Wei Wen

OpenAI announces ChatGPT is now at the level of real scientific reviewers, “It just tells you to do single-cell RNAseq in response to every query” says Sam Altman

I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.

Too accurate

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.

What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.

Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

He explained it under his post- negative means the success rate has never reached 80% even with a perfect percentile. bsky.app/profile/sash...

Oh I just saw the formula at the top, so these are relative values?

What’s the meaning of the negatives here…🤔

Wow this visual is so striking… in a bad way🙃

Every time you experience something new, your brain faces a decision: Should it update an existing memory or create a new one?

In our new paper in @sfnjournals.bsky.social #JNeurosci, we isolate that exact decision, moment-by-moment during learning 🧵

Black-headed honeyeater with yellow plumage

Another super-rarity, the hihi or stitchbird. These birds struggle to survive without substantial support in the form of food supplementation and nest boxes, probably because of habitat differences between the forests they once inhabited and the predator-free offshore islands where they now hang on.

HEY YOU!!! There's research WE NEED to PROTECT!

How you ask? We are rallying NATIONWIDE on SATURDAY, MARCH 7TH to SAVE SCIENCE, PROTECT HEALTH, and DEFEND DEMOCRACY!

Join us by visiting standupforscience.net/march7 to find your local rally, volunteer, host a local rally, or host a pop-up protest!

watercolor of brain in pink and orange with text: NO AI ONLY BRAIN

look how cool this one is! The pink sort of exploded artologica.etsy.com/listing/4467... 🤯

Two neurobiologists win 2026 Brain Prize for discovering mechanics of touch Research by Patrik Ernfors and David Ginty has delineated the diverse cell types of the somatosensory system and revealed how they detect and discriminate among different types of tactile information.

Two neurobiologists who helped decipher how the somatosensory system detects touch and pain have won this year’s Brain Prize, the largest award in neuroscience.

By @helenak.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/somatosensat...

Cherry blossoms with the city wall in the background

Spring is upon us (and my respiratory system but trying to ignore that for now and just enjoy this)!

$1B per day is about $42 million per hour. About 30 min worth of that spending can fund my lab for my ENTIRE career (~20 3-year NSFs or ~10 5-year R01s). Please wrap your head around that.

We'd all be happier if we lived somewhere walkable (The Deep Space Nine space station)

When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.

Went through the same struggle while writing a review article haha, we’re like 30 refs over so it’s been painful… In the end we decided to feature more early-career researchers (esp. women) if a decision must be made. I mean isn’t having a ref limit for reviews kinda counterproductive🤔

Research Technician Research Technician position available in the Grienberger lab at Brandeis University. We are a new neuroscience group studying the cellular basis of learning and memory in the mammalian brain. This is...

We’re looking for a new Research Tech! Our research tech is heading to graduate school (very exciting!), which means we’re recruiting someone new to join our team. The position involves hands-on neuroscience research in a collaborative environment.
brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Jobs/job/Bra...

Ok I will start using phrases like “I love you as much as wolves love blueberries” from now on🤣

We think of white matter as the highways of the brain. But when we followed development along those highways, we were surprised. The journey is more complex than we thought. My final PhD paper, “Two Axes of White Matter Development”, is now out in @natcomms.nature.com! 🛣️🧠✨
🔗 bit.ly/wm2axes

Today should be your 38th birthday.. When you lose your son you lose more than a child you lose a piece of your heart and your joy. Life is forever altered, and nothing can ever fill that space. Yet in my soul, he remains, my precious boy, forever loved. His laughter, his smile, and his love are woven into who I am. My love for him will never fade. Yor are my pride and my joy - you've made a change that cannot be broken..

Alex's mom on his 38th birthday.

Timeline cleanse

Bracing myself for the storm next week by re-diving into the classic synaptic plasticity papers featuring STDP and learning more about the credit assignment problem in neocortex... Strangely that has actually helped.

Que sera sera.

In my simple brain, it's exciting but you need to understand the limitations: cell free systems allow you to ask q's about molecules; in vitro systems allow you to ask q's about molecules & cells; organoids may one day allow you to ask q's about mols, cells, and tissues/organs - but never organisms

things every single republican president of your lifetime has done

- started a war in the middle east
- completely destroyed the economy

A photo showing the Domus Medica building of the University of Oslo. The ground is covered in snow, while the building bathes in warm sunlight.

Last day to apply for a PhD position with me!

Fully-funded, three year position in beautiful Oslo. Voltage imaging, ephys, all the cool stuff!

www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

I think this is a *super* important paper - if this result can be replicated with other regions or tasks then this may come to form our core understanding of credit assignment signals in the neocortex!

#neuroscience 🧪