Headshot of Mark Humphries.

Mark Humphries

Chair in computational neuroscience
University of Nottingham

Mark Humphries is a theorist, neuroscientist and writer.

His lab studies how neurons collectively encode information about the past, present and future to guide behavior. He authored the popular science book “The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds” and writes extensively about the brain for a broad audience at Medium and elsewhere.

Humphries is chair in computational neuroscience at the University of Nottingham. He previously held a senior fellowship from the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council at the University of Manchester. Before that, he had a three-year fellowship at Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. He did his postdoctoral and Ph.D. training at the University of Sheffield.

https://humphries-lab.org/

Get alerts for essays by Mark Humphries in your inbox.

Subscribe to get notified every time a new essay is published.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Connexiohuman Connexin 26 dodecamer at 90mmHg PCO2, pH7.4

Designer synapses edit brain circuits in living animals

The approach could help elucidate relationships between circuit structure and function, as well as the role of natural electrical synapses.

By Simon Makin
23 June 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of cortical excitation–inhibition balance.

Role of GABA-A receptors in dup15q syndrome, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 22 June.

By Jill Adams
23 June 2026 | 2 min read
Thermal image of Danionella fish.

Exclusive: Janelia sunsets rodent work, launches transparent fish project

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus is banking on whole-brain imaging in the Danionella fish to advance neuroscience, but some scientists forced to close their labs say that even with a three-year runway and transitional support, they feel betrayed by the pivot.

By Calli McMurray
22 June 2026 | 5 min read