Motor skills

Recent articles

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
27 August 2026 | 6 min read
Sanguessuga medicinal.

O que as sanguessugas revelam sobre o movimento

Lidia Szczupak recorreu a esses animais para investigar como o sistema nervoso coordena o movimento.

By Claudia López Lloreda
1 May 2026 | 6 min read
La sanguijuela medicinal.

Lo que las sanguijuelas revelan sobre movimiento

Lidia Szczupak recurrió a los animales para explorar cómo el sistema nervioso coordina el movimiento.

By Claudia López Lloreda
1 May 2026 | 6 min read

Arboreal deer mice reveal neural roots of dexterity

The rodents offered researchers an opportunity to link genetically driven changes in corticospinal abundance and morphology to climbing cachet.

By Siddhant Pusdekar
8 April 2026 | 0 min watch
Child playing with blocks.

Structure of striatum varies by sex in autistic children

The changes could reflect different developmental trajectories between boys and girls with autism, a new study suggests.

By Holly Barker
27 February 2025 | 4 min read

Karen Adolph explains how we develop our ability to move through the world

How do babies' bodies and their environment teach them to move—and how can robots benefit from these insights?

By Paul Middlebrooks
25 October 2024 | 89 min listen
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
Multiple exposure of Rujuta Wilson facing the camera, and walking along her gait mat.

A new look at walking in early childhood: Q&A with Rujuta Wilson

Quantifying toddlers’ gaits promises to improve autism diagnosis and intervention.

By Charles Q. Choi
14 March 2024 | 6 min read
A child uses a tablet device

New tablet-based tools to spot autism draw excitement — and questions

Handheld devices promise to bring autism detection home, but many researchers urge caution.

By Charles Q. Choi
4 January 2024 | 8 min read
Three groups of people meet and mix at a crossroads.

Year in Review: Spectrum’s best in 2023

Here are five must-reads from our coverage of autism research over the past 12 months.

By The Transmitter
28 December 2023 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Speech bubbles progress from light- to dark- colored.

Amid funding uncertainty, neuroscientists report a mix of cynicism, persistence

Two years into one of the most tumultuous tenures in U.S. federal funding, researchers outline how they are coping with ongoing changes and reflect on the impact these changes are having on the system more broadly.

By Emily Singer
28 August 2026 | 5 min read
Stages of neurodegeneration: Neurofibrillary tangles at different stages of neurodegeneration are labeled with phosphorylated tau antibodies (green and blue).

Reimagining Mexico’s brain bank

Since Alzheimer’s disease researcher José Luna-Muñoz assumed leadership of the facility—Latin America’s oldest—in 2011, he has been acquiring additional tissue types and is working to expand donor recruitment to rural areas.

By Alejandra Manjarrez
28 August 2026 | 7 min read

Revealing how crabs make their escape

Houdini-like Neohelice granulata offers a rare opportunity to record intracellularly from awake, behaving animals.

By Natalia Mesa
28 August 2026 | 0 min watch