Jason Keller
@neurojak.bsky.social
Neuroscientist in DudLab @dudman.bsky.social at Janelia @hhmijanelia.bsky.social
Husband, father, tinkerer, nature lover
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7IUnSGkAAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9839-7293
Husband, father, tinkerer, nature lover
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7IUnSGkAAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9839-7293
Reposted by Jason Keller
To study how animals understand the physical world (and the rules that govern its dynamics), @jinyao-y.bsky.social trains rats to play fetch with robots 🐀🤖🎾
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
November 18, 2025 at 1:16 AM
To study how animals understand the physical world (and the rules that govern its dynamics), @jinyao-y.bsky.social trains rats to play fetch with robots 🐀🤖🎾
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
Reposted by Jason Keller
I am thrilled to share our latest work: we identified a population of central amygdala neurons that promote the earliest and perhaps most important social behavior: pup suckling!... We also developed new tools for pup neuroscience
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
October 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
I am thrilled to share our latest work: we identified a population of central amygdala neurons that promote the earliest and perhaps most important social behavior: pup suckling!... We also developed new tools for pup neuroscience
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
Reposted by Jason Keller
Keep The Shuttle Update
nasawatch.com/shuttle-news...
"the KeepTheShuttle team is pleased to report that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors just completed a unanimous and bipartisan vote opposing the proposed relocation of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian."
nasawatch.com/shuttle-news...
"the KeepTheShuttle team is pleased to report that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors just completed a unanimous and bipartisan vote opposing the proposed relocation of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian."
Keep The Shuttle Update
According to a press release from KeepTheShuttle
nasawatch.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Keep The Shuttle Update
nasawatch.com/shuttle-news...
"the KeepTheShuttle team is pleased to report that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors just completed a unanimous and bipartisan vote opposing the proposed relocation of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian."
nasawatch.com/shuttle-news...
"the KeepTheShuttle team is pleased to report that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors just completed a unanimous and bipartisan vote opposing the proposed relocation of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian."
Reposted by Jason Keller
Nine former heads of the CDC—appointed by presidents of both parties—warn the nation of the immense peril RFK Jr is putting the country in.
Gift link, please send to families and friends www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Gift link, please send to families and friends www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
www.nytimes.com
September 1, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Nine former heads of the CDC—appointed by presidents of both parties—warn the nation of the immense peril RFK Jr is putting the country in.
Gift link, please send to families and friends www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Gift link, please send to families and friends www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Reposted by Jason Keller
1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal
www.whitehouse.gov
August 8, 2025 at 1:13 AM
1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Reposted by Jason Keller
New Trump EO: "when ideological biases or social agendas are built into AI models, they can distort the quality and accuracy of the output"
...so henceforth the US government won't do business with you unless your LLM is built to echo our ideological bias and promote our social agenda.
...so henceforth the US government won't do business with you unless your LLM is built to echo our ideological bias and promote our social agenda.
Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
July 24, 2025 at 12:29 AM
New Trump EO: "when ideological biases or social agendas are built into AI models, they can distort the quality and accuracy of the output"
...so henceforth the US government won't do business with you unless your LLM is built to echo our ideological bias and promote our social agenda.
...so henceforth the US government won't do business with you unless your LLM is built to echo our ideological bias and promote our social agenda.
Reposted by Jason Keller
Embodiment is the concept that the function of the brain is inexorably shaped by the body, a lens that is often neglected when neuroscientists study specific brain subsystems, write @bingbrunton.bsky.social and @tuthill.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence #neuroai
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/brea...
#neuroskyence #neuroai
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/brea...
Breaking the jar: Why NeuroAI needs embodiment
Brain function is inexorably shaped by the body. Embracing this will benefit computational models of real brain function and the design of ANNs.
www.thetransmitter.org
July 21, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Embodiment is the concept that the function of the brain is inexorably shaped by the body, a lens that is often neglected when neuroscientists study specific brain subsystems, write @bingbrunton.bsky.social and @tuthill.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence #neuroai
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/brea...
#neuroskyence #neuroai
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/brea...
Reposted by Jason Keller
Stunning! An 8-hour time-lapse to show the Earth is rotating while capturing the Milky Way.
July 16, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Stunning! An 8-hour time-lapse to show the Earth is rotating while capturing the Milky Way.
