Cognitive neuroscience
Recent articles
Aging as adaptation: Learning the brain’s recipe for resilience
Some age-related changes in the brain and in behavior are not solely the result of cognitive decline but rather part of a larger adaptive process.
Aging as adaptation: Learning the brain’s recipe for resilience
Some age-related changes in the brain and in behavior are not solely the result of cognitive decline but rather part of a larger adaptive process.
Xaq Pitkow shares his principles for studying cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies
Pitkow discusses how evolution's messy constraints shape optimal brain algorithms, from Bayesian inference to ecological affordances.
Xaq Pitkow shares his principles for studying cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies
Pitkow discusses how evolution's messy constraints shape optimal brain algorithms, from Bayesian inference to ecological affordances.
Keith Hengen and Woodrow Shew explore criticality and cognition
The two discuss their evolving views of brain criticality as a central organizing principle of cognition, development and learning.
Keith Hengen and Woodrow Shew explore criticality and cognition
The two discuss their evolving views of brain criticality as a central organizing principle of cognition, development and learning.
What do neuroscientists mean when they use the term ‘representation’?
A group of neuroscientists and philosophers discuss the use and misuse of the term "representation" across the cognitive sciences and how it influences the way we interpret the connection between neural, behavioral and mental activity.
What do neuroscientists mean when they use the term ‘representation’?
A group of neuroscientists and philosophers discuss the use and misuse of the term "representation" across the cognitive sciences and how it influences the way we interpret the connection between neural, behavioral and mental activity.
Learning in living mice defies classic synaptic plasticity rule
Donald Hebb’s theory—memorably summarized as “cells that fire together, wire together”—does not explain the shifting hippocampal connections in mice learning to navigate a virtual environment, according to a new study.
Learning in living mice defies classic synaptic plasticity rule
Donald Hebb’s theory—memorably summarized as “cells that fire together, wire together”—does not explain the shifting hippocampal connections in mice learning to navigate a virtual environment, according to a new study.
‘Natural Neuroscience: Toward a Systems Neuroscience of Natural Behaviors,’ an excerpt
In his new book, published today, Nachum Ulanovsky calls on the field to embrace naturalistic conditions and move away from overcontrolled experiments.
‘Natural Neuroscience: Toward a Systems Neuroscience of Natural Behaviors,’ an excerpt
In his new book, published today, Nachum Ulanovsky calls on the field to embrace naturalistic conditions and move away from overcontrolled experiments.
What infant fMRI is revealing about the developing mind
Cognitive neuroscientists have finally clocked how to perform task-based functional MRI experiments in awake babies—long known for their inability to lie still or take direction. Next, they aim to watch cognition take shape and settle a debate about our earliest memories—with one group publishing a big clue today.
What infant fMRI is revealing about the developing mind
Cognitive neuroscientists have finally clocked how to perform task-based functional MRI experiments in awake babies—long known for their inability to lie still or take direction. Next, they aim to watch cognition take shape and settle a debate about our earliest memories—with one group publishing a big clue today.
Single-neuron recordings are helping to unravel complexities of human cognition
As this work begins to bear fruit, researchers “are becoming less afraid to ask very difficult questions that you can uniquely ask in people.”
Single-neuron recordings are helping to unravel complexities of human cognition
As this work begins to bear fruit, researchers “are becoming less afraid to ask very difficult questions that you can uniquely ask in people.”
Alison Preston explains how our brains form mental frameworks for interpreting the world
Preston discusses her research examining differences in how children, teenagers and adults integrate new information into their memories.
Alison Preston explains how our brains form mental frameworks for interpreting the world
Preston discusses her research examining differences in how children, teenagers and adults integrate new information into their memories.
This paper changed my life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies
The 1970s papers from Goldberg and Wurtz made ambitious mechanistic studies of higher brain functions seem feasible.
This paper changed my life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies
The 1970s papers from Goldberg and Wurtz made ambitious mechanistic studies of higher brain functions seem feasible.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Noninvasive method lifts curtain on cerebrospinal-fluid dance in human brain
Cerebrospinal fluid shows brain-region-specific dynamics, a new high-resolution MRI approach reveals.
Noninvasive method lifts curtain on cerebrospinal-fluid dance in human brain
Cerebrospinal fluid shows brain-region-specific dynamics, a new high-resolution MRI approach reveals.
Going against the gut: Q&A with Kevin Mitchell on the autism-microbiome theory
A new review of 15 years of studies on the connection between the microbiome and autism reveals widespread statistical and conceptual errors.
Going against the gut: Q&A with Kevin Mitchell on the autism-microbiome theory
A new review of 15 years of studies on the connection between the microbiome and autism reveals widespread statistical and conceptual errors.
Timing tweak turns trashed fMRI scans into treasure
Leveraging start-up “dummy scans,” which are typically discarded in imaging analyses, can shorten an experiment’s length and make data collection more efficient, a new study reveals.
Timing tweak turns trashed fMRI scans into treasure
Leveraging start-up “dummy scans,” which are typically discarded in imaging analyses, can shorten an experiment’s length and make data collection more efficient, a new study reveals.