Emma Yasinski is a freelance writer covering biology, neuroscience and medicine. Her stories have appeared in The Scientist, Discover Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Kaiser Health News and other publications. Yasinski has an M.Sc. in science and medical journalism from Boston University and a B.S. in neuroscience from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Emma Yasinski
Contributing writer
From this contributor
Parental care may sculpt brain development in prairie voles
Voles reared primarily by their fathers show altered synapse density.
Parental care may sculpt brain development in prairie voles
By
Emma Yasinski
1 September 2023 | 3 min read
Social-pragmatic difficulties common with autism, other diagnoses
A standard questionnaire can help identify social (pragmatic) communication disorder more readily in school-age children.
Social-pragmatic difficulties common with autism, other diagnoses
By
Emma Yasinski
4 October 2022 | 4 min read
Fragile X neurons develop atypically in chimeric mice
After a brain transplant of reprogrammed human cells, the animals can for the first time recapitulate some neuronal changes seen in people with fragile X syndrome.
Fragile X neurons develop atypically in chimeric mice
By
Emma Yasinski
29 September 2022 | 4 min read
Inflexible thinking in adolescence linked to emotional, behavioral issues in adulthood
Treating cognitive inflexibility — for example, by practicing problem-solving — might help ease anxiety and depression in autistic people.
Inflexible thinking in adolescence linked to emotional, behavioral issues in adulthood
By
Emma Yasinski
22 October 2021 | 3 min read
Mutations linked to autism may be detectable in men’s sperm
An advanced DNA-sequencing technique has identified gene-damaging mutations, some with ties to autism, in about 1 in 15 men.
Mutations linked to autism may be detectable in men’s sperm
By
Emma Yasinski
16 September 2021 | 5 min read
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Sharing Africa’s brain data: Q&A with Amadi Ihunwo
These data are “virtually mandatory” to advance neuroscience, says Ihunwo, a co-investigator of the Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE) initiative, which seeks to develop a global framework for sharing, using and protecting neuroscience data.
Sharing Africa’s brain data: Q&A with Amadi Ihunwo
These data are “virtually mandatory” to advance neuroscience, says Ihunwo, a co-investigator of the Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE) initiative, which seeks to develop a global framework for sharing, using and protecting neuroscience data.
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Lauren Schenkman
20 May 2025 | 6 min read
Cortical structures in infants linked to future language skills; and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 19 May.
Cortical structures in infants linked to future language skills; and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 19 May.
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Jill Adams
20 May 2025 | 2 min read
The BabyLM Challenge: In search of more efficient learning algorithms, researchers look to infants
A competition that trains language models on relatively small datasets of words, closer in size to what a child hears up to age 13, seeks solutions to some of the major challenges of today’s large language models.
The BabyLM Challenge: In search of more efficient learning algorithms, researchers look to infants
A competition that trains language models on relatively small datasets of words, closer in size to what a child hears up to age 13, seeks solutions to some of the major challenges of today’s large language models.
By
Alona Fyshe
19 May 2025 | 7 min read