Serge Ahmed
@sergeahmed.bsky.social
Behavioral and Brain Scientist ~ Addiction Research ~ CNRS Research Director ~ University of Bordeaux
Central neural circuits underlying itch sensation
Scratching can be highly rewarding
Strong desire or motivation for scratching can lead to skin or tissue damage in patients with chronic itch
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Scratching can be highly rewarding
Strong desire or motivation for scratching can lead to skin or tissue damage in patients with chronic itch
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 18, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Central neural circuits underlying itch sensation
Scratching can be highly rewarding
Strong desire or motivation for scratching can lead to skin or tissue damage in patients with chronic itch
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Scratching can be highly rewarding
Strong desire or motivation for scratching can lead to skin or tissue damage in patients with chronic itch
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Sunday quiz
In your opinion, what fateful question is he about to ask?
In your opinion, what fateful question is he about to ask?
November 16, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Sunday quiz
In your opinion, what fateful question is he about to ask?
In your opinion, what fateful question is he about to ask?
Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a causal link between the gut microbiome and autism
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www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
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www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
November 15, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a causal link between the gut microbiome and autism
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www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
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www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
If you think you're not quoted enough, you have no idea how much
November 8, 2025 at 1:52 PM
If you think you're not quoted enough, you have no idea how much
Neuroscience must broaden its ontological mission beyond treatment of DSM-defined disorders to include functional misalignments and productivity in everyday life
The concept of behavioral “wind tunnels", by analogy with aerodynamics, may help to achieve this goal
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
The concept of behavioral “wind tunnels", by analogy with aerodynamics, may help to achieve this goal
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
November 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Neuroscience must broaden its ontological mission beyond treatment of DSM-defined disorders to include functional misalignments and productivity in everyday life
The concept of behavioral “wind tunnels", by analogy with aerodynamics, may help to achieve this goal
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
The concept of behavioral “wind tunnels", by analogy with aerodynamics, may help to achieve this goal
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
November 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Passive submission and addiction
Did you know that in the 1920s and 1930s, passive submission to the forced administration of drugs (for example, cocaine) was considered by scientists of the time to be a behavioral indicator of addiction in non-human animals?
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Did you know that in the 1920s and 1930s, passive submission to the forced administration of drugs (for example, cocaine) was considered by scientists of the time to be a behavioral indicator of addiction in non-human animals?
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November 1, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Passive submission and addiction
Did you know that in the 1920s and 1930s, passive submission to the forced administration of drugs (for example, cocaine) was considered by scientists of the time to be a behavioral indicator of addiction in non-human animals?
1/3
Did you know that in the 1920s and 1930s, passive submission to the forced administration of drugs (for example, cocaine) was considered by scientists of the time to be a behavioral indicator of addiction in non-human animals?
1/3
Ghostwriting is a form of scientific fraud that threatens the integrity of scientific research.
Researchers who engage in this fraud should face serious consequences.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Researchers who engage in this fraud should face serious consequences.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 31, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Ghostwriting is a form of scientific fraud that threatens the integrity of scientific research.
Researchers who engage in this fraud should face serious consequences.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Researchers who engage in this fraud should face serious consequences.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
How can social interaction slow breast cancer progression?
Apparently, by activating a corticoamygdala neural circuit in the brain!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Apparently, by activating a corticoamygdala neural circuit in the brain!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
How can social interaction slow breast cancer progression?
Apparently, by activating a corticoamygdala neural circuit in the brain!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Apparently, by activating a corticoamygdala neural circuit in the brain!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Donc du coup, pour lui, on dit quoi? Le kärcher karchérisé?
October 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Donc du coup, pour lui, on dit quoi? Le kärcher karchérisé?
Chronic consumption of a sweet solution containing nicotine increases effort-based motivation for food
This motivational shift is due, at least partly, to a disruption of habenular top-down control over cholinergic inputs to midbrain dopamine neurons
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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This motivational shift is due, at least partly, to a disruption of habenular top-down control over cholinergic inputs to midbrain dopamine neurons
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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October 21, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Chronic consumption of a sweet solution containing nicotine increases effort-based motivation for food
This motivational shift is due, at least partly, to a disruption of habenular top-down control over cholinergic inputs to midbrain dopamine neurons
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
1/2
This motivational shift is due, at least partly, to a disruption of habenular top-down control over cholinergic inputs to midbrain dopamine neurons
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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After a brief dip, the term "surplus people," used by libertarians and techno-fascists to label certain people as useless and therefore disposable, has been on the rise again since the 2008 financial crisis. This is not a good sign.
If you have an explanation and a prognostic, please let me know.
If you have an explanation and a prognostic, please let me know.