Reposted by Jason Keller
As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But I think it’s more important than ever, writes @tuthill.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
Fear and loathing on study section: Reviewing grant proposals while the system is burning
As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But it’s more important than ever.
www.thetransmitter.org
July 14, 2025 at 1:23 PM
As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But I think it’s more important than ever, writes @tuthill.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
Some really nice single-neuron tracing here, highlighting the diversity of potential loops between brain and cervical spinal cord. Mostly consistent with previous results from bulk axon labeling, but with more detail about collaterals and all in one place for synthesis: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Single-neuron projectome reveals organization of somatosensory ascending pathways in the mouse brain
Ding et al. mapped a single-cell projectome of 785 spinal projection neurons and 1,464
central relay neurons in thalamus, hypothalamus, PB, SCm, PAG, and medulla. They have
constructed a high-resoluti...
www.cell.com
July 12, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Some really nice single-neuron tracing here, highlighting the diversity of potential loops between brain and cervical spinal cord. Mostly consistent with previous results from bulk axon labeling, but with more detail about collaterals and all in one place for synthesis: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Reposted by Jason Keller
Can your AI beat a mouse?
Mice still outperform our best computing machines in some ways. One way is robust visual processing.
10 years ago I decided to work on HARD behavior driven by COMPLEX visual processing. And that risk is paying off now. #neuroAI 1/n
Mice still outperform our best computing machines in some ways. One way is robust visual processing.
10 years ago I decided to work on HARD behavior driven by COMPLEX visual processing. And that risk is paying off now. #neuroAI 1/n
July 10, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Can your AI beat a mouse?
Mice still outperform our best computing machines in some ways. One way is robust visual processing.
10 years ago I decided to work on HARD behavior driven by COMPLEX visual processing. And that risk is paying off now. #neuroAI 1/n
Mice still outperform our best computing machines in some ways. One way is robust visual processing.
10 years ago I decided to work on HARD behavior driven by COMPLEX visual processing. And that risk is paying off now. #neuroAI 1/n
A site dedicated to tangible benefits that came from federally-funded research. Browse the examples, or add another + share it so more people add examples. publicusaresearchbenefits.com
Searchable database of tangible benefits that federally-funded research gave us.
A crowd-sourced site. Health and Well-being. National Security. Prosperity.
publicusaresearchbenefits.com
May 15, 2025 at 4:04 PM
A site dedicated to tangible benefits that came from federally-funded research. Browse the examples, or add another + share it so more people add examples. publicusaresearchbenefits.com
Reposted by Jason Keller
This is a very significant statement from 1,900 leading scientists writing to the public to highlight the catastrophe of the current US adminstration's actions:
Administration is weakening U.S. research cap | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Administration is weakening U.S. research cap | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Administration is weakening U.S. research capacity and endangering Americans, nation’s leading scientists warn
America's longstanding position as the world leader in science, technology, and medical research is now under threat, about 1,900 elected members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering...
www.eurekalert.org
March 31, 2025 at 6:25 PM
This is a very significant statement from 1,900 leading scientists writing to the public to highlight the catastrophe of the current US adminstration's actions:
Administration is weakening U.S. research cap | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Administration is weakening U.S. research cap | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Jason Keller
Check out my postdoc work at Ariel Levine’s lab, hot and fresh, describing how you build a dorsal horn!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Check out my postdoc work at Ariel Levine’s lab, hot and fresh, describing how you build a dorsal horn!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jason Keller
Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.14.643370v1
March 16, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.14.643370v1
Reposted by Jason Keller
Thank you very much @hhmijanelia.bsky.social and @hhmi.org for inviting me to give a seminar!
That talk was supposed to be today, Tues Mar 11th. I would have talked about @lafosse.bsky.social's work on neural activation functions (con't below)...
But I had to cancel due to the NIH travel ban. 🧪
1/
That talk was supposed to be today, Tues Mar 11th. I would have talked about @lafosse.bsky.social's work on neural activation functions (con't below)...
But I had to cancel due to the NIH travel ban. 🧪
1/
March 12, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Thank you very much @hhmijanelia.bsky.social and @hhmi.org for inviting me to give a seminar!
That talk was supposed to be today, Tues Mar 11th. I would have talked about @lafosse.bsky.social's work on neural activation functions (con't below)...
But I had to cancel due to the NIH travel ban. 🧪
1/
That talk was supposed to be today, Tues Mar 11th. I would have talked about @lafosse.bsky.social's work on neural activation functions (con't below)...
But I had to cancel due to the NIH travel ban. 🧪
1/
Inspired by Francis Collins on guitar and all the wonderful speakers at Stand Up For Science DC today. Keep it up!
