Prions

Recent articles

Colored transmission electron micrograph (TEM) showing an amyloid plaque in a brain with Alzheimer’s disease.

Skeptics challenge claims of Alzheimer’s disease transmission via growth hormone

Some people who received cadaver-derived human growth hormone may not have Alzheimer’s as previously suggested, according to a new Perspective article.

By Shaena Montanari
23 August 2024 | 6 min read
Headshot of Stanley Prusiner.

Nobel Prize winner’s paper to be corrected, according to co-author

A data sleuth flagged an apparent duplicate image in the 2015 prion study led by neurologist and biochemist Stanley Prusiner.

By Elissa Welle
27 March 2024 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

How energy determines where proteins are produced in neurons

Tatjana Tchumatchenko explains how mathematical modeling elucidates whether ion-channel proteins are produced locally in the soma or in the dendrites.

By Gaute Einevoll
26 August 2026 | 1 min read
A brown mouse between a red cube and blue cylinder looks curiously at the top of the cylinder, standing on hind legs.

Wouldn’t you like to know? A mouse would

Mice seek information for curiosity’s sake—and their desire for knowledge versus a payout is represented distinctly in the brain, new findings suggest.

By Sarah Thau
26 August 2026 | 5 min read
Covers of The Transmitter's summer book picks.

Five new neuroscience books, and other notable titles from 2026

The Transmitter’s summer reading list includes an autopsy of the Human Brain Project, an overview of the neuroscience of motherhood and a memoir from a pioneer in Huntington’s disease research.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
25 August 2026 | 7 min read