Alexander Harris
@dr_alexharris
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Neuroscientist/Psychiatrist. Assoc Prof @columbiapsych . Circuits. Stress Susceptibility & Resilience. reward seeking. oscillations
Joined August 2015
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The words of the wise, spoken gently, impact the listener.
-Ecclesiastes 9:17
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Jeff Lieberman was just suspended from all of his roles at Columbia & NYP!
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Folks! I am launching my lab at
@ColumbiaPsych
to study how stress disrupts the brain circuits that govern social, cognitive, and reward-seeking behavior. 1/4
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I am seeing a lot of impressed tweets about this paper I actually thinks it’s a masterpiece of straw men & misdirection
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Our new paper linking neural activity during stress and reward-seeking is finally out in
@NatureComms
! Here's a quick
#tweetorial
1/n
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Am I the only one who finds the NIH focus on age at first R01 a little unseemly?
I get that it’s meant to limit extended postdoctoral periods, but I don’t know that it’s working and it’s kinda ageist & kinda exclusionary of alternative life experience.
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Psychotherapists: what strategies do you use to metabolize the negative affect that you absorb over the course of your sessions?
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It purports to debunk that depression is caused by disruptions in serotonin function “It is often assumed that the effects of antidepressants demonstrate that depression must be at least partially caused by a brain-based chemical abnormality” 1/n
I am seeing a lot of impressed tweets about this paper I actually thinks it’s a masterpiece of straw men & misdirection
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All 3 research technicians in the lab have acceptances to fantastic MD/PhD or PhD programs! Such an awesome feeling 💕(I will be sad in the summer when they leave 😢)
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I’m hiring grad students, postdocs & RAs who want to study animal behavior, in vivo electrophysiology, and computational psychiatry in a fun, inclusive, supportive environment. 4/4
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@catgyoung
What if you were to shade a perimeter of half the area, leaving an unshaded interior square & an exterior ‘perimeter’ square? (Granted the shape formed by the shaded portion would be a square donut)
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This view truly perplexed me. Do folks believe that there is a mind that exists, untethered from biology, upon which psychosocial factors & psychotherapy operates???
How does this view account for the biological phenomena (like brain activity) associated with mental processes?
I believe it is becoming abundantly clear that amongst mental disorders, there are a few true psychiatric diseases (biological etiology and pathophysiology) and many more "clinical pictures," in which there may be a biological *component* but the etiology is largely psychosocial.
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What a nice way to start the day! Congratulations to my fellow associate members. You folks are great company 😊
Congratulations to new associate members, members, and fellows
@ACNPorg
#ACNP2022
🌵
@zivacooper
@ZhiDeDeng
@dr_alexharris
@MelissaHerman4
@DrJKhokhar
@DrCoreyKeller
@DPagliaccio
continued…
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Made it in laaaate last night & am thrilled to be here! I’m Alex Harris, neural circuit activity underlying stress, rewards, & cognition is my poison.
Been coming to ACNP since 2014 & this is my 1st meeting as an associate member.
Say hi if you see me :)
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Thank you so much
@npp_journal
and
@ACNPorg
for the e-gift card! It was totally unexpected, so to pay it forward, I made an equivalent donation to SPURS, a fantastic summer research program for underrepresented undergraduate students
Announcing
@NPP_Journal
and
@ACNPorg
's top meeting live-tweeters for
#ACNP2021
...social media e-swag prizes go to
@dr_alexharris
for being the most active Tweeter &
@CRodriguezMDPhD
for the most thoughtful, insightful & useful Tweets
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Come join the
@circuits_lab
! We are looking for a research technician interested in neural circuits & mouse behavior. The position is 50:50 research:administrative in a fun, supportive, & diverse atmosphere. Salary 45K+ 1/2
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I had a blast at
#acnp2023
met new friends & reconnected with old ones, saw some amazing science, did some mentoring (🤯), got mentored, started some collaborations. I am sad that it’s over 😭 but… gee, but it’s good to be back home.
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Oh dear. Plus this shocker “Shockingly, there has yet to be a K99 awardee at a historically Black college or university.”
