Leaderboard

Hey there! My name is Diego, and I'm a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. I'm passionate about understanding how our nervous system responds to inflammation and finding ways to improve neuronal survival after injury. I received my MD degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Medicine in 2012, and then pursued a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences with a focus on neuropathology from the same institution. Apart from my research, I love sharing knowledge with people from all walks of life, and I'm particularly interested in promoting scientific awareness for the betterment of society. As a mentor, I strive to create an environment that fosters personal and academic growth, as well as overall well-being, for young scientists who are eager to learn and make a positive impact on the world.

Greetings fellow scientists!! My name is Hugo Sanchez-Castillo, I'm from Mexico and its wonderful to be a Community Leader for this year!!!... I'm a Scientist from Mexico, my bachelor was in Experimental Psychology at the National University of Mexico. At that time I encountered myself with the behavioral pharmacology and I decided to follow the effects of drugs on the behavior. After that I did my PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience looking for the pharmacological basis of Timing Behavior. In that exciting years I knew the Timing gang from New York and I decided to follow they in the University of Columbia for my Postdoctoral formation. During this time I shared thoughts, science, meals, music and more with excelent researchers of NY. After that, I returned to Mexico and founded the Neuropsychopharmacology and Timing Laboratory. Actually we are working in the neurobiology of stress and PTSD related affections, and obviously The pharmacology of timing behavior. Besides the research Im professor of Psychopharmacology and Biological Basis of Behavior. Personally, I love science, music, movies, science fiction, BBQ the Mexican food (yes, Im from Mexico and I love our food!!!) and I LOVE THE SFN MEETING!... I hope to engage nice chats and conversations about diversity, science, movies and more!!!....

Hello! My name is Dr. Brandon Coventry, and I'm very excited to be a member of the Neuronline community leaders! Before beginning my journey into neuroscience and neuroengineering, I was a touring musician, playing music across the United States with a wide variety of pop, funk, punk, and jazz professionals. During this time, I was also studying music at the University of Illinois which allowed for both study and a professional musician lifestyle. However, medical science and engineering was a persistent itch I knew I needed to scratch. I moved to St. Louis and received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Saint Louis University, doing research in biomedical signal processing. I then received my master's degree in electrical and computer engineering and a Ph.D. in Neural Engineering from Purdue University (go Boilers!) in 2021 where I studied novel optical deep brain stimulation technologies and artificially intelligent responsive neuromodulation. I am currently a postdoctoral research associate at the Wisconsin Institute for Transnational Neuroengineering (WITNe) housed in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At WITNe, I am keenly interested in the neuroscience underlying neuromodulation and developing next-generation tools to facilitate more intricate insights into neural circuit function. I would love to continue in the academic world and am hoping to obtain an assistant professorship in the relatively near future. In my (increasingly decreasing) free time, I am still a freelance session musician and film composer with many of my works shown in venues across the world. I also have a keen interest in good coffee and am in constant search for the next best latte.

Hello SfN community! I am thrilled to be a Neuronline Community Leader. My name is Daisy Gallardo, and I'm a third year PhD Candidate in the Anatomy and Neurobiology department at the University of California, Irvine. My research focuses on neurodegeneration in an Alzheimer’s disease model, exploring how neuronal death could be delayed or reduced. I'm interested in mechanistic changes that occur as neurons age and how this could inform our approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease. My research interests align with my lifestyle interests, including topics like aging and non-pharmacological approaches to disease prevention, such as exercise. I’m an avid runner and participate in strength/running races, marathons and obstacle course races. I’m excited to engage with all of you in critical discussions and learn from diverse perspectives.

Hello everybody! My name is Valeria Muoio and I am a neurosurgeon at the University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil. I have always been a person who is unhappy with the outcome of some neurological diseases, especially in children, and for that reason, I got involved in research. I obtained my doctorate at the University of São Paulo with a period at Johns Hopkins University. Afterwards, I worked as a researcher at Charite University in Berlin. Currently, I work as a neurosurgeon and researcher at the University of São Paulo. I am fascinated by people, in their incredible richness and diversity. I believe I take this passion to my medical students, and try to show how vital neuroscience is - it not only explains our ailments but also explains who we are. Last year, I had the honor of participating as SFN's Community Leader, and I can say that being part of such a group changed many aspects of my career. For this year, I am excitedly preparing my department's Brain Awareness Week, where hundreds of students in different states of Brazil will participate. And of course, I intend to serve and participate in SFN with all the excellent opportunities and people it brings together. Cheers to all!

As a neurosurgeon, I feel deeply dissatisfied with the treatment available to treat our patients. We certainly need to increase our therapeutic arsenal. I believe that this dissatisfaction is the driving force behind my work (I believe that many colleagues share this feeling) I currently have 3 lines of work and research 1. neurooncology: we look for therapeutic targets for childhood tumors that are more prevalent in pediatrics, such as medulloblastoma and ependymoma 2. cerebral palsy and movement disorders (especially in children). Children with cerebral palsy have many problems with locomotion and motility (especially spasticity and dystonia). The most commonly used treatments today (drugs and surgeries such as DBS (deep brain stimulation) still need to be greatly improved. My team is researching new interventions in the connectome of these children, such as new targets, microfocused ultrasound and different brain stimulation techniques. 3.Education: training new generations is a fundamental factor for the development of neuroscience, as well as ensuring a healthy environment where minds can offer their best. My passion is to help new neurosurgeons and healthcare students embrace neuroscience in a happy and responsible way

