Oscillations

Recent articles

Research image visualizing brain waves.

Dispute erupts over universal cortical brain-wave claim

The debate highlights opposing views on how the cortex transmits information.

By Claudia López Lloreda
12 December 2025 | 5 min read
Three sleeping mice.

Fleeting sleep interruptions may help brain reset

Brief, seconds-long microarousals during deep sleep “ride on the wave” of locus coeruleus activity in mice and correlate with periods of waste clearing and memory consolidation, new research suggests.

By Shaena Montanari
13 January 2025 | 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
Research image of neurons in the rat olfactory bulb.

Neurons in rat olfactory bulb ‘feel the pulse’

Mechanical receptors can detect intracranial pressure changes caused by blood flow, which enables neurons to synchronize with the heartbeat.

By Calli McMurray
26 March 2024 | 6 min read
A hand points to an illustration on a chalkboard.

From a scientist’s perspective: The Transmitter’s top five essays in 2023

From big-picture debates about theories and terms to practical tips for teaching and writing, our favorite expert-written articles offer a glimpse into what neuroscientists are thinking.

By The Transmitter
25 December 2023 | 3 min read
A hand points to an illustration on a chalkboard.

How to teach this paper: ‘Neural population dynamics during reaching,’ by Churchland & Cunningham et al. (2012)

This foundational paper, with more than 1,500 citations, is an important departure from early neuroscience research. Don’t be afraid of the math in the first paragraph.

By Ashley Juavinett
13 November 2023 | 9 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Hands cut a ribbon.

What Trump’s psychedelics executive order means for basic neuroscience

The order provides a potential path to remove some psychedelic drugs from the strictest regulatory category, yet it “may not be the breakthrough the basic research community has been looking for,” says neuroscientist Shawn Lockery.

By Calli McMurray
24 April 2026 | 4 min read
Research image visualizing neuronal activity.

Switching neural code may solve ongoing face-recognition debate

Face patch cells in macaque monkeys initially respond to images of any object but rapidly transition to attend to faces exclusively, a new study finds.

By Holly Barker
23 April 2026 | 5 min read

Liset de la Prida explains how neuron subtypes may control the activity of large neural populations, from manifolds to ripples

De la Prida's work analyzing the varieties of sharp wave ripples in the hippocampus led to her discovery that specific types of neurons control the properties of neural manifolds.

By Paul Middlebrooks
22 April 2026 | 104 min listen