Sympathetic nervous system

Recent articles

Research image of a lamprey.

New look at lampreys rewrites textbooks on origins of sympathetic nervous system

Sympathetic neurons pepper the embryos of the jawless fish—Earth’s first vertebrates—and overturn the idea that “fight or flight” was an innovation of jawed vertebrates.

By Shaena Montanari
17 April 2024 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Ground squirrel.

How thirteen-lined ground squirrels illuminate retinal development

In most mammalian retinas, rods outnumber cones. But that ratio is flipped in ground squirrels, a quirk that helps Seth Blackshaw explore how retinal cells develop their identities.

By Sarah Thau
31 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of the association cortex.

Cortical territories compete in developmental space race

Sensory and association regions are established through a reciprocal process, according to a new model of cortical development.

By Holly Barker
30 July 2026 | 5 min read