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

Are computational complexity principles relevant for explaining brain activity?

Cristopher Moore discusses the nature of computation and whether we should think of neural activity as computing.

By Paul Middlebrooks
17 June 2026 | 1 min read
Illustration of cells converting from fibroblasts to myoblasts.

This paper changed my life: Learning the molecular rules of cell identity

A 1987 Cell paper showed that a single transcription factor could turn fibroblasts into muscle cells. The work inspired Ardem Patapoutian to think about the molecular codes that define neuronal subtypes.

By Ardem Patapoutian
17 June 2026 | 6 min read

Leucovorin saga, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 15 June.

By Jill Adams
16 June 2026 | 2 min read