Hello Neuonliners! I am honored by the opportunity to contribute to this wonderful community and am looking forward to serving as a community leader for this year. I’m Jaya Viswanathan, a neuroscientist, engineer, author, and artist born and raised in India. I earned a Master’s in neuroscience and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience before working as a post-doctoral fellow. I am currently a KGS Contractor Program Analyst in the Division of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging where I support program development to achieve the research goals of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This includes efforts to improve the rigor and reproducibility in published research through the Alzheimer’s disease Preclinical Efficacy Database (AlzPED), as well as using open science and big data approaches to address the big neuroscience questions. Apart from my scientific pursuits, or rather, in parallel to them, I have been passionate about communicating science and making scientific concepts more accessible to a lay audience. In service to that goal, I authored and illustrated an award-winning neuroscience and neuroart book for children, Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages (https://babysensesbook.com/). I also wrote a neuronline article about neuroscience education (https://neuronline.sfn.org/outreach/inspiring-young-scientists-through-art-science-and-poetry), and have been a guest on numerous educational video /audio podcast episodes in the service of the same goal (https://babysensesbook.com/brains-art-and-more/). As a Neuronline community leader I hope to contribute to generating resources for neuroscience communication, supporting career development for diverse neuroscientists, developing resources for conducting rigorous and reproducible science, and enhancing the dialogue between neuroscience and society on various issues.

First, I want to say to all scientists that science matters, that even in these complicated conditions, science matters. When I saw the video I felt sadness for all situations, but at the same time, I felt that there is hope whereas we stand for science. In the same way that the Ukranian Fellows stand and resist for science. In Mexico, we don't have this kind of problem, but we have different adversities that change society and science (drug cartels, natural disasters, social movements, strikes, etc.). In my case, we faced a huge strike in the 2000 year, I was a student and I was researching with rats and drug discrimination. In the beginning, everybody thought that the strike would be only a few days. However, after two months things changed, the strike did not show possibilities of change and all the researchers and academics started to worry about the future. I remember that we went to talk with the heads of the movement and we explained why we should continue with the science. At this moment we were so nervous because in the past, one social clamor released all the experimental subjects and that was a possible choice for the heads of the strike. After a few days, the heads of the strike told us that we were allowed to continue with the experimental work, but there would be no external resources or participation of any person or entity. We accepted those terms and we did everything (the experiments, the training, the cleaning, the maintenance of the building, the baths, etc!!). The strike was for one year, in that year we stood and resisted for science, It was hard but at the end, we didn't stop science. Finally, I would like to add that science is part of society, if something happens in society of course it's going to impact science. We should be prepared and ready to stand for science and the changes in our society.

I gained significant knowledge in characterizing microglial activation and polarization in vivo and in vitro central nervous system injury models. As a postdoctoral researcher, I have continued to enhance my skills in examining microglia activation and neurotoxicity in different models of neuronal damage by utilizing molecular biology, biochemistry, and confocal microscopy techniques. I aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms governing microglia activation and how immunoregulatory processes influence their behavior. By identifying signals regulating their activation, we hope to develop targeted immunomodulatory strategies to mitigate neuroinflammation and its detrimental effects, ultimately enhancing brain resilience.

Neurological disorders involving dysfunction or deregulation of neural circuits such as Parkinson's disease, Epilepsy, and others are chronic and progressive diseases that severely impact quality of life. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as an effective and efficacious treatment paradigm for these "circuitopathies" as well as a powerful tool for exploring basic functionality of neural circuits. Despite DBS' clinical and scientific successes, it is fraught with off target stimulation and a lack of understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of effective stimulation. My research centers around the development of new neural stimulation and recording tools to better understand and translate neuromodulation therapies. To this end, I have worked in the following areas: 1. Optical DBS to constrain stimulation only to local microcircuits implicated in disease. 2. Development of chronic small and large animal implantable pulse generators (IPGs) to better mimic clinical DBS practice in rodent and pig models. 3. Study of differential thalamocortical dynamics and thalamic contributions to traveling cortical waves 4. Development of awake behaving calcium imaging tools in DBS rat models to better understand thalamic entrainment of DBS stimuli. 5. AI-enabled closed-loop neuromodulation tools that learn subject neural dynamics in real time to provide target stimulation only when needed. My research is driven by a desire to serve those whose neurological conditions currently have no recourse to current medicine. I am equal parts engineer and neuroscientist and work to translate new neuromodulation tools which work with, and not against, the nervous system to provide safer and more efficacious medical tools.

The first law is that a robot shall not harm a human, or by inaction allow a human to come to harm. The second law is that a robot shall obey any instruction given to it by a human The third law is that a robot shall avoid actions or situations that could cause it to come to harm itself. Isaac Asimov´s laws

Hi all.....I think the best advice from my supervisor was try to FOCUS. Focus on what you are doing and move slowly towards your careers goals. Also he advised me to expand my network and collaborate with others. I apply these advices till now and I have a motto of : United We Concur.....so I am always eager to expand my professional network and keen to start new collaboration.

Once more, I loved the topic brought for discussion! Though it's such a hard task choosing just a single piece of advice, I believe it has to do with something I've recently heard from one of our coordinators (here at my university): "Once you're in doubt between options to pursue research at, just write a piece of review." Here I justify that, although it has much to do with the situation I'm currently at - and I highlight it, just as I've said in my latest post, here at the Community Leader's forum - I'm truthfully in the opinion of having it applied to further circumstances in any scientific career. For an instance, it doesn't matter how much you already know about a certain subject (or its subdivisions) going back to the simplicity - just as a review article might look to be like - helps us figuring out better options and visualising the scenario from multiple perspectives. Certainly, from plenty of help I've received throughout High School and short time of undergraduation, so far, I've recently started to realise, whenever we're in doubt, advices start coming up as both a assurance (a relief, whenever it coincides with our personal choices) and as a new way of seeing things. Nonetheless, in this last case, it's impressive how much we got to learn, doesn't matter how old we are. Assuredly, anyone is able to teach and to learn. (Is that a second advice I've had already received? I guess so.) Back to the piece I've decided to emphasize, along with summing up, while picking up my path of research at college, the review article I prompt myself on writing can be published by the end! Which scientist doesn't like the feeling of publishing our works? Thank you, professor, for your advising!

