Manifolds

Recent articles

Tatiana Engel explains how to connect high-dimensional neural circuitry with low-dimensional cognitive functions

Neuroscientists have long sought to understand the relationship between structure and function in the vast connectivity and activity patterns in the brain. Engel discusses her modeling approach to discovering the hidden patterns that connect the two.

By Paul Middlebrooks
3 December 2025 | 1 min read
Illustration of a colorful, donut-shaped object resting on a distorted plane with its own topography.

Neural manifolds: Latest buzzword or pathway to understand the brain?

When you cut away the misconceptions, neural manifolds present a conceptually appropriate level at which systems neuroscientists can study the brain.

By Matthew Perich
2 October 2024 | 8 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of perineuronal nets.

Organoids missing the TSC2 gene form rogue astrocytes; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 28 September.

By Jill Adams
29 September 2026 | 2 min read
Research diagram of task-aligned activity rasters.

Cerebellar neurons reorient brain activity to differentiate similar behaviors

The findings provide a new perspective on how granule cells help to generalize learning across tasks.

By Holly Barker
29 September 2026 | 4 min read
Illustration of waterfall inside a woman's brain.

Revisiting the neural correlates of consciousness

Life happens in real time, but experience may be composed in ragtime—like the music genre, full of offbeat notes and uneven rhythms. The assumption that waking life consists of a “stream” of conscious representations has inadvertently led consciousness science to its current impasse.

By Francis T. Fallon, Michael Pitts
28 September 2026 | 7 min read