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

Researcher hands and mice navigate a series of connected spaces and paths.

To understand decision-making, we need to truly challenge lab animals

Complex, multidimensional tasks that unfold over time could reveal how different brain areas work together to support decisions.

By Chand Chandrasekaran
20 April 2026 | 6 min read
Research image of lesion network mapping.

‘Overdue’ debate unfurls over neuroimaging method

After a January paper questioned the validity of an approach called lesion network mapping, its users are pressure testing their results.

By Angie Voyles Askham
17 April 2026 | 8 min read
Research image of zebrafish brain activity.

Nearly 400 compounds affect behaviors tied to autism-linked genes in zebrafish

Estropipate, paclitaxel and levocarnitine altered behaviors tied to SCN2A and DYRK1A variants specifically, a new open-source platform revealed.

By Charles Q. Choi
16 April 2026 | 4 min read