Emily Sohn

Contributing writer

Emily Sohn is a freelance journalist in Minneapolis. She writes mainly about health, science, adventure and complex conservation questions. Her stories have appeared in Nature, the Washington Post, NPR, Aeon, bioGraphic and many other publications. See more at www.tidepoolsinc.com.

From this contributor

Glymphatic system

By Emily Sohn

26 February 2024

24 min read

Maiken Nedergaard, Britta Engelhardt and Christer Betsholtz on a floating rock island with university facilities and abstract shapes.

Maiken Nedergaard’s power of disruption

The award-winning researcher’s discoveries have changed the way we think about the brain; that’s exactly what her critics dislike.

Glymphatic system

Maiken Nedergaard’s power of disruption

By Emily Sohn

26 February 2024 | 24 min read

Computational neuroscience

By Emily Sohn

26 July 2022

14 min read

Ann Kennedy stands against the wall of a brightly lit hallway wearing a black and red dress.

Rising star: Ann Kennedy bridges gap between biology, computational theory

A theoretical neuroscientist, Kennedy uses a blend of computational modeling and real-world experiments to understand how brain activity shapes the behaviors of animals that model autism and other conditions.

Computational neuroscience

Rising star: Ann Kennedy bridges gap between biology, computational theory

By Emily Sohn

26 July 2022 | 14 min read

Spectrum

By Emily Sohn

28 October 2020

18 min read

Illustration depicts mother and child facing a field of doors: some are dark and some are light

Low standards corrode quality of popular autism therapy

Rapid growth and inadequate standards in the 'applied behavior analysis' industry may put vulnerable children in the hands of poorly prepared technicians.

Spectrum

Low standards corrode quality of popular autism therapy

By Emily Sohn

28 October 2020 | 18 min read

Spectrum

By Emily Sohn

15 April 2020

15 min read

Illustration shows a boy with converging patterns overlapping; these lines signify autism and intellectual disability.

The blurred line between autism and intellectual disability

Doctors often conflate autism and intellectual disability, and no wonder: The biological distinction between them is murky. Scientific progress depends on knowing where the conditions intersect — and part ways.

Spectrum