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Recent articles

Illustration of a pregnant woman seated next to a large diagram of the brain featuring chromosomes, bacteria and other microbes.

The link between maternal infection and autism, explained

Having an infection during pregnancy is tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal.

By Charles Q. Choi
13 December 2022 | 8 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

How BCIs reveal the speaking brain

Long-term implants provide an opportunity to study how speech arises in everyday life.

By Claudia López Lloreda, Rebecca Horne
17 July 2026 | 4 min watch
Research image of mouse and human Purkinje cells.

Purkinje cells evolved to have increasingly complex architecture

An increasing proportion of the cerebellar neurons acquired multiple primary dendrites in humans and other apes, according to a comparison of 11 primate species.

By Siddhant Pusdekar
16 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of mouse brain.

Making waves: Sleep-like brain activity in awake mice lowers sleep need, boosts memory

Alternating on/off firing patterns don’t just characterize deep, slow-wave sleep, they drive some of its restorative benefits, new findings suggest.

By Alissa de Chassey
16 July 2026 | 4 min read