Wei Wen
@wwenneuro.bsky.social
Ex- neuroscientist used to patch stuff and still crazy about how circuits work. Feminist | Traveler | Coffee addict. Formerly with Turrigiano Lab @Brandeis. 🧠👩🔬🚴♀️📷🏳️🌈 She/Her/她. 讲中文.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1422-856X
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1422-856X
Pinned
Wei Wen
@wwenneuro.bsky.social
· May 31
Modular arrangement of synaptic and intrinsic homeostatic plasticity within visual cortical circuits | PNAS
Neocortical circuits use synaptic and intrinsic forms of homeostatic plasticity to
stabilize key features of network activity, but whether these di...
www.pnas.org
Very happy that this work is finally out in @pnas.org! We show that synaptic and intrinsic forms of homeostatic plasticity sense distinct aspects of network activity, and can thus be independently recruited by distinct network functions. A thread:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Wei Wen
We also have a review out in JNeuro on the topic with @neurosutras.bsky.social, Tom O'Dell, Anant Jain, @clopathlab.bsky.social and Mark Sheffield.
Physical copies available at @sfnjournals.bsky.social booth.
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
Physical copies available at @sfnjournals.bsky.social booth.
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
Behavioral Timescale Synaptic Plasticity: A Burst in the Field of Learning and Memory
Hebbian synaptic plasticity is currently the main framework to relate neuronal activity, network structure, and learning and memory. However, recent experimental and computational modeling studies hav...
www.jneurosci.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:25 PM
We also have a review out in JNeuro on the topic with @neurosutras.bsky.social, Tom O'Dell, Anant Jain, @clopathlab.bsky.social and Mark Sheffield.
Physical copies available at @sfnjournals.bsky.social booth.
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
Physical copies available at @sfnjournals.bsky.social booth.
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
Reposted by Wei Wen
Same for neuroscience. The lack of ability to measure many neurons’ activity, perturb them, and measure intracellular processes and connections is what limits understanding the brain.
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
November 15, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Same for neuroscience. The lack of ability to measure many neurons’ activity, perturb them, and measure intracellular processes and connections is what limits understanding the brain.
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
The key barriers are not algorithms or AI.
🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky
Reposted by Wei Wen
Synergy mediates long-range correlations in the visual cortex near criticality. Hardik Rajpal et al, a collaboration with @spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social (and one of the outputs of the EPSRC/Wellcome Statistical Physics of Cognition project)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Synergy mediates Long-Range Correlations in the Visual Cortex Near Criticality
Long-range correlations are a key signature of systems operating near criticality, indicating spatially-extended interactions across large distances. These extended dependencies underlie other emergen...
www.biorxiv.org
November 16, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Synergy mediates long-range correlations in the visual cortex near criticality. Hardik Rajpal et al, a collaboration with @spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social (and one of the outputs of the EPSRC/Wellcome Statistical Physics of Cognition project)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
If you are wondering why on earth would neurons need cilia you should be there👀
If you’re at #sfn25 you definitely don’t want to miss this nanosymposium on cilia, tomorrow from 1-4pm! Come learn about neuronal cilia, they do some pretty cool stuff!
Synapses may get all the glory, but join us cilia-philes for our @sfn.org Nanosymposium to learn about the role of cilia in modulating brain activity, behavior, and development.
Sunday November 16th 1-4pm SDCC Room 25A. Thrilled to chair with @konjikusicmia.bsky.social - we'll see you there!
Sunday November 16th 1-4pm SDCC Room 25A. Thrilled to chair with @konjikusicmia.bsky.social - we'll see you there!
November 15, 2025 at 10:24 PM
If you are wondering why on earth would neurons need cilia you should be there👀
Reposted by Wei Wen
If you’re at #sfn25 you definitely don’t want to miss this nanosymposium on cilia, tomorrow from 1-4pm! Come learn about neuronal cilia, they do some pretty cool stuff!
Synapses may get all the glory, but join us cilia-philes for our @sfn.org Nanosymposium to learn about the role of cilia in modulating brain activity, behavior, and development.
Sunday November 16th 1-4pm SDCC Room 25A. Thrilled to chair with @konjikusicmia.bsky.social - we'll see you there!
Sunday November 16th 1-4pm SDCC Room 25A. Thrilled to chair with @konjikusicmia.bsky.social - we'll see you there!
November 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM
If you’re at #sfn25 you definitely don’t want to miss this nanosymposium on cilia, tomorrow from 1-4pm! Come learn about neuronal cilia, they do some pretty cool stuff!
