Memory

Recent articles

Headshots of Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel.

How Nobel Prize-winning optogenetics has revolutionized neuroscience

The technique has enabled neuroscientists to target brain circuits and cells with unprecedented specificity, transforming the study of memory, interoception, brain disorders and reward, among other domains.

Illustration of magnifying glass hovering over blurry polaroids representing different memories, including one of a child's birthday.

Infant memories: Lost but not gone?

Infantile amnesia is not simply a story about forgetting the past. It is an opportunity to understand how memory itself is built.

By Paul Frankland, Sheena Josselyn, Nick Turk-Browne
14 September 2026 | 6 min read

Fruit flies use memory to track odors

When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume, according to a new study.

By Calli McMurray
8 September 2026 | 2 min watch

When we sleep, our brain is filled with spontaneous neural activity. What is it doing?

Daniel Levenstein explains how internally generated brain activity during sleep shapes our cognition, and why NeuroAI is such a powerful approach to understanding the brain.

By Paul Middlebrooks
2 September 2026 | 96 min listen
Mice playing, engaged in learning and memory: some of their brains are yellow, and some are red, matching a red and yellow legend that runs through the image to underscore both memory and learning.

This paper changed my life: A technical breakthrough for memory studies

In a 2007 Science paper, Mark Mayford and his colleagues found that some neurons activated during learning are also recruited during memory retrieval. Noelia Weisstaub shares how this study and others drove an era of great progress in tool development.

By Noelia Weisstaub
14 August 2026 | 5 min read
Mice playing, engaged in learning and memory: some of their brains are yellow, and some are red, matching a red and yellow legend that runs through the image to underscore both memory and learning.

Este artículo cambió mi vida: Un descubrimiento técnico para estudios de la memoria

En un artículo de Science del 2007, Mark Mayford y sus compañeros encontraron neuronas activadas durante el aprendizaje son reclutadas durante la recuperación de la memoria. Noela Weisstaub comparte como este estudio y otros impulsaron una era de gran progreso en el desarrollo de herramientas

By Noelia Weisstaub
14 August 2026 | 5 min read
Mice playing, engaged in learning and memory: some of their brains are yellow, and some are red, matching a red and yellow legend that runs through the image to underscore both memory and learning.

Este artigo mudou minha vida: um avanço técnico para os estudos da memória

Em um artigo publicado na revista Science em 2007, Mark Mayford e seus colegas descobriram que alguns neurônios ativados durante a aprendizagem também são reativados durante a recuperação da memória. Noelia Weisstaub conta como esse e outros estudos impulsionaram uma era de grande progresso no desenvolvimento de ferramentas.

By Noelia Weisstaub
14 August 2026 | 6 min read

New findings begin to resolve theta sweep debate

Theta sweeps have been mired in controversy for decades, but the field is starting to converge on a consensus view of their function.

By Natalia Mesa
6 August 2026 | 1 min watch

Alison Barth discovers how different neuron types contribute to cortical function

Barth uses learning tasks in mice as a tool to drive synaptic plasticity in the sensory cortex, hoping to unlock more general principles of how the cortex works.

By Paul Middlebrooks
5 August 2026 | 1 min read

Textbook model of hippocampus’s role in memory may need updating

The CA3 region, long thought to have just one circuit, has two, sporting different wiring and functions, a new preprint suggests.

By Alissa de Chassey
4 August 2026 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of a person standing in a crumbling room with papers and strings on the wall, a fallen chair, and a lamp.

What to do when traditional mechanistic approaches no longer work

Many complex behaviors have stubbornly resisted mechanistic explanations. Deciphering them will require new approaches—and perhaps a new concept of “understanding.”

By Bence Ölveczky
19 October 2026 | 8 min read
Image showing duplicated data.

University probe leads to retraction of four neural tube studies

The University of Maryland conducted an internal investigation that identified image duplications and other data integrity issues in the studies, according to the retraction notices.

By Claudia López Lloreda
16 October 2026 | 6 min read
Illustration of five purple rectangles arranged three-dimensionally like folders on a black background with a pattern of white dots and white plus signs.

Highly cited autism paper earns expression of concern over data duplications

The notice, published in Nature last week, also addressed an image duplication identified by a prominent research-integrity sleuth.

By Madeline Shaw
16 October 2026 | 4 min read