Thinking back on what I would've benefited from the most while growing up in an underserved community, neuroscience outreach workshops and lab tours would've been the most helpful. I believe hands-on experiences are the best at demystifying neuroscience in the younger population and sparking curiosity in the older population as well. The workshops could be, for example, visiting a classroom or community center, guiding the participants through brain dissections and explaining the different structures along with their function. Lab tours are also beneficial as they help students envision what an academic career in neuroscience would be like, and allow for the older population to get a better understanding of how experiments are done. As Hugo rightly pointed out, accessibility is key. Explaining concepts without overwhelming jargon is essential for maintaining the attention of non-scientists and maximizing understanding of the concepts being explained. By making neuroscience easy to understand and relatable, we can further its dissemination.

This is a great question to consider and discuss, because AI has the potential to exacerbate the existing rigor and reproducibility crisis, or to ameliorate it. As a contractor doing Program Development at NIA, I work on the Alzheimer's Preclinical Efficacy Database, or AlzPED (https://alzped.nia.nih.gov/) and analysis of publications in the field of testing Alzheimer's therapeutics in animal models shows the trends of poor rigor and reporting practices that are not getting better over time (atleast not fast enough). A crucial aspect of AI/ML models is that junk-in means junk-out - that is, the integrity of the data that models are trained on will dictate the utility and validity of these models. In considering how AI may intersect with rigor and reproducibility - it does come down to how scientists may use any other tool. Researchers, journals, non-profits, and funding agencies need to work to improve the rigor and reproducibility crisis, and as suggested previously, develop best practices, standards, and accountability measures for AI in parallel.

I'd like to raise 2 points for consideration and discussion of this topic. 1) I've learned a lot about neuroscience communication since the publication of my book, Baby Senses. I've been trying to learn from the artist and children's fiction writers communities how to make science more engaging. I often find that non-fiction can come across as dry and boring while fiction - even while being factual - can come across as enchanting and interesting. I've myself been using principles of story telling, art, and narrative creative non-fiction to get a lay audience interested in science, and have, for BAW 2024, used puppets to engage very young audiences in sensory neuroscience (in a collaborative project). 2) While communicating to communities traditionally under-represented in STEM and neuroscience, it is important to go in with a nuanced and considered approach. Once, when I was TAing a summer high school biology/histology class for first nations students during my Masters, I came out of the class thinking I had been incomprehensible. I kept attempting to make the session interactive and waiting for their response without understanding that culturally it is unusual for first nation communities to participate in interactions without "electing" a representative to speak for the group. This was very eye opening for me - when I read the teacher evaluations, the students still rated my class as one of the best they'd been to, which was completely contrary to my impressions. All this to say, when I approach neuroscience communication, I try to meet people where they are at and use a nuanced approach since minorities in science can feel easily discouraged from neuroscientific careers and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work.

I think there are 2 main ways to do this. The first is to create opportunities, from elementary school to the final years of graduation, integrating neuroscience into their lives and conveying the concept that neuroscience is not restricted to the laboratory or operating room. Neuroscience is all around us, it explains what we are! I think it should be taught like mathematics, geography, etc. I believe that also creating jobs and opportunities for employment, for studying at universities, is also a great idea, bringing the community together to take up positions, be interested in science, whether through extension courses. Regarding underserved communities, I think that outreach programs are vital. It is important that leaders in neuroscience, in the health area, educators, etc., get closer to vulnerable populations, going to these places, talking to people, understanding what they need, their desires, carrying out educational programs. Involving the leaders of these communities is a great strategy, and the experiences that can be shared are always rewarding. Many people need is just a chance for someone to believe in them, and if we have the chance to be this someone is just amazing

Dr. Nana Voitenko and her lab were making an effort to continue their research, in any way possible, while fearing for their own and other family members' lives. The effort to save cell cultures, chemicals, and other research materials during the power outage while dealing with the immense mental stress brought on by the war emphasizes their dedication to science. This is truly inspiring as a PhD student when, currently, my only constraint for scientific progress is time. Their experiences put into perspective the ease with which I can continue doing research on a daily basis. The biggest takeaway from this, regarding how to navigate obstacles in research, regardless of how minor, is to adapt and pivot. Focus on areas that you can control or make progress on. One example is Dr. Voitenko's transition to developing a "European style" medical school to enhance the training of medical students. She also made use of SfN’s amazing community and led a meaningful change to the issue of male scientists needing funding but not being able to leave the country.

Hello everyone! My name is Lavanya and I am a medical student from India. My budding interest in Neurology brought me here. I am excited to be a part of this amazing online community and to be a Neuronline community leader. As a Neuronline community leader, I hope to actively engage in conversations and learn from everyone's perspectives. During my first year at medical school, I had the most fun learning neuroanatomy. The dissection of the brain and its structures fascinated me. It was much later, during the COVID-19 pandemic that I first realized my interest in Neurology. What began as a casual exploration of online courses transformed into a genuine passion for Behavioral Neurology. I believe that there is a vast scope of research at the intersection of neuroscience and behavior. As I nurtured this interest, I became more curious and observant of my daily life. I was inspired to conduct a study to find the prevalence of migraine, its disability, and its impact on sleep quality among undergraduate medical students. I am currently an intern and have just begun my journey to residency. Although I am not actively involved with any ongoing neuroscience research right now, I am excited to learn from all the community leaders worldwide and understand the scope of research going on in the field. I am enthusiastic to interact with experienced scientists and learn their worldview, as well I am excited at the prospect of any collaboration. Apart from my curriculum, I enjoy cooking and baking. I also occasionally make short video content. I believe the food we eat not only affects our gut health but, also majorly affects our mood and energy levels. My goal for this year is to integrate my passion for cooking with my interest in Neuroscience. Looking forward to interacting with everyone throughout the year!

