Neural dynamics

Recent articles

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

Cooperating marmosets extend decision-making model of the brain

When a pair of marmosets works together to earn some marshmallow fluff, one of them decides to act only after its brain accumulates enough evidence about what the other is doing, new work shows.

By Calli McMurray
24 June 2026 | 1 min watch

Liset de la Prida explains how neuron subtypes may control the activity of large neural populations, from manifolds to ripples

De la Prida's work analyzing the varieties of sharp wave ripples in the hippocampus led to her discovery that specific types of neurons control the properties of neural manifolds.

By Paul Middlebrooks
22 April 2026 | 104 min listen

Juan Gallego discusses how manifolds are transforming our understanding of the coordination of neuronal population activity

A wealth of evidence supports the view that neural manifolds are real and useful, Gallego says, even if they may not completely solve the age-old mind-body problem.

By Paul Middlebrooks
25 March 2026 | 121 min listen
Illustration of flocking birds.

From genes to dynamics: Examining brain cell types in action may reveal the logic of brain function

Defining brain cell types is no longer a matter of classification alone, but of embedding their genetic identities within the dynamical organization of population activity.

By Liset M. de la Prida
9 February 2026 | 6 min read
Research image visualizing brain waves.

Dispute erupts over universal cortical brain-wave claim

The debate highlights opposing views on how the cortex transmits information.

By Claudia López Lloreda
12 December 2025 | 5 min read
Illustration of a series of floating pools of water overflowing into each other.

The missing half of the neurodynamical systems theory

Bifurcations—an underexplored concept in neuroscience—can help explain how small differences in neural circuits give rise to entirely novel functions.

By Xiao-Jing Wang
27 October 2025 | 8 min read
Research image of mouse brain activity during a decision-making task.

Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain

The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.

By Claudia López Lloreda
3 September 2025 | 5 min read
A series of colored rectangles in a cosmos-like black space.

The challenge of defining a neural population

Our current approach is largely arbitrary. We need new methods for grouping cells, ideally by their dynamics.

By Mark Humphries
11 August 2025 | 8 min read
Artistic illustration of a neural manifold.

Neural population-based approaches have opened new windows into neural computations and behavior

Neural manifold properties can help us understand how animal brains deal with complex information, execute flexible behaviors and reuse common computations.

By Matthew Perich
4 August 2025 | 7 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of mouse and human Purkinje cells.

Purkinje cells evolved to have increasingly complex architecture

An increasing proportion of the cerebellar neurons acquired multiple primary dendrites in humans and other apes, according to a comparison of 11 primate species.

By Siddhant Pusdekar
16 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of mouse brain.

Making waves: Sleep-like brain activity in awake mice lowers sleep need, boosts memory

Alternating on/off firing patterns don’t just characterize deep, slow-wave sleep, they drive some of its restorative benefits, new findings suggest.

By Alissa de Chassey
16 July 2026 | 4 min read

Is our intelligence rooted in how living organisms are organized?

Kathryn Nave explains how a concept called constraint closure may be fundamental to understanding brains, minds and cognition.

By Paul Middlebrooks
15 July 2026 | 1 min read