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
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
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
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
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
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Worms help untangle brain structure/function mystery
The synaptic connectome of most animals bears little resemblance to functional brain maps, but it can still predict neuronal activity, according to two preprints that tackle the puzzle in C. elegans.

Worms help untangle brain structure/function mystery
The synaptic connectome of most animals bears little resemblance to functional brain maps, but it can still predict neuronal activity, according to two preprints that tackle the puzzle in C. elegans.
Microglia nurture young interneurons
The immune cells secrete a growth factor that “sets the supply of GABAergic interneurons in the developing brain.”

Microglia nurture young interneurons
The immune cells secrete a growth factor that “sets the supply of GABAergic interneurons in the developing brain.”
Xaq Pitkow shares his principles for studying cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies
Pitkow discusses how evolution's messy constraints shape optimal brain algorithms, from Bayesian inference to ecological affordances.
Xaq Pitkow shares his principles for studying cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies
Pitkow discusses how evolution's messy constraints shape optimal brain algorithms, from Bayesian inference to ecological affordances.