March 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Inspired by Francis Collins on guitar and all the wonderful speakers at Stand Up For Science DC today. Keep it up!
Reposted by Jason Keller
The @standupforscience.bsky.social DC rally is on.
What we are hearing from around the country:
"this is big!"
"biggest rally I have seen around here in years and years"
The public cares about medical research--and students, GenZ, and other people too are ready to stand up.
What we are hearing from around the country:
"this is big!"
"biggest rally I have seen around here in years and years"
The public cares about medical research--and students, GenZ, and other people too are ready to stand up.
March 7, 2025 at 6:40 PM
The @standupforscience.bsky.social DC rally is on.
What we are hearing from around the country:
"this is big!"
"biggest rally I have seen around here in years and years"
The public cares about medical research--and students, GenZ, and other people too are ready to stand up.
What we are hearing from around the country:
"this is big!"
"biggest rally I have seen around here in years and years"
The public cares about medical research--and students, GenZ, and other people too are ready to stand up.
Reposted by Jason Keller
“Today’s meeting confirmed that the US is now aligned with Russia and against Ukraine, Europe, and most of the planet. I felt physically sick watching the president yell at a brave ally…”
@radiofreetom.bsky.social
The US is marching to authoritarianism and THAT is why they’re attacking #NIH … 1/
@radiofreetom.bsky.social
The US is marching to authoritarianism and THAT is why they’re attacking #NIH … 1/
It Was an Ambush
Today marked one of the grimmest days in the history of American diplomacy.
www.theatlantic.com
March 1, 2025 at 5:26 AM
“Today’s meeting confirmed that the US is now aligned with Russia and against Ukraine, Europe, and most of the planet. I felt physically sick watching the president yell at a brave ally…”
@radiofreetom.bsky.social
The US is marching to authoritarianism and THAT is why they’re attacking #NIH … 1/
@radiofreetom.bsky.social
The US is marching to authoritarianism and THAT is why they’re attacking #NIH … 1/
Reposted by Jason Keller
I don't really have words for how devastating it would be to lose the entire intramural program. This has to be stopped.
More hits to #NIH:
"The Trump administration has imposed a new restriction on employment that could push out thousands of NIH’s senior scientists: The agency cannot retain scientists in 1-year to 4-year positions that have long been routinely renewed." 🧪
@jocelynkaiser.bsky.social at @science.org
"The Trump administration has imposed a new restriction on employment that could push out thousands of NIH’s senior scientists: The agency cannot retain scientists in 1-year to 4-year positions that have long been routinely renewed." 🧪
@jocelynkaiser.bsky.social at @science.org
NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research
Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs
www.science.org
February 27, 2025 at 6:08 AM
I don't really have words for how devastating it would be to lose the entire intramural program. This has to be stopped.
Reposted by Jason Keller
In light of everything happening, I wrote about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails. dansinker.com/posts/202…
February 24, 2025 at 1:07 AM
In light of everything happening, I wrote about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails. dansinker.com/posts/202…
Reposted by Jason Keller
Congruent neuronal modulation across competing actions challenges the role of the substantia nigra in action selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.18.638935v1
February 19, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Congruent neuronal modulation across competing actions challenges the role of the substantia nigra in action selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.18.638935v1
Reposted by Jason Keller
Today I've discovered an animal called "Skeleton panda sea squirt" exists. A sessile, filter feeding tunicat.
February 16, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Today I've discovered an animal called "Skeleton panda sea squirt" exists. A sessile, filter feeding tunicat.
Reposted by Jason Keller
Apparently the gutting of the National Science Foundation is underway at the moment. "More to come."
One can debate whether cuts are warranted, but the mindless, know-nothing fashion in which they are being carried out is inexcusable. This will damage US science for generations.
One can debate whether cuts are warranted, but the mindless, know-nothing fashion in which they are being carried out is inexcusable. This will damage US science for generations.
NEW: NSF confirmed that they fired 168 employees today, out of their staff of ~1,500 feds.
This includes some people who'd finished their 1-year probationary periods, which were extended to 2-years last month without explanation. More to come.
This includes some people who'd finished their 1-year probationary periods, which were extended to 2-years last month without explanation. More to come.
February 18, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Apparently the gutting of the National Science Foundation is underway at the moment. "More to come."
One can debate whether cuts are warranted, but the mindless, know-nothing fashion in which they are being carried out is inexcusable. This will damage US science for generations.
One can debate whether cuts are warranted, but the mindless, know-nothing fashion in which they are being carried out is inexcusable. This will damage US science for generations.