Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford. Research Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford. Spatial memory, cell types, amyloids, dementia, brain rhythms. Papers: https://tinyurl.com/5yarxuf3https://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3mnxr63us7s25Brain cells critical for mouse navigation found to be highly specialised https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-06-10-brain-cells-critical-for-mouse-navigation-found-to-be-highly-specialised @oxneuro.bsky.social @medsci.ox.ac.uk10 Jun 2026 22:29 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnxr63us7s25https://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3mnxqryeoj225New paper out in Current Biology. We define thalamic head direction (HD) cells based on the combination of neurochemical identity, physiology, sensorimotor responses, and connectivity, suggesting cell types. Great work led by Sara Hijazi and Shan Jiang from the lab. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2826%2900631-710 Jun 2026 22:23 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnxqryeoj225https://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3mejh27rcp22kI don't know how many people see this when they look at trees during the winter, but mistletoe always reminds me of amyloid plaques - mistletoe is a parasite and each 'plaque' can vary in size. This is how I think of the 3D structure of amyloid plaques in the brain10 Feb 2026 17:04 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3mejh27rcp22khttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3m74g5nvudc2yMoon halo (22°) tonight in UK. Apparently this illusion is created by millions of hexagonal ice crystals in upper atmosphere03 Dec 2025 21:38 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3m74g5nvudc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3m66ihdll2s2a***Publication alert*** "Pathological tau alters head direction signaling and induces spatial orientation" https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)01382-821 Nov 2025 23:59 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3m66ihdll2s2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3m5f7so2cts2fReposting some comments via the Science Media Centre on the UK government's ambition of phasing out animal testing in the UK. I think it is important for scientists to explain to policymakers and the public about pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics - complex interactions between drugs and the body [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Nov 2025 22:48 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5f7so2cts2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3m3xfecxp7s2jThis is really interesting. These bacteria form biofilms, which are essentially amyloids [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Oct 2025 17:25 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3xfecxp7s2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3m2o7j3bl4k2mThis is a strange and surprising finding. Need to study the electron micrographs in the suppl material carefully (without the colourful shading) to learn more. Note that neurons can have cilia, I wonder if this is what they have detected e.g. recent review here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2024.10.014 [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Oct 2025 08:21 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2o7j3bl4k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3m2a7xaxz4c2qAfter many months of work on the revision, we have a paper accepted today (pending minor revisions). Also had a paper rejected at the same time (but going to ignore this email for today!)02 Oct 2025 18:51 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2a7xaxz4c2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3lzlzsuiuok2fThis is incredible news! It is also a good example of why it is so important to identify and define the most vulnerable brain regions and cell types for a given disease. In this case it is medium spiny neurons of the striatum. [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Sep 2025 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzlzsuiuok2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/vineytj.bsky.social/post/3lyv3sqi4f22g*New preprint from the lab* – “Granularity of thalamic head direction cells” https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.08.674912 🧠📈 🧪 1/1115 Sep 2025 15:13 +0000at://did:plc:f2qijer25j5f63ftd4aofaok/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyv3sqi4f22g