Education

Recent articles

Multiple people look together at a whiteboard in a lab.

Why practical summer courses in neuroscience matter

Among other reasons, this tradition helps researchers rekindle the unfettered joy that initially brought them to the field.

By John Tuthill
13 January 2025 | 7 min read
Stock photograph of a women and her young child at a clinician’s office.

A genetics-first clinic for catching developmental conditions early: Q&A with Jacob Vorstman

A new clinic is assessing children who have a genetic predisposition for autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions—sometimes before traits appear.

By Lauren Schenkman
15 August 2024 | 7 min read
Photograph of Ciona Kelly.

Building a global community: Q&A with Black In Neuro co-founder Clíona Kelly

As Black In Neuro Week 2024 continues through Sunday, Kelly explains how the organization expanded from its humble beginnings as a Slack channel to connect Black neuroscientists across the diaspora.

By Alaina G. Levine
2 August 2024 | 5 min read
Illustration of a scientist attempting to wrangle many forms of data at once: a pile of charts and graphs threatens to knock them off of their feet as they attempt to prop it up.

Neuroscience graduate students deserve comprehensive data-literacy education

Despite growing requirements around how to handle and share data, formal training is lacking.

By Letisha R. Wyatt
15 July 2024 | 6 min read
The silhouette of a head rises over a body of water.

Our planet stands on the brink of irreversible change. Neuroscientists need to do something about it.

When I launched my new lab at New York University in 2022, I decided to apply my expertise in computer vision to an urgent problem far outside the brain: climate change.

By Grace Lindsay
13 November 2023 | 6 min read
An illustration of Ashura Buckley

The sleep/wake cycle and autism with Ashura Buckley

The NIH neurologist talks about her research, her family and how mental health labels can be limiting.

By Brady Huggett
1 July 2023 | 72 min listen
Portrait of Connie Kasari.

Social communication and developmental disorders with Connie Kasari

In this episode of “Synaptic,” Kasari talks about the need for inclusion in educating autistic children, what drew her into the autism research field, and growing up on the family farm.

By Brady Huggett
1 June 2023 | 56 min listen
Photograph of two women of color working with a white male colleague in a laboratory.

Black and women researchers are less likely to hold three or more NIH grants simultaneously

A growing proportion of researchers has reached such “super principal investigator” status, but the distribution is not even across demographic groups.

By Maaisha Osman
5 May 2023 | 4 min read
Three people stand on a staircase and contemplate a maze-like array of paths in the sky before them.

What kind of autism research should we do, and where should we do it?

Researchers at INSAR 2023 need to discuss these questions and remember that the purpose of research may be different for different communities.

By Petrus de Vries
3 May 2023 | 6 min read
Autism researcher Veronica Martinez Cereno holds a brain in her lab.

Beyond the bench: At school with Verónica Martínez Cerdeño

Spectrum caught up with the University of California, Davis professor about her passion for volunteering in underserved schools, birding and fossil-hunting.

By Lauren Schenkman
1 May 2023 | 6 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