Wow where to begin? My interest in neuroscience has always been conceptually broad – how does the brain perform the computations it does for everyday life functions, and how do these computations change with development, learning, and aging? Over the years of graduate school and post-doctoral fellowship, I’ve conducted research experiments using various behavioral, experimental, and computational techniques in humans and animals (ferrets). Using visual and auditory experimental paradigms, I investigated the mechanisms of perception, learning, memory, and how these change with aging using psychoacoustics, eye tracking, EEG, fMRI, and neurophysiology. As a program analyst contractor [KGS] supporting the achievement of the research goals of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s, I get to take a bird’s eye view of the entire neuroscientific research landscape. In my current role, I prioritize the development of the programs and infrastructure to achieve these goals. My activities range from development of targeted funding opportunities to address the gaps and opportunities in the research landscape, improving the rigor and reproducibility of funded and published research, participating in policy and program workgroups and more. I love this role; while I had no idea such roles existed for much of my own career, in this position I combine scientific expertise with communication and analytic skills to serve the public and the community I work with. Working on AlzPED, the Alzheimer’s Preclinical Efficacy Database (https://alzped.nia.nih.gov/) has been particularly fulfilling. In addition to being a curator, I also work with partner organizations to widely implement the adoption of rigorous experimental design as well as provide the research community with a platform to publish (as a preprint with a citable DOI) their negative findings which can be traditionally hard to publish.

Hi Diego, I would love to chat with you more about your work. We have begun to investigate inflammatory and microglial responses in the context of implanted devices and deep brain stimulation. Mitigating neuroinflammation would be huge to the clinical landscape

I really enjoy this question because I believe that our research is driven by our motivations, our encounters in life, and even our expectations and beliefs. In my case, I started to be involved in pharmacology because when I was young I saw many of my friends change after the consumption of alcohol. That amused me because it was something like Dr. Jeckill and Mr. Hide!!! How one calm person could be a totally different person after alcohol intake?... At that very moment, I realized that I really wanted to understand that... The other source of motivation was stress, at that crazy young age, one day I was in a car accident, I was with my friends, and the driver lost the vehicle control and we hit a wall. In the moment of the accident, I saw how time expanded itself... I saw everything in slow motion, for me it was several minutes, but after the accident the people said that everything happened in a few seconds!!!! I know that I should have had a different reaction, but I was so excited because the time was different, how my brain did that????... In this event, I incorporated time into my perspective of life. Finally, neuroscience was the last ingredient that took me on this Wonderful path... In my lab, we study: PTSD and related disorders in humans and rodents Timing behavior and its pharmacological basis Stress and addictions Learning and Memory on Cephalopods Best

Firstly, I just want to emphasize how happy I am to discuss something related to diversity once more! Linking my emotions to an actual written content, I share the opportunity I'm having as a Community Leader. Just from the part of my context I'm happy to share - as a latina and undergraduate student - it's amazing to interact with such incredible researchers, doctors and all of you here at SfN! Yours experiences, kindness and engagement make it all amazing! After all, amidst the struggles - once there's no quick modification on the demographics of the scientific community as a whole - smaller steps might be the source to rely on. Surely, it's a scenario I'm gratefully finding at many science and academia groups but, specifically, extremely happy to see it happening here at SfN. Resources, such as content (incredible stories and articles) and the creation of programs - like the Community Leader opportunity for Early Career scientists - are mere exemples on how I gladly see change beginning to appear, though at my local and immediate surroundings. Engaging people from all backgrounds - degrees and life experiences included - might be just the beginning, but it has been done thoroughly. Doing our own bests it's not all that matters. Still, it represents the will and the courage for the changes we are going to see on the future.

I believe that the more capable minds that think and work on a given topic, the greater the chance of scientific benefit. When I say capable, I include responsibility and ethics. We are in a dangerous age of fake news, data distortion to suit diverse agendas and breaches of privacy, which can cause great harm to people, patients and institutions. As Hugo said, we have to interpret the past, the nature of things and share them, but in a responsible and ethical way.

Tough question my friends... I believe that we will be free of sharing our data, but not for whatever use. We should be aware of the interest conflicts, the bad use of the data, the appropriation of the data or even the burglary of the projects. All persons that wanted to see the data, they should have access, is the way to demonstrate that the data was obtained in the right way, however when we sharing for reuse we should be clear and make the statement that the data is from another experiment or is used to compare models or results from different experiments. Science it should be clear and directed to the understanding of all natural phenomena, we can't ignore the past, the old experiments, the old data because all of this are the founding of the actual science, that means that we are allowed of compare the data, but we are obligated to use it in the right way... Sharing data in neuroscience is good for many reasons, we can compare experiments, we can run different algorithms to find new perspectives, we can learn about the way in which the data were obtained, etc. However not always its will be in that way, sometimes somebody could use it in bad way, but if we are aware of that possibility and we are prepared to claim the rightness of the data, with back ups of the data, laboratory notes, video recordings, the original projects etc, we can be victorius in this hard, but honorable quest.

This is a topic that is very "near and dear" to my heart. As an ardent supporter of open and FAIR neuroscience, data sharing and reuse govern my work. Whether that is through volunteer efforts to develop standards or developing web applications and platforms to make data sharing and reuse more feasible. I believe that data reuse has the potential to democratise neuroscience; that is, enable individuals from under resourced institutions to conduct research beyond their institutional capacity. Moreover, the open data archives developed by the world's large-scale brain initiatives (e.g. BRAIN, Brain/MINDS, CONP, and HBP) are posed to provide the neuroscience research community with large volumes of FAIR data that can not only be reused to advance our understanding of the brain, but also to revolutionise how we teach and learn neuroscience (from high school to graduate school). I would love to hear about any of your experiences with data sharing and reuse whether you are pro or against it. My colleagues and I are in the process of collecting data about barriers to data sharing and reuse in neuroscience. I encourage you all to help us out and complete the survey.