All fours boxes of mine have just safely (although very battered) arrived from Boston… Wow, now it feels like I’ve really left😔
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 PM
All fours boxes of mine have just safely (although very battered) arrived from Boston… Wow, now it feels like I’ve really left😔
Reposted by Wei Wen
November 4, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Always a fantastic read from the Harvey lab- neurons projecting to the same area take on specialized network structures that enhance information transmission to downstream regions, and, guess what, they also guide accurate behaviors! (big fan of their graphics😉)
rdcu.be/ePS0W
rdcu.be/ePS0W
Specialized structure of neural population codes in parietal cortex outputs
Nature Neuroscience - Cortical neurons comprising an output pathway form a specialized population code that enhances the propagation of information to a downstream target, potentially improving the...
rdcu.be
November 14, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Always a fantastic read from the Harvey lab- neurons projecting to the same area take on specialized network structures that enhance information transmission to downstream regions, and, guess what, they also guide accurate behaviors! (big fan of their graphics😉)
rdcu.be/ePS0W
rdcu.be/ePS0W
Reposted by Wei Wen
Which human brain circuits are implicated in neurodevelopmental conditions? We bridged human genetics, spatial transcriptomics and neurodevelopment to discover the convergence of autism-associated genes in the developing human thalamus! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 11, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Which human brain circuits are implicated in neurodevelopmental conditions? We bridged human genetics, spatial transcriptomics and neurodevelopment to discover the convergence of autism-associated genes in the developing human thalamus! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Wei Wen
And here is the story after peer review. This work highlights our current approach, which is to use Piezo channels to uncover new areas of biology that are shaped by mechanical forces: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 10:05 PM
And here is the story after peer review. This work highlights our current approach, which is to use Piezo channels to uncover new areas of biology that are shaped by mechanical forces: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🤯
✨ New preprint ✨ What if we could watch AND control thousands of individual neurons in behaving mice—with stable access over months? 🧠⚡ Our work introduces transgenic all-optical tools that make this possible - and a resulting surprising discovery! 🔭💡
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/13 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/13 🧵
Large-scale cellular-resolution read/write of activity enables discovery of cell types defined by complex circuit properties
The complexity of the mammalian brain’s vast population of interconnected neurons poses a formidable challenge to elucidate its underlying mechanisms of coordination and computation. A key step forwar...
www.biorxiv.org
November 13, 2025 at 9:01 AM
🤯
I’m totally biased but this is the best hand-pulled noodle in the entire world. The owners used to operate in Singapore, and they moved back to set up this place a decade ago. It’s one block away from my grandpa’s place, and amazingly they didn’t raise the price even during COVID times.
November 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM
I’m totally biased but this is the best hand-pulled noodle in the entire world. The owners used to operate in Singapore, and they moved back to set up this place a decade ago. It’s one block away from my grandpa’s place, and amazingly they didn’t raise the price even during COVID times.
That's a cool behavior paradigm! (Ingenious analysis pipeline as well🤯)
rdcu.be/ePgWw
rdcu.be/ePgWw
Selective direct influence of motor cortex on limb muscle activity during naturalistic climbing in mice
Nature Neuroscience - Koh, Ma et al. show that during climbing, mouse motor cortex instructs limb muscle activity patterns primarily by selectively activating certain muscles at certain activity...
rdcu.be
November 11, 2025 at 3:18 AM
That's a cool behavior paradigm! (Ingenious analysis pipeline as well🤯)
rdcu.be/ePgWw
rdcu.be/ePgWw
Reposted by Wei Wen
Reposted by Wei Wen
People familiar with the right and with media will immediately recognize
James Watson’s path into full scientific racism.
He followed a particular contrarian, trolling descent.
According to this obit, he felt his biggest discovery was in his 30s, and later in life he searched for relevance. 1/
James Watson’s path into full scientific racism.
He followed a particular contrarian, trolling descent.
According to this obit, he felt his biggest discovery was in his 30s, and later in life he searched for relevance. 1/
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
People familiar with the right and with media will immediately recognize
James Watson’s path into full scientific racism.
He followed a particular contrarian, trolling descent.
According to this obit, he felt his biggest discovery was in his 30s, and later in life he searched for relevance. 1/
James Watson’s path into full scientific racism.
He followed a particular contrarian, trolling descent.
According to this obit, he felt his biggest discovery was in his 30s, and later in life he searched for relevance. 1/
As someone who has had ~4h sleep on average during the past week- this sounds great🫠
A study in Nature Neuroscience shows that the moments of failed attention we experience after sleep deprivation reflect brief ‘sleep-like’ episodes in the brain, corresponding to a brain- and body-wide event with altered brain activity, pupil size and brain fluid movement. #neuroskyence 🧪
Attentional failures after sleep deprivation are locked to joint neurovascular, pupil and cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics - Nature Neuroscience
Yang et al. show that moments of failed attention we experience after sleep deprivation reflect brief ‘sleep-like’ episodes in the brain, corresponding to a brain- and body-wide event with altered brain activity, pupil size and brain fluid movement.
