The bridge between neuroscience and AI; Remembering Gerry Fischbach
31 OCTOBER 2026
Renato Duarte traces how neuroscience and artificial-intelligence (AI) papers have cited each other over time, and Anthony Zador and Kim Stachenfeld offer commentaries on his analysis. David Sussillo discusses the ongoing relationship between the fields of neuroscience and AI. The Transmitter remembers Gerry Fischbach, a remarkable scientist who characterized the neuromuscular junction. Human brains use dendrite-specific inhibition to avoid forgetting old memories while learning new information, a modeling study suggests. Plus, uncovering lipids’ role in pregnancy and aging, the structure-function relationship in cortical networks, a new map for taste-sensing neurons in flies, and a new tool to study small animals in natural environments.
A citation analysis reveals that the connection between the two fields is real and gaining momentum. But it’s also narrow and tool-heavy; we need to find ways to widen it.
Read commentaries on this analysis by Anthony Zador and Kim Stachenfeld.
Fischbach, who died 25 October, elucidated the dynamic changes in neuromuscular junctions. Beyond the lab, he shaped careers, academic departments and scientific societies.
BY EMILY SINGER
David Sussillo maps the two fields’ divergent paths, and where they might still meet.
Two new studies, including the first whole-brain lipid atlas in mice, uncover unforeseen complexity and influence during pregnancy and aging.
BY NATALIA MESA
Dendrite-specific inhibition lets overlapping neuronal assemblies form across brain areas without erasing existing memories, a new modeling study suggests.
BY SIMON MAKIN
The customizable rig combines multimodal recording, onboard processing and neuronal manipulation to power more complex experiments.
The map—the first of its kind for an animal more complex than Caenorhabditis elegans—gives neuroscientists a trove of testable hypotheses about how neuronal circuits guide feeding behaviors.
THEORETICAL NEUROSCIENCE PODCAST
The relationship between structure and function in cortical networks
Michael Reimann explains how the shape of neurons puts strong constraints on how they are wired in a network, and how this affects their structure-function relationships.
FONDAZIONE DOMPÉ:
The Call for Applications for Scholarships from the Fondazione Dompé supports deserving students and researchers pursuing a master’s degree, a doctoral degree (PhD), or a research fellowship in neuroscience and/or neurobiology at U.S. universities.
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