How does evolution turn a harmless bacterial feeder into an active predator?
Our new study led by @marianneroca.bsky.social and published in @pnas.org explores how sensory systems were rewired to enable prey detection and predatory behaviour in nematodes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
🧵below!
Congratulations to @marianneroca.bsky.social on this great paper 🎉
The study shows how P.pacificus detects prey by integrating mechanical&chemical cues in the same sensory neurons, revealing how evolution rewired systems originally used for avoidance to enable hunting.
mpinb.mpg.de/en/press/pre...
Neurobiologie zum Anfassen 🧠
Austausch, Experimente & Karrierewege beim Besuch von #juFORUM Neurowissenschaften bei uns am Institut.
Mehr davon bitte! :-D
Great thread by @jameslightfoot.bsky.social breaking down the key ideas behind our new Nature paper step by step. Highly recommended if you want the full story behind how predatory behavior evolved in these worms.
How do new behaviors evolve?
A new Nature study shows how predatory aggression can emerge through changes in neuromodulatory circuits – without adding new neurons.
We’ve created a short animated explainer video to walk through the key ideas.
youtu.be/wNhjKDCPs_8?...
Our latest paper is out in Nature 🥳 We investigated the underlying neuromodulatory regulation of aggressive behavior in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus 🪱🧠🔬 And we show that novel behaviors can evolve through changes of single neuron function by switches in neuromodulator-receptor expression. 👇
Why do some worms graze on bacteria while others hunt and kill?
Our study, published today in Nature, reveals how predatory aggression evolved in nematodes.
Led by @gunizgozeeren.bsky.social and @leoboeger.bsky.social across the @jameslightfoot.bsky.social and @monikakscholz.bsky.social labs.
BonnBrain Poster for 2026
Registration open: eveeno.com/applicationb...
Under the theme “From Genes to Circuits and Behavior”, top neuroscientists - incl. Cori Bargmann, @edvardmoser.bsky.social, Rosa Paolicelli, Maude Baldwin & Zachary Knight - will meet at to explore how neural circuits drive behavior.
bonnbrain.de
Follow for updates: @bonnbrainconf.bsky.social
#BonnBrain #Neuroscience #BrainConference #AcademicEvents
💡 Poster sessions & short talks
💡 Student-organized early-career symposium
💡 Interdisciplinary program across all career stages
Participation is limited and by application.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this international neuroscience community.
💡 Join the 8th Bonn Brain Conference
March 23–25, 2026 | DZNE Bonn, Germany
Explore the latest in brain states, neural circuits, and behavior — with keynote talks by leading neuroscientists including Cori Bargmann and Edvard Moser @edvardmoser.bsky.social
It is a true pleasure to take part at this year’s Konstanz school on collective behavior and talk about our theoretical framework of computing with transients.
@mpinb.mpg.de
Exciting news! @kerrlab.bsky.social is part of a new #MaxPlanckCenter with @mpi-mr.bsky.social and the Institute for Basic Science at Yonsei University in Seoul. We aim to visualize and influence cellular processes deep in human tissue — in a targeted way, without causing damage. Stay tuned ! 🌟
Excited to be part of “Unifying theories in high-dimensional biophyics” symposium @ICTS in Bangalore. Looking forward to learn about novel theoretical descriptions from molecular to behavior of ecologies! @mpinb.mpg.de
Led by @simwieg.bsky.social from @uniheidelberg.bsky.social, DynOrg is one of 7 new DFG Research Units, supported for up to 8 years. We're thrilled to be on board! 🔬🇩🇪
#GPCR #Neuroscience #DynOrg #DFG #WormLab
Using optogenetics, high-res in vivo imaging & multi-omics, we’ll track how GPCR signals guide foraging & feeding. Understanding how the two nervous systems in C. elegans coordinate foraging and food intake will shed light on core principles of neuromodulatory control.
#PharaGlow
@monikakscholz.bsky.social lab and Alexander Gottschalk’s team @goetheuni.bsky.social are zooming in on C. elegans. With just 302 neurons, this tiny worm helps us study how two nervous systems — somatic & enteric — coordinate via neuromodulators like dopamine & serotonin. 🪱🔬
GPCRs are tiny molecular switches that let animals respond instantly to danger, hunger, or stress. Just a few messengers (like dopamine or adrenaline) activate diverse pathways that shape behavior and physiology.
Ilustration for FOR5807 showing sketches of c. elegans and its neuronal networks and molecular form of serotonin and dopamin
🚀 Big news from our @monikakscholz.bsky.social lab! We’re part of DynOrg, a new @dfg.de-funded Research Unit exploring how #GPCR signaling coordinates organ function & animal behavior — from heartbeat to foraging. 🧠💓
#FOR #neurotransmitters
Image of neural connections. Text reads: The brain’s sparse connectivity is not a limitation it’s an optimization!
Despite the trillions of synapses in the brain, there is sparse connectivity between neurons. This may be a feature, not a flaw, per new research at @mpinb.mpg.de.
A study finds that “sparse connectivity” of neurons may contribute to more efficient info-processing in the brain: bit.ly/4kO1TMY
We had a privilege to have Chittaranjan Hens from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, India, visiting for a day and telling us about the origins of instability in dynamical systems on undirected networks! @mpinb.mpg.de
Paper alert! Check out the new publication by our Cellular Computations and Learning Lab!
👉 journals.aps.org/pre/abstract...
In our evening`s session, Monika Scholz from the @mpinb.mpg.de talks about her research on the foraging behavior of a predatory nematode Pristionchus pacificus and compares the underlying neuronal mechanisms with the ones of C. elegans.
@monikakscholz.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We are at #DDays2025 ! Join us at our 3!! talks on multistability and metastability, today, on Thursday and Friday! @mpinb.mpg.de
#podcast #neuropod #scicom #neuroscience
🚀 New Neurovoyagers episode just dropped!
It's been such a great time chatting with @monikakscholz.bsky.social about worms, neural bottlenecks, open science, and the joy of building stuff that works 🧠🔧
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/1r2a...
Cells use more than signal strength to decide their fate—they "listen" to the tempo of signaling. Check out this work by our Cellular Computations and Learning Lab introducing signaling homeorhesis, a concept where dynamic signal patterns guide cell decisions. #CellSignaling #cellfate
👉 or dive into the publication in PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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👉 Read more in our news article: mpinb.mpg.de/en/research-...
