Auditory system

Recent articles

Illustration of birdsong, bird brain, and DNA.

This paper changed my life: Embracing an early model for naturalistic neuroscience

A 1992 PNAS paper showed how birdsong upregulates the expression of an immediate early gene in bird forebrains. The work revealed to Ribeiro the importance of studying molecular responses in naturalistic contexts.

By Sidarta Ribeiro
14 July 2026 | 4 min read
Ilustração de canto de pássaro, cérebro de pássaro e DNA.

Este artigo mudou minha vida: adotando um dos primeiros modelos de neurociência naturalística

Um artigo publicado na PNAS em 1992 mostrou que o canto das aves aumenta a expressão de um gene de resposta imediata no prosencéfalo dessas aves. O estudo revelou a Ribeiro a importância de investigar as respostas moleculares em contextos naturalísticos.

By Sidarta Ribeiro
14 July 2026 | 5 min read
Ilustración del canto de las aves, el cerebro de las aves y el ADN.

Este artículo cambió mi vida: Adoptando un modelo temprano de neurociencia naturalista

Un estudio del 1992 publicado en PNAS demostró que el canto de las aves aumenta la expresión de un gen de respuesta temprana inmediata en el prosencéfalo de los pájaros. El trabajo le reveló a Ribeiro la importancia de estudiar las respuestas moleculares en contextos naturalistas.

By Sidarta Ribeiro
14 July 2026 | 5 min read
Neural networks illustration.

This paper changed my life: Appreciating John Hopfield’s brilliant neural network

In a 1982 paper, the Nobel laureate created his namesake recurrent neural network—work that taught Maria Geffen to always ground research questions in biology.

By Maria Geffen
15 May 2026 | 5 min read
Research figure of neural patterns in the brain during speech encoding.

Shifting neural code powers speech comprehension

Dynamic coding helps explain how the brain processes multiple features of speech—from the smallest units of sounds to full sentences—simultaneously.

By Claudia López Lloreda
5 March 2026 | 5 min read
A James Hudspeth.

Remembering A. James Hudspeth, hair cell explorer

Hudspeth, who died 16 August at age 79, devoted his 50-year career to untangling how the ear converts sound into electrical signals.

By Calli McMurray
21 August 2025 | 7 min read
Human head drawn in profile, brain area is red and connected to words spelled out in connected lines with nodes.

Individual neurons tune to complex speech sounds and cues

Neuropixels arrays implanted in people reveal nuances of speech perception and production that confirm results from brain-surface recordings and can even predict what someone is about to say.

By Elissa Welle
15 March 2024 | 7 min read

Tiny eardrum sounds may help sync visual, auditory perception

Studies of the oscillations reveal that horizontal and vertical eye movements generate distinct sounds.

By Shaena Montanari
26 January 2024 | 0 min watch

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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