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

Neuroscientist Julieta Sztarker holds an open-air teach-in for the general public in Plaza Italia in Buenos Aires.

Funding crisis in Argentina sparks new wave of protests

Two years after the country’s research funding collapsed, scientists are demonstrating against the government’s failure to restore previously cut scholarships and increase salaries as required by a 2025 law.

By Claudia López Lloreda, Natalia Mesa
8 May 2026 | 4 min read
Conceptual image of disjointed communication.

‘Slightly unhinged’ federal autism meeting portends unclear research priorities

The meeting last week sparked concerns about the latest Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s ability to perform its core function: developing a strategy to support autism research.

By Daisy Yuhas
7 May 2026 | 5 min read

Ehud Ahissar offers a new kind of dualism for neuroscience

He explains how “perceptual dualism” can account for the way we communicate via digital symbols and perceive the world via analog brain processes.

By Paul Middlebrooks
6 May 2026 | 102 min listen