kathaschmack.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Long live science! Wonderful thread on how we got from giant squid axons to a new drug against pain. 👇

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Heritability ≠ genetic causation Tuberculosis has a heritability close to schizophrenia - yet it's caused by an infection. How could that be? A great read on why schizophrenia genetics has disappointed us in the search for a cause. 👇

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

Do psychiatric GWASs find drug targets? Excited to see our work linking GWAS and pharmacological treatments in psychiatric disorders now published in JAMA Psychiatry jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... 🧬💊🎯 Big thanks to @bendfulcher.bsky.social @alexfornito.bsky.social Mark Bellgrove 🧵👇

submitted 16 days ago • 2 comments

One cold morning my strong-willed kid said 'Mom, you were right, I should have put on gloves.' and it was like warm honey flowing over my exhausted mother's heart.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

The United States by virtue of a bipartisan commitment to biomedical research created one of the most vibrant, productive research ecosytems in the world. People came from all over to study here, do research here. It was a monumental accomplishment by both parties. 1/

submitted 17 days ago • 34 comments

For people who are not familiar with the way federal grants support biomedical research and universities, a great tread 👇 This is a devastating attack on universities and science in the US

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

3 years ago, I left the US with a heavy heart. Being a scientist there had been a dream: I loved the energy, fearlessness, and innovation. Seeing all of this under threat fills me with deep sadness. To my US colleagues: I feel for you! Please keep going, for the US and for the world!

submitted 17 days ago • 4 comments

I once proposed to the anesthesiologist who finally got the epidural in. Right in front of my husband, just as he was about to become a father.

submitted 20 days ago • 2 comments

Just picked up my smartest attire from the dry cleaner's for this Royal event tomorrow! Looking forward to celebrating @smfleming.bsky.social 's amazing work on metacognition - congratulations!

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

'Medicine tends to trivialize conditions it lacks the tools to explain.' Very insightful piece on the tremendous burden of chronic pain and the transformative potential of pain research.

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

Me at 10pm: 2025 is off to a good start. I'm staying positive and not overthinking. My brain at 4am: Good morning! Let's assess your research progress and revisit your life choices!

submitted 49 days ago • 1 comment

All bad advice I've received boils down to: 'Don't do you—do me.'

submitted 52 days ago • 2 comments

My new email footer: "Sent by me. Please forgive the excessive use of exclamation marks."

submitted 53 days ago • 3 comments

"Go to Spain," they said. "It will be sunny." Spain:

submitted 56 days ago • 4 comments

Inspired by recent posts, here is my Christmas gift for you: the worst postdoc interview ever.

submitted 428 days ago • 3 comments

Came across my grandfather's memoir of fleeing and starting over during post-war turmoil with 10 children. They repeatedly survived thanks to kind people on all sides. My thoughts: 1. I’m a neurotic wimp. 2. Peace and freedom are exhilarating. 3. Kindness and humanity rule, always.

submitted 63 days ago • 0 comments

Can the motor system use sensory expectations to prepare for unexpected events? Excited to share my latest work with @andpru.bsky.social – where we establish that sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics in motor circuits! 🧵 and paper below 1/

submitted 64 days ago • 5 comments

He didn’t want to talk. His focus was on the paper, hands busy drawing one of his colorful figures. I asked my questions anyway. Was he in pain? Was he sleeping okay? Were the voices bothering him? His answers were short, reluctant. (1/2)

submitted 66 days ago • 1 comment

No one: Me: Actually, the intertrial interval isn’t the time between the end of one trial and the start of the next. It’s the time between the start of one trial and the start of the next. #psychophysics 🤓

submitted 67 days ago • 0 comments

I also recommend residency as preparation for motherhood: every time I was woken up, I was just incredibly relieved it was a baby and not a medical emergency.

submitted 67 days ago • 0 comments

7-yo: How were humans invented? Me: [bursts with excitement and erupts into an animated 15-minute lecture on evolution] 7-yo: So you're saying I was a pitbull when I was in your belly?

submitted 68 days ago • 0 comments

I think Mastodon could have been the next ScienceTwitter - if only you didn’t have to write and compile your posts in LaTeX.

submitted 75 days ago • 4 comments

I'm quite obsessed with this crazy guy and his weird, beautiful musical inventions. He’s just been selected as a Finalist for this year’s Guthman Competition aka the 'The Pulitzer of New Instruments.' 🎵🤩✨ #proudWife www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvx2...

submitted 75 days ago • 0 comments

At #ACNP2024, we don't say 'I love you' but 'See you at your Wednesday evening poster' and I think that's beautiful.

submitted 76 days ago • 2 comments

Immunologists, time to embrace your inner neuroscientist 🧠🧪 Macrophages (yes, #macrophages) release glutamate (yes, #glutamate) to sensory neurons engaging in the muscle stretch reflex. Very cool paper! #neuroscience #immunology www.nature.com/articles/s41...

submitted 76 days ago • 2 comments

When you're saving it all for the one, big paper (John Flamsteed, First Astronomer Royal ‐ a 17th century case study in publish or perish)

submitted 78 days ago • 1 comment

True for scientific life, too.

submitted 82 days ago • 1 comment

The fallacy of the experts is that everything seems obvious to them, and so they cannot see what a new idea could develop to, because they know too much about the field. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2...

submitted 82 days ago • 1 comment

Happy "Adding-another-user- to-our-Spotify-plan" Day to those parents who celebrate

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

Three years down as a #newPI, here is another short story that I wrote: medium.com/@kasterlens/...

submitted 84 days ago • 4 comments

Reminder that #medicine cannot ignore society: across Europe and the US, ethnic minorities have higher rates of #psychosis. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/m...

submitted 84 days ago • 1 comment

𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥 or 𝐛𝐫𝐨-𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥 (𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛) /ˈbroʊˌpoʊ.zəl/ A research proposal by a scientist or group of scientists, typically male, centered on technology or AI in an attempt to convey coolness

submitted 87 days ago • 0 comments

Mouse stereotactic surgery never gets old: you level a tiny irregular skull, go by coordinates based on eyeballed reference points, deliver microdrops of virus following protocolised superstition and whoom, three weeks later, the exact subregion you aimed for lights up (well, sometimes) ✨🧠🧪

submitted 90 days ago • 2 comments