go.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:15 AM
As someone who has had ~4h sleep on average during the past week- this sounds great🫠
Reposted by Wei Wen
happy to share our new paper, out now in Neuron! led by the incredible Yizhen Zhang, we explore how the brain segments continuous speech into word-forms and uses adaptive dynamics to code for relative time - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Human cortical dynamics of auditory word form encoding
We perceive continuous speech as a series of discrete words, despite the lack of clear acoustic boundaries. The superior temporal gyrus (STG) encodes …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:16 PM
happy to share our new paper, out now in Neuron! led by the incredible Yizhen Zhang, we explore how the brain segments continuous speech into word-forms and uses adaptive dynamics to code for relative time - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Wei Wen
My quote of the day
As I reflect on my life, I recognize that our greatest achievements often arise from our most profound struggles. Embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. It is through these trials that we learn, adapt, and ultimately succeed.
Marie Curie
As I reflect on my life, I recognize that our greatest achievements often arise from our most profound struggles. Embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. It is through these trials that we learn, adapt, and ultimately succeed.
Marie Curie
November 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
My quote of the day
As I reflect on my life, I recognize that our greatest achievements often arise from our most profound struggles. Embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. It is through these trials that we learn, adapt, and ultimately succeed.
Marie Curie
As I reflect on my life, I recognize that our greatest achievements often arise from our most profound struggles. Embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. It is through these trials that we learn, adapt, and ultimately succeed.
Marie Curie
The last two cells I patched! They are by no means my best fills, but definitely the most memorable. Also a reminder to new patchers that lousy fills do not indicate bad cells- some of my best recordings didn’t have great fills. (Ah I miss patching🥹)
#patchclamp #electrophysiology
#patchclamp #electrophysiology
November 6, 2025 at 9:40 AM
The last two cells I patched! They are by no means my best fills, but definitely the most memorable. Also a reminder to new patchers that lousy fills do not indicate bad cells- some of my best recordings didn’t have great fills. (Ah I miss patching🥹)
#patchclamp #electrophysiology
#patchclamp #electrophysiology
Reposted by Wei Wen
Zohran Mamdani has won, & will be the next mayor of NYC.
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Zohran Mamdani has won, & will be the next mayor of NYC.
Reposted by Wei Wen
New article from the lab out today, in which we discuss how social behavior evolves at the molecular level. From parenting across the animal tree of life to caste systems in social insects, it’s all connected (and, therefore, slowly starts to make sense)…
Parental care, and more complex cooperative systems of care, have independently evolved in hundreds of animal lineages. In an article published today, we explore how these behaviors evolve 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭l shorturl.at/g5OPw /1
Convergent evolution of a conserved molecular network underlies parenting and sociality - Nature Reviews Genetics
Kay et al. review evidence that parental care, and more complex social behaviour based on parental care, evolved in multiple species through the repeated co-option of members of a pleiotropic molecula...
shorturl.at
November 4, 2025 at 4:41 PM
New article from the lab out today, in which we discuss how social behavior evolves at the molecular level. From parenting across the animal tree of life to caste systems in social insects, it’s all connected (and, therefore, slowly starts to make sense)…
Reposted by Wei Wen
Glia gang, this is for you!
In this video by our #ElectronMicroscopy team, shows a pyramidal neuron (PyC) surrounded by 8 glia brain cells – 5 microglia (MG) and 3 oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC).
🧠📈 http://microns-explorer.org
In this video by our #ElectronMicroscopy team, shows a pyramidal neuron (PyC) surrounded by 8 glia brain cells – 5 microglia (MG) and 3 oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC).
🧠📈 http://microns-explorer.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Glia gang, this is for you!
In this video by our #ElectronMicroscopy team, shows a pyramidal neuron (PyC) surrounded by 8 glia brain cells – 5 microglia (MG) and 3 oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC).
🧠📈 http://microns-explorer.org
In this video by our #ElectronMicroscopy team, shows a pyramidal neuron (PyC) surrounded by 8 glia brain cells – 5 microglia (MG) and 3 oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC).
🧠📈 http://microns-explorer.org
A very informative and entertaining read!
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Vertebrate eyes first evolved in water, where spectral content rapidly fades with
distance. Zebrafish exploit this loss by antagonizing cone signals to suppress the
background, pointing to distance es...
www.cell.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:51 AM
A very informative and entertaining read!
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Like every responsible adult, I got myself a jellycat while shopping for bathroom renovation stuff.
November 3, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Like every responsible adult, I got myself a jellycat while shopping for bathroom renovation stuff.
Landed in hometown airport! Proof that the air quality has much improved since @turrigiano.bsky.social ‘s last visit😉
November 1, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Landed in hometown airport! Proof that the air quality has much improved since @turrigiano.bsky.social ‘s last visit😉