Headshot of Mark Humphries.

Mark Humphries

Chair in computational neuroscience
University of Nottingham

Mark Humphries is a theorist, neuroscientist and writer.

His lab studies how neurons collectively encode information about the past, present and future to guide behavior. He authored the popular science book “The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds” and writes extensively about the brain for a broad audience at Medium and elsewhere.

Humphries is chair in computational neuroscience at the University of Nottingham. He previously held a senior fellowship from the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council at the University of Manchester. Before that, he had a three-year fellowship at Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. He did his postdoctoral and Ph.D. training at the University of Sheffield.

https://humphries-lab.org/

Get alerts for essays by Mark Humphries in your inbox.

Subscribe to get notified every time a new essay is published.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of brain taking shape.

Neuroscientists weigh in on White House proposal for ‘moonshot infrastructure’ for connectomics

A report from the Trump administration calls for a “new golden age” of science, in which the federal government supports mission-driven collaborations to deliver high returns on research investments.

By Sarah Thau
24 July 2026 | 4 min read
Kevin Dunbar.

In memoriam: Kevin Dunbar, who traced the neural basis of human reasoning

Using imaging technologies, he transformed our understanding of how creativity and scientific discovery arise in the brain.

By Alissa de Chassey
24 July 2026 | 6 min read
Research image of neuronal migration.

Neurons engage in risky, DNA-breaking business during migration

The cells later repair the damage, which occurs mostly in transcriptionally silent parts of the genome.

By Sarah Thau
24 July 2026 | 4 min read