The time between a researcher starting an R00 award and receiving a major NIH award/R01 is 4.6-7.4 years, and is significantly longer for women and those who remain at their home institution
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I’m madly proud of my big sister, Elana Harris. With her MD-PhD in neuroscience and child psychiatry training, she was on a successful academic research track. But she couldn’t stand idly by while the opiate crisis burned on, so she founded this program
My sister’s program to provide treatment rather than jail for substance using people
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Stoked to attend
#acnp2021
as a
#newPI
! Our lab studies how stress impacts circuit activity underlying reward seeking and cognition.
@ACNPorg
and
@npp_journal
: it’s gonna be a great conference!!!
ACNP/NPP gift card giveaway swag will be back this year! If you're an early career investigator attending
#ACNP2021
- QT to introduce yourself and your research, tag in
@npp_journal
and
@ACNPorg
and we'll include you in a drawing for a gift card on Sunday evening.
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Dan Lowes and I had fun thinking about the intersection of stress and reward seeking. 😊 This copy gets past the firewall
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Nearly 5 years ago, my mentor
@nimhdirector
left for the NIMH. TBH, it was frightening, but I remained in NY & guided the group of postdocs and grad students that stayed at Columbia. I was adopted by
@rene_hen
and learned a LOT about running a lab! 2/4
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It was great to have a day in nature with
@circuits_lab
.
No pics but it was my first time cooking a full BBQ for the lab.
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Hi folks! Here is my
#introductionpost
. I am a
#neuroscientist
&
#psychiatrist
based in NYC. I started a lab at Columbia in 2021 focused on how
#stress
disrupts the
#brain
#circuits
that govern social, cognitive & reward seeking
#behavior
. We…
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I’m disappointed that this framing made it through peer review and dismayed to think of the harm it will cause to folks in need of treatment. /fin
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Coming back from a most awesome
#acnp2022
I walked through the door to some very excited hellos & my tween baking these. Gee but it’s good to be back home.
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And the paper is going *prove* it’s point by showing a lack of association between serotonin levels and depression… which is a grossly simplistic idea that ignores the vast known complexity of how serotonin modulates the brain
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NIH directors recommend asking for “for cost” extensions in the last year of grant budget. Unofficial priorities in the absence of official budget are early career investigators, women, and minorities. Reach out to PO
#acnp2021
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Now I’m striking out on my own... in the same space. (My kids snark: congratulations on keeping your job). 3/4
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In a remembrance, Dr. Justin Richardson wrote that she gave the parenting advice “psychoanalysis is what we give our patients; CBT is what we do with our kids.”
I just learned that my residency director, Dr. Betsy Auchincloss, passed away. She was a brilliant mentor who demanded excellence & I’m eternally grateful that she carved out a residency spot that fully accommodated my religious observance & had protected time for research.
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I just found this conclusion slide from a postdoc talk I gave. Umm… 😂
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In her first year as a joint postdoc with
@haegenslab
and myself,
@InIbarra
dove into how optogenetics can revolutionize our understanding of neural oscillations
#brainrhythms
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Grant submitted Friday. Holiday cooking starts today. And go!
😊
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A wonderful collaboration with the
@CKellendonk
and the twitterless Sarah Canetta!
Inhibiting the mediodorsal and midline
#thalamus
in adolescent mice leads to lastingly decreased excitatory drive onto PFC neurons and PFC-dependent cognitive deficits during adulthood
New from
@CKellendonk
,
@dr_alexharris
,
@ljbenoit
and colleagues
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I’m so grateful to
@ShanskyLab
&
@DavidEMoorman
for inviting me to
@CortexGrc
. Diverse, inclusive community of kind people sharing smart ideas is what makes science fun & that was available in spades at the conference!
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Love this thread! As a psychiatrist & neuroscientist who studies the circuits underlying psychiatric symptoms in mice, I find ACNP a warm community of smart folks doing a broad range of interesting science. Looking forward to seeing old friends & making new ones!
#ACNP2022
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Is the k99 window wrapped up with the NIH’s weird ageist obsession with age at first R01?
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Any [donkey] can kick down a barn… which applies equally well to THAT serotonin/depression review and my tweets about it. So let me lift up just a smattering of the awesome research being done in mental health 1/4
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interesting idea that the days post ketamine constitute a sensitive period for psychotherapeutic intervention.
