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

Man with EEG sensors on his head.

Noninvasive technologies can map and target human brain with unprecedented precision

But to fully grasp the tools’ potential, we need to better understand how electric and magnetic fields interact with the brain.

By Bruce Rosen
21 April 2025 | 7 min read
Research image of fMRI scans showing decision-making across individuals.

During decision-making, brain shows multiple distinct subtypes of activity

Person-to-person variability in brain activity might represent meaningful differences in cognitive processes, rather than random noise.

By Claudia López Lloreda
18 April 2025 | 5 min read
Tic-tac-toe board with pills representing x’s and o’s.

Basic pain research ‘is not working’: Q&A with Steven Prescott and Stéphanie Ratté

Prescott and Ratté critique the clinical relevance of preclinical studies in the field and highlight areas for improvement.

By Sydney Wyatt
18 April 2025 | 7 min read