Academia

Recent articles

Static pay, shrinking prospects fuel neuroscience postdoc decline

Postdoctoral researchers sponsored by the National Institutes of Health now toil longer than ever before, for less money. They are responding accordingly.

By Katie Moisse
31 January 2025 | 20 min read
Illustration of an open book with the pages creating a brain shape, and with a tassel resembling a DNA sequence.

Open-access neuroscience comes to the classroom: Q&A with Liz Kirby

Neuroscience textbooks can be prohibitively expensive for some undergraduate students. A new open-access alternative seeks to change that.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
13 December 2024 | 6 min read
Black-and-white photograph of Bryan W Jones holding a camera and pointing it back at the photographer.

An eye for science: Q&A with Bryan W. Jones

The researcher explains how the beauty of the retina drew him into the vision field and why photography reminds him of the value of that work.

By Angie Voyles Askham
6 December 2024 | 7 min read
A repeating pattern of orange butterflies against a blue background.

‘Huge influx’ of neuroscientists migrates to Bluesky

Daily neuroscience-related posts on the social-media platform this week have increased more than 400 percent, on average, compared with October.

By Calli McMurray
21 November 2024 | 5 min read
Two surreal heads touch each other’s faces.

The case for redefining ‘theory of mind’: Q&A with François Quesque

In a new commentary, Quesque and 44 experts in neuroscience and psychology propose a standardized lexicon for research on the attribution of mental states.

By Lauren Schenkman
10 October 2024 | 7 min read
Illustrated portrait of Kanaka Rajan.

How neuroscience comics add KA-POW! to the field: Q&A with Kanaka Rajan

The artistic approach can help explain complex ideas frame by frame without diluting the science, Rajan says.

By Olivia Gieger
9 October 2024 | 7 min read
Illustration of a lab with a smoking crater in the middle of the floor.

A scientific fraud. An investigation. A lab in recovery.

Science is built on trust. What happens when someone destroys it?

By Calli McMurray
4 October 2024 | 27 min listen
Young researcher sitting in the grass holding a pillow shaped like a fish.

Seeing research through a new lens: Q&A with Pei Yuan Zhang

When she’s not in the lab, the cognitive scientist films documentaries that challenge her love of data and order.

By Olivia Gieger
20 September 2024 | 7 min read
Illustration of two hands of different colors holding up a piece of paper together.

Creating a more inclusive autism research community

The Transmitter rounds up efforts to improve equity and diversity both within the field and in research projects.

By Daisy Yuhas
22 August 2024 | 2 min read
Photograph of a pink pencil standing out from a row of blue pencils.

Women are systematically under-cited in neuroscience. New tools can change that.

An omitted citation in a high-profile paper led us to examine our own practices and to help others adopt tools that promote citation diversity.

By Anne Churchland, Felicia Davatolhagh
22 July 2024 | 5 min listen

Explore more from The Transmitter

Roundup: The false association between vaccines and autism

In light of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s U.S. Senate confirmation hearings this week, The Transmitter has rounded up our past coverage of the false association between vaccines and autism.

By The Transmitter
31 January 2025 | 1 min read
Two bats in flight in black space.

Coding bonus: Bats’ hippocampal cells log spatial, social cues

The neurons represent not only an animal’s place in space, but also the distinguishing features of its fellow bats, including their sex and social status.

By Claudia López Lloreda
30 January 2025 | 5 min read

New human brain atlas charts gene activity and chromosome accessibility, from embryo to adolescence

The resource profiles millions of single cells across the developing cortex, revealing when, where and how certain cell types emerge and illuminating possible origins of autism and other conditions.

By Saima Sidik
30 January 2025 | 5 min read