Perspectives

Recent articles

Expert opinions on trends and controversies in neuroscience

Illustration of a bridge shaped like minds.

Commentary: Citation graphs may underestimate neuroscience’s influence on AI

An alternative, albeit less quantitative, way to trace this history is through the people who carried ideas between the fields.

By Anthony Zador
26 October 2026 | 5 min read
Illustration of a person, shown from the torso down, walking over a bridge shaped like minds.

Commentary: The rising absolute number of neuro-inspired AI papers represents a substantial footprint

Many of the design choices present in the current generation of artificial-intelligence tools parallel purported properties of the brain.

By Kim Stachenfeld
26 October 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of a person walking over a bridge shaped like minds.

Examining the bridge between neuroscience and AI

A citation analysis reveals that the connection between the two fields is real and gaining momentum. But it’s also narrow and tool-heavy; we need to find ways to widen it.

By Renato Duarte
26 October 2026 | 12 min read
Illustration of a person standing in a crumbling room with papers and strings on the wall, a fallen chair, and a lamp.

What to do when traditional mechanistic approaches no longer work

Many complex behaviors have stubbornly resisted mechanistic explanations. Deciphering them will require new approaches—and perhaps a new concept of “understanding.”

By Bence Ölveczky
19 October 2026 | 8 min read
Illustration of pixellated MRI scans morphing into the scales of justice.

Govern neurodata by how it’s used, not where it’s from

New neurodata laws will shape how researchers gather, share and reuse brain data. A use-based governance protects basic researchers and those whose data are being used, without freezing science.

By José M. Muñoz
16 October 2026 | 7 min read
Illustration of the brain processing different shapes.

This paper changed my life: A first glimpse into the ‘middle’ of brain processing

Work by Jeffrey Moran and Robert Desimone showed that monkeys could focus their attention on different stimuli in their visual field without shifting their gaze. Their work marked a key milestone in the emergence of cognitive neuroscience.

By Earl K. Miller
14 October 2026 | 3 min read
Edgar Adrian works in the laboratory, around 1920.

The neural code at 100

In two 1926 articles, Edgar Douglas Adrian revealed that neurons communicate through trains of spikes.

By Matteo Carandini
12 October 2026 | 8 min read
Illustration of two cats jumping to opposite buildings in a city.

Is confidence a second thought—or part of the first one?

In some settings, neural circuits may calculate confidence in a decision simultaneously with the choice itself. That changes the types of questions researchers should ask.

By Ariel Zylberberg
5 October 2026 | 6 min read
Illustration of a plate with a cherry in front of a computer server.

What AI can learn from hunger

To enhance AI safety, take a lesson from biological brains; a small set of wants maintains durable control over a much larger cognitive system.

By Anthony Zador
5 October 2026 | 6 min read
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Response to ‘Finally, a new route for the magnetic-sense field’

Magnetoreception in Drosophila has much to offer those with an interest in neuroscience.

By Denis Henshaw
30 September 2026 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Barbara Finlay looking at a glass jar with a brain.

Remembering Barbara Finlay, ‘maverick’ of evolutionary neuroscience

Finlay, who died on 12 September, championed the idea that developmental constraints dictate how evolution sculpts brains, a concept she used to model the timing of hundreds of events and align them across mammalian species.

By Calli McMurray
23 October 2026 | 8 min read
A crow looking at a screen showing a circle of white dots on a black background.

Crows have brains ‘in the fast lane’

The birds accurately complete decision-making tasks twice as fast as primates, although their endbrains look considerably different.

By Sarah Thau
22 October 2026 | 4 min read
A boy manipulates blocks at a table while sitting across from a woman taking notes.

Prevalence of profound autism declines with new definition

The updated, more precise definition used in a CDC study includes adaptive scores.

By Brianna Abbott
22 October 2026 | 5 min read