Brain mapping

Recent articles

Researcher Russell Poldrack's face closeup, with a scanner seen out of focus behind him.

A brief history of precision self-scanning

When a researcher solved a logistical problem by going rogue, the idea proved remarkably infectious.

By Lauren Gravitz
21 January 2026 | 13 min read
Brain network maps creating using lesion network mapping.

Methodological flaw may upend network mapping tool

The lesion network mapping method, used to identify disease-specific brain networks for clinical stimulation, produces a nearly identical network map for any given condition, according to a new study.

By Angie Voyles Askham
15 January 2026 | 7 min read
Research image of human thalamus.

Among brain changes studied in autism, spotlight shifts to subcortex

The striatum and thalamus are more likely than the cerebral cortex to express autism variants or bear transcriptional changes, two unpublished studies find.

By Holly Barker
11 December 2025 | 5 min read
Mouse brain slices and atlases.

Constellation of studies charts brain development, offers ‘dramatic revision’

The atlases could pinpoint pathways that determine the fate of cells linked to neurodevelopmental conditions.

By Holly Barker
5 November 2025 | 6 min read
Map of the fly nervous system.

Local circuit loops within body control fly behavior, new ‘embodied’ connectome reveals

The mapping, which traces how the central nervous system interacts with the rest of the body, challenges the idea that behavior control is centralized.

By Claudia López Lloreda
24 September 2025 | 5 min read

Astrocyte networks span large swaths of brain

The networks are plastic, connect brain regions that aren’t connected by neurons and may enable long-distance communication between astrocytes, a new preprint shows.

By Calli McMurray
3 September 2025 | 1 min watch
A person enters an MRI machine.

Longer fMRI brain scans boost reliability—but only to a point

Around 30 minutes of imaging per person seems to be the “sweet spot” for linking functional connectivity differences to traits in an accurate and cost-effective way.

By Claudia López Lloreda
20 August 2025 | 5 min read
Two slides feature human brains, with a third slide featuring the silhouette of a brain.

Exclusive: Recruitment issues jeopardize ambitious plan for human brain atlas

A lack of six new brain donors may stop the project from meeting its goal to pair molecular and cellular data with the functional organization of the cortex.

By Calli McMurray
9 May 2025 | 6 min read
Pixelated human brain scans showing the distribution of mitochondria.

Mitochondrial ‘landscape’ shifts across human brain

Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.

By Claudia López Lloreda
25 April 2025 | 6 min read
Man with EEG sensors on his head.

Noninvasive technologies can map and target human brain with unprecedented precision

But to fully grasp the tools’ potential, we need to better understand how electric and magnetic fields interact with the brain.

By Bruce Rosen
21 April 2025 | 7 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Progenitors cells in the medial ganglionic eminence become increasingly organized during development as rows of brain imaging progress from top to bottom.

‘Tour de force’ study flags fount of interneurons in human brain

The newly discovered cell type might point to the origins of the inhibitory imbalance linked to autism and other conditions.

By Holly Barker
29 January 2026 | 4 min read

Michael Shadlen explains how theory of mind ushers nonconscious thoughts into consciousness

All of our thoughts, mostly nonconscious, are interrogations of the world, Shadlen says. The opportunity to report our answers to ourselves or others brings a thought into conscious awareness.

By Paul Middlebrooks
28 January 2026 | 1 min read
Walter Koroshetz.

‘Peer review is our strength’: Q&A with Walter Koroshetz, former NINDS director

In his first week off the job, the former National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke director urges U.S. scientists to remain optimistic about the future of neuroscience research, even if the executive branch “may not value what we do.”

By Angie Voyles Askham
27 January 2026 | 7 min read

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