Index

Recent articles

Spectrum Index: Self-harm hospitalizations, everolimus flops in phase 2 trial

This month’s newsletter also highlights deflated autism prevalence estimates from Shanghai, China.

By Niko McCarty
30 May 2022 | 3 min read

Spectrum Index: Dip in autism screening, null cancer risk, therapist surge

This month’s newsletter looks at a decline in well-child visits during the coronavirus pandemic, the autism-cancer connection and the sizeable fraction of autistic children who live in poverty.

By Niko McCarty
28 April 2022 | 2 min read

Spectrum Index: Rare genetic diagnoses, obesity odds, violence against children

This month’s newsletter looks at the minority of autistic people who have an identifiable genetic cause for their condition, and at the fraction of autistic children who are obese.

By Niko McCarty
31 March 2022 | 3 min read

Spectrum Index: IQ deviations, rural disparities and underweight infants

This monthly newsletter offers quick statistics on the latest data-centric, autism research studies.

By Niko McCarty
23 February 2022 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

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.

By Laura Dattaro
30 June 2025 | 4 min read

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.

By Ashley Juavinett
30 June 2025 | 10 min read

Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior

Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.

By Claudia López Lloreda
27 June 2025 | 9 min listen