Learning and memory

Recent articles

Patient being administered an EEG test.

Single-neuron recordings are helping to unravel complexities of human cognition

As this work begins to bear fruit, researchers “are becoming less afraid to ask very difficult questions that you can uniquely ask in people.”

By Claudia López Lloreda
14 March 2025 | 10 min listen
Research image of astrocytes in red activating alongside neurons in green in response to specific fear memories in mice.

Astrocytes star in memory storage, recall

The cells, long cast as support players in memory research, can activate or disrupt fear memories, according to a new study.

By Angie Voyles Askham
6 November 2024 | 5 min read
Photograph of two hands drawing overlapping red and blue waveforms on a chalkboard.

How to teach this paper: ‘Coordination of entorhinal-hippocampal ensemble activity during associative learning,’ by Igarashi et al. (2014)

Kei Igarashi and his colleagues established an important foundation in memory research: the premise that brain regions oscillate together to form synaptic connections and, ultimately, memories.

By Ashley Juavinett
4 November 2024 | 8 min read
Illustrated portrait of Loren Frank.

The value of math and spatial learning with Loren Frank

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator discusses what drew him to study the brain and his current work at the University of California, San Francisco.

By Brady Huggett
1 April 2024 | 62 min listen
Computer-generated illustration of disgusting green food.

‘It must be something I ate’ is hard-wired into the brain

Feeling sick reactivates “novel flavor” neurons, according to a new study in mice, and points to a dedicated circuit for learning to avoid unsafe food.

By Angie Voyles Askham
29 March 2024 | 6 min read

Neurons making memories shush their neighbors

When neurons strengthen their synapses, they “infect” surrounding cells with a virus-like protein to weaken those cells’ excitatory connections, according to a new preprint.

By Holly Barker
22 March 2024 | 5 min read

Synaptic protein’s shape-shifting skills propel plasticity

SYNGAP supports learning without tapping its eponymous “GAP” enzymatic activity, according to a new study.

By Angie Voyles Askham
29 February 2024 | 0 min watch
Illustration of a starfish against a white backdrop.

Cognition in brainless organisms is redefining what it means to learn

A slew of simple creatures demonstrate forms of learning, making the case for cognitive science to expand beyond the boundaries of the human mind.

By Annie Melchor
31 January 2024 | 8 min read
A photograph of a crow against a dark backdrop

Number-associated neurons help crows link values to symbols

Comparable neurons also exist in primates, which shared a common ancestor with crows more than 300 million years ago, suggesting that the ability to “count” evolved independently in the two lineages.

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry
19 January 2024 | 4 min read
A research image of a mouse brain

Immune-activation model mice escape infantile amnesia, retain early memories

Male pups born to mothers treated with immune-stimulating molecules show autism-like behaviors and, unlike wildtype animals, do not lose memories formed during early life.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
11 January 2024 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

People help each other climb up a supersized human brain.

As federal funders desert mentorship programs for marginalized students, trainee-led initiatives fill the gap

Grassroots organizations, led by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, are stepping up to provide neuroscience career training and guidance for students from marginalized backgrounds—and they need your support.

By Christian Cazares, Maribel Patiño
11 April 2025 | 5 min read
Research image of two mouse brain slices.

Split gene therapy delivers promise in mice modeling Dravet syndrome

The new approach overcomes viral packaging limitations by delivering SCN1A piecemeal and stitching it together in target cells.

By Holly Barker
10 April 2025 | 5 min read
Screenshot of NeMO website with banner reading This repository is under review for potential modification in compliance with Administration directives.

U.S. human data repositories ‘under review’ for gender identity descriptors

Researchers associated with the repositories received an email from the U.S. National Institutes of Health in March noting that they must comply with a 20 January executive order from President Trump that recognizes only two sexes: male and female.

By Angie Voyles Askham
9 April 2025 | 4 min read