Art in science

Recent articles

Drawing by Santiago Ramón y Cajal of a hypothesis for how signals travel through neurons.

‘Sacred objects’ display discredits Golgi and Ramón y Cajal’s rivalry: Q&A with curator Daniel Colón Ramos

A new exhibit that opened last week shows drawings from the influential duo side by side for the first time and recasts them as collaborators. It also reveals lessons for modern scholars.

By Claudia López Lloreda
10 December 2024 | 7 min read
Illustrated portrait of Kanaka Rajan.

How neuroscience comics add KA-POW! to the field: Q&A with Kanaka Rajan

The artistic approach can help explain complex ideas frame by frame without diluting the science, Rajan says.

By Olivia Gieger
9 October 2024 | 7 min read

Redrawing Santiago Ramón y Cajal: Q&A with Dawn Hunter

The painter and visual arts professor spent hours recreating Ramón y Cajal’s art and poring over his sketchbooks and self-portraits in the National Archives of Spain, uncovering unappreciated aspects of his techniques and influences.

By Rebecca Horne
4 June 2024 | 7 min read
Portrait of the interior designer Madeleine Castaing by the French painter Chaïm Soutine.

The creative brain—an edited excerpt from ‘Essays on Art and Science’

In his new book, neuroscientist Eric Kandel explores how sensory perception and higher-order cognitive processes influence our experience of art.

By Eric Kandel
19 March 2024 | 8 min read

Unmasking Alzheimer’s disease

People with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease describe why they enrolled in clinical trials through the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN), in a new book of portrait photography.

By Rebecca Horne
13 November 2023 | 2 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Colorful illustration of a latticework of proteins.

Cracking the code of the extracellular matrix

Despite evidence for a role in plasticity and other crucial functions, many neuroscientists still view these proteins as “brain goop.” The field needs technical advances and a shift in scientific thinking to move beyond this outdated perspective.

By Anna Victoria Molofsky
17 January 2025 | 5 min read
A repeated DNA strand extends farther from the left side of the image with each iteration.

Huntington’s disease gene variants past a certain size poison select cells

The findings—providing “the next step in the whole pathway”—help explain the disease’s late onset and offer hope that it has an extended therapeutic window.

By Angie Voyles Askham
16 January 2025 | 6 min read
Research image highlighting different brain regions.

X marks the spot in search for autism variants

Genetic variants on the X chromosome, including those in the gene DDX53, contribute to autism’s gender imbalance, two new studies suggest.

By Holly Barker
16 January 2025 | 6 min read