October 20, 2025 at 3:11 PM
After a brief dip, the term "surplus people," used by libertarians and techno-fascists to label certain people as useless and therefore disposable, has been on the rise again since the 2008 financial crisis. This is not a good sign.
If you have an explanation and a prognostic, please let me know.
If you have an explanation and a prognostic, please let me know.
Is addiction compulsive?
Robinson and Berridge say "yes," but by replacing the old definition of compulsion formulated by Aristotle with a new one that they call "motivational compulsion"
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www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Robinson and Berridge say "yes," but by replacing the old definition of compulsion formulated by Aristotle with a new one that they call "motivational compulsion"
1/3
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
October 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Is addiction compulsive?
Robinson and Berridge say "yes," but by replacing the old definition of compulsion formulated by Aristotle with a new one that they call "motivational compulsion"
1/3
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Robinson and Berridge say "yes," but by replacing the old definition of compulsion formulated by Aristotle with a new one that they call "motivational compulsion"
1/3
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
[Phasic dopamine signalling during] Pavlovian conditioning: It's not what you think it is!
The long-standing performance versus learning debate among animal learning psychologists is now affecting dopamine neuroscientists
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www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The long-standing performance versus learning debate among animal learning psychologists is now affecting dopamine neuroscientists
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www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 15, 2025 at 9:19 AM
[Phasic dopamine signalling during] Pavlovian conditioning: It's not what you think it is!
The long-standing performance versus learning debate among animal learning psychologists is now affecting dopamine neuroscientists
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www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The long-standing performance versus learning debate among animal learning psychologists is now affecting dopamine neuroscientists
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www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Addicted” rats? Epistemic challenges in modeling addiction with laboratory animals
An influential and ambitious animal model of addiction under a philosopher's epistemic knife
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
An influential and ambitious animal model of addiction under a philosopher's epistemic knife
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
October 13, 2025 at 3:20 PM
“Addicted” rats? Epistemic challenges in modeling addiction with laboratory animals
An influential and ambitious animal model of addiction under a philosopher's epistemic knife
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
An influential and ambitious animal model of addiction under a philosopher's epistemic knife
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
La poire, le fruit défendu de Saint Augustin
Nous trouvons chez Saint Augustin l’une des premières descriptions claires du plaisir, souvent très intense, que nous tirons, non du fruit de l’action mais de l’action elle-même, notamment lorsque celle-ci représente une transgression de l’interdit !
Nous trouvons chez Saint Augustin l’une des premières descriptions claires du plaisir, souvent très intense, que nous tirons, non du fruit de l’action mais de l’action elle-même, notamment lorsque celle-ci représente une transgression de l’interdit !
October 12, 2025 at 9:27 PM
La poire, le fruit défendu de Saint Augustin
Nous trouvons chez Saint Augustin l’une des premières descriptions claires du plaisir, souvent très intense, que nous tirons, non du fruit de l’action mais de l’action elle-même, notamment lorsque celle-ci représente une transgression de l’interdit !
Nous trouvons chez Saint Augustin l’une des premières descriptions claires du plaisir, souvent très intense, que nous tirons, non du fruit de l’action mais de l’action elle-même, notamment lorsque celle-ci représente une transgression de l’interdit !
You may have read Amin Maalouf's "Les identités meurtrières," wondering why identity can breed so much hatred, violence, and death. This recent book explains it all through three thinkers and philosophers who lived on three different continents and centuries apart: Zhuangzi, Spinoza, and Girard.
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October 12, 2025 at 2:03 PM
You may have read Amin Maalouf's "Les identités meurtrières," wondering why identity can breed so much hatred, violence, and death. This recent book explains it all through three thinkers and philosophers who lived on three different continents and centuries apart: Zhuangzi, Spinoza, and Girard.
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Which thinker do you think of most while sitting over your toilet bowl?
I don't really know why, but lately, I've been thinking mostly about Bourdieu.
I don't really know why, but lately, I've been thinking mostly about Bourdieu.
October 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Which thinker do you think of most while sitting over your toilet bowl?
I don't really know why, but lately, I've been thinking mostly about Bourdieu.
I don't really know why, but lately, I've been thinking mostly about Bourdieu.
A quel penseur pensez-vous le plus assis au-dessus de la cuvette de vos toilettes?
Je ne sais pas vraiment pourquoi mais ces derniers temps, je pense surtout à Bourdieu.
Je ne sais pas vraiment pourquoi mais ces derniers temps, je pense surtout à Bourdieu.
October 11, 2025 at 12:00 PM
A quel penseur pensez-vous le plus assis au-dessus de la cuvette de vos toilettes?
Je ne sais pas vraiment pourquoi mais ces derniers temps, je pense surtout à Bourdieu.