I'm taking an optimistic outlook. In my opinion, AI has indeed had a significant impact on scientific work in neuroscience. I have summarised how AI has impacted scientific work in neuroscience: 1. Neuroimaging analysis: AI has played a crucial role in processing and analyzing neuroimaging data, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). AI-driven techniques can help with tasks like image segmentation, registration, and feature extraction, making it easier for researchers to study brain structures and connectivity. 2. Disease diagnosis and biomarker discovery: AI is being used to develop diagnostic tools for neurological disorders, like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy. By training AI models on large neuroimaging and clinical datasets, researchers can identify specific biomarkers or patterns indicative of these conditions. This can lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses, potentially improving patient outcomes. 3. Drug Discovery and Development: AI has accelerated the drug discovery process in neuroscience by analyzing vast databases of molecular structures and simulating their interactions with neural receptors and pathways. This assists in identifying potential drug candidates and predicting their efficacy in treating neurological conditions. 4. Advancing theoretical models: AI has enabled researchers to test and refine theoretical models of brain function. Through simulations and computational models, AI aids in understanding complex neural networks and their underlying mechanisms. Overall, AI has significantly impacted scientific work in neuroscience by enhancing data analysis, understanding disease, and developing therapeutics. As AI continues to evolve, its integration into neuroscience research will likely lead to more groundbreaking discoveries and improved healthcare outcomes for neurological conditions.

I like the statistic... In statistics we always have the error bias. In fact is a fundamental concept for the understanding of nature. If you see this equation: y = b1 + b2 + e is one of the most beautiful one because is sensitive to the error (the e obviously), if we want to explain the data we will have to include the error. Without the error there is no predictions there is no learning, there is no changes and adaptation. If you have a successful task, may be it will be no change, because you did right (and that is great of course), but if you always have that results there no more learning. In science we know for sure that there is no absolute true. We know that the science is perfectible, that the laws are temporary and that the data and analyses can change every paradigm or theory, no matters for how so long it will be stablished it. Because that science characteristics we should love the errors, the errors allow us to change our post of view, the errors permits the change and new and renovated theories, the error make us better scientists. We have to learn how to show this to the students, when we have a failure, we have the opportunity of change the mind of one person, for good, or for the worse... If we are sensitive to this, we can build a resilient scientist, we can built a propositive and ethical person. And I think that we ned many of this.

As neuroscientists, we will drop/cancel/arrange life around experiments, grant proposals, manuscript submissions, etc... without hesitating; but we stop and think about the impact of participating in a passion outside of work will have on work. For me, working from home during covid helped me to see the imbalance and provided me with the time and opportunity to address the imbalance. I have given myself permission to pursue my passions outside of work with the same commitment and dedication that I have given to my career. It was not easy, and I felt a lot of guilt at first (almost like I was having an affair on work if I chose prioritise another passion).

I have always subscribed to the notion that the word "fail" is an acronym for "first attempt in learning" which in my opinion sets a more positive tone and calibrates my expectations of myself (think about learning to ride a bike: it took several attempts and a few stumbles along the way to master the skill). Also, I believe that it is important to have something else in ones life that you are passionate about (family, cooking, sports, etc...) and that you try to create a balance between this passion and neuroscience; so that when the professional failures arise (which they will), you have the other passion to reaffirm your self worth. I hope this makes sense!

I learn from the COVID-19 pandemic that our hippocampus could be so confused... Let me explain it, it supposes that the hippocampus is related to the identification of the environment, we can distinguish the differences between a concert hall versus a restaurant, and as a consequence, we behave differentially in both places. But, what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic isolation?... suddenly the university and our home were the same places (the same as the work or elementary school, etc) at the same time in the same place we had to take our classes, in our bedroom, kitchen, study or whatever place in our house. That was the difficulty for our hippocampus, the main expectative was, "It's home, the place for rest, watching TV, playing video games, etc" However in the pandemic, we change that to; "Now is the office, the university, the seminar hall, etc", Huge change for processing!!. Consequently, our behavior started to change, and we tried to adapt, but sometimes our hippocampus failed. For example, the guy who was walking in underwear while somebody was having an interview; the guy who was having a meeting with a kitty filter; the students in pajamas in class. All these examples are a sample of hippocampus failures, at the beginning, we were having trouble in adaptation, concentration, in attention, because the context said it's a place to rest, but the reality said is your workplace now!!. Nowadays, we have to understand that the new forms of communication, interaction, and participation will be with us forever. In my case, I use the new technologies as a tool for better communication, and for a new form of interviews, but only as a tool. In my work, I'm learning to separate my private life, some times is easy to say: "We zoom on Sunday" "We zoom at night" etc, but it's not ok, we need our private spaces and our family deserves their spaces with us.

I love the movies: 2001 space odyssey; I robot; The matrix; etc. but in all of these movies the main premise was "What happens when the IA shows self-conscience?... My first thought in that sense will be: We are talking of the same?; Do we face an uncontrolled entity that eventually could destroy us? the answer is not. To avoid that, we must face the problem with ethics, courage, and a clear sense of direction. AI could be an amazing tool for exploring new fields, having a rapid answer to a difficult topic, etc. but I think that AI is a tool, not a substitution, AI can't substitute our thinking, our writing skills, our curiosity. Recently, one student shows to me an essay and said: look professor, I did it with AI and I think that is pretty good and I look smarter than everybody here. I look it up the essay and thought, really?... The student only put the topic, the machine did all the work, and the machine put all the references. The student never read it (but he did the work of writing the question and turning on the computer). We have to find out how to prevent the unethical use of IA and show the new generations the line between the advantages and the loss of creativity... As researchers, we have to recognize that scientific creation is a product of our knowledge, environment, social positions, etc. The IA does not have all these elements and because of that the results could be far away from us.

