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Inspiring stories and practical advice for neuroscientists

AI-generated, blueprint-like illustration of a classroom.

Many students want to learn to use artificial intelligence responsibly. But their professors are struggling to meet that need.

Effectively teaching students how to employ AI in their writing assignments requires clear guidelines—and detailed, case-specific examples.

By Tim Requarth
23 June 2025 | 8 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
A figure in a lab coat walks between rows of giant books.

On the importance of reading (just not too much)

The real fun of being a neuroscientist, and maybe the key to asking and answering new questions, is to think big and take intellectual risks.

By Sheena Josselyn
9 June 2025 | 9 min listen
Illustration of a scientist reaching toward a shelf of beakers in the shape of a speech bubble.

How to communicate the value of curiosity-driven research

The burden of proof is on us—researchers—to explain why what we do is valuable to society.

By Anthony Zador
4 March 2025 | 5 min read
A student in a cap and gown sits alone in a row of folding chairs in front of a large brick building.

Neuroscience Ph.D. programs adjust admissions in response to U.S. funding uncertainty

Some departments plan to shrink class sizes by 25 to 40 percent, and others may inadvertently accept more students than they can afford, according to the leaders of 21 top U.S. programs.

By Claudia López Lloreda, Calli McMurray
3 March 2025 | 7 min read
Computer-generated image of a waveform.

Keeping it personal: How to preserve your voice when using AI

To harness the workmanlike prose of artificial intelligence while maintaining a recognizable style, use it as an analyzer rather than as a writer.

By Tim Requarth
3 March 2025 | 12 min read
Multiple people look together at a whiteboard in a lab.

Why practical summer courses in neuroscience matter

Among other reasons, this tradition helps researchers rekindle the unfettered joy that initially brought them to the field.

By John Tuthill
13 January 2025 | 7 min read
A disembodied arm holds a megaphone.

In your New Year’s resolutions for 2025, consider public outreach

If every person in the neuroscience community committed to doing one thing, imagine the cumulative difference it would make.

By Nicole Rust
3 January 2025 | 8 min read
Illustration of distorted lines of different colors being pulled into a box where they are smoothed in a single multicolored line.

The Transmitter’s favorite essays and columns of 2024

From sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease to enduring citation bias, experts weighed in on important scientific and practical issues in neuroscience.

By The Transmitter
23 December 2024 | 2 min read
Illustration of an open book with the pages creating a brain shape, and with a tassel resembling a DNA sequence.

Open-access neuroscience comes to the classroom: Q&A with Liz Kirby

Neuroscience textbooks can be prohibitively expensive for some undergraduate students. A new open-access alternative seeks to change that.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
13 December 2024 | 6 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of neural pluripotent stem cells.

Dosage of X or Y chromosome relates to distinct outcomes; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 23 June.

By Daisy Yuhas
24 June 2025 | 2 min read

Expanded view of hippocampal function comes into focus

After decades of debate, the region’s role is being rewritten. Rather than using sensory input to simply log key points in time and space, the hippocampus may serve to contextualize our experiences and memories—and ultimately make predictions about the future.

By Natalia Mesa
24 June 2025 | 0 min watch
Diego Bohorquez portrait on blue background.

The big idea with Diego Bohórquez

His theories around the neuropod have challenged the boundaries of classic ideas regarding gut-brain communication.

By Sydney Wyatt
20 June 2025 | 14 min listen