Consciousness

Recent articles

Illustration of the outlines of several different animals—including a fish, an insect and a rabbit—each filled in with a different color and overlaid with abstract patterns, lines and shapes.

Premature declarations on animal consciousness hinder progress

Overstating the evidence in support of animal consciousness could impede efforts to develop more accurate ways of assessing it.

By Hakwan Lau
18 November 2024 | 5 min read
A woman stands in front of two books that are open to reveal that they contain doorways from which blue light emanates.

From reductionism to dynamical systems: How two books influenced my thinking across 30 years of neuroscience

Nicole Rust describes her career-changing literary journey of joy, free will and the evolution of a field.

By Nicole Rust
26 August 2024 | 4 min listen
Illustration of a brain separated into four panes, each rendered in different colors and with different decorative elements.

How did consciousness evolve? An excerpt from ‘A History of Bodies, Brains, and Minds: The Evolution of Life and Consciousness’

In his new book, to be published in September, neuroscientist Francisco Aboitiz links consciousness back to the earliest days of biological life.

By Francisco Aboitiz
26 August 2024 | 12 min read
Illustration of a group of books floating against a light blue and yellow background.

Six new neuroscience books for fall—plus five titles you may have missed

We highlight the most anticipated neuroscience books for the remainder of 2024 and recap notable releases since last December.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
26 August 2024 | 6 min read
A photograph of Paul-Antoine Libourel.

At the end of the earth with Paul-Antoine Libourel

The French researcher’s accomplishments working with chinstrap penguins in the Antarctic highlight the importance of recording sleep in the wild.

By Yves Sciama
11 June 2024 | 18 min listen
Photograph of a gloved hand pointing to a computer screen that is displaying an image of a mouse brain.

Going deep: The Transmitter’s top long-form stories in 2023

Our favorite features and book excerpts from the past year delved into the neurobiology of cancer; problems with survey data; free will; mathematical minds; and questions around one startup’s quest to treat brain conditions with cell therapies.

By The Transmitter
26 December 2023 | 4 min read
Illustration of a man standing in front of three open doors.

Player One: An edited excerpt from ‘Free Agents — How Evolution Gave Us Free Will’

In his new book, neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell argues that, despite his field’s mechanistic models of cognition, we are all “Player One” in the game of life, the authors of our own actions.

By Kevin Mitchell
13 November 2023 | 15 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order

Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.

By Laura Dattaro
30 June 2025 | 4 min read

How to teach this paper: ‘Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia,’ by Liddelow et al. (2017)

Shane Liddelow and his collaborators identified the factors that transform astrocytes from their helpful to harmful form. Their work is a great choice if you want to teach students about glial cell types, cell culture, gene expression or protein measurement.

By Ashley Juavinett
30 June 2025 | 10 min read

Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior

Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.

By Claudia López Lloreda
27 June 2025 | 9 min listen