Hindsight is 2020: The year in review
Recent articles
2020 in research images
Feast your eyes on glowing glia and organoids; high-resolution, digital renditions of mouse brains; fluorescent beads passing through zebrafish guts and more.
2020 in research images
Feast your eyes on glowing glia and organoids; high-resolution, digital renditions of mouse brains; fluorescent beads passing through zebrafish guts and more.
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
Inside the reporter’s notebook: Dispatches from 2020
Spectrum's staff couldn't report on the ground this year — with no lab visits, sit-down interviews or in-person conferences to attend — but we observed a lot of changes from our computer screens.
Inside the reporter’s notebook: Dispatches from 2020
Spectrum's staff couldn't report on the ground this year — with no lab visits, sit-down interviews or in-person conferences to attend — but we observed a lot of changes from our computer screens.
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.
Explore more from The Transmitter
The three-banded panther worm is rewriting the story of brain evolution
The animal has a brain structure all its own, according to a 2026 preprint. The finding hints that brains could have evolved centralization before regionalization.
The three-banded panther worm is rewriting the story of brain evolution
The animal has a brain structure all its own, according to a 2026 preprint. The finding hints that brains could have evolved centralization before regionalization.
Does cognition happen in brain areas or between them?
Michael Cole explains how "brain flows" are the fundamental units of brain function and cognition.
Does cognition happen in brain areas or between them?
Michael Cole explains how "brain flows" are the fundamental units of brain function and cognition.
‘Brain Flows: How Network Dynamics Compose the Human Mind,’ an excerpt
In his new book, published today, Michael W. Cole examines how the movement of neuronal activity between neuronal populations shapes free will, intelligence and creativity. In this excerpt from Chapter 1, Cole explores why activity flows could unify efforts to map brain functions and connectivity.
‘Brain Flows: How Network Dynamics Compose the Human Mind,’ an excerpt
In his new book, published today, Michael W. Cole examines how the movement of neuronal activity between neuronal populations shapes free will, intelligence and creativity. In this excerpt from Chapter 1, Cole explores why activity flows could unify efforts to map brain functions and connectivity.