view into how the brain reshapes its behavior in the face of competing survival needs- and also a potential angle on treatment targets for enduring pain.
A brief rundown...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A brief rundown...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
love to have a representative that refuses to do her job! or be accountable to her constituents!
she won that seat originally by 6 votes. she held it last election by less than 1000. bold to be acting like this with those numbers.
she won that seat originally by 6 votes. she held it last election by less than 1000. bold to be acting like this with those numbers.
#IA01 Miller-Meeks says she will hold a town hall "when hell freezes over."
www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/p...
A swing-district Iowa Republican says she’ll hold town halls ‘when hell freezes over’ | CNN Politics
Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks told Johnson County Republicans in an August meeting that she’ll hold town hall meetings “when hell freezes over.”
www.cnn.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
love to have a representative that refuses to do her job! or be accountable to her constituents!
she won that seat originally by 6 votes. she held it last election by less than 1000. bold to be acting like this with those numbers.
she won that seat originally by 6 votes. she held it last election by less than 1000. bold to be acting like this with those numbers.
i'll be really curious to see what happens with my age cohort (at least, those of us who got chickenpox vaccines and never got chickenpox in the first place)
i'm among the oldest of people vaccinated against chickenpox, at least in the u.s.
i'm among the oldest of people vaccinated against chickenpox, at least in the u.s.
A new Nature Medicine study analyzing health records from >100 million people in the US offers compelling evidence that reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) ,the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles may contribute to dementia risk.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia - Nature Medicine
Large-scale longitudinal health records reveal consistent association of varicella-zoster virus reactivation with dementia.
www.nature.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:23 PM
i'll be really curious to see what happens with my age cohort (at least, those of us who got chickenpox vaccines and never got chickenpox in the first place)
i'm among the oldest of people vaccinated against chickenpox, at least in the u.s.
i'm among the oldest of people vaccinated against chickenpox, at least in the u.s.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
A new preprint out from the Levy lab, adding knowledge to the exciting world of brain border macrophages and neuroimmunology.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Meningeal macrophages exhibit diverse calcium signaling at steady-state and in response to aberrant cortical hyperexcitability in awake mice
The meninges, which envelop and protect the brain, host a large number of resident macrophages that play a crucial role in regulating homeostasis and neuroinflammation. Intracellular Ca2+ signaling me...
www.biorxiv.org
October 4, 2025 at 9:51 PM
A new preprint out from the Levy lab, adding knowledge to the exciting world of brain border macrophages and neuroimmunology.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...