From our most recent bi-monthly meeting, there are two things I'd like to comment on this statement above. First, for better or for worse, I rely mostly on this two main branches of the discussion just to synthesize something that can become so complex. Secondly, such a crucial subject - based on how multifactorial it is - can lead us to unprecedented contributions, emphasising these from our local Community. For an instance, I expect that the post I currently share will only motivate my other colleagues on sharing the brilliant contributions they had on the topic back on the meeting I had mentioned. Certainly, I'm not going to establish any conclusions, although, at least, I might get my own thoughts slightly organized on this world of possibilities in order to get it started. Back to the oath - just kidding - I'll start with the positive impacts AI promises Neuroscience research passionates like us. From assistance on medical diagnosis, analysing exams and figuring out patterns, all the way up to identifying authenticity on published papers, AI can compute information on unthinkable scales and proportions... After all, do things that are unlikely or uncharacteristic of the human abilities and do things that are impossible for organic chemistry based bodies, though I tend to avert from these types for thoughts, specially when we see kindness, honesty and other traits of humanity: things AI will never be able to do. Will it? Well…from this considerations, I go towards the other side. Negatively, behind the data shared and reused, the FAIR principles to be implemented and so many other AI possibilities, the same carbon-hydrogen-oxygen beings work at, not doing things as they’re supposed to, forgetting about the damaging - or worse, not forgetting and doing it the same way - that could be provoked whenever the AI (and the technologies in general) are implemented badly. Yes, the possibilities are not only by the speed of internet, not simply virtual, they’re also endless and, pretty much, concrete changes. It’s kind of funny to think how AI is not the problem by the end. But, of course, it could never be created if it wasn’t for the real intelligence - used for the best or for the worse - the human one. What else do you all have to share? (that's not data, LOL)

“What is the best advice you have received from a professor/supervisor throughout your career?” This is a good question. Let me reach way back into my cortex for the answer..... So, this is a story about the advice that I didn't take. As a neared the end of my post-doctoral fellowship training, I started applying for faculty positions---some positions I applied for were at large, research institutions, others were at smaller liberal arts colleges that focused more on teaching, with less of an emphasis on big-time research. I ended up being offered a faculty position at a medical school that was part of a small liberal arts college in rural Georgia. I was going to be given my own lab space, and I was expected to support my lab with extramural funding, like at any other medical school, but I was also going to be required to carry a pretty hefty teaching load (roughly half my time was to be spent teaching first- and second-year medical students). I didn't have much exposure to or opportunities for teaching as a graduate student or post-doctoral fellow, but I knew that teaching was something that I really wanted to pursue. When my post-doctoral mentor found out that I had decided to take this position, she strongly advised me against going to an institution that wasn't primarily research focused and where I would be required to do a lot of teaching. She was worried that spending so much time in the classroom would potentially ruin my career as a researcher. Well, I thanked her for her concern and advice, and I took the position anyway. I spent 15 years at that small medical school that was part of a liberal arts college, and I don't regret it a minute of it. I was given the unique opportunity to have a thriving research program (albeit very small compared to other neuroscience research labs), while learning to teach and design medical school curriculum. Without that experience, I never would have ended up in my current position, where I'm now part of a team starting a new medical school. So, I guess the lesson here is that sometimes the best advice comes from yourself---trust your instincts, listen to your gut, and don't be afraid to take a chance.

Hi Everybody! Fortunately, I have been surrounded by valuable and pretty smart scientists during my professional formation. Because of that, is really hard to choose a single one!!. However, I will do my best in choosing two of them. The first one came from my postdoctoral adviser; one day we were discussing the results of one experiment, at that moment the data were unclear and without direction, I suggest to look the data and detecting subjects with bad performance to check out what is going on. The Dr looked at me and said: You can do that, you can look, but you can´t interact with the data. Our compromise like scientists is to explain the data, find the causes, explain the phenomena, and learn from that, but never, ever, modify, change, duplicate, or any other kind of interaction: THE DATA IS THE DATA. I think that sometimes we are so immersed in our research that we don't realize that if we changed something (for minimal that it appears). it could change our understanding of the nature and that could affect us for many years. The second one came from my bachelor's tutor. In those days I was lost in what does mean to be a scientist. I thought about the awards, the traveling, the excitement of finding things, and the understanding of nature. One day I was playing soccer and I didn't finish my experiment, when I was asked for that, I apologize for my behavior but I said that It does not matter because I can repeat the experiment and I was capable of doing everything again if it was necessary. My tutor turn back slowly and look at me with a surprised expression. He ask me to sit down and said: Hugo I want you to listen carefully; I know that you are capable of repeating the experiment, I know that you are smart enough to change the design and do so many other changes. However, that skill does not mean that you respect science. Science is knowledge, experimental data, publishing, interchange of ideas, etc. However, science is compromised with society, it understands our role and returned the trust that the society deposit in every scientist. They expect respect, honesty, and compromise. If you are not capable of compromising with your experiments, how you can compromise with society and behave ethically in science? Best

