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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

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
Illustrated collage of a monkey profile, a gloved hand holding a vaccine syringe touching an outline of the United States with two primates sitting near it, a strand of DNA, and flags of the United States and China in the background.

U.S. national primate research centers face an uncertain future

The facilities were meant to last 100 years. Four decades shy of that mark, amid flatlined funds and mounting political pressure, their directors are trying to find a path forward.

By Calli McMurray
9 October 2026 | 12 min read
Reflections of primates in lab glassware (bottom left: Rhesus macaque, top left: Pig-tailed macaque, bottom right: Crab-eating macaque. top right: Marmoset

What if nonhuman primate research goes away?

As the U.S. government takes steps to stop using nonhuman primates in research, The Transmitter investigates what that shift could mean for neuroscience.

By The Transmitter
9 October 2026 | 2 min read