The Transmitter

Let’s teach neuroscientists how to be thoughtful and fair reviewers Blanco-Suárez revamped the traditional journal club by developing a course in which students peer review preprints alongside the published papers that evolved from them.

In the first essay of our new neuro-education series, @eblancosuarez.bsky.social shares how she reimagined the traditional journal club course by developing a class in which students review preprints alongside the published papers that evolved from them.

#neuroskyence

bit.ly/4reKhg8

New autism committee positions itself as science-backed alternative to government group The Independent Autism Coordinating Committee plans to meet at the same time as the U.S. federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee later this month—and offer its own research agenda.

“You can look at the minutes from both meetings side by side and decide which has the potential to advance the cause of autistic people more,” says autism researcher @dsmandell.bsky.social.

By @avaskham.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/new...

Two neurobiologists win 2026 Brain Prize for discovering mechanics of touch Research by Patrik Ernfors and David Ginty has delineated the diverse cell types of the somatosensory system and revealed how they detect and discriminate among different types of tactile information.

Two neurobiologists who helped decipher how the somatosensory system detects touch and pain have won this year’s Brain Prize, the largest award in neuroscience.

By @helenak.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/somatosensat...

Shifting neural code powers speech comprehension Dynamic coding helps explain how the brain processes multiple features of speech—from the smallest units of sounds to full sentences—simultaneously.

Dynamic coding of speech, as suggested by two new studies, challenges the idea that language features are encoded in a one-to-one manner in the brain.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/language/shi...

Neuro’s ark: Cracking the secret sensory world of ticks Carola Städele, a self-proclaimed “tick magnet,” studies the sensory neurobiology of ticks—how the parasitic animals zero in on their next meal.

Tick neurobiologist @tickphysiology.bsky.social says others should join her in studying the parasite because “there are a lot of low-hanging fruits with ticks. There are so many open questions that just are waiting to be addressed.”

By @callimcflurry.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

bit.ly/46CcIgB

Astrocytes orchestrate oxytocin’s social effects in mice The cells amplify oxytocin—and may be responsible for sex differences in social behavior, two preprints find.

“Astrocytes in the lateral septum may explain, or be at the basis of, the sex differences we observe in terms of social fear.” –Alexandre Charlet.

By Holly Barker

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/ast...

Neuro’s ark: research on nontraditional model organisms This series highlights neuroscience research on nontraditional model organisms and the questions those animals are well suited to answer.

Explore Neuro's ark, a series that highlights neuroscience research in nontraditional organisms and the questions those animals are well suited to help researchers answer: www.thetransmitter.org/neuros-ark/?...

Neuro’s ark: Cracking the secret sensory world of ticks Carola Städele, a self-proclaimed “tick magnet,” studies the sensory neurobiology of ticks—how the parasitic animals zero in on their next meal.

Carola Städele @tickphysiology.bsky.social a self-proclaimed “tick magnet,” studies the sensory neurobiology of ticks—in other words, how the parasitic animals zero in on their next meal.

By @callimcflurry.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/neuros-ark/n...

COSYNE Social The Simons Foundation will host a social for attendees of the 2026 COSYNE meeting in Lisbon on March 13.

Attending #COSYNE2026? Join us for our social on March 13th at 8PM to learn about our research, funding opportunities, and resources. Staff from the @flatironinstitute.org and @thetransmitter.bsky.social will also be there. https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/cosyne-social/ #science #neuroscience

Meet the neuroscientist running for Congress Sam Wang, a neuroscientist running for the U.S. House of Representatives, has been interested in “fixing bugs in democracy” for decades.

Neuroscientist @samwang.bsky.social, whose research implicated the cerebellum in autism, now hopes to “fix bugs in democracy”—by running for Congress.

By Lauren Schenkman

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/policy/is-th...

Lack of reviewers threatens robustness of neuroscience literature Simple math suggests that small groups of scientists can significantly bias peer review.

Broad peer review is crucial for a healthy scientific literature, but neuroscientists turn down review requests too often. Simple math suggests that small groups of scientists can significantly bias the literature, writes @jvoigts.bsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/publishing/l...

For more from @blackinneuro.bsky.social, be sure to check out the #BlackInNeuroSeminarSeries, where the team chats with neuroscientists across the world about their research and career journeys. To sign up for the next seminar, visit: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

#neuroskyence

@blackinneuro.bsky.social is also collaborating with HBCU-forward programming—such as hosting a one-day undergraduate research symposium at Howard University with the NeuroDegeneration Computational Fellows program.

More recently, HBCU students have taken leadership roles within the organization, serving as leaders of the DMV chapter.

The benefits of the program extend beyond research, providing students with mentorship on how to approach senior faculty and unspoken networking rules that shape opportunities—things that can make or break a young scientist’s career.

