Visual perception

Recent articles

Photograph of a chickadee.

Gazing at a location from afar activates place cells in chickadees

The results help explain how the hippocampus can recall information about a place without an animal physically revisiting it.

By Marta Hill
13 June 2025 | 6 min read
Illustration of columns of text with eyes peeking out from behind the central column to look at a bright blue spot.

This paper changed my life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies

The 1970s papers from Goldberg and Wurtz made ambitious mechanistic studies of higher brain functions seem feasible.

By Bill Newsome
21 February 2025 | 6 min read
Illustration of a group of books floating against a light blue and yellow background.

Six new neuroscience books for fall—plus five titles you may have missed

We highlight the most anticipated neuroscience books for the remainder of 2024 and recap notable releases since last December.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
26 August 2024 | 6 min read
Portrait of scientist Tessa Montague standing next to an aquatic tank. A spray of black ink shoots onto her lab coat from off-camera.

Leaving lasting marks with Tessa Montague

When the postdoctoral fellow is not deconstructing cuttlefish camouflage and dodging ink squirts in the lab, you can find her teaching neuroscience courses in correctional facilities, mentoring high school biology students in Ghana and helping to launch DNA experiments into space.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
9 February 2024 | 7 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Billboard reads Protect Life-Saving Science.

Oregon primate center scientists fight proposed sanctuary transition

A group of employees have launched a series of campaigns to advocate for their work and argue against the center’s potential transition to an animal sanctuary.

By Calli McMurray
21 May 2026 | 6 min read
When Autistic Kids Grow Up.

When autistic kids grow up

An autistic researcher’s paper called attention to a huge disparity in autism funding research between children and adults. It nearly derailed her life.

By Brady Huggett
20 May 2026 | 2 min listen
Collage with a portrait of Suzanne Wood.

The ‘secretly awesome’ side of a teaching career

The freedom to do “wacky” research projects that interest you is a major perk of the teaching stream, says Suzanne Wood, a teaching professor at the University of Toronto.

By Katie Moisse
20 May 2026 | 7 min read