Reminder that CU Boulder is hiring three tenure track neuroscientists, broadly defined. Info/application here

We have an opening for a technician to help support neuroscience projects in monogamous prairie voles. Come to cutting-edge work in a cool species with complex social bonding behaviors! Please help spread the word: https://t.co/gN6gicQWmp

My first experiments as a post-doc are finally published in @HormBehav! Aged voles have a lot of love to give, demonstrating accelerated and enhanced pair bonding which is paralleled by an increase in oxytocin cell counts of the PVN.

We are hiring 3+ Neuroscience faculty at CU Boulder! Seeking applicants with outstanding research programs in cell/molecular neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, and integrative physiology. #academicjobs @FuturePI_Slack @NeuroRumblr https://t.co/7a8uRKtNGQ

Excited to share the first pre-print of my post-doc with @DrZoePhD. At the end of my PhD, I became interested in how social behaviors evolve during aging, particularly in late stages of life. But mice/rats do not display many of the complex social behaviors as observed in humans.

A few weeks ago I was asked to write an obituary for my PhD mentor, Larry Young. He was the torchbearer for oxytocin research, a giant in our field. He had a gift for connecting people. His loss has been devastating for many of us. https://t.co/tZB7y8IEo9

And thanks also to the voles who showed just how much they want to be with their partners. Case in point:

When bonds are lost, this partner-enhanced dopamine eventually erodes, potentially laying the groundwork for forming a new bond. A big thanks to @yulonglilab for generously sharing GRABda sensors! Thanks also to David Protter (@BiochemAndStuff) & Yurika Watanabe.

Excited to share our latest work out in Current Bio led by @annefpierce . We found dopamine is required for seeking out social interaction in monogamous voles, and that a pair bonded partner elicits greater accumbal dopamine release than does a stranger.

Wanted to retweet and include all my incredible co-panelists for Molecules and Memories : The Complex Underpinnings of Social Behavior!! Chair : @LabWalsh Co-Chair : @XiaotingWuLab @okaysteve @DrZoePhD

📢 Please join us at the SfN-sponsored Social on Social Neuroscience on 11/14/2023 6:45-8:45 pm in Washington, DC! Please note that *trainees* and PIs can sign up for quick/friendly informal research "pitch" during the Social!!👇👇

Recruiting undergrads, grad students, and postdocs for my new research lab @WesternU! Visit https://t.co/nIqbO6Mfxs for more info. We study communication and social bonding.

New Hot Topics in @npp_journal from Zoe Donaldson @DrZoePhD and M. Katherine Shear @m_ks2394, "Neurobiology and treatment advances for prolonged grief disorder" #NPPR2024 https://t.co/Q8XJWHVPe1

This is so sad, she just had a baby.

It’s officially out! Software and advice to streamline fiber photometry and it’s analysis complete with detailed protocol. Congrats to lead authpr @KathleenZMurphy and thanks to advice from @NeuPhotometrics

A study lifts the veil on the neural processes which help monogamous prairie voles cope with heartbreak.

Julie also developed translating ribosome affinity purification in voles to interrogate gene expression in neurons specifically, where she found that partner loss leads to changes in dopaminergic-, mitochondrial-, and steroid hormone signaling-associated gene clusters.

Julie found that male prairie voles exhibit changes in gene expression in the accumbens when they pair bond, and these changes persist as long as the bond remains intact. Upon partner loss, this transcriptional signature erodes, potentially to enable bonding to a new partner.

Thanks also @AlisonB99479824 (Alison Bell) for an excellent Insight commentary on our paper