neuroscientist studying the development and function of mPFC circuits | formerly UC Berkeley/UCSD/Stanford | head of DeNardo Lab @ UCLA | mom x 2, home chef
Los Angeles, CA
Joined March 2013
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- Following875
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Laura DeNardo retweeted
We know hundreds of genes are linked to autism, but there's a huge gap between knowing a gene matters & understanding what it does inside the brain's circuits, which has made therapeutics hard to develop. A new paper led by Pingping Zhao in @pgolshani's lab at @dgsomucla helps close that gap. Using miniature brain-imaging microscopes & optogenetics, the team found two cell types in a reward-related brain region that pull in opposite directions during social interaction, one promotes sociability, one suppresses it. In a mouse model of autism, this balance breaks down, & dialing down the suppressive cell type improved social behavior. A real step from risk gene to therapeutic target.
ALT Top image shows the approach for optogenetic perturbation. The bottom image shows a histological image of opsin expression and optic fiber placement in the NAc core.
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Big news: @dgsomucla is growing our neuroscience community! Our Dept of Neurobiology is hiring new faculty at any career stage, from people just starting their labs to established leaders, working on everything from the genetics of brain disease to how circuits of neurons produce behavior. What excites me most is the range: we're not looking for one type of scientist, we're looking for curious, creative people asking big questions about how the brain works & what goes wrong in disease. Every new lab that joins adds a new piece to the puzzle & a new set of ideas to the community. If you know a brilliant early-career or established neuroscientist who might be a great fit, send them our way! Please repost to help this reach the right people. recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF1129…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Very excited to share another preprint from our lab:
“Autism-risk gene mutations convergently disrupt sexually dimorphic oxytocin circuits to lower social engagement.”
biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Online now: A bifunctional optical reporter for tracking estrogen response dynamics in neurons dlvr.it/TVCzGY
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Feeling this heat wave? 🌞 Your brain is working hard to keep your body temperature in check & new work from the Correa lab at @dgsomucla shows how precisely tuned that system really is. The team identified a specific population of hypothalamic neurons that control core body temperature & brown fat activity, all while leaving food intake & body weight untouched. That kind of specificity suggests the brain has dedicated circuits for temperature control rather than one general thermostat. Digging into how these circuits work, including how hormones shape them, could eventually help explain why some people's internal thermostats run differently than others. A nice reminder that even feeling hot is a sophisticated brain computation. doi.org/10.1210/endocr/bqaf1…
ALT RERKO (Reprimo-specific ERα knockout ) mice have reduced estrogen receptor α (ERα) immunoreactivity in hypothalamic thermoregulatory hubs. Rows show Images of ERα immunoreactivity (red) in coronal sections of the brain containing the anteroventral periventricular area (top), medial preoptic area (middle), ventrolateral area of the ventromedial hypothalamus (bottom), and arcuate nucleus (bottom). Tissue is counterstained with DAPI (blue; 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole).
Laura DeNardo retweeted
How does an experience become a lasting memory? UCLA researchers reviewed how brain regions work together as memories form. The image highlights the hippocampus and retrosplenial cortex (2 areas involved in learning) & the connections between their brain cells. Over time, activity across these networks helps make a memory more stable. Read more: doi.org/10.1002/hipo.70032. #UCLA #Neuroscience #Memory #Learning #BrainHealth #BackToSchool
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Congratulations to Mika Holtz & Syon Mansur, two @dgsomucla PhD students who received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships this year. Mika is studying how stress changes brain circuits in the @ladenardo lab. Syon is exploring biologically plausible learning rules in artificial neural networks in the Zylberberg lab. The NSF GRFP is one of the most prestigious fellowships in science & these students earned it. But awards like this are rare. For every Mika & Syon, there are brilliant students whose research is made possible by grants their PIs secure & philanthropic gifts that sustain our program. Supporting graduate students in neuroscience has never mattered more. 🧠 #NSFGraduateResearchFellowship #UCLA #Neuroscience
Laura DeNardo retweeted
New from @ladenardo's lab at @dgsomucla: why can't we remember things from infancy? The team found that a brain region called the retrosplenial cortex physically matures on the same timeline that memories shift from fleeting to permanent. Early in life its neurons stay densely wired & barely reactivate during recall, but as the brain develops those synapses get refined & the region kicks into gear during memory retrieval. Even more striking, artificially reactivating an infant memory's neurons weeks later could bring back a "forgotten" memory, suggesting it was never erased, just inaccessible. A great window into how the architecture of memory itself develops. sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
ALT Representative examples of TRAPed (magenta), Fos+ cells (green), and double-labeled reactivated cells (white) in RSP after CFC (top) or in NS control mice (bottom).
