Cell types

Recent articles

Research image from a retracted paper.

Nature retracts paper on novel brain cell type against authors’ wishes

A 2022 paper was retracted after an independent team of researchers reanalyzed the data and questioned its validity.

By Shaena Montanari
9 July 2025 | 4 min listen
An opaque cube is repeated multiple times to create the appearance of overlapping cubes.

Sounding the alarm on pseudoreplication: Q&A with Constantinos Eleftheriou and Peter Kind

Most studies of neurological disorders in mice erroneously treat multiple samples from a single animal as independent replicates, according to a new analysis. But scientists and journals can take steps to curb this practice.

By Lauren Schenkman
12 June 2025 | 6 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 listen
Astrocytes in a mouse brain.

Unexpected astrocyte gene flips image of brain’s ‘stalwart sentinels’

The genetic marker upends the accepted orientation of non-star-like astrocytes in the glia limitans superficialis.

By Lauren Schenkman
28 March 2025 | 5 min read
Computer-generated images of the human brain showing functional networks.

Cell ‘fingerprints’ identify distinct cortical networks

These networks align with different assemblages of cells, a finding that could reveal how cellular diversity influences brain function, according to a new study.

By Holly Barker
28 February 2025 | 4 min read

Expanding set of viral tools targets almost any brain cell type

Harmless viruses that encase short noncoding DNA elements called enhancers enable cell-type-specific gene delivery across the central nervous system in rodents and primates.

By Holly Barker
19 November 2024 | 2 min watch
A cortical neuron glows orange and red.

START method assembles brain’s wiring diagram by cell type

The new technique mapped the interactions of about 50 kinds of inhibitory neurons in the mouse visual cortex in finer detail than previous approaches.

By Holly Barker
31 October 2024 | 5 min read
Research image of tau proteins in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Supersized version of Alzheimer’s protein avoids clumping in brain

“Big tau” may explain why some brain regions, such as the cerebellum and brainstem, are largely spared from neurodegeneration, even though tau is expressed throughout the nervous system.

By Charles Q. Choi
16 August 2024 | 6 min read
Research illustration groups genes by their effects on brain cell types.

Giant analysis reveals how autism-linked genes affect brain cell types

Genes that predispose people to autism account for a large portion of the neuronal and glial cell changes seen in those with the condition.

By Charles Q. Choi
20 June 2024 | 5 min read
A playful cellular map features top-down and bottom-up views of the human brain arranged side-by-side as if they were the earth’s two hemispheres in an old-fashioned map of the world. The brains are colored to suggest land masses and bodies of water.

Knowledge graphs can help make sense of the flood of cell-type data

These tools, widely used in the technology industry, could provide a foundation for the study of brain circuits.

By Michael Hawrylycz
28 May 2024 | 7 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Nonhuman primate research to lose federal funding at major European facility

The Dutch Senate has ordered the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands to shift its funding away from primate experiments by 2030.

By Lauren Schenkman
30 October 2025 | 4 min read

Image integrity issues create new headache for subarachnoid hemorrhage research

First-time sleuths found potentially problematic images in hundreds of papers about early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

By Lauren Schneider
30 October 2025 | 5 min read
Research image of mouse brain slices stained in red and blue.

Ramping up cortical activity in early life sparks autism-like behaviors in mice

The findings add fuel to the long-running debate over how an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory signaling contributes to the autism.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
30 October 2025 | 6 min read

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