Eelke Snoeren

A screenshot of the article title: Reframing oxytocin as a behavioral flexibility hormone

Scientific claims in biobehavioral oxytocin research are dependent on a “derivation chain”. Theoretical models are the beginning of this chain, which are dependent on a theoretical core supported by auxiliary hypotheses. Efforts to improve biobehavioral oxytocin research have tended to focus on auxiliary hypotheses related to experimental models (e.g., improving oxytocin delivery to the brain, polygenic approaches for genetics studies), and statistical auxiliary hypothesis (e.g., appropriate sample sizes for research). However, even if these issues are addressed, a poorly specified theoretical core (and associated auxiliary hypothesis) can lead to unreliable scientific claims

Oxytocin is typically described as a "social" hormone. In our new article, we propose that it should instead be viewed a hormone that modulates behavioral flexibility

doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Medical Biology (296377) | UiT The Arctic University of Norway Job title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Medical Biology (296377), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Thursday, March 26, 2026

Looking for a PostDoc in molecular biology and structural biology ?

Check out the position in my group:

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

Submit Your Abstract Today!
Deadline: Friday, February 20, 2026 11:59PM EST

Whether you're a member or not, we'd love for you to apply.
ibns.memberclicks.net/index.php?op...

We are excited to share our keynote speakers for the 35th Annual IBNS Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa! Join us June 23-27th!

Are you a trainee and interested in travel grants to #IBNSSouthAfrica? Prereview applications are now being accepted until Nov 7th! more info www.ibnsconnect.org/travel-awards

The deadline for symposia proposals is getting closer! Why not present your research at IBNS in Cape Town next June?!@ibnsconnect.bsky.social

Call for Symposia / Satellite Proposals for the 35th Annual IBNS Meeting at Cape Town, South Africa
Deadline: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
More information can be found at www.ibnsconnect.org/meetings

We are excited to invite all behavioral neuroscientists to the 35th Annual IBNS Meeting at Cape Town, South Africa June 23-27, 2026!

Call for Symposia / Satellite Proposals Deadline: Tuesday, October 28, 2025

More information can be found at ibnsconnect.org/meetings

Job Alert!!! We are looking for a motivated postdoc to join a 3-year BBSRC funded project led by my colleague Carl Stevenson (I’m coPI). This multi-disciplinary project will combine in vivo heart rate monitoring and optogenetics with behavioural testing (fear and active avoidance) in rats.

Do you have experience turning amateur data analysis scripts into robust, scalable code? I’m hiring (hourly pay) to professionalize Python scripts for scientific data analysis, making them reusable across multiple datasets.
Tromsø/Norway-based candidates preferred, but all are welcome! DM me!

Perinatal fluoxetine exposure increases male rat sexual behavior Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed to pregnant women due to their efficacy and safety profile, leading to potenti…

🚨New paper alert! We studied the long-term consequences of SSRI use during pregnancy on the offspring in rats in a seminatural environment. We found that perinatal FLX exposure significantly increases sexual behavior in adult male rats.
@uitnorgesarktiske.bsky.social
#neuroscience #neuroskyence

IBNS is going to South Africa next year! Time to think about submitting a symposium! @ibnsconnect.bsky.social #neuroskyence

Above the arctic circle with @nathaliejuya.bsky.social <3

Nothing beats the feeling when your research gets picked up by the media! 🎉 Our latest study is featured on NRK – so great to see science reaching a wider audience. 🔬📰 #ScienceCommunication #NRK

www.nrk.no/trondelag/kj...

The study was a collaboration between Jaume Lalanza, John Oyem, Patty Huijgens, James McCutcheon, Roy Heijkoop and Eelke Snoeren from UiT The Arctic University of Norway. We received funding from Helse Nord and MSCA-IF.

Our findings suggest that prolonged junk food exposure leads to lasting desensitization of the VTA to both food and sexual rewards, with significant behavioral changes in response to food rewards. 🍕🍰

We also found that a CAF diet alters reward circuitry more severely than a high-energy diet. Plus, a two-week healthy diet reversal wasn't enough to restore behavioral and neural changes.

Interestingly, while an attenuated VTA response was also found in response to sexual rewards, no significant behavioral differences were observed in sexual interactions.

In our study, rats on a CAF diet showed reduced appetitive and consummatory behaviors towards food rewards. This behavioral change was linked to diminished neural activity in the ventral tegmental area.

Behavioral and neural alterations of the ventral tegmental area by exposure to junk food in rats The brain reward system is essential for regulating appetitive and consummatory behaviors in response to various incentive stimuli. Junk food, charact…

🚨 New Article Alert! 🚨
Our latest research reveals how long-term consumption of a cafeteria (CAF) diet impacts the ventral tegmental area in rats. 🍔🍟🍩#Neuroskyence @uitnorgesarktiske.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Busy poster session #EBBS2025 @ebbsociety.bsky.social for @annika-koeck.bsky.social

European pied flycatcher

Willow warbler

Common reed bunting

Sedge warbler

European pied flycatcher, Willow warbler, Common reed bunting, Sedge warbler. #tromsø #birds

🧠📈 I had the privilege to attend #IBNSConnect conference in Tromsoe last week and it was fantastic. I presented data with the rescue behavior task and the role dorsal hippocampus play in the learning of this behavior. My former PhD supervisor presented my PhD data. I watched the sun *not* set.

View of northern Norway from plan as we were approaching Tromsø

View of the midnight sun in Tromsø, Norway

Nyhavn area in Copenhagan

Heading back from #IBNS2025 in Tromsø with an overnight layover in Copenhagan, feeling so invigorated and excited to return to the lab!

j Radulovic: stress response is conserved across species & stress influences memory formation (acute or chronic can influence memory) . Memory can be expressed in transciptomic states #IBNS2025 @ibnsconnect.bsky.social

Did I just go fishing at the Artic Circle during the midnight sun before the conference kicks in? Life as an academic got interesting 🫣🩷 #IBNS2025

Fear ourside the box. Important insights in the neural pathways mediating the what and where of a predator threat in the keynote lecture of Nelson Canteras. @ibnsconnect.bsky.social #IBNSconnect #IBNS2025

Fascinating local keynote lecture by Siri Leknes @sirileknes.bsky.social at the IBNS meeting in in Tromso. @IBNSconnect #IBNSconnect #IBNS2025

Opening lecture of the IBNS meeting in Tromso by Karen Bales. @IBNSconnect #IBNSconnect #IBNS2025

I’m at IBNS in Tromso 🇳🇴 for #IBNS2025. First up Farida Sohrabji stroke is 5th leading cause of death in men but 3rd(!) in women!!! & one of the leading causes of AD. Pre-menopause fewer women have stroke but after 65 many more women have strokes than men.