Itziar Barrios
Illustrator
From this contributor
Year in Review: Spectrum’s best in 2023
Here are five must-reads from our coverage of autism research over the past 12 months.
Letter to the editor: Researchers must bridge disconnect at ‘autism crossroads’
Two groups of researchers respond to Spectrum’s article about the power struggle among researchers, self-advocates and families, calling on their autistic and non-autistic colleagues to work collaboratively and promote equity in autism research.
Autism research at the crossroads
The power struggle between researchers, autistic self-advocates and parents is threatening progress across the field.
Explore more from The Transmitter
INSAR takes ‘intentional break’ from annual summer webinar series
The International Society for Autism Research cited a need to “thoughtfully reimagine” its popular online program before resuming it in 2026.

INSAR takes ‘intentional break’ from annual summer webinar series
The International Society for Autism Research cited a need to “thoughtfully reimagine” its popular online program before resuming it in 2026.
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.

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.
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.

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.