Erika Check Hayden is an award-winning, San Francisco-based science and technology reporter. She writes for Nature, and on a freelance basis for a variety of publications, and is a lecturer in the University of California, Santa Cruz Science Communication Program.
Erika Check Hayden
Freelance writer
From this contributor
For studies, size matters: Let us count the ways
In autism research, as in other fields, small sample sizes can lead to false findings. The size of the sample needed for statistical significance depends on the type of study.

For studies, size matters: Let us count the ways
Preprint server bioRxiv gets boost from Facebook billionaire
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pledged to provide financial support for bioRxiv, a website where researchers can share manuscripts before peer review.

Preprint server bioRxiv gets boost from Facebook billionaire
Book review: ‘Rigor Mortis’ reveals rampant sloppiness in science
In his new book, journalist Richard Harris writes that lack of reproducibility in research poses a serious threat to science.

Book review: ‘Rigor Mortis’ reveals rampant sloppiness in science
Rising star: Somer Bishop fine-tunes autism diagnosis
Somer Bishop is launching a revolution in autism diagnosis, creating faster, more precise tools that speed research and better capture the full spectrum of autism symptoms.

Rising star: Somer Bishop fine-tunes autism diagnosis
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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.