Neuroglionanobots… a pretty cool name, right? In the past, I considered myself a huge fan of IA, however, I didn’t consider how much AI could impact our work as scientists. I didn’t consider how many human activities can be affected by this new way of getting, organizing, and managing information. However, there are dark paths in which we need to be careful. The other day I saw a Facebook post in which a young fella showed how to do a Facebook place to get money. This guy showed how the AI was capable of choosing the best topic (health and self-care in this example), and the AI was capable of creating evidence that supports the contents of the page and creating smart quotes or highlights to get attention. At the end, this guy looks at the camera, so proud of his “work” and says that all this work was done in minutes thanks to the AI. So many problems in that post, in the first instance, one guy without any kind of preparation in health, medicine, pharmacy, etc. can do a place to advise on self-care and nutrition; secondly, nobody can corroborate the information because there is no clear how the IA took the information from the web; in third place, where is the ethics of doing in that way?; I can continue, but I believe that my point is out there. The IA feeds itself from the entrances that we do regularly, in the form of papers, books, blogs, comments, etc. but if we continuously use it to produce the products used for their feedback, then what??? Did you see the problem??? In the long term, the IA could be fed in a loop without entrance from the exterior… I know that I may be Im overreacting, but the truth is that we need laws to regulate the use of AI; we need to incorporate ethics in this discussion and we need to show to the new generations the implications of the misuse of AI. Long Live and Prosper humans

Hi brains!!! The first thing I should like to said, is that all this is my point of view obviously. We should start saying that we need to recognize that the knowledge is a right, and that all persons should have access to knowledge. If we understand that, we should create better programs in which we can introduce the science since the first levels of education. I believe that the later introduction in science in our lives, allows the pseudoscience to grown, allows the superstite behavior to establish and explain the world. In Mexico we have communities extremely poor. Unfortunately in this populations there is no schools, no science programs and evidently there is so much pseudoscientific believes. We need to bring the science to the communities, we need to do better efforts to explain in different word (far away of the scientific language) and let the science mesmerize the children in this communities in the same way that the science mesmerize ourselves (well, at least is my case). We need to do better science divulgation and better science programs for the elders for example. The elders are an abandoned group with needs for explanations and better understanding of their brains. obviously more science programs for young people... more science for everybody.

I think leaders in the brain science community should lead efforts to include everyone. We need embrace all kinds of people because brain science does best when it has lots of different minds working on challenges together! People with different physical or mental traits, whether that features make things hard for them or help them , are really important for making the science world more interesting. I see this not only in this scientist's story 9which is amazing and inspiring), but in my own family too. My sister is an amazing doctor, despite having one-sided deafness, which she got as an adult. It was tough for her to deal with this new way of hearing, and it changed how she sees the world. But she had to adapt, and it also brought out new talents in her, making her better at her job. As a doctor, she got better at feeling things, seeing things, analizing patient's anatomy, all very important skills for her work. So, even though she was great before she lost her hearing, now she's even better. I admire her for inspiring her students and other doctors. And as an impaired hearing surgeon, she got really interested in brain science and I tease her that she is an honorary neuroscientist. I believe that it's our job to help people to adapt, embrace and live tho the fullest.

While we may have entered a new year, conflicts from the years past have carried over, and in some cases, have hindered scientific research. In the Neuronline video, "'We Are Still Alive As Scientists': A Ukrainian Scientist’s Story of Perseverance," Nana Voitenko discusses the impact the Russia-Ukraine war has had on her research. Have you experienced opposition that has impacted your research? This could be outside conflict or direct opposition to your research. If so, tell us how you best navigated these obstacles.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Dreams We Dare to Dream for ALS Can Come True This webinar features Eva L. Feldman, MD, PhD, a clinician scientist whose career in neurology and neuroscience focuses on understanding the underlying causes of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as the factors that determine disease susceptibility versus disease resilience. Updates in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Ann McKee, PhD, describes the emergence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as a distinct disease over the past 20 years in this joint webinar with the American Physiological Society (APS), SfN, Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), American Autonomic Society (AAS), and InsideScientific. Networking, Mentoring, and Diversity in Neuroscience From the point of view of a developmental neurobiologist and university vice president promoting communications and diversity, this session will discuss the importance of networking, mentorship, and the need for diverse role models to inspire the next generation of neuroscientists worldwide. Introducing the 2024 Neuronline Community Leaders! The Community Leaders' program is a group of active SfN members who are interested in cultivating the sharing and discussion of resources among SfN members on the Neuronline Community. Read more about the program and the new cohort of Community Leaders!

Want to discuss your experience at Neuroscience 2023? Check out discussions from Community Leaders who attended Neuroscience 2023 virtually! Posts from Community Leader @Julia Araujo and other virtual attendees can be found in the Neuroscience 2023 Recap and Discussion sub-forum. Check out the Neuroscience 2023 forum for more great content!

My last post about Neuroscience 2023’s presentations couldn’t be any different. I chose another of my favourite sessions to talk about and I’m so glad for the incredible content I was able to watch. Learned so much once more! Accompanied by Sydney Brenner’s video - source of huge inspiration - and a glimpse of Dr. Stryker’s accomplishments - summed up at the 2023's Ralph W. Gerald Prize in Neuroscience award - the session was a source of incredible amount of learning. All the knowledge simply cannot be brought up as a single post I write. I just hope to transcribing into words (perhaps translate) some of the dazzle I got to experience by watching it. All additional awards remarked by Dr. Steward at the session include SfN’s support towards Early Career researchers - for either their works and their participation at the Meeting. Personally, I take this moment to appreciate my own experience as a volunteer at the Community Leader program and as an undergraduate student. I shall share more of this context in a post over the following weeks. Although, for now, some of what I can say is that it has been an amazing year. Back to the session, Dr. Schuman’s remark begging at the individual neuron and its own source of curiosity for the field. From this concept, she stablished a goal on understanding what makes this individuality compose an entire functioning collectiveness: the synapses. From the what to the how, our affirmations, questions, answers and more of those merge towards the proteins. After all, just as a initial sample: Proteins are storing memories. But how many proteins are there? They are being synthesised and degraded. But where are they coming from? It all comes from decentralisation of the process. What else can we discover? The search for a response to the latter question mark let Dr. Schuman to years of her work. Alongside, after years of her discoveries, we get to take a step back and visualize a whole path of improvements, newer technologies, adaptation and validation not only of hypothesis, but also more inspiration, support and assurance. Mostly it’s an indication to keep with the affirmations, questions and answers that keep coming within each successful scientific cycle. Clustering data, technology and productivity, Dr. Schuman’s work thrives. To my view, with so much to teach us, her lecture shall remain as a sample of knowledge, followed by the next researches as further opportunities to amaze us with even more fascinating results. If you want to watch it at Neuroscience 2023, you can look for the title "LEC10Presidential Special Lecture: Cell Biology at the Synapse: Local Protein Synthesis and Degradation — Erin M. Schuman” among more incredible available virtual components in the Livestream section. By the end of this series of posts, I just would like to emphasise my appreciation for all SfN staff with us (Community Leaders) and wish my most sincere congratulations to all participants of Neuroscience 2023. Thank you for the opportunities of engaging and learning!

