Hindsight is 2020: The year in review
Recent articles
2020 in research images
Feast your eyes on glowing glia and organoids; high-resolution, digital renditions of mouse brains; fluorescent beads passing through zebrafish guts and more.
![top-down view of the mouse brain](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Image-4-844.jpg)
2020 in research images
Feast your eyes on glowing glia and organoids; high-resolution, digital renditions of mouse brains; fluorescent beads passing through zebrafish guts and more.
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
![researcher facing off with the coronavirus.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20200617-COVIDSR-844.jpg)
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
Inside the reporter’s notebook: Dispatches from 2020
Spectrum's staff couldn't report on the ground this year — with no lab visits, sit-down interviews or in-person conferences to attend — but we observed a lot of changes from our computer screens.
![Lab scene during COVID 19 pandemic.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201223-Notebook844.jpg)
Inside the reporter’s notebook: Dispatches from 2020
Spectrum's staff couldn't report on the ground this year — with no lab visits, sit-down interviews or in-person conferences to attend — but we observed a lot of changes from our computer screens.
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
![Micrograph of nerve cells being targeted by CRISPR enzyme to activate the silenced gene in Angelman syndrome](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20201106-Cas9Angelman-844.jpg)
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.
![White lab mouse sitting in a gloved hand.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/20200924-SUDEP-Dravet-844.jpg)
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Cell population in brainstem coordinates cough, new study shows
The work also adds to a growing body of evidence showing that mice, and their genetic toolbox, can be used to study cough.
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1200_coughingmice-1024x720.webp)
Cell population in brainstem coordinates cough, new study shows
The work also adds to a growing body of evidence showing that mice, and their genetic toolbox, can be used to study cough.
In updated U.S. autism bill, Congress calls for funding boost, expanded scope
The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.
![Capitol building](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/capitolhill-1200-1024x692.webp)
In updated U.S. autism bill, Congress calls for funding boost, expanded scope
The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.
Ketamine targets lateral habenula, setting off cascade of antidepressant effects
The drug’s affinity for overactive cells in the “anti-reward” region may help explain its rapid and long-lasting results.
![Illustration of ketamine blocking open ion channels in active NMDA receptors, quieting the cells and disrupting downstream signaling involved in depression.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1200-ketamine-receptor-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
Ketamine targets lateral habenula, setting off cascade of antidepressant effects
The drug’s affinity for overactive cells in the “anti-reward” region may help explain its rapid and long-lasting results.