Computational neuroscience
Computational and systems neuroscience needs development
Embracing recent advances in developmental biology can drive a new wave of innovation.
![Illustration of a fly with its life cycle represented on its left and a technological background on its right.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lede-Scott-1200-1024x692.webp)
Computational and systems neuroscience needs development
Embracing recent advances in developmental biology can drive a new wave of innovation.
Should we use the computational or the network approach to analyze functional brain-imaging data—why not both?
Emerging methods make it possible to combine the two tactics from opposite ends of the analytic spectrum, enabling scientists to have their cake and eat it too.
![A hand holds multi-colored cubes.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/NeckerCubeArt-1200-1024x692.webp)
Should we use the computational or the network approach to analyze functional brain-imaging data—why not both?
Emerging methods make it possible to combine the two tactics from opposite ends of the analytic spectrum, enabling scientists to have their cake and eat it too.
How to explore your scientific values and develop a vision for your field
As a new professor, I was caught off guard by one part of the job: my role as an evaluator.
![Photograph of objects delicately balanced to keep a plank of wood level as it sits on a cylindrical block.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Evaluation-RT-1200-1-1024x692.png)
How to explore your scientific values and develop a vision for your field
As a new professor, I was caught off guard by one part of the job: my role as an evaluator.
Theoretical and computational neuroscientists net 2024 Brain Prize
Larry Abbott, Terrence Sejnowski and Haim Sompolinsky split $1.45 million in recognition of their decades of work uncovering principles of brain structure and function.
![Headshots of Larry Abbott, Terry Senjowski and Haim Sompolinsky.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/1200-brain-prize-transmitter-neuroscience-copy-1024x692.webp)
Theoretical and computational neuroscientists net 2024 Brain Prize
Larry Abbott, Terrence Sejnowski and Haim Sompolinsky split $1.45 million in recognition of their decades of work uncovering principles of brain structure and function.
How scuba diving helped me embrace open science
Our lab adopted practices to make data- and code-sharing feel safer, including having the coding equivalent of a dive buddy. Trainees call the buddy system a welcome safety net.
![An illustration of a diver assisting a scientist at a giant computer.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Reproducibility-Data-neuroscience-1200-1024x692.webp)
How scuba diving helped me embrace open science
Our lab adopted practices to make data- and code-sharing feel safer, including having the coding equivalent of a dive buddy. Trainees call the buddy system a welcome safety net.
Experimentalists versus modelers — whose work has more lasting impact?
My informal analysis of some of neuroscience’s most cited papers from 1999 explores what drives scientific durability.
![Illustration of a lab bench that is split in half between material experiments and computational models.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Impact-versus-longevity-neuroscience-Lindsay-1200-1024x692.webp)
Experimentalists versus modelers — whose work has more lasting impact?
My informal analysis of some of neuroscience’s most cited papers from 1999 explores what drives scientific durability.
What ‘drifting representations’ reveal about the brain
How neuronal activity patterns associated with a behavior can change, even when the behavior does not — something once seen as an experimental artifact — could offer new insights about neural function.
![An abstract illustration of a figure from the shoulders up with multi-colored boxes on its face](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1200-representational-drift-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
What ‘drifting representations’ reveal about the brain
How neuronal activity patterns associated with a behavior can change, even when the behavior does not — something once seen as an experimental artifact — could offer new insights about neural function.
What happens when a histopathologist teams up with computational modelers?
Answers emerge in my chat with Nicola Palomero-Gallagher, a rare example of someone who connects the brain’s microscopic constituents and macroscopic features.
![Research images of the human motor cortex](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1200-shine-connector-hub-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
What happens when a histopathologist teams up with computational modelers?
Answers emerge in my chat with Nicola Palomero-Gallagher, a rare example of someone who connects the brain’s microscopic constituents and macroscopic features.
FORCE learning and finding an out with David Sussillo
The senior research manager at Meta Reality Labs talks about neural networks and his time at the Milton Hershey School.
![Illustrated portrait of David Sussillo.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1200-synaptic-sussillo-1024x683.webp)
FORCE learning and finding an out with David Sussillo
The senior research manager at Meta Reality Labs talks about neural networks and his time at the Milton Hershey School.
Our planet stands on the brink of irreversible change. Neuroscientists need to do something about it.
When I launched my new lab at New York University in 2022, I decided to apply my expertise in computer vision to an urgent problem far outside the brain: climate change.
![The silhouette of a head rises over a body of water.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1200_climate-1024x683.webp)
Our planet stands on the brink of irreversible change. Neuroscientists need to do something about it.
When I launched my new lab at New York University in 2022, I decided to apply my expertise in computer vision to an urgent problem far outside the brain: climate change.
Explore more from The Transmitter
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
![Research image of neurons in the fly’s ventral nerve cord.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/lede-motormodules-1200-1024x692.webp)
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
![Illustration of researchers talking to laypeople amidst strands of DNA.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1200_Charman-1024x687.webp)
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/paincircuit-1200-1024x692.webp)
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.