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Sydney Trask

@sydneytrask

running, baby, dogs | assistant professor | behavioral neuroscience

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01.08.2023
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Latest posts by Sydney Trask @sydneytrask

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Going to start using this as an example of an aversive conditional stimulus.

03.03.2026 19:05 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.

Monitoring gene expression in the brain with a simple blood test?

In collaboration with @jerzyszablowski.bsky.social & his lab we figured out how to do it nonhuman primates using noninvasive neuroengineering of synthetic serum markers.

nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

27.02.2026 19:39 πŸ‘ 65 πŸ” 33 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
Jack Hughes smiling while his mouth is bloody and his tooth is chipped.

Jack Hughes smiling while his mouth is bloody and his tooth is chipped.

When people ask how I’m doing and I say, β€œGreat!”

23.02.2026 21:46 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A humidifier on the sink in front of a bathroom mirror. The combination of small "on" and "full" lights above a wide curved vent make a pleasant smiling face and on the back of the humidifier, which can be seen in the mirror, another wide curved air vent and the two screws holding it together above it make a horrified face.

A humidifier on the sink in front of a bathroom mirror. The combination of small "on" and "full" lights above a wide curved vent make a pleasant smiling face and on the back of the humidifier, which can be seen in the mirror, another wide curved air vent and the two screws holding it together above it make a horrified face.

Me whenever I have to communicate with other human beings #anxiety

17.02.2026 06:19 πŸ‘ 9144 πŸ” 2660 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
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This is an important paper on social class barriers among faculty in academia.

First-generation college grads earn less and are placed at lower prestige institutions despite being just as productive as other faculty.

Faculty from upper class backgrounds are overplaced for their research records.

27.01.2026 20:49 πŸ‘ 58 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Highlighted Topics | Grants & Funding

On a call with NIH PO this morning - I knew NOSIs were no longer a thing, but wasn't aware they now have these "Highlighted Topics". Not clear how it exactly interfaces with funding and/or how you highlight alignment, but good to keep an eye on!

grants.nih.gov/funding/find...

22.01.2026 14:51 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Addiction Neuroscience | Dopamine circuitry and heterogeneity in addiction | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier The heterogeneity of midbrain dopamine neurons is coming into focus. Distinct subtypes of dopamine neurons can be identified across the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta ...

I edited a special issue of Addiction Neuroscience on dopamine circuitry & heterogeneity in addiction - now complete!🧠πŸ§ͺ

Check out the full issue & my editorial (all open access) here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

19.01.2026 14:11 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Redirecting

πŸ”₯New paper out, together with @albalm.bsky.social and Mirte De Ceuninck!

➑️"Differential effects of chronic restraint stress on two active avoidance tasks in rats"

doi.org/10.1016/j.pn...

19.01.2026 11:00 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Pooh bear meme where the words 'conditioned stimulus' are by regular pooh and 'conditional stimulus' are by fancy pooh.

Pooh bear meme where the words 'conditioned stimulus' are by regular pooh and 'conditional stimulus' are by fancy pooh.

13.01.2026 20:14 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Richard scarry image of pigs eating hot dogs

Richard scarry image of pigs eating hot dogs

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Feel like he’s breaking the 4th wall bc he realized this is kinda f’d up

10.01.2026 03:21 πŸ‘ 8426 πŸ” 916 πŸ’¬ 257 πŸ“Œ 66
Research Assistant - Manhattan, Kansas, United States About This Role The Psychological Sciences Department is seeking a Full-Time Research Assistant, to help with research for Dr. Maria Diehl. The lab research assistant will help with experimental proje...

The Diehl Lab is hiring a full-time Research Asst to be filled asap! We study neural circuits of fear & avoidance during social interactions in rats & are seeking a motivated team player. For more info & to apply -->
careers.k-state.edu/jobs/researc...

08.01.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Examining the Three‐Dimensional Spatial Architecture of Mouse Amygdala Engram Ensembles Memories are stored in a sparse population of neurons active at the time of an event, an engram ensemble, and reactivation of the engram ensemble drives memory recall. Although the amygdala is essent...

New Year, new paper from our lab. Emily Kramer used 3D light-sheet imaging and tissue clearing to examine the spatial architecture of mouse amygdala engram ensembles.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

01.01.2026 14:43 πŸ‘ 55 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Older Rats Switch Between Distinctly Different Behavior Strategies to Solve the Spatial Version of the Morris Watermaze
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

08.01.2026 12:03 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
07.01.2026 18:40 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Disruption of Pre-BΓΆtzinger Complex neuropeptidergic tonality controls fear and metabolic response Stress profoundly impacts systemic metabolism, yet the central circuits linking stress responses to peripheral metabolic regulation remain poorly defined. Here, we identify the preBΓΆtzinger complex (p...

