Carrie Arnold is a Virginia-based freelance science journalist who covers many aspects of the living world. She’s a contributing editor at NOVA Next, and has also written for Mosaic, National Geographic, Aeon, Nautilus, Scientific American and Women’s Health. She is also the author of “Decoding Anorexia: How Breakthroughs in Science Offer Hope for Eating Disorders.”
Carrie Arnold
From this contributor
Weighing up autism’s obesity crisis
Autism’s underlying biology, associated behaviors and treatments can all put people on the spectrum at serious risk for obesity.
Rare form of autism shows unique pattern of regression
More than 40 percent of children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome lose skills they once had, beginning, on average, at age 6.
Rare form of autism shows unique pattern of regression
By
Carrie Arnold
24 May 2017 | 3 min read
The innovators: How families launch their own autism studies
Some parents are starting ‘N-of-1’ studies for autism, but their efforts don’t always get taken seriously.
The innovators: How families launch their own autism studies
By
Carrie Arnold
28 September 2016 | 20 min read
The invisible link between autism and anorexia
Autism and anorexia may seem to have nothing in common, but below the surface, the two conditions are startlingly similar—and sometimes affect the same person.
The invisible link between autism and anorexia
By
Carrie Arnold
17 February 2016 | 18 min read
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Taking a closer look at astrocytes and autism
These glial cells are increasingly linked to neurodevelopmental conditions and the regulation of social behaviors and anxiety.
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2 April 2026 | 2 min read
Neuro’s ark: Sounding out the evolution of hearing with geckos
Catherine Carr explains her discovery that geckos retain a vibration-sensing pathway previously thought to be lost when animals moved onto land.
Neuro’s ark: Sounding out the evolution of hearing with geckos
Catherine Carr explains her discovery that geckos retain a vibration-sensing pathway previously thought to be lost when animals moved onto land.
By
Helena Kudiabor
1 April 2026 | 5 min read
Researchers retract multisensory learning paper after failed replications
Even though one set of experiments did not hold up, the authors stand by the original conclusions of the work and plan to resubmit it as a new paper.
Researchers retract multisensory learning paper after failed replications
Even though one set of experiments did not hold up, the authors stand by the original conclusions of the work and plan to resubmit it as a new paper.
By
Calli McMurray
31 March 2026 | 4 min read