Building the future of neuroscience at HBCUs Black In Neuro is launching a new program to help historically Black colleges and universities advance neuroscience research and education, focusing on cross-institutional collaboration…

In 2025, @blackinneuro.bsky.social celebrated its 5th anniversary and announced the HBCU-MINDS Network, an initiative focused on building neuroscience research infrastructure, expanding graduate training and increasing opportunities at HBCUs.

By @jheannellejohnson.bsky.social

bit.ly/4sjPW5C

“In her obituary, her mentee, Catherine Veil, says that [Marcelle Lapicque] fought against the prejudices of her time … it may be that the prejudices included race and not just sexism,” says @oligoclonalband.medsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/history-of-n...

Dendrites help neuroscientists see the forest for the trees Dendritic arbors provide just the right scale to study how individual neurons reciprocally interact with their broader circuitry—and are our best bet to bridge cellular and systems neuroscience.

Dendritic arbors provide neuroscience with an ideal opportunity to study how individual neurons interact with their broader circuitry and are the field’s best bet to bridge cellular and systems neuroscience, writes @justinkohare.bsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/dendrites/de...

Two primate centers drop ‘primate’ from their name The Washington and Tulane National Biomedical Research Centers—formerly called National Primate Research Centers—say they made the change to better reflect the breadth of research performed at the…

Two of the U.S. national primate research centers have changed their name to “Biomedical Research Center” to better reflect their range of research activities.

By @callimcflurry.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/community/tw...

Truth, Beauty, and Brains Moritz Stefaner's visualization about the state of Neuroscience

In the Open Visualization Academy newsletter: Friends of the OVA, Episode 3, a conversation with @moritzstefaner.bsky.social about his recent State of Neuroscience project openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/truth-beau...

#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization

Immune conflict in placenta affects male fetal development The immune-conflict between dam and fetus could help explain sex differences in neurodevelopmental conditions.

“Understanding autism from a variety of perspectives, whether it’s neurological, immunological, or even ‘placentological’—I think those are all important pieces of the puzzle,” says @cheadlelab.bsky.social of @cshlnews.bsky.social.

By @vcallier.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/pos...

Stimulating the brain with Damien Fair The MacArthur Foundation “genius” discusses his return to his home state of Minnesota and why it’s important to protect the developing brain.

MacArthur Foundation “genius” @drdamienfair.bsky.social discusses his return to his home state of Minnesota and why it’s important to protect the developing brain, in this episode of “Synaptic.”

By Brady Huggett

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/synaptic/sti...

Three ecological psychologists on the right and wrong ways to use the field’s principles in neuroscience Matthieu de Wit, Luis H. Favela and Vicente Raja weigh in on the recent trend of neuroscientists importing concepts from ecological psychology, the study of how an organism’s interactions with its…

@braininspired.bsky.social talks to @dewitmm.bsky.social, Luis Favela and @diovicen.bsky.social about the trend of neuroscientists importing concepts from ecological psychology, how an organism’s interactions with its environment explains perception and action.

#neuroskyence

bit.ly/3OyNEkp

Meet the neuroscientist running for Congress Sam Wang, a neuroscientist running for the U.S. House of Representatives, has been interested in “fixing bugs in democracy” for decades.

@samwang.bsky.social , an autism scientist who made headlines for his data-based analyses of congressional districts, is running for a House seat in New Jersey.

By Lauren Schenkman

www.thetransmitter.org/policy/is-th...

Chances are you have not heard her name, but Marcelle Lapicque may have been the first Black woman neuroscientist in Europe.

By @avaskham.bsky.social, @rebeccasky.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/history-of-n...

#neuroskyence

Infant brain categorizes common objects by two months of age Brain activity patterns in the ventral visual cortex appear to distinguish images across 12 categories, including birds and trees, fMRI scans suggest.

Functional MRI scans of more than 100 2-month-old infants suggest that they are capable of distinguishing among a variety of different objects. The findings challenge perceptions of cognitive development as a gradual process.

By @helenak.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/cognitive-ne...

By applying analysis techniques they had been using to study the brain to their lab meetings, @lindadouw.bsky.social and team identified ways to boost communication among people with very different backgrounds.

By @emilysingerneuro.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/methods/how-...

Bradley Dickerson reflects on how a 1940s paper on fly neuroanatomy shaped his scientific ambitions.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/this-paper-c...

Are there any traditions or practices from the labs you trained at that you will implement in your lab? I plan to use a “slide stack”—a practice that worked well for me when I was a trainee. Basically, every trainee will maintain a running Google Slides document, and every week, the trainee can add updates about their projects. This allows me to preview everything before one-on-one meetings, making them more efficient. For the trainee, the slide stack will act as an archive of checkpoints—which is helpful for “debugging” things throughout the projects—and as a template for making polished materials for talks and papers.

There are always great mentoring tips in @thetransmitter.bsky.social's early career newsletter, Launch. This one from new PI @qlu.bsky.social in today's edition stood out to me as being a particularly useful idea!