Blood-brain barrier

Recent articles

Research image of a mouse brain with the same spot shown three times in different colors to show different neurochemical concentrations.

New dopamine sensor powers three-color imaging in live animals

The tool leverages a previously unused segment of the color spectrum to track the neurotransmitter and can be used with two additional sensors to monitor other neurochemicals at different wavelengths.

By Diana Kwon
25 July 2025 | 5 min listen
Astrocytes in a mouse brain.

Unexpected astrocyte gene flips image of brain’s ‘stalwart sentinels’

The genetic marker upends the accepted orientation of non-star-like astrocytes in the glia limitans superficialis.

By Lauren Schenkman
28 March 2025 | 5 min read
Illustration of a lab with a smoking crater in the middle of the floor.

The Transmitter’s favorite features of 2024

Our chosen stories include tales about research misconduct in the lab, a neuroscientist working at the end of the world, and the passing of neuroanatomy’s “great-grandfather,” Harvey Karten.

By The Transmitter
23 December 2024 | 2 min read
Research image of mouse cells.

Immune cell interlopers breach—and repair—brain barrier in mice

The choroid plexus, the protective network of blood vessels and epithelial cells that line the brain’s ventricles, recruits neutrophils and macrophages during inflammation, a new study shows.

By Claudia López Lloreda
20 November 2024 | 6 min listen
Maiken Nedergaard, Britta Engelhardt and Christer Betsholtz on a floating rock island with university facilities and abstract shapes.

Maiken Nedergaard’s power of disruption

The award-winning researcher’s discoveries have changed the way we think about the brain; that’s exactly what her critics dislike.

By Emily Sohn
26 February 2024 | 26 min listen

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image visualizing genetic variation.

Long-read sequencing unearths overlooked autism-linked variants

Strips that are thousands of base pairs in length offer better resolution of structural variants and tandem repeats, according to two independent preprints.

By Natalia Mesa
18 September 2025 | 6 min read
Illustration of human figures holding brightly colored connected dots.

This paper changed my life: Dan Goodman on a paper that reignited the field of spiking neural networks

Friedemann Zenke’s 2019 paper, and its related coding tutorial SpyTorch, made it possible to apply modern machine learning to spiking neural networks. The innovation reinvigorated the field.

By Dan Goodman
17 September 2025 | 5 min read
Research image of different types of microglia in mice.

Autism and anxiety insights; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 15 September.

By Jill Adams
16 September 2025 | 2 min read

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