Somatosensation

Recent articles

Illustration of pipa frog showing nerves in fingertips.

How the pipa frog hunts prey by touch

Each of the frog’s eight fingers branches into 16 ultra-sensitive tips, which together function as a fovea—potentially the first demonstration of this type of sensory structure outside of mammals.

By Calli McMurray
30 September 2026 | 7 min read
Mosquito.

What mosquitos lay bare about proprioception

By comparing the proprioceptive systems of mosquitos and fruit flies, Sweta Agrawal aims to uncover fundamental features of the ability to sense self-movement.

By Calli McMurray
1 July 2026 | 5 min read
Neural networks illustration.

This paper changed my life: Appreciating John Hopfield’s brilliant neural network

In a 1982 paper, the Nobel laureate created his namesake recurrent neural network—work that taught Maria Geffen to always ground research questions in biology.

By Maria Geffen
15 May 2026 | 5 min read
Patrik Ernfors and David Ginty.

Two neurobiologists win 2026 Brain Prize for discovering mechanics of touch

Research by Patrik Ernfors and David Ginty has delineated the diverse cell types of the somatosensory system and revealed how they detect and discriminate among different types of tactile information.

By Helena Kudiabor
5 March 2026 | 4 min read
Research image of the human dorsal root ganglion.

‘Unprecedented’ dorsal root ganglion atlas captures 22 types of human sensory neurons

The atlas also offers up molecular and cellular targets for new pain therapies.

By Calli McMurray
23 December 2025 | 5 min read
Research image of cortical maps of somatosensation.

Adult human cortex does not reorganize after amputation

The results from a new longitudinal study contradict classic findings in monkeys but may not warrant a rewriting of the textbooks just yet.

By Angie Voyles Askham
21 August 2025 | 7 min read
Photograph of Theanne Griffith sitting at a table with her hands interlocked over a stack of books, with one that she has published at the very top.

Crafting tales of science with Theanne Griffith

A lifelong passion for writing helped the neuroscientist land a book deal and publish 15 chapter books for early readers, covering topics ranging from what the cerebellum does to how a cake bakes.

By Angie Voyles Askham
26 August 2024 | 8 min read
Research image of a Pacinian corpuscle in a mouse.

Touch sensors detect subtle environmental vibrations, send information to auditory midbrain

Pacinian corpuscles sense high-frequency vibrations from meters away and send the information to a different circuit than other touch signals, according to a pair of new studies.

By Calli McMurray
20 August 2024 | 8 min read

Robots boost data consistency in rodent studies reliant on mechanical, optogenetic stimulation

Two new devices take experimenter variation out of the equation, the lead investigators say.

By Calli McMurray
15 May 2024 | 0 min watch

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Research image of whole-brain 3D visualizations of pixels colored by their corresponding lipizone.

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By Lauren Schenkman
27 October 2026 | 6 min read
Protein asparagine synthetase in hippocampus neurons.

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By Jill Adams
27 October 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of botanical tree and computer tree growing apart.

Neuroscience gave AI its start. What happens now?

David Sussillo maps the two fields' divergent paths, and where they might still meet.

By Emily Singer
27 October 2026 | 10 min read