Cognitive neuroscience

Recent articles

Research image of brain activity in infants.

Infant visual system categorizes common objects by 2 months of age

Brain activity patterns in the ventral visual cortex appear to distinguish images across 12 categories, including birds and trees, longitudinal functional MRI scans suggest.

By Helena Kudiabor
24 February 2026 | 5 min read
Language-responsive regions light up in red on a series of brain scans.

Cerebellum responds to language like cortical areas

One of four language-responsive cerebellar regions may encode meaningful information, much like the cortical language network in the left hemisphere, according to a new study.

By Natalia Mesa
6 February 2026 | 5 min read
A stack of paper topped by bits of shredded paper.

NIH scraps policy that classified basic research in people as clinical trials

The policy aimed to increase the transparency of research in humans but created “a bureaucratic nightmare” for basic neuroscientists.

By Calli McMurray
3 February 2026 | 6 min read

Tomaso Poggio on his quest for theories to explain the fundamental learning abilities of brains and machines

Thus far, engineering has outpaced theory in the science of intelligence. But Poggio is hopeful that theories can catch up.

By Paul Middlebrooks
14 January 2026 | 1 min read
A see-through human brain with circuits inside it.

‘Wired for Words: The Neural Architecture of Language,’ an excerpt

In his new book, Hickok provides a detailed overview of the research into the circuits that control speech and language. In this excerpt from Chapter 5, he shares how meeting his colleague David Poeppel led to them developing the theory for bilateral speech perception.

By Gregory Hickok
2 December 2025 | 8 min read
Roads inside a human brain.

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.

By Dana Rubi Levy, Kevin Mastro, Michael Ryan
14 November 2025 | 6 min listen

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.

By Paul Middlebrooks
27 August 2025 | 1 min read

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.

By Paul Middlebrooks
16 July 2025 | 94 min listen

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.

By Paul Middlebrooks
4 June 2025 | 127 min listen
Illustration of synapse-like threads connecting in various ways.

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.

By Sydney Wyatt
28 May 2025 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Dendrites help neuroscientists see the forest for the trees

Dendritic arbors provide just the right scale to study how individual neurons reciprocally interact with their broader circuitry—and are our best bet to bridge cellular and systems neuroscience.

By Justin O’Hare
27 February 2026 | 7 min read

Two primate centers drop ‘primate’ from their name

The Washington and Tulane National Biomedical Research Centers—formerly called National Primate Research Centers—say they made the change to better reflect the breadth of research performed at the centers.

By Calli McMurray
26 February 2026 | 5 min read

Post-infection immune conflict alters fetal development in some male mice

The immune conflict between dam and fetus could help explain sex differences in neurodevelopmental conditions.

By Viviane Callier
26 February 2026 | 5 min read

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