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.
![Headshot of Emma Yasinski.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Emma_Yasinski.png)
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.
![Prairie voles nestling together on white background.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/811-paternal-neurodevelopment-autism.png)
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.
![A teacher observes young students as they play with toys at a table.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/844-social-pragmatic-deficits-common-autism.jpg)
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.
![Brain slice of a mouse brain showing cells carrying the fragile X mutation.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/fragile-x-autism-phenotype-neurons-844.png)
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.
![Photo: A boy in a yellow long-sleeve shirt washes his hands in a public restroom.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-1219511971-scaled.jpg)
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.
![circuit board style lines in black and white suggest sperm approaching an egg.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/20210916-MosaicSperm844.jpg)
Mutations linked to autism may be detectable in men’s sperm
Explore more from The Transmitter
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
![Research image of neurons in the fly’s ventral nerve cord.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/lede-motormodules-1200-1024x692.webp)
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
![Illustration of researchers talking to laypeople amidst strands of DNA.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1200_Charman-1024x687.webp)
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/paincircuit-1200-1024x692.webp)
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.