Neural networks

Recent articles

Raphael Yuste leaning on a bench in his lab. A red filter colors the scene.

Releasing the Hydra with Rafael Yuste

Losing HHMI Investigator status prompted Yuste to study neural networks in a new way.

By Brady Huggett, Shaena Montanari
4 April 2025 | 10 min read
Headshots of Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler.

2025 Brain Prize honors pair of cancer neuroscientists

Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler share the $1.4 million award for their discovery of synapses between brain cancer cells and neurons.

By Sydney Wyatt
5 March 2025 | 3 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
Computer-generated illustration of an hourglass encased in a larger piece of cracked glass.

The brain holds no exclusive rights on how to create intelligence

Many of the recent developments underlying the explosive success of artificial intelligence have diverged from using neuroscience as a source of inspiration—and the trend is likely to continue.

By Dean Buonomano
27 January 2025 | 7 min read
Illustration of lines of text being distorted by red orbs.

This paper changed my life: ‘A massively parallel architecture for a self-organizing neural pattern recognition machine,’ by Carpenter and Grossberg

This paper taught me that we can use mathematical modeling to understand how neural networks are organized—and led me to a doctoral program in the department led by its authors.

By Luiz Pessoa
6 January 2025 | 3 min read
High-resolution image of interconnected brain cells highlighted in magenta and blue.

What are recurrent networks doing in the brain?

The cortex is filled with excitatory local synapses, but we know little about their role in brain function. New experimental tools, along with ideas from artificial intelligence, are poised to change that.

By Mark Histed
16 December 2024 | 5 min read
Illustration of a brain overlaid with circles containing flowers and circuit-like networks, among other images.

NeuroAI: A field born from the symbiosis between neuroscience, AI

As the history of this nascent discipline reveals, neuroscience has inspired advances in artificial intelligence, and AI has provided a testing ground for models in neuroscience, accelerating progress in both fields.

By Anthony Zador
11 November 2024 | 7 min listen
Illustration of a simple matrix of overlapping circles next to a more complex network of intersecting lines against a muted but colorful background.

What the brain can teach artificial neural networks

The brain offers valuable lessons to artificial neural networks to boost their data and energy efficiency, flexibility and more.

By Anthony Zador
11 November 2024 | 6 min read
Illustration of two neon-toned sets of concentric circles overlapping, with bright spots where they intersect.

Are brains and AI converging?—an excerpt from ‘ChatGPT and the Future of AI: The Deep Language Revolution’

In his new book, to be published next week, computational neuroscience pioneer Terrence Sejnowski tackles debates about AI’s capacity to mirror cognitive processes.

By Terrence Sejnowski
21 October 2024 | 12 min read
Research image of brain scans showing the structural integrity of white-matter tracts.

Repeat scans reveal brain changes that precede childbirth

A detailed look at a “pregnant brain” highlights a need to investigate the neural alterations that occur during a transition experienced by nearly 140 million people worldwide each year.

By Shaena Montanari
16 September 2024 | 9 min listen

Explore more from The Transmitter

Digitally distorted building blocks.

The BabyLM Challenge: In search of more efficient learning algorithms, researchers look to infants

A competition that trains language models on relatively small datasets of words, closer in size to what a child hears up to age 13, seeks solutions to some of the major challenges of today’s large language models.

By Alona Fyshe
19 May 2025 | 7 min read
Research image showing resting-state functional connectivity in the human red nucleus.

‘Ancient’ brainstem structure evolved beyond basic motor control

The human red nucleus may also help coordinate action, reward and motivated behavior, a new study suggests.

By Sydney Wyatt
16 May 2025 | 5 min read
Seattle skyline.

Reporter’s notebook: Highlights from INSAR 2025

The annual meeting brought autism researchers, advocates and clinicians to Seattle to discuss the latest research, including attempts to define subgroups, a potential new CHD8 macaque model and life expectancy gaps.

By Daisy Yuhas
15 May 2025 | 5 min read