Stories by R. Douglas Fields

The Spaces Between

Cells get all the glory, but the spaces surrounding them are important, too

How newborn neurons soon join the existing tightly knit networks of brain cells

An astonishingly sensitive detector of electric fields helps sharks zero in on prey

Could a little-known cranial nerve be the route by which human pheromones turn us on?

In which a mystery is solved through a chance encounter

New experiments are settling a century-long debate between two camps over how neurons communicate. The surprise: both sides are right

Long-term memories, particularly bad ones, could be dissolved if certain drugs are administered at just the right moment during recall

Some moments become lasting recollections while others just evaporate. The reason may involve the same processes that shape our brains to begin with

Mounting evidence suggests that glial cells, overlooked for half a century, may be nearly as critical to thinking and learning as neurons are