About

Matthew Lovett-Barron received his Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University in Canada in 2009. He then earned his PhD in Neurobiology from Columbia University in 2014. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University. In 2020, Matthew Lovett-Barron joined the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he leads the Lovett-Barron Lab. Since joining UCSD, he has been engaged in research involving aquatic model organisms, focusing on neural circuits and behavior. His academic journey reflects a strong foundation in neurobiology and a commitment to advancing understanding of brain function through innovative research approaches.

Research topics

• Neuroscience
• Biology
• Communication
• Psychology
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Rhomboid protease Rhbdl2 regulates macrophage recruitment and wound regeneration in zebrafish

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-02-15 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Tissue regeneration requires tight control of immune cell behavior, yet the mechanisms that restrain immune-driven regenerative responses remain poorly defined. Here, we identify the rhomboid intramembrane serine protease Rhbdl2 as a critical regulator of regeneration in zebrafish. We generated rhbdl2 mutants by CRISPR-Cas9 and found that it does not affect normal development, but triggers enhanced regenerative growth following injury, accompanied by increased macrophage accumulation at the wound site, which is accompanied by increased early apoptosis and proliferation. Proteomic analyses reveal increased Rac2 protein levels in rhbdl2 mutants, indicating dysregulated immune signaling. Functionally, Rac2 morpholino oligonucleotides-mediated knockdown in rhbdl2 mutant larvae suppresses the elevated macrophage recruitment and enhanced tissue regenerative phenotype. Together, these findings uncover Rhbdl2 as an immune checkpoint that constrains macrophage-driven enhanced regeneration, with vast implications for inflammatory disease, fibrosis, and tumor–immune interactions.

  PublisherDOI

• Convergent thyroid-ATPase interactions regulate collective behavior in Danionella

  Cell Reports · 2025-12-19 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Collective behavior emerges from socially interacting individuals. Across species, the social behavior of healthy adults is often not present in immature animals, in socially isolated animals, or in animals with certain genetic perturbations, including models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although social behavior is impaired in all these conditions, it remains unclear whether they act through shared or distinct genetic pathways. Here, we investigate the genetic regulators of collective schooling behavior in Danionella cerebrum, by applying RNA sequencing to the brains of animals with impaired or immature social behavior: juvenile animals, socially isolated adults, and ASD-related gene crispants. By comparing gene expression to controls, we identify a small set of differentially expressed genes common to these conditions, including thyroid signaling pathway, circadian rhythm-regulating genes, the transcription factor klf9, and the ATPase subunit atp1a1a.4. Genetic and pharmacological manipulations confirm their functional importance, demonstrating convergent molecular pathways regulating social interactions and collective behavior.

  PublisherDOI

• Neuronal detection of social actions directs collective escape behavior

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-09-24 · 3 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Animals in groups obtain information from their social partners to engage in collective behavior 1–4 . Social information transmission has been observed amongst individuals in fish schools 5–8 , bird flocks 9,10 , and human groups 11,12 , but the neural mechanisms for detecting socially transmitted information are poorly understood 4,13–15 . By studying the schooling glassfish Danionella cerebrum 16–18 , here we demonstrate that escape from danger is enhanced by visual perception of other escaping fish. We found that neural populations in the midbrain optic tectum 19–21 and dorsal thalamus 22,23 are activated by the rapid escape of social partners. These neurons are also driven by the sudden disappearance of virtual social partners, yet unaffected by disappearing stimuli without social relevance. Virtual fish schools that escape or disappear were sufficient to cause observers to escape, even in the absence of direct threats. These results demonstrate that rapid “social-off” detection in visual circuits enables the detection of socially transmitted threat information, which may be a particularly effective strategy for animals capable of rapid movement but limited visual range 17,24 . These results show how neural computations in individuals enables rapid information sharing in animal collectives 4,15 .

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Predator avoidance: Threat learning in week-old zebrafish

  Current Biology · 2025-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Development of neural circuits for social motion perception in schooling fish

  Current Biology · 2024-07-17 · 32 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The collective behavior of animal groups emerges from the interactions among individuals. These social interactions produce the coordinated movements of bird flocks and fish schools, but little is known about their developmental emergence and neurobiological foundations. By characterizing the visually based schooling behavior of the micro glassfish Danionella cerebrum, we found that social development progresses sequentially, with animals first acquiring the ability to aggregate, followed by postural alignment with social partners. This social maturation was accompanied by the development of neural populations in the midbrain that were preferentially driven by visual stimuli that resemble the shape and movements of schooling fish. Furthermore, social isolation over the course of development impaired both schooling behavior and the neural encoding of social motion in adults. This work demonstrates that neural populations selective for the form and motion of conspecifics emerge with the experience-dependent development of collective movement.

  PublisherDOI

• Understanding collective behavior through neurobiology

  Current Opinion in Neurobiology · 2024-06-01 · 20 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  A variety of organisms exhibit collective movement, including schooling fish and flocking birds, where coordinated behavior emerges from the interactions between group members. Despite the prevalence of collective movement in nature, little is known about the neural mechanisms producing each individual's behavior within the group. Here we discuss how a neurobiological approach can enrich our understanding of collective behavior by determining the mechanisms by which individuals interact. We provide examples of sensory systems for social communication during collective movement, highlight recent discoveries about neural systems for detecting the position and actions of social partners, and discuss opportunities for future research. Understanding the neurobiology of collective behavior can provide insight into how nervous systems function in a dynamic social world.

  PublisherDOI

• Development of neural circuits for social motion perception in schooling fish

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2023-10-27 · 7 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Many animals move in groups, where collective behavior emerges from the interactions amongst individuals. These social interactions produce the coordinated movements of bird flocks and fish schools, but little is known about their developmental emergence and neurobiological foundations. By characterizing the visually-based schooling behavior of the micro glassfish Danionella cerebrum , here we found that social development progresses sequentially, with animals first acquiring the ability to aggregate, followed by postural alignment with social partners. This social maturation was accompanied by the development of neural populations in the midbrain and forebrain that were preferentially driven by visual stimuli that resemble the shape and movements of schooling fish. The development of these neural circuits enables the social coordination required for collective movement. One-Sentence Summary The collective behavior of schooling fish emerges with the development of neural populations selective to social motion.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neural Circuit Transitions Supporting Developmentally Specific Social Behavior

  Journal of Neuroscience · 2023-11-08 · 11 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Environmentally appropriate social behavior is critical for survival across the lifespan. To support this flexible behavior, the brain must rapidly perform numerous computations taking into account sensation, memory, motor-control, and many other systems. Further complicating this process, individuals must perform distinct social behaviors adapted to the unique demands of each developmental stage; indeed, the social behaviors of the newborn would not be appropriate in adulthood and vice versa. However, our understanding of the neural circuit transitions supporting these behavioral transitions has been limited. Recent advances in neural circuit dissection tools, as well as adaptation of these tools for use at early time points, has helped uncover several novel mechanisms supporting developmentally appropriate social behavior. This review, and associated Minisymposium, bring together social neuroscience research across numerous model organisms and ages. Together, this work highlights developmentally regulated neural mechanisms and functional transitions in the roles of the sensory cortex, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, habenula, and the thalamus to support social interaction from infancy to adulthood. These studies underscore the need for synthesis across varied model organisms and across ages to advance our understanding of flexible social behavior.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A medley of gene expression adds new depth to zebrafish brain maps

  Science Advances · 2023-02-22 · 2 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The integration of large-scale gene expression mapping into a multifaceted larval zebrafish brain atlas accelerates the characterization of neurons in behaviorally relevant circuits.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Brain-wide perception of the emotional valence of light is regulated by distinct hypothalamic neurons

  Molecular Psychiatry · 2022-04-28 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Salient sensory stimuli are perceived by the brain, which guides both the timing and outcome of behaviors in a context-dependent manner. Light is such a stimulus, which is used in treating mood disorders often associated with a dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axis. Relationships between the emotional valence of light and the hypothalamus, and how they interact to exert brain-wide impacts remain unclear. Employing larval zebrafish with analogous hypothalamic systems to mammals, we show in free-swimming animals that hypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor (CRF Hy ) neurons promote dark avoidance, and such role is not shared by other hypothalamic peptidergic neurons. Single-neuron projection analyses uncover processes extended by individual CRF Hy neurons to multiple targets including sensorimotor and decision-making areas. In vivo calcium imaging uncovers a complex and heterogeneous response of individual CRF Hy neurons to the light or dark stimulus, with a reduced overall sum of CRF neuronal activity in the presence of light. Brain-wide calcium imaging under alternating light/dark stimuli further identifies distinct and distributed photic response neuronal types. CRF Hy neuronal ablation increases an overall representation of light in the brain and broadly enhances the functional connectivity associated with an exploratory brain state. These findings delineate brain-wide photic perception, uncover a previously unknown role of CRF Hy neurons in regulating the perception and emotional valence of light, and suggest that light therapy may alleviate mood disorders through reducing an overall sum of CRF neuronal activity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Discovery and characterization of brain-wide neuromodulatory circuits regulating arousal

  NIH · $242k · 2017–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Karl Deisseroth

  Stanford University

  27 shared

• Attila Losonczy

  15 shared

• Mazen A. Kheirbek

  University of California, San Francisco

  11 shared

• Liam Drew

  10 shared

• Iván Soltész

  9 shared

• René Hen

  9 shared

• Fraser T. Sparks

  Regeneron (United States)

  7 shared

• Aaron S. Andalman

  Stanford University

  6 shared

Labs

• Lovett-Barron Lab @ UCSDPI

Awards & honors

• Donald B Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neuroscience from SfN
• HHMI postdoctoral fellowship from the Helen Hay Whitney Foun…
• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award from the NIMH