Nicole Mercer Lindsay

I am excited to share our new preprint on opioid receptor expression patterns and functional impact on brainstem circuits! I want to highlight some of my favorite findings. First, mu and delta opioid receptors are strikingly segregated in auditory circuits to the vertical 1/

Online now: A cortical circuit for orchestrating oromanual food manipulation dlvr.it/TRjhh8

The first time you start a research lab, there’s no manual. So I made one. A practical toolkit for postdocs and early-career faculty launching their first lab: hiring, startup planning, collaborations, and building a sustainable research program. zenodo.org/records/188835…

The cuts aren’t random. They’re targeting on-ramps. When we zoom into 2026 funding decline by mechanism, the deepest cuts land on new ideas entering the system: ▪️Small R (R03 / R15) ↓81% ▪️R21 exploratory grants ↓73% ▪️Other high-variance mechanisms ↓70%+ If you want to stall science, this is exactly how. Meanwhile, among other news: ▪️R01s ↓47% ▪️R37 MERIT ↓40% In other words, the earliest-stage bets are being starved first. When the on-ramps close, the damage shows up later: ↓ pilot data ↓ resubmissions that mature into R01s ↓ new labs surviving their early years ↓ shared cores that support entire departments ↓ discoveries that ever reach trials So much remains unanswered. This week we’re digging deeper: -which disease areas rely most on these mechanisms -which institutions are most exposed -where the first downstream breaks appear (trials, screening, imaging, prevention, survivorship) If you run a lab, grants office, or cancer center, tell us what cut you want. Source: NIH RePORTER via @Jori_health

🔬 Cell-type-specific GCaMP6 miniscope imaging of a freely-behaving mouse brain. ~1,200 excitatory CA1 hippocampal neurons were imaged during active behavior over months. Courtesy of the Schnitzer Lab, Stanford. #MicroscopyMonday #Neuroscience #Lifescience

The new @NIH SciENcv Biosketch pissed me off so much today (lost 4 hours of my life) that I built a quick NIH Biosketch format converter. It lets you format each section while seeing both the preview and the HTML code at the same time. It restored my sanity, a little. Enjoy.

Science Unbiased discovery of neuronal architectures science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

#eNeuro: Results from Lustig, Lammers et al., using a novel Klhl14-Cre mouse line, suggest that early developmental molecular delineation of distinct CSN subpopulations can be used to specifically label them prospectively with reliability and precision. doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO…

Neuron Distinct representations of economic variables across regions and projections of the frontal cortex cell.com/neuron/fulltex…

The 38th Barrels Meeting November 13–14, 2025 (just before #SfN) UC San Diego Registrants may submit requests for short talks and poster presentations. Invited speaker list and registration link in replies ⬇️

Excited to share our new paper in @NatureMethods! Imaging the brain's fine architecture within the skull is a huge challenge. We developed a new "all-optical histology" technique to see both hard bone and soft brain tissue in situ at submicron resolution. 🧠🔬

Last night, Dr. Xiaofei Guan, was honored at the @BusinessCouncilofWestchester's 2025 Rising Stars – 40 Under 40 Gala! Congratulations to Dr. Guan and all of his co-honorees. buff.ly/NSlsIvM

Want to collaborate with the International Brain Laboratory on your own project? We have funding to work with groups anywhere in the world to do new large-scale projects and we are looking for new partners! Learn more and apply: internationalbrainlab.com/ibl-core-apply

This year’s McDowell Award honors Donald Foley, Mary Kate Wold, and Peter Schreiner for their extraordinary dedication to overcoming neurological disability. We celebrate their impact and our shared commitment to a future shaped by science and hope. RSVP: buff.ly/mOiHpZJ

@Jess_Osterhout Congratulations!

It is an incredible honor to be among the current and previous Pew Biomedical Scholars! With funding from the Pew, we will work to understand how the brain decodes different immune programs to generate correct sickness responses. pew.org/en/projects/pe…

@AdrienTassou @zenbrainest @MarkZylka Congratulations!!! 🍾

Big news! My K99 application has been awarded 🥳🎉 I’m excited to collaborate with @zenbrainest and @MarkZylka to explore how distinct peripheral neuron types shape pain representation in the brain.

The new issue is out👉cell.com/cell/current On the cover, Haziza et al. image high-frequency voltage dynamics in multiple neuron classes of behaving mammals, highlighting the brain's hidden electrical code underlying perception, thoughts, and emotions.

New electron microscopy study in @NatureNeuro finds that layer 5 ET neurons mostly connect to inhibitory cells locally, esp. those suppressing other excitatory cells, suggesting a "winner-take-all" system. nature.com/articles/s4159…

🎵⚡ Musical beats can enhance TMS effects! Our "Sensory Entrained TMS" uses music to optimize brain stimulation timing - a simple, accessible approach that could improve plasticity protocols and TMS treatments. @StanfordBrain @jessicamross8 @DrCoreyKeller

Check it out! The new interactive website for pain researchers around the globe is live! Webinars, podcasts, interviews and the fan favorite: Papers of the Week! You'll also find lively discussions, jobs, meetings, funding opportunities and more! painresearchforum.org

Single-neuron projectome reveals organization of somatosensory ascending pathways in the mouse brain: Neuron cell.com/neuron/fulltex… Whoa!