Ever wonder why you can't remember your earliest experiences? Our new study, led by Benita Jin, Abbie Yu and @michaelgongwer, shows how the retrosplenial cortex stores traces of forgotten infant memories that can be reawakened in adulthood—but only under the right conditions.
Laura DeNardo retweeted
May is Stroke Awareness Month, and @dgsomucla researchers are helping reshape what we know about recovery after stroke. Their work points to specific brain cells, parvalbumin interneurons, as key drivers of neuroplasticity during rehabilitation & suggests recovery is not just physical retraining but active rewiring in motor circuits. It also raises the possibility that future therapies could amplify rehab itself by targeting these mechanisms directly. An important step toward better recovery outcomes after stroke. nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
One of the biggest mysteries in neuroscience is how brain stimulation therapies can rapidly relieve severe depression. New research from @dgsomucla identifies specific neural circuits that appear to be restored by transcranial magnetic stimulation, offering a clearer picture of how these treatments work & how they might be improved in the future. Exciting work from @michaelgongwer (in our MD/PhD program) & @ladenardo @ScottWilke5. Read more here: cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Thrilled to share our paper out today in @CellCellPress! Transcranial magnetic stimulation can effectively treat depression, but how? We uncovered cell type-specific plasticity driving these antidepressant effects 👇
cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092…
Excited to share our new paper with @ScottWilke5’s lab! 🎉 Led by @michaelgongwer, we uncover how rTMS drives therapeutic effects through cell type–specific plasticity in the prefrontal cortex. A big step toward understanding its mechanisms—take a look!
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Reminder: Your impact is bigger than just papers ✨
At this year's Slaydies retreat, we gave each other personalized awards, holistically honoring the way we show up for each other in the neuroscience field and beyond.
I'm so grateful for this community 💜
Laura DeNardo retweeted
Ever notice how some moments feel heavier than they should? It may be because your brain is connecting them to older memories. New research from @deSousa_AndreF at @dgsomucla suggests fear grows when experiences get linked together over time. What we feel now is often shaped by what came before. nature.com/articles/s41593-0…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
We’re excited to announce our next international, hands-on #Miniscope workshop covering everything from microscope design to experiments to analysis!
Applications are now open for the 2026 Paris Miniscope Workshop (July 1–3, ESPCI).
Apply by May 22: forms.gle/4CWh7MeMchLSjjzi7
Laura DeNardo retweeted
It is finally out! Excited to share the main work from my postdoc in the Silva Lab at UCLA.
We investigated how memories are organized in the brain (rdcu.be/ffPmX).
Excited to see our collaboration with @alcinojsilva in print! Led by @deSousa_AndreF working with @BrainOfZedZed. This study reveals how the brain organizes memories, integrating related ones but separating those that shouldn’t be mixed up.
nature.com/articles/s41593-0…
Laura DeNardo retweeted
A lot of the most interesting progress in neuroscience right now is coming from people who are comfortable moving between fields: computation, systems, and clinically-directed research.That kind of training doesn’t happen by accident. If you’d like to support this work at UCLA, more here: bruingivingday.ucla.edu/camp…