The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives

Today’s action potentials

STAR CELLS
Alison Abbott writes about the history of astrocyte research and highlights current work.
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QUOTE

Researchers should be aware of any ethical issues that may arise in the future as organoid models become more complex through long-term maturation or through the assembly of multiple organoids. — INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH

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BEHIND THE BRAIN DRAIN
In a review in Neuron, Jonathan Kipnis et al. outline existing debates and open questions about the mechanisms by which the brain clears waste, and how the process is connected to immune surveillance.
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Neuroscience

The state of neuroscience in 2025: An overview

The Transmitter presents a portrait of the field through four lenses: its focus, its output, its people and its funding.

By The Transmitter
15 November 2025 | 4 min read
Illustration of a neuron.

New questions around motor neurons and plasticity

A researcher’s theory hangs muscle degeneration on a broken neural circuit.

By David Adam
10 October 2025 | 9 min read
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Composite of headshots of researchers who opened new labs in the past several years.
Community

The Transmitter’s New Lab Directory

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
15 November 2025 | 21 min read
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The big picture

The visual system’s lingering mystery: Connecting neural activity and perception

Figuring out how the brain uses information from visual neurons may require new tools. I asked 10 neuroscientists what experimental and conceptual methods they think we’re missing.

By Grace Lindsay
13 October 2025 | 24 min read
A drosophila connectome.

One year of FlyWire: How the resource is redefining Drosophila research

We asked nine neuroscientists how they are using FlyWire data in their labs, how the connectome has transformed the field and what new tools they would like to see in the future.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
7 October 2025 | 17 min read
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