Peripheral nervous system

Recent articles

Patrik Ernfors and David Ginty.

Two neurobiologists win 2026 Brain Prize for discovering mechanics of touch

Research by Patrik Ernfors and David Ginty has delineated the diverse cell types of the somatosensory system and revealed how they detect and discriminate among different types of tactile information.

By Helena Kudiabor
5 March 2026 | 4 min read
Research image of the human dorsal root ganglion.

‘Unprecedented’ dorsal root ganglion atlas captures 22 types of human sensory neurons

The atlas also offers up molecular and cellular targets for new pain therapies.

By Calli McMurray
23 December 2025 | 5 min read
Photograph of Theanne Griffith sitting at a table with her hands interlocked over a stack of books, with one that she has published at the very top.

Crafting tales of science with Theanne Griffith

A lifelong passion for writing helped the neuroscientist land a book deal and publish 15 chapter books for early readers, covering topics ranging from what the cerebellum does to how a cake bakes.

By Angie Voyles Askham
26 August 2024 | 8 min read
Research image of a Pacinian corpuscle in a mouse.

Touch sensors detect subtle environmental vibrations, send information to auditory midbrain

Pacinian corpuscles sense high-frequency vibrations from meters away and send the information to a different circuit than other touch signals, according to a pair of new studies.

By Calli McMurray
20 August 2024 | 8 min read
Research image of tau proteins in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Supersized version of Alzheimer’s protein avoids clumping in brain

“Big tau” may explain why some brain regions, such as the cerebellum and brainstem, are largely spared from neurodegeneration, even though tau is expressed throughout the nervous system.

By Charles Q. Choi
16 August 2024 | 6 min read
Research image of enteric neurons in zebrafish.

Opioid receptors may guide formation of gut nervous system in zebrafish

Fish lacking functional copies of the receptors have fewer enteric neurons than usual, but the findings await further validation.

By Olivia Gieger
26 June 2024 | 4 min read
Image of a series of red sticky notes protruding from a stack of white paper.

Faked results lead to retraction of high-profile cancer neuroscience study

An investigation found that the experiments required more animals than the scientists had purchased.

By Dalmeet Singh Chawla
18 June 2024 | 4 min read

The question of regeneration—an excerpt from ‘Periphery: How Your Nervous System Predicts and Protects Against Disease’

In his recent book, Moses Chao makes the case that the peripheral nervous system can warn of future illnesses.

By Moses V. Chao
26 April 2024 | 7 min read

Autism-linked genes shape touch processing through different mechanisms, at different times

Whereas some mice display hypersensitivity to touch only as adults, others respond that way from birth.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
21 March 2024 | 5 min read
Photograph of a gloved hand pointing to a computer screen that is displaying an image of a mouse brain.

Going deep: The Transmitter’s top long-form stories in 2023

Our favorite features and book excerpts from the past year delved into the neurobiology of cancer; problems with survey data; free will; mathematical minds; and questions around one startup’s quest to treat brain conditions with cell therapies.

By The Transmitter
26 December 2023 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Clockwise: lab mouse, zebrafish, octopus, rat pushing a cube, nematodes, fruit fly.

The term ‘model organism’ should be reserved for biological systems

By referring to artificial neural networks as model organisms, we run the risk of distorting funding priorities and disregard the explanatory power of a shared evolutionary history across biological organisms.

By Marc Coutanche
13 November 2026 | 6 min read

New phase of BRAIN Initiative spawns basal ganglia ‘parts list’

With a standardized cell naming system and infrastructure for data collection and analysis, the basal ganglia project sets the stage for a whole-brain primate atlas.

By Claudia López Lloreda
12 November 2026 | 1 min watch
Research image showing genes containing microexons in mice.

Machine-learning model spots autism-linked variants that scramble splicing

The model provides a way to investigate genetic variation in regions of the genome whose functions have been difficult to interpret.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
12 November 2026 | 4 min read