Your Annual Meeting Strategy: Advice From Previous Attendees There are many ways to approach the annual meeting. In this article, past attendees weigh in and provide helpful advice for those planning their Neuroscience 2023 experience. Your Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Time at SfN's Annual Meeting SfN's annual meeting can provide attendees with an unparalleled opportunity to learn and connect with the neuroscience community. This article shares tips on how to carefully plan an itinerary and have a successful meeting experience. How Presenting Your Research Can Help You Maintain a Questioning Spirit Graduate researcher Lili Bao presented research virtually for the first time at Neuroscience 2022. In this article, she talks about the experience and how the annual meeting helped nurture her questioning spirit. Studying the Activity of Large Populations of Neurons: Less is More? In this Meet-the-Expert webinar, Byron Yu, PhD, shares how to use modern statistical methods to dissect and interpret large-scale neural recordings from advanced technologies. Reactivation of Early-Life Stress-Sensitive Neuronal Ensembles Contributes to Lifelong Stress Hypersensitivity Julie-Anne Balouek, PhD, and Catherine Jensen Peña, PhD, discuss their paper “Reactivation of Early-Life Stress-Sensitive Neuronal Ensembles Contributes to Lifelong Stress Hypersensitivity” with JNeurosci Reviewing Editor Mary Kay Lobo, PhD, in this on-demand webinar. How to Make and Present a Poster for Neuroscience 2023 Are you presenting at this year’s annual meeting? Marina Picciotto, PhD, Stephen Maren, PhD, and Ekaterina Likhtik, PhD, share valuable tips and strategies aimed at helping presenters master the art of poster design and presentation in this on-demand webinar. Maximizing Your Time at SfN’s Annual Meeting Neuroscience 2023 is right around the corner. In this on-demand webinar, Janice Naegele, PhD, and Veronica Galvin, PhD, provide valuable tips on how to tailor your annual meeting experience and network efficiently.

II remember being stupefied by the grandeur of the event. Lots of people, and most of them smiling... so different from the congresses I was used to. I saw lectures by great famous geniuses and other anonymous ones, I met colleagues and came back full of ideas. Can't wait for the DC congress.

Thank you, Hugo and Julio, for your responses. @Hugo: I agree that dual-use and proper attribution are issues that the community of data sharers should be aware of and take precautions to reduce risks.

I haven't attended the Annual Meeting yet, but highly intend to join online. It might be not as even as close to the experience in person. Although, if I make it through the webinars, it already would mean the world to me. I guess sometimes we have so much going on at our profissional, personal and multiple lives altogether that we must highlight our achievements, no matter if they went physically as far as pressing a button. There's always so much behind it. Nonetheless, I don't wanna let any pessimism seem to come out of my sentences. With that in mind, I'm sharing my first experience presenting at a congress because reading my dear colleagues posts really reminded me of it. I was still in High School (so, basically months before the pandemic started) and presenting my very first article at an international event. My mentor and professor said she would be at the event to watch my presentation, but time goes by and I was at her class next day. She turns to me and asks why were I at school if I should be at the congress. Then, by the time I grab my phone to show her the pictures I had taken, she founds out the presentation had been missed. Sincerely, it made the congress event more unforgettable than it already was. I know this story might be silly, or my post might not relate as much to Sam's question as it should. Although, if I could make someone remember a personal experience - a nice memory - by reading this, it means my words achieved a desired result.

Sam, this question required me to dig way, way, way back! My favourite memory is bumping into a fellow newbie that was just as overwhelmed as I was and sparking a new friendship. We navigated the rest of the meeting together which made it much more enjoyable.

I personally loved the article. Kavya Devarakonda did such a brilliant work on it. Her tips are so realistic! (And that's a rare finding) Mathew and Hugo, I dearly enjoy having us three discussing and participating at all of these posts as Community Leaders. The contributions get us engaging and celebrating Neuroscience through words and the thoughts behind them. Sincerely, I wish I were more optimistic and confident enough to deal with my failures in the elegance you all shared. From Kavya's unbelievable ideas, going through Mathew's kindness within himself, all the way to Hugo and his talent on bringing up metaphors for complex matters: failure comes as forgiveness and a hand that will raise you back on your feet so you can keep climbing obstacles. I'm working on applying Devarakonda's "rules" piece by piece and hope someday soon I'll come back with more details, sharing my own setbacks and even, perhaps, my own suggestions.

I am a bit conflicted about the use of AI in neuroscience. The optimist in me sees all the potential benefits, but Hugo has raised an important challenge: will its use result in the "dumbing" of neuroscience which will ultimately lead to a loss of creativity.

Hi all, the one advice that really made me think was that "every single experiment has to make some sense" though its not significant. As a PhD student, I always struggled with understanding the purpose and significance of the experiments I conducted. I would often find myself going through the motions without truly comprehending the underlying concepts. Without really realizing what is the bigger question I am going to solve by doing certain experiment was really depressing. Following my supervisors advice, I started to approach my experiments differently. I took my time and started questioning everything before I start something. It helped me a lot to stop doing unnecessary stuff and saved lot of my time.