Elle Loughran is a Laidlaw scholar studying genetics at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.
Elle Loughran
Laidlaw Scholar
Trinity College Dublin
From this contributor
Why autism research needs more input from autistic people
Too many scientists fail to acknowledge autistic people's potential contributions to the field. This shortsightedness damages scientists' ability to help people.
Why autism research needs more input from autistic people
By
Elle Loughran
11 February 2020 | 4 min read
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During brain development, genes set the rules and turn the knobs; self-organization does much of the rest.
The genome offers a recipe, not a blueprint, for the brain
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Autism research involving monkeys contends with uphill battle
Macaques and marmosets recapitulate the condition’s core traits better than mice can, but funding uncertainty and challenges at primate centers in the United States could make this work difficult to continue.
Autism research involving monkeys contends with uphill battle
Macaques and marmosets recapitulate the condition’s core traits better than mice can, but funding uncertainty and challenges at primate centers in the United States could make this work difficult to continue.
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When is self-organization a mechanism in brain development?
Retinal waves offer a powerful example of a self-organizing system that can build structure without external guidance. The field would do well to embrace such phenomena more broadly as a type of mechanistic explanation.
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2 November 2026 | 6 min read