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

Image showing duplicated data.

University probe leads to retraction of four neural tube studies

The University of Maryland conducted an internal investigation that identified image duplications and other data integrity issues in the studies, according to the retraction notices.

By Claudia López Lloreda
16 October 2026 | 6 min read
Illustration of five purple rectangles arranged three-dimensionally like folders on a black background with a pattern of white dots and white plus signs.

Highly cited autism paper earns expression of concern over data duplications

The notice, published in Nature last week, also addressed an image duplication identified by a prominent research-integrity sleuth.

By Madeline Shaw
16 October 2026 | 4 min read
Illustration of pixellated MRI scans morphing into the scales of justice.

Govern neurodata by how it’s used, not where it’s from

New neurodata laws will shape how researchers gather, share and reuse brain data. A use-based governance protects basic researchers and those whose data are being used, without freezing science.

By José M. Muñoz
16 October 2026 | 7 min read