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

Two lab mice fighting.

From friend to foe: How the brain updates feelings toward others

A specific hippocampus-to-amygdala pathway reassigns emotional valence to a known individual, whereas the hippocampus’s own representation of that individual’s identity remains stable.

By Natalia Mesa
9 July 2026 | 5 min read
Illustration of scientist in lab coat looking at shelves of computer network models.

Mass-produced science is coming. What happens to scientists?

Artificial intelligence may soon enable researchers to generate high-quality science at a previously unimaginable speed. For science consumers—the public, medical patients, technology users—the likely effects will be positive. For scientists, the effects will be as disruptive as industrial mass production was for artisan manufacturers.

By Kenneth Harris
9 July 2026 | 9 min read
Adriano Aguzzi.

Neuropathologist not guilty of research misconduct, says university probe

The investigation determined that seven papers by corresponding author Adriano Aguzzi have “scientifically significant” errors, which Aguzzi attributes to his former students.

By Dalmeet Singh Chawla
8 July 2026 | 5 min read