As a publication created for scientists, The Transmitter puts an emphasis on essays and columns written by scientists. This year, we published a broad array of scientist-written pieces exploring both scientific and practical challenges in the field. Here are five of our staff’s favorite essays and columns of 2024.
Brains, biases and amyloid beta: Why the female brain deserves a closer look in Alzheimer’s research
by Rachel Buckley
New results suggest the disease progresses differently in women, but we need more basic science to unpack the mechanisms involved.
Averaging is a convenient fiction of neuroscience
by Mark Humphries
But neurons don’t take averages. This ubiquitous practice hides from us how the brain really works.
Neuroscience needs a career path for software engineers
by Gaëlle Chapuis and Olivier Winter
Few institutions have mechanisms for the type of long-term positions that would best benefit the science.
Women are systematically under-cited in neuroscience. New tools can change that.
by Anne Churchland and Felicia Davatolhagh
An omitted citation in a high-profile paper led us to examine our own practices and to help others adopt tools that promote citation diversity.
Learning or performance? Why the distinction matters for memory science
by Stephen Maren
New methods make it possible to probe the neural substrates of memory with unprecedented precision. Making the most of them demands careful experimental design.