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Took 15 minutes but she is purring loudly on her new bed
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That is NOT what happened! Luke cogently explained both on and off manifolds! It was great! But we did leave before he finished the extra fries… it was *very* late.
Drunkenly stumbling back to my
#SfN2022
hotel last night, I was accosted by two colleagues who were like LUKE YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN
#MANIFOLDS
! So we sat down in a pizza place, and when I started they were both like I DON’T UNDERSTAND I HAVE TO LEAVE and left me there
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I told my kids to consider me out of town for a conference this week... daughter snapped back: “what’s the point of a conference if you don’t bring back souvenirs?!?”
#ACNP2020
#validpoint
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So my better half is getting started on Twitter. Give her a warm welcome and a follow to learn about all things endocrine.
So glad to be able to prescribe insulin analogs to patients who previously could not afford the copay! Thank you
@SenSchumer
for your work on the Inflation Reduction Act!
#endotwitter
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Shhh! 🤫 it’s the last day in the lab for two amazing high school students & I decided last minute this morning to bake them a cake.
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Of course, the clinical benefits of antidepressant treatments are not discussed 7/n
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Guess who passed with flying colors!
@DanLowes4
, my first graduate student (and big Hamilton fan) is defending his thesis this coming Wednesday and I am soooo proud of him! If you want to hear a stellar talk, DM me for a zoom link.
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@Franklandlab
A key shift in NIMH thinking is about “depression-like behavioral phenotypes” per se.
@NIMHDirector
introduced the (much groaned over) distinction between models “of” and “for” to push for behavior that reveals the biology underlying symptoms rather than stamp as “translational”
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@DrNancyPadilla
& I had a lot of fun writing about this cool new paper which reports a novel, non-violent, subordination method that potently (only 4 days!) produces long-lasting changes in social rank, reward seeking, & coping style 1/3
The discovery of a neuronal loop activated when mice unexpectedly become less dominant could provide insights into a range of stress- and depression-related behaviours, says
@DrNancyPadilla
&
@dr_alexharris
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Is anyone else still getting Sara Alerts after attending
#ACNP2021
? Any idea how to make ‘em stop?
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I have noticed frustration & judgement showing up in my mind lately. Here is an exercise from Thich Nhat Han’s classic work “The miracle of mindfulness” that can reduce those feelings.
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@drugmonkeyblog
In the absence of evidence that the grant will be hampered in executing its goals, this seems like adding insult to injury for diverse trainees in states with high minority populations & racist legislatures.
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Seemed like an appropriate lab treat for between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
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@MarkLRuffalo
As someone who had supervision with Kernberg and DBT training from Linehan’s organization, I think there is a lot more overlap between TFP and DBT than is generally acknowledged
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It turns out that Covid vaccination *does* reduce transmission. Whaddyaknow.
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@NeuroTejeda
showing data using new biosensor kLight that kappa opiates are released in PFC in response to shocks, cues predicting shocks, and restraint stress
#ACNP2021
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The NIH budget remains flat. Increased NIH spending on higher postdoc salaries (good & necessary!) means less spending elsewhere. If I understand correctly, this proposal would fund fewer postdocs at higher salaries by capping at 5 years.
1/3
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When lab meeting is 2 weeks before Purim, the hamentaschen varieties proliferate
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Congrats to all the Travel Awardees! And to those of you who applied and didn’t it get this year, I see you… it stung each time it happened to me. Keep on keeping on!
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Of 7 past technicians, 5 were authors on at least 1 paper, 4 went on to graduate school, 2 to physician scientist programs, 1 to a data science industry position. But who is counting? 😉
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Two things can be simultaneously true: 1. It’s important to include male & female mice in studies AND 2. The variance between humans and mice is greater than between males and females
The answer is of course, as NIMH has been forcing researchers to grapple with, is that we are none of these mice, we are humans.
These findings make it plain that the sex differences we may observe in any animal model may have no correlation to other rodents, let alone humans
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Two years later looks like we have a new chair 😊
Jeff Lieberman was just suspended from all of his roles at Columbia & NYP!