Excited to share new work from our lab showing, for the first time, a link between breathing dysregulation, stress responses, and energy metabolism via a neuropeptide receptor mechanism.

This opens new ways of understanding #brainbody interactions!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

03.01.2026 15:52 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Just quit Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it.

Blog post: Just quit
Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it.

open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...

30.12.2025 15:02 πŸ‘ 186 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 14

Heads up I will be hiring a postdoc and some techs in the new year! Lots of ephys and fiber photometry. If you've got soon to graduate PhD students or undergrads, send 'em my way!

27.12.2025 16:18 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Postdoctoral fellowship available in structure guided drug discovery in @RothLabUNC
Please RT

27.12.2025 15:51 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The serotonin 1B receptor is required for some of the behavioral effects of psilocybin in mice - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - The serotonin 1B receptor is required for some of the behavioral effects of psilocybin in mice

New paper drop! πŸ§ πŸ’Š Our new paper out in Molecular Psychiatry shows that the serotonin 1B receptor is important for the neural and antidepressant/anxiolytic behavioral responses to psilocybin in mice.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

21.12.2025 19:50 πŸ‘ 53 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 2
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We are excited to share our keynote speakers for the 35th Annual IBNS Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa! Join us June 23-27th!

05.12.2025 03:52 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Proposed mechanism

Proposed mechanism

πŸ†•Lab study shows that ayahuasca enhances fear extinction, including under stress-induced deficits, and reduces fear generalization; cortical BDNF-TrkB receptor signaling contributes to these effects @isabel-werle.bsky.social @ecnp.eu
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

18.12.2025 09:19 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

My (awesome) department @bcpsychneuro.bsky.social is looking for a Visiting Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience. 3-2 teaching load and competetive compensation. Area of expertise is broad. Apply here. Email me with questions! apply.interfolio.com/178919 Please RT #Neuroskyence

17.12.2025 20:56 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Paul πŸ˜‚

12.12.2025 18:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

very excited to share some of the final bits of work from my PhD! πŸŽ‰ we find that phasic DA in the accumbens simultaneously tracks persistent motivation towards reward cues in addition to new learning (but maybe not RPE?!) in sign-tracking rats. check out the preprint below!

12.12.2025 18:29 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1

I never knew that so much of academia would just be formatting your CV in different ways over and over again using various softwares under the guise that if you just do it one more time you'll never have to do it again.

10.12.2025 19:46 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Employment Opportunities | Department of Psychology Available Positions Position Title Position Details Posting Date Closing Date Queen's University National Scholar (QNS) Senior Faculty Position in Social and/or Affective Neuroscience, Department of P...

Canadian job πŸ‘€ πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ ‼️ Second search this year! Our Dept of Psychology is hiring again, this time at the assoc/full level, for a prestigious, endowed position. Focus is social/affective neuroscience in any area (clinical, social, cog, or dev). Apply by Jan 30! Reposts, pls www.queensu.ca/psychology/n...

10.12.2025 03:14 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

🧠 We're hiring! 🧠 Are you passionate about neuroscience and education? Join our faculty at UNC Chapel Hill to inspire and teach the next generation of neuroscientists. Apply now: πŸ”—β€‹β€‹https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308455

#Neuroscience #TeachingJobs #AcademicJobs #HigherEd

09.12.2025 19:20 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Two Faces of #PTSD: Fear vs. Emotional Pain. Our new research in Biological Psychiatry @biologicalpsych.bsky.social identifies distinct clinical & neural profiles.

AI says no one reads long papers, so we made an infographic!πŸ‘‡

Full Paper (for the insistentsπŸ˜‰): doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

06.12.2025 11:35 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Associate Professor - Madison, Wisconsin, United States Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...

New job opening in social psychology at UW-Madison! at the associate prof level.
jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/associa...

04.12.2025 16:54 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Handwritten text saying β€œtalk about confounds!” on an experimental design in β€œConditioned Reflexes.”

Handwritten text saying β€œtalk about confounds!” on an experimental design in β€œConditioned Reflexes.”

My copy of Pavlov’s β€œConditioned Reflexes” belonged to my PhD advisor, and it’s been fun seeing his notes in the book. Glad to see that Pavlov and I received the same type of critiques β€” β€œtalk about confounds!”

03.12.2025 13:51 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0