Helen Pearson is a science writer based in New York City.
Helen Pearson
Freelance writer
Simons Foundation
From this contributor
Father’s advanced age feeds autism risk
Are older fathers more likely to have children with autism? A series of epidemiological studies is giving credence to the idea, suggesting that, with age, sperm may accumulate damage that increases risk in the next generation.
Sense of ‘self’ impaired in autism
People with autism struggle to see their own role in social situations. That's the conclusion from the first study to scan individualsʼ brains while they interact with another person - a technique that could lead to a diagnostic tool.
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Nonhuman primate research to lose federal funding at major European facility
The Dutch Senate has ordered the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands to shift its funding away from primate experiments by 2030.
Nonhuman primate research to lose federal funding at major European facility
The Dutch Senate has ordered the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands to shift its funding away from primate experiments by 2030.
By
Lauren Schenkman
30 October 2025 | 4 min read
Image integrity issues create new headache for subarachnoid hemorrhage research
First-time sleuths found potentially problematic images in hundreds of papers about early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Image integrity issues create new headache for subarachnoid hemorrhage research
First-time sleuths found potentially problematic images in hundreds of papers about early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
By
Lauren Schneider
30 October 2025 | 5 min read
Ramping up cortical activity in early life sparks autism-like behaviors in mice
The findings add fuel to the long-running debate over how an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory signaling contributes to the autism.
Ramping up cortical activity in early life sparks autism-like behaviors in mice
The findings add fuel to the long-running debate over how an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory signaling contributes to the autism.
By
Sarah DeWeerdt
30 October 2025 | 6 min read