Je ne sais pas vraiment pourquoi mais ces derniers temps, je pense surtout à Bourdieu.
Une France de plus en plus biscornue
Je ne crois pas être le dernier des demeurés mais ce qui se passe en France ces derniers temps me fait douter de ma capacité à comprendre les choses.
Qui comprend vraiment ce qui nous arrive et où allons nous?
Je ne crois pas être le dernier des demeurés mais ce qui se passe en France ces derniers temps me fait douter de ma capacité à comprendre les choses.
Qui comprend vraiment ce qui nous arrive et où allons nous?
October 11, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Une France de plus en plus biscornue
Je ne crois pas être le dernier des demeurés mais ce qui se passe en France ces derniers temps me fait douter de ma capacité à comprendre les choses.
Qui comprend vraiment ce qui nous arrive et où allons nous?
Je ne crois pas être le dernier des demeurés mais ce qui se passe en France ces derniers temps me fait douter de ma capacité à comprendre les choses.
Qui comprend vraiment ce qui nous arrive et où allons nous?
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees
Chimpanzees typically eat ~4.5 kilograms of fruit per day, corresponding to an estimated ethanol ingestion of 14 grams (±9), or the equivalent of 1.4 (±0.9) standard drinks by international standards.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Chimpanzees typically eat ~4.5 kilograms of fruit per day, corresponding to an estimated ethanol ingestion of 14 grams (±9), or the equivalent of 1.4 (±0.9) standard drinks by international standards.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees
Chimpanzees typically eat ~4.5 kilograms of fruit per day, corresponding to an estimated ethanol ingestion of 14 grams (±9), or the equivalent of 1.4 (±0.9) standard drinks by international standards.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Chimpanzees typically eat ~4.5 kilograms of fruit per day, corresponding to an estimated ethanol ingestion of 14 grams (±9), or the equivalent of 1.4 (±0.9) standard drinks by international standards.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Les grands artistes, comme la dessinatrice et scénariste Fiammetta Ghedini, auteure de la nouvelle BD 👇🏼, ont ce pouvoir unique de mettre à nu nos désirs les plus cachés, dans mon cas le désir que les rats de labo brisent leur long silence épistémologique et se mettent enfin à parler 😅
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October 7, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Les grands artistes, comme la dessinatrice et scénariste Fiammetta Ghedini, auteure de la nouvelle BD 👇🏼, ont ce pouvoir unique de mettre à nu nos désirs les plus cachés, dans mon cas le désir que les rats de labo brisent leur long silence épistémologique et se mettent enfin à parler 😅
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Look what I received as a gift for giving the Dalbir Bindra 2025 Lecture 😍
This rare book from the 1970s was given to me by one of the giants of our field, Pr Jane Stewart 🙏
One of its first figures shows the brain as a highly interconnected neural network with the thalamus as a central hub.
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This rare book from the 1970s was given to me by one of the giants of our field, Pr Jane Stewart 🙏
One of its first figures shows the brain as a highly interconnected neural network with the thalamus as a central hub.
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October 7, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Look what I received as a gift for giving the Dalbir Bindra 2025 Lecture 😍
This rare book from the 1970s was given to me by one of the giants of our field, Pr Jane Stewart 🙏
One of its first figures shows the brain as a highly interconnected neural network with the thalamus as a central hub.
1/2
This rare book from the 1970s was given to me by one of the giants of our field, Pr Jane Stewart 🙏
One of its first figures shows the brain as a highly interconnected neural network with the thalamus as a central hub.
1/2
There is always an alternative
This is the title of the Dalbir Bindra 2025 lecture I've been invited to give tomorrow at McGill Univ.
I thank Pr Marco Leyton for the kind invitation 🙏
I hope I live up to this honor and that Bindra, wherever he is now, will find some of himself in my presentation.
This is the title of the Dalbir Bindra 2025 lecture I've been invited to give tomorrow at McGill Univ.
I thank Pr Marco Leyton for the kind invitation 🙏
I hope I live up to this honor and that Bindra, wherever he is now, will find some of himself in my presentation.
October 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM
There is always an alternative
This is the title of the Dalbir Bindra 2025 lecture I've been invited to give tomorrow at McGill Univ.
I thank Pr Marco Leyton for the kind invitation 🙏
I hope I live up to this honor and that Bindra, wherever he is now, will find some of himself in my presentation.
This is the title of the Dalbir Bindra 2025 lecture I've been invited to give tomorrow at McGill Univ.
I thank Pr Marco Leyton for the kind invitation 🙏
I hope I live up to this honor and that Bindra, wherever he is now, will find some of himself in my presentation.