Motor behavior

Recent articles

Child sitting on a trampoline.

Study questions DSM-5’s combining of autism traits

Sensory traits and restricted and repetitive behaviors are best understood as distinct but related characteristics, the new work suggests.

By Lauren Schenkman
23 July 2026 | 5 min read
Brain scans showing sex-based activation differences.

Brain’s sex differences are subtle and contradictory, large MRI study finds

Sex-based behavioral differences do not match with variations in brain activation or structure in a study of almost 1,000 people.

By Lauren Schenkman
8 July 2026 | 5 min read
Mosquito.

What mosquitos lay bare about proprioception

By comparing the proprioceptive systems of mosquitos and fruit flies, Sweta Agrawal aims to uncover fundamental features of the ability to sense self-movement.

By Calli McMurray
1 July 2026 | 5 min read
A white brain model is surrounded by bright, detached sensory organs mounted on colorful wires.

Single-neuron recordings zoom into ‘blurry map’ of human motor cortex

The motor cortex is organized into an "intermixed jumble of tiles" to generate meaningful movement.

By Claudia López Lloreda
17 June 2026 | 5 min read
leech illustration.

What leeches reveal about movement

Lidia Szczupak turned to the animals to explore how the nervous system coordinates movement.

By Claudia López Lloreda
1 May 2026 | 6 min read

Facial movements telegraph cognition in mice

If you give a mouse a decision, its thought process may show on its face.

By Lauren Schneider
30 September 2025 | 0 min watch
Book cover of What Is Intelligence.

‘What Is Intelligence?’: An excerpt

In his new book, published today, Blaise Agüera y Arcas examines the fundamental aspects of intelligence in biological and artificial systems. In this excerpt from Chapter 4, he examines temporal difference, a reinforcement learning algorithm.

By Blaise Agüera y Arcas
23 September 2025 | 9 min read
Gerry Fischbach.

Neuroscientist Gerry Fischbach, in his own words

In 2023, I had the privilege of sitting down with Gerry over the course of several days and listening as he told the story of his life and career—including stints as dean or director of such leading institutions as Columbia University and NINDS—so that we could record it for posterity.

By Ivan Oransky
30 May 2025 | 2 min read
Research image of circuits emerging from striosomes in the striatum.

Newly characterized striatal circuits add twist to ‘go/no-go’ model of movement control

The two novel pathways control dopamine release in opposing ways and may link motivation and mood to action, a new study shows.

By Claudia López Lloreda
24 January 2025 | 4 min read
Photograph of Eugenia Chiappe jumping inside a glass hallway.

Decoding flies’ motor control with acrobat-scientist Eugenia Chiappe

The tiny performers steal the show in Chiappe’s sensorimotor-integration lab in Lisbon, Portugal.

By Elissa Welle
7 May 2024 | 6 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Ground squirrel.

How thirteen-lined ground squirrels illuminate retinal development

In most mammalian retinas, rods outnumber cones. But that ratio is flipped in ground squirrels, a quirk that helps Seth Blackshaw explore how retinal cells develop their identities.

By Sarah Thau
31 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of the association cortex.

Cortical territories compete in developmental space race

Sensory and association regions are established through a reciprocal process, according to a new model of cortical development.

By Holly Barker
30 July 2026 | 5 min read