Diagnostic imaging

Recent articles

Photograph of the BRIDGE team and students visiting a laboratory.

Sharing Africa’s brain data: Q&A with Amadi Ihunwo

These data are “virtually mandatory” to advance neuroscience, says Ihunwo, a co-investigator of the Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE) initiative, which seeks to develop a global framework for sharing, using and protecting neuroscience data.

By Lauren Schenkman
20 May 2025 | 6 min read
Sunlit portrait photograph of Christine Wu Nordahl.

Christine Wu Nordahl, doing whatever it takes to get good data

The head of the Autism Phenome Project has deepened the pool of study participants and helped overhaul the culture of the MIND Institute.

By Laura Dattaro
23 November 2023 | 13 min read
A grid of four brain scans showing excess cerebrospinal fluid.

Is excess brain fluid an early marker of autism?

Brain scans of hundreds of infants suggest that up to 80 percent of those with autism have unusual amounts of cerebrospinal fluid. Researchers are studying how this might contribute to the condition.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
17 August 2023 | 9 min read
A cross-section of the human brain and limbic system

Amygdala-linked brain areas grow differently in autism

The growth differences vary between autistic boys and girls and are most apparent among children with prominent social difficulties.

By Charles Q. Choi
13 July 2022 | 5 min read
overlapping network of connections in the brain

The connectivity theory of autism, explained

A growing body of evidence suggests that autism involves atypical communication between brain regions, but how and where in the brain this plays out is unclear.

By Rachel Zamzow
1 May 2019 | 4 min read

Abridged autism assessment speeds access to therapy

A new strategy for diagnosing autism shortens the evaluation process — and the wait for answers.

By Jennifer Gerdts
5 June 2018 | 6 min read

Late-life diagnosis; narrated brain stimulation; microglia movie and more

Women describe relief at finally learning they have autism, a man with epilepsy narrates during stimulation of his brain, and the brain’s immune cells are caught on film nibbling at neuronal connections.

By Emily Willingham
30 March 2018 | 5 min read

Activists arrested; poop cult; ‘landmark’ movie and more

Activists are arrested while protesting the use of electroshock devices, a Facebook group claims cabbage slurry can prevent autism, and a movie features romance — and actors — on the spectrum.

By Emily Willingham
23 March 2018 | 5 min read

Program in Scotland boosts speed, accuracy of autism diagnosis

A project in Scotland dramatically increased the accuracy of autism diagnosis and cut waiting times in half.

By Anne O’Hare
20 February 2018 | 5 min read
Magnetoencephalography picks up the tiny magnetic fields produced by neuronal activity.

Powerful duo of techniques charts signals’ path through brain

Combining a brain imaging technique with a neuron stimulation method can reveal how activity at one site travels through neural networks in the brain.

By Bahar Gholipour
13 November 2017 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

New Stanford initiative aims to build digital twin of human brain

The effort, funded by private donors, seeks to train the model on a trove of MRI and magnetoencephalography data that scientists plan to collect over the next five years—but questions about its scientific utility and feasibility remain.

By Natalia Mesa
2 November 2026 | 0 min watch
Illustration of cake with genetic code inside.

The genome offers a recipe, not a blueprint, for the brain

During brain development, genes set the rules and turn the knobs; self-organization does much of the rest.

By Ila Fiete
2 November 2026 | 8 min read
Illustration of four faces of a rhesus macaque transitioning from opaque to transparent.

Autism research involving monkeys contends with uphill battle

Macaques and marmosets recapitulate the condition’s core traits better than mice can, but funding uncertainty and challenges at primate centers in the United States could make this work difficult to continue.

By Diana Kwon
2 November 2026 | 8 min read