2012: Year in review

Recent articles

Spectrum from The Transmitter.

What stood out to you in 2012?

We packaged the year’s research highlights from our vantage point. What advances stood out to you in 2012? And where do you see the field going?

By Greg Boustead
20 December 2012 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Top tools and techniques of 2012

2012 saw many new exciting — and often colorful — technical advances, ranging from tools that build brains from the cell up to robots that can replace neuroscientists.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Drugs in development for autism

A look at various drugs attempting to address autism and their stages of development.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Top quotes of 2012

The top quotes of 2012.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Predictions for 2013

Take a look through SFARI.org’s crystal ball to predict major developments in autism research in 2013.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 2 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Most-viewed articles of 2012

A list of the ten stories that most caught our readers’ attention this year.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Hot topics in 2012

New candidate genes, drugs in development and diagnostic debates were just a few of the themes that garnered intense interest this year.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 9 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Director’s column: 2012 in review

SFARI director Gerald Fischbach comments on the year’s most notable papers.

By Gerald D. Fischbach
20 December 2012 | 6 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Notable papers of 2012

Among a wealth of exciting research, ten sets of papers made an impact this year.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
20 December 2012 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Xiao-Jing Wang outlines the future of theoretical neuroscience

Wang discusses why he decided the time was right for a new theoretical neuroscience textbook and how bifurcation is a key missing concept in neuroscience explanations.

By Paul Middlebrooks
2 July 2025 | 112 min listen
Overlapping speech bubbles.

Memory study sparks debate over statistical methods

Critics of a 2024 Nature paper suggest the authors failed to address the risk of false-positive findings. The authors argue more rigorous methods can result in missed leads.

By Katie Moisse
2 July 2025 | 5 min read

Attention not necessary for visual awareness, large study suggests

People can perceive some visual information even if they do not pay direct attention to it.

By Kristel Tjandra
1 July 2025 | 5 min read