The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives

Today’s action potentials

THE CASE OF THE CEREBELLUM
An “unsolved mystery” article in PLOS Biology “reviews known facts about how the cerebellum contributes to cognition and identifies roadblocks that have prevented the development of a unified theory.”
READ MORE
SAY THAT AGAIN?
A paper on attention and selective listening suggests that “human-like attentional strategies naturally arise from the optimization of feature gains for selective listening.”
READ MORE
STOMACH SURVEY
In a new preprint, Teresa Berther et al. share “the first comprehensive spatiotemporal mapping of human gastric-brain coupling at rest.”
READ MORE
Spectrum logo
Researcher Russell Poldrack's face closeup, with a scanner seen out of focus behind him.
Brain imaging

A brief history of precision self-scanning

When a researcher solved a logistical problem by going rogue, the idea proved remarkably infectious.

By Lauren Gravitz
21 January 2026 | 13 min read
Illustration of two hands holding an abstract geometric object that resembles a human brain.
Neuroscience

The state of neuroscience in 2025: An overview

The Transmitter presents a portrait of the field through four lenses: its focus, its output, its people and its funding.

By The Transmitter
15 November 2025 | 4 min read
See all Features See all Features - opens a new tab
Stars shooting upward.
Early-career researchers

The Transmitter ’s Rising Stars of Neuroscience 2025

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario, Lauren Schneider
15 November 2025 | 23 min read
See all Profiles See all Profiles - opens a new tab
Illustration of a series of shapes, with a few resembling human eyes.
The big picture

The visual system’s lingering mystery: Connecting neural activity and perception

Figuring out how the brain uses information from visual neurons may require new tools. I asked 10 neuroscientists what experimental and conceptual methods they think we’re missing.

By Grace Lindsay
13 October 2025 | 24 min read
A drosophila connectome.

One year of FlyWire: How the resource is redefining Drosophila research

We asked nine neuroscientists how they are using FlyWire data in their labs, how the connectome has transformed the field and what new tools they would like to see in the future.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
7 October 2025 | 17 min read
See all The big picture See all The big picture - opens a new tab

Sign up for The Transmitter newsletters.

Our biggest stories, delivered to your inbox every day.

Newsletters

Topic alerts

Contributor alerts

Partner alerts