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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This paper changed my life: Dan Goