Elon Musk’s Pig-Brain Implant Is Still a Long Way from ‘Solving Paralysis’
His start-up Neuralink is not the first to develop a wireless brain implant. But the considerable resources behind the effort could help commercialize the technology faster
Readers Respond to the May 2020 Issue
New Views of Our Mesmerizing, Maddening Minds
Warbler Species Fires Up Song Diversity
Hermit warblers in California have developed 35 different song dialects, apparently as a result of wildfires temporarily driving them out of certain areas.
Cracking the Neural Code with Phantom Smells
Scientists used light to evoke an odor directly in a mouse brain—no nose involved
Paired Comparisons Could Mean Better Witness Identifications
Compared with traditional lineup techniques, a series of two-faces-at-a-time choices led to more accurate identification by study witnesses.
Neural Switch Flips on Aggression in Male Mice
A separate set of cells in the same region regulate sexual behavior
Construction Process Builds Brain Circuits
A novel technique turns brain cells into circuit components
The Beautiful Things inside Your Head: Winners of the 10th Annual Art of Neuroscience Contest
The top works—and our favorites—range from interactive pieces to a pen-and-paper drawing
Cricket Avoids Being Bat Food by Doing Nothing
The sword-tailed cricket can discern bats’ echolocation signals by only responding to calls of a certain volume—at which point it plummets out of their approach.
Sparrow Song Undergoes Key Change
White-throated sparrows made a change to their familiar call that quickly spread across Canada.
How Human Brains Are Different: It Has a Lot to Do with the Connections
Different mammals demonstrate common patterns in brain connections. But our own species has a few twists of its own