Matthijs Dorst

Matthijs Dorst

@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Neuroscientist in Oslo. Former Editor. Mucking about with Voltage Imaging and patching. Aiming for a mix of fun, science, and funny science. Trying to be kind. He/him. https://dorst-lab.org/

3.5K followers2.7K following2.5K posts

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Planning a few control patch-clamp experiments in striatum. Ideally, you cut parasagittal slices to keep fibers parallel to the slice surface, but that requires an angled sample holder. Rather than glueing an angle block onto a Leica sample holder, I figured I'd have JLCCNC machine a custom one 🧠

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

We'll have to see how it holds up, but initial impressions are good: dimensions are spot on, the surface finish is smooth, anodisation is even, and threads seem a little loose but functional. I left space in the bottom for two 10mm magnets, which hold it in place fairly well.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

The custom CNC machining space seems to have advanced substantially in recent years; this just cost €30 plus shipping, and arrived in Norway in less than two weeks. We do have a good workshop here, but they're often swamped with work, so it's nice to have alternative ways to get parts.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

So, I have been testing ways to get high-quality video of our surgeries, for training. Trouble is, mouse-brains are small, and none of the cameras I tried really gave the kind of optical clarity I was looking for. That includes the ones that bolt onto our scopes. But this might just do the trick.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

You, versus the lens she tells you not to worry about. This is a Canon EOS600D with a 35-200mm zoom lens, and 68mm of macro-lens adapters. I initially planned to use the 'nifty fifty', but somehow, attaching that wrongly to the adapters fried its circuits. We live and learn. It hooks up via HDMI.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

My main concern now is the fairly shallow depth of field. With this config, I can get high-quality video from far enough away that the lens does not get in the way of our equipment, but that won't do much good if everything is constantly out of focus. That would be nuts.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

The location where they filmed Bag End in the Lord of the Rings faces the wrong way. So when Bilbo and Gandalf are smoking their pipes and enjoying the sunset, they are actually looking at an early morning sunrise.

Amy "Thunderjam" Chase@amythunderjam.bsky.social

We all know the "Viggo broke his toe" story but what's another movie fact you're personally compelled to bring up every time without prompting? For me, it's the fact that Robin Tunney is wearing a wig in The Craft because of having just shaved her head to save her job filming Empire Records.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Incredible work: stimulating and voltage imaging of hundreds of neurons in vivo!

adamezracohen.bsky.social@adamezracohen.bsky.social

We posted a preprint on all-to-all functional mapping of a cortical microcircuit in vivo. biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Yitong Qi developed molecular tools, optics, and protocols for massively parallel optogenetic stimulation and voltage imaging during animal behavior.

Matthijs Dorst reposted

Naoshige Uchida
@naoshigeuchida.bsky.social

Congratulations to @deisseroth.bsky.social ! Optogenetics has transformed neuroscience. I'm also grateful for the open-source spirit Karl and colleagues championed by sharing optogenetic tools freely from the start. It made a huge difference for the field.

Harvard_MCB@harvardmcb.bsky.social

Harvard Alumnus Karl Deisseroth ’92 Awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine 🔬 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvard.edu @harvardmagazine.bsky.social @stanfordpress.bsky.social @columbiauniversity.bsky.social

mcb.harvard.eduHarvard Alumnus Karl Deisseroth ’92 Awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular BiologyOctober is Nobel season, when the scientific community turns its attention to Stockholm and the discoveries that have transformed our understanding of the world. This year, the celebration […]
Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

In honor of today's Nobel: throwback to the 2013 Christmas party at the department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, when a hopeful young researcher joined us for the festivities!

Nobel Prize@nobelprize.org

BREAKING NEWS The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

I had just started my PhD a few months earlier, and was assigned photo-taking duty. Having no idea who @deisseroth.bsky.social was at the time, I still remember asking him if he was a postdoc in someone's lab here? 🤦‍♂️ Luckily he was a good sport about it, congratulations on a well deserved Nobel!

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Just saw an academic unironically post the most ridiculous AI slop image, and it's taking every ounce of willpower I possess to not point out everything that's wrong with it. Luckily our mice are smaller than our microscopes, 's all I'll say.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

I realise this is a long shot, but do I know anyone in Europe working with inducible mouse models of Parkinson (e.g. 6OHDA lesions)? Who, crucially, is willing to host and train a PhD student, sometime next year? 🧠 #neuroscience

Matthijs Dorst reposted

Sahib Khalsa
@skhalsa.bsky.social

Postdoc job alert! I’m looking for someone with a PhD in neuroscience/psychology, psychiatry, computational modeling or a related field to join my NIH-funded team at UCLA studying the neural & computational mechanisms of #interoception in anorexia nervosa 1/2

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Not the prettiest cell, but I'll take it: a voltage imaging recording of a striatal SST interneuron in vivo! 🧠 Now if we can pull this off with PV interneurons too, we'll really be cooking.

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Too bad they don't seem to be on BlueSky, since Chroma deserves some positive vibes for this. Their dichroic was a good $200 cheaper than the closest Thorlabs equivalent, and it got here in just three days when they quoted me three weeks. Now we only have to hope that it performs well...

Matthijs Dorst reposted

Tarkesh Singh
@tarkeshsingh.bsky.social

I am recruiting a PhD student in sensorimotor neuroscience to join my lab, with a start date of January 2027. This position is fully funded. If you are interested, please send your CV and a brief letter of interest by email. Reposts appreciated.

Matthijs Dorst reposted

Jonathan A. Michaels
@jonathanamichaels.bsky.social

Looking for a postdoc in motor control / systems neuroscience? I'm seeking candidates to develop a Connected Minds Fellowship proposal with me at York University: $70K/yr for 2 years + benefits, plus an $8.5K/yr research allowance. Deadline: Sept 27, 2026. 🧵

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

I'll have you know I was actually only 38 when I first joined this place.

r o o@jakepaulsartre.bsky.social

"Bluesky is dying" bro you're talking about a website full of 38 year olds who have fringe political beliefs and listen to black metal bands with >1000 listeners on spotify, nobody here cares about popularity

Matthijs Dorst
@mattneuro.dorst-lab.org

Made it to Klaipéda and the baltic sea. Tomorrow, I'll take the ferry back to Sweden. But today, I got to enjoy Curonian Spit National Park (Kuršių nerijos nacionalinis parkas), where I snapped this photo in the absolutely sweltering heat. Too bad I didn't bring my own swimming trunks!