Sofiya Zbaranska

⭐Christmas highlight in Cell Research! @sjo09 and I address the exciting idea that learning-associated astrocytes become essential members of a memory engram ensemble, challenging the neuron-centric view of memory function. Shoutout to @m_r_williamson! doi.org/10.1038/s41422…

Very proud of this new paper led by Jiannis Taxidis in Nature Neuro where we use voltage imaging, optogenetics and ephys to record and manipulate PV and SOM interneuron activity patterns during working memory performance! nature.com/articles/s4159…

First poster presentation! Thanks to the whole team and JFLab for this interesting work! #CPIN #Neuroscience #engram

Wrapped up 2 intense weeks at #NeuroAI by @Neuromatch! 🚀 Our team explored how RNNs encode spatial memory — and found they implicitly learn a discrete spatial layout. 🔍 Check it out: github.com/neur1s/GridVad… Thanks to my amazing teammates! #AI #Neuroscience #RNN #GridWorld

Sharing our new short review on development and diversity of astrocytes! journals.biologists.com/dev/article-ab…

Excited to share that our paper is now published! Together with Aki Watarai, we have discovered how the mouse brain integrates multiple social features, such as sex, into cohesive social memories. science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Thrilled to share our latest work in @Nature studying inter-brain neural dynamics in both biological and artificial intelligence systems — amazing work by @xzh_brain, Nguyen Phi, and fantastic collaboration with @JonathanCKao! Read the full article here: rdcu.be/euu5Z

Andrew Mocle's Brain Star Award winning research has led to a better understanding how ensembles of neurons are recruited in memory formation can-acn.org/brain-star-awa… @SickKidsNews @cihr_irsc

In many brain areas, neuronal tuning is heterogeneous. How does this diversity help behavior? We show how tuning diversity shapes representational geometry and boosts coding efficiency for perception in our new preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.110… (with @s_y_chung & Tony Movshon)

Humans and animals can rapidly learn in new environments. What computations support this? We study the mechanisms of in-context reinforcement learning in transformers, and propose how episodic memory can support rapid learning. Work w/ @KanakaRajanPhD: arxiv.org/abs/2506.19686

"As long as I was doing well, I felt I was making my parents proud." #ScienceWorkingLife scim.ag/4ldOYnE

Ever wondered what PhD life in Canada looks like? P.s. Hope @sjo09 forgives me for setting a questionable example

My postdoc work "Unsupervised pretraining in biological neural networks" is out now, along with more than 400GB (milliions neurons) neural data. nature.com/articles/s4158…. Figshare and Github links can be found in the paper.

Fundraiser completed in just one week! Thanks for contributing and let’s stay united 🫂

Only 10,000 UAH (250 USD) left to complete this fundraiser! Help me support freedom and protect the life of 18 y.o. Zakhar 🇺🇦 🔗paypal.me/neur1s 🔗 send.monobank.ua/jar/8GKzDmjwEb

My 18 y.o. friend Zakhar returned from Canada to join the Ukrainian National Guard. He’s now on the Donetsk front 🎯 Raising ₴60,000 for his protective gear 🛡️ Your support helps defend freedom and protect a life 🔗 send.monobank.ua/jar/8GKzDmjwEb

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My first time at #FIP and thrilled to have scored a poster prize 🥳

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Making social memories at #CAN2025

Conferenciating at #CAN2025 today? Come see my poster on social memory! Learn how the amygdala helps us tell apart friends vs. foes (as reenacted in the photo) and how this ability is shaped by oxytocin signaling and engrams :)