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Andrew Holmes shows fear memory induced calcium transients in amygdala astrocytes. Inhibitory DREADDs *increase* astrocyte calcium, & excitatory DREADDs cause transient increase & prolonged calcium inhibition
#ACNP2023
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“Touch from a loved one in your home is not the same as touch on the 1 train 🚆”
@IshmailSaboor
Join us in one hour as
@IshmailSaboor
presents at Grand Rounds on the neurobiology of touch and pain.
The presentation will be streaming live via Zoom. Full details and Zoom link:
@ZuckermanBrain
@Columbia_Bio
@HHMINEWS
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I just learned that my residency director, Dr. Betsy Auchincloss, passed away. She was a brilliant mentor who demanded excellence & I’m eternally grateful that she carved out a residency spot that fully accommodated my religious observance & had protected time for research.
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Such a bittersweet moment. It’s a good thing they are starting PhD/MD-PhD programs in neuroscience so I can still see them at conferences.
Good luck
@JohnstonLucille
@AmandaAmilcar
& Mayowa Oke! I’m so proud of your accomplishments so far & can’t wait to see what you do next!
Today we celebrated our lab techs!
We want to give a HUGE shout-out to Lucy, Amanda and Mayowa for all their hard work and for creating such a fun and welcoming atmosphere in the lab!!!
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@drkateking
@callme_Peabody
It could be semantic. We do emotional labor, and that labor is more challenging when it involves a lot of negative affect.
In the end, we are human beings and our emotions are impacted by those around us.
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My sister’s program to provide treatment rather than jail for substance using people
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“Given the complexities of inactivation and activation brain perturbation experiments, they should be regarded as one tool for inferring brain function, but not prioritized at the expense of other approaches such as correlative measures.”
'A call for more clarity around causality in neuroscience'
by
@DLBarack
@MillerLabMIT
@cimoore444
@paqio
@PessoaBrain
@ProfLaurenRoss
&
@NicoleCRust
Free (1-month) featured article, Sep. 2022 issue of
@TrendsNeuro
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First
@circuits_lab
conference dinner! (with some guest appearances, including my mom who is hiding 😊)
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Feeling particularly glum about the world today.
Anyone have any reason for optimism?
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@IsraelSpeaker
following logically from your argument: if you care about travel bans on Jews, you should loudly protest the Muslim ban. Yes?
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Very thoughtful & useful piece! Love it! Couple of reactions: 1. Does chronic stress meet the threshold of anhedonia + 3 symptoms that last 7 days post stress (cf Krishnan et al 2007)? 2. Are the messy constellations of clinical depression worth recapitulating in basic research?
Have you used the term "depression-like" in your mouse or rat study? We are of the opinion that the term is used often inappropriately and much more rigor needs to be applied for valid and meaningful
#translational
#psychiatry
. Just out in
@molpsychiatry
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Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence is drowned; / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.
-WB Yeats
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@blsabatini
I’m not. Which is why this paper was a straw man. Nobody currently believes that depression is caused by low serotonin
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@The_Gilp
Wow. I learned so much. I’m grateful for neuroscientists who share their wisdom.
Would you recommend being chased by a bear as a first step?
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I don’t know the magic ticket to getting into PhD programs, but I do know applicants who have gotten accepted into “top programs” without any publications.
Let’s not play into this demoralizing narrative
If applicants with 2 co-authored papers aren’t making it to the top 10 of a PhD applicant list, I’d wager that those in the top 10 are bringing a good deal of privilege, connections, and opportunities. I'm really not sure that 'passion' is doing any of the heavy lifting here.
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I just got news that two former techs are coming back to NYC after getting their dream post-PhD outcomes (Industry & Psych residency). Such a wonderful feeling!
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RDoC, anyone?
This is a map of repetition among all symptoms in the DSM-5.
🧵1/10
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1. ketamine and 2. allopregnanolone
Conspiracy of media/scientists/universities/funders greatly inflates practical value of medical research.
Especially in psych where research past 30 yrs is esp fascinating but almost useless for patients.
We need studies designed to help patients not further researcher careers.
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Because if people believe that SSRIs have a brain based mechanism, they might (horror of horrors), you know, take them “The idea that depression is the result of a chemical imbalance also influences decisions about whether to take or continue antidepressant medication” 5/n
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