Rats
Recent articles
Hitting city streets to record rat behaviors: Q&A with Emily Mackevicius, Ralph Peterson
Capturing the rodents’ vocalizations and movements in the wild offers an opportunity to study naturalistic behaviors in a complex urban environment, Mackevicius and Peterson say.
Hitting city streets to record rat behaviors: Q&A with Emily Mackevicius, Ralph Peterson
Capturing the rodents’ vocalizations and movements in the wild offers an opportunity to study naturalistic behaviors in a complex urban environment, Mackevicius and Peterson say.
Up and out with Peggy Mason
Mason helped define the rodent prosocial behavior field, but now she’s changing course.

Up and out with Peggy Mason
Mason helped define the rodent prosocial behavior field, but now she’s changing course.
Monkeys build mental maps to navigate new tasks
Cognitive maps, also known as world models, allow animals to imagine novel scenarios based on past experiences.

Monkeys build mental maps to navigate new tasks
Cognitive maps, also known as world models, allow animals to imagine novel scenarios based on past experiences.
The value of math and spatial learning with Loren Frank
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator discusses what drew him to study the brain and his current work at the University of California, San Francisco.

The value of math and spatial learning with Loren Frank
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator discusses what drew him to study the brain and his current work at the University of California, San Francisco.
Brain-surgery-free probes can record single-neuron activity
The new devices, which monitor neural activity from within blood vessels, show long-term stability in rats and could one day deliver electrical stimulation.

Brain-surgery-free probes can record single-neuron activity
The new devices, which monitor neural activity from within blood vessels, show long-term stability in rats and could one day deliver electrical stimulation.
‘wildDISCO’ cocktail yields whole-body maps of mouse neurons and more
A new technique used to create see-through rodents can help scientists analyze how the nervous system interacts with other body systems.
‘wildDISCO’ cocktail yields whole-body maps of mouse neurons and more
A new technique used to create see-through rodents can help scientists analyze how the nervous system interacts with other body systems.
CRISPR tool rids rodents of oxytocin receptors
The approach provides an “off-the-shelf” way for researchers to compare oxytocin function across species, the team says.

CRISPR tool rids rodents of oxytocin receptors
The approach provides an “off-the-shelf” way for researchers to compare oxytocin function across species, the team says.
Company on brink takes psilocybin to trial for fragile X syndrome
The phase 2A trial has its detractors despite positive animal results and is being sponsored by a company that is struggling financially.

Company on brink takes psilocybin to trial for fragile X syndrome
The phase 2A trial has its detractors despite positive animal results and is being sponsored by a company that is struggling financially.
Serotonin initiates earliest social bonds
Mice and rats, for example, gravitate toward their mother’s bedding over bedding that is clean or smells of a different dam.

Serotonin initiates earliest social bonds
Mice and rats, for example, gravitate toward their mother’s bedding over bedding that is clean or smells of a different dam.
The link between maternal infection and autism, explained
Having an infection during pregnancy is tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal.

The link between maternal infection and autism, explained
Having an infection during pregnancy is tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Worms help untangle brain structure/function mystery
The synaptic connectome of most animals bears little resemblance to functional brain maps, but it can still predict neuronal activity, according to two preprints that tackle the puzzle in C. elegans.

Worms help untangle brain structure/function mystery
The synaptic connectome of most animals bears little resemblance to functional brain maps, but it can still predict neuronal activity, according to two preprints that tackle the puzzle in C. elegans.
Microglia nurture young interneurons
The immune cells secrete a growth factor that “sets the supply of GABAergic interneurons in the developing brain.”

Microglia nurture young interneurons
The immune cells secrete a growth factor that “sets the supply of GABAergic interneurons in the developing brain.”
Xaq Pitkow shares his principles for studying cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies
Pitkow discusses how evolution's messy constraints shape optimal brain algorithms, from Bayesian inference to ecological affordances.
Xaq Pitkow shares his principles for studying cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies
Pitkow discusses how evolution's messy constraints shape optimal brain algorithms, from Bayesian inference to ecological affordances.