Hearing

Recent articles

Nachum Ulanovsky sits against a black background with one bat in his hands and another with its wings spread above his head.

Neuroscience’s leaders, legacies and rising stars of 2025

Here are seven stories from the past year about some of the field’s most engaging figures.

By The Transmitter
24 December 2025 | 2 min read
A James Hudspeth.

Remembering A. James Hudspeth, hair cell explorer

Hudspeth, who died 16 August at age 79, devoted his 50-year career to untangling how the ear converts sound into electrical signals.

By Calli McMurray
21 August 2025 | 7 min read
Research image of a Pacinian corpuscle in a mouse.

Touch sensors detect subtle environmental vibrations, send information to auditory midbrain

Pacinian corpuscles sense high-frequency vibrations from meters away and send the information to a different circuit than other touch signals, according to a pair of new studies.

By Calli McMurray
20 August 2024 | 8 min read
Closeup photograph of an infant lying in a bassinet under white sheets with their left hand lifted close to their ear.

New technique details brainstem’s response to sounds

By revealing differences between autistic and non-autistic children, it could help identify autism in babies.

By Maaisha Osman
4 April 2023 | 4 min read
Single astrocyte on black background.

Mouse studies cast astrocytes as stars of sensory perception

Data from two separate research teams suggest the cells are key to sensory hypersensitivity in fragile X syndrome.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
13 November 2022 | 4 min read
Dr. Edgar helps the participant prepare for the magnetoencephalography (MEG) exam.

Auditory cortex may develop early in autism

A well-studied brain response to sound appears earlier than usual in young children with autism.

By Nora Bradford
16 September 2022 | 3 min read

Top autism candidate gene tied to newly identified syndrome

Mutations in the autism-linked gene PAX5 underlie a range of traits, including developmental delay, intellectual disability, seizures and autism.

By Peter Hess
17 February 2022 | 4 min read
grid of 12 views of mouse neurons.

Loss of autism-linked gene alters synapse development in mice

Mice missing a copy of the gene ASH1L have excess synapses and autism-like behavioral differences, some of which are reversed by boosting an ASH1L-regulated gene.

By Laura Dattaro
25 January 2022 | 4 min read
Person itching back of neck.

Sensory issues linked to heart-rate differences in autistic youth

Autistic children with sensory issues show more intense physiological reactions to unpleasant sounds and other sensations than their non-autistic peers do, a new study shows.

By Peter Hess
5 April 2021 | 4 min read
Mouse with her pup

Malfunctioning neurons mute sound processing in mouse model of Rett syndrome

Female mice missing a copy of the autism-linked gene MECP2 in a specific set of inhibitory neurons have a hard time heeding pups’ calls and herding litters.

By Peter Hess
14 January 2021 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Books.

The Transmitter’s most-read neuroscience book excerpts of 2025

Books by Nachum Ulanovsky, Nicole Rust, and Andrew Iwaniuk and Georg Striedter made the list of some of the year's most engaging neuroscience titles.

By The Transmitter
24 December 2025 | 2 min read
Stamp over a sheet of paper.

The Transmitter’s top news articles of 2025

Check out some of our most-read stories, covering neuroscience funding and policy changes in the United States, and methodological issues in high-profile neuroscience papers.

By The Transmitter
24 December 2025 | 3 min read
Illustration of people walking over colored circles on the ground.

Spectrum 2025: Year in review

Revisit some of the conversations and debates—on topics from leucovorin to the gut microbiome—that have shaped autism research in the past 12 months.

By The Transmitter
24 December 2025 | 2 min read

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