Neurodevelopment

Recent articles

Research image of an organoid with a necrotic core.

Human brain organoids come of age—but still have room to grow

The U.S. government has touted organoids as an alternative to animals for studying the brain. The model has improved since its debut in 2013, but scientists are still working to overcome key limitations: immaturity, consistency and the lack of vascularization.

By Claudia López Lloreda
21 October 2026 | 9 min read
Image showing duplicated data.

University probe leads to retraction of four neural tube studies

The University of Maryland conducted an internal investigation that identified image duplications and other data integrity issues in the studies, according to the retraction notices.

By Claudia López Lloreda
16 October 2026 | 6 min read
Mouse cortical organoid.

Hasty stem cells highlight potential limitation with cortical organoids

The models recapitulate many key developmental processes, but some radial glial cells in mouse organoids make neurons earlier than they should.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
22 September 2026 | 4 min read
Nerve fibers from the human graft in mouse brain.

Human brain organoids flourish in emptied mouse cortex

The chimeric mice could help untangle the biology of human brain development or conditions such as autism.

By Brianna Abbott
16 September 2026 | 6 min read
Illustration of magnifying glass hovering over blurry polaroids representing different memories, including one of a child's birthday.

Infant memories: Lost but not gone?

Infantile amnesia is not simply a story about forgetting the past. It is an opportunity to understand how memory itself is built.

By Paul Frankland, Sheena Josselyn, Nick Turk-Browne
14 September 2026 | 6 min read
Research image of convergent interactions.

Autism-linked variants rewire protein networks

The myriad proteins tied to autism cluster in previously unrecognized ways that can be disrupted by specific variants in the proteins.

By Claudia López Lloreda
27 August 2026 | 5 min read
Neuronal genes SATB2 and MEF2C.

Nuclear location helps control gene activity during brain development

A study of developing human brain tissue suggests that genes switch on more strongly when they move from the nucleus’s edge toward structures that contain proteins involved in making and processing RNA.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
20 August 2026 | 5 min read
Cortical organoids.

Five-year-old human brain organoids aged on schedule

The cultured spheres typically mimic only prenatal development, but the five-year-old ones grown in Paola Arlotta’s lab acquired postnatal features.

By Claudia López Lloreda
19 August 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of expression of MEIS2 in PV interneurons.

Loss of interneuron plasticity may be shared hallmark of neurodevelopmental conditions

Restoring an experience-dependent interneuron plasticity gene in adulthood improves memory and cuts seizures in CNTNAP2 knockout mice, a new study shows.

By Claudia López Lloreda
12 August 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of the association cortex.

Cortical territories compete in developmental space race

Sensory and association regions are established through a reciprocal process, according to a new model of cortical development.

By Holly Barker
30 July 2026 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Barbara Finlay looking at a glass jar with a brain.

Remembering Barbara Finlay, ‘maverick’ of evolutionary neuroscience

Finlay, who died on 12 September, championed the idea that developmental constraints dictate how evolution sculpts brains, a concept she used to model the timing of hundreds of events and align them across mammalian species.

By Calli McMurray
23 October 2026 | 8 min read
A crow looking at a screen showing a circle of white dots on a black background.

Crows have brains ‘in the fast lane’

The birds accurately complete decision-making tasks twice as fast as primates, although their endbrains look considerably different.

By Sarah Thau
22 October 2026 | 4 min read
A boy manipulates blocks at a table while sitting across from a woman taking notes.

Prevalence of profound autism declines with new definition

The updated, more precise definition used in a CDC study includes adaptive scores.

By Brianna Abbott
22 October 2026 | 5 min read