Mac Shine

Associate professor of computational systems neurobiology
University of Sydney

Mac Shine is associate professor of computational systems neurobiology in the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney in Australia. His lab focuses on mapping mechanistic neurobiological neural models to dynamical network signatures estimated from functional neuroimaging data.

Shine completed his Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Sydney. As a graduate student, he helped to refine the neural mechanisms of non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. As a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in California, Shine developed innovative approaches for tracking whole-brain network dynamics from noninvasive functional neuroimaging data. In 2017, he returned to the University of Sydney, where he runs a diverse research lab that creates neurobiological models of cognitive function. He is a joint National Health and Medical Research Council/Bellberry fellow.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of brain glucose levels in mice.

Food for thought: Neuronal fuel source more flexible than previously recognized

The cells primarily rely on glucose—rather than lactate from astrocytes—to generate energy, according to recent findings in mice.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
7 February 2025 | 6 min read
Abstract illustration of overlapping lines.

Claims of necessity and sufficiency are not well suited for the study of complex systems

The earliest studies on necessary and sufficient neural populations were performed on simple invertebrate circuits. Does this logic still serve us as we tackle more sophisticated outputs?

By Grace Lindsay
7 February 2025 | 6 min read
Research image of a mouse brain slice stained in purple and yellow.

Subthalamic plasticity helps mice squelch innate fear responses

When the animals learn that a perceived threat is not dangerous, long-term activity changes in a part of the subthalamus suppress their instinctive fears.

By Sydney Wyatt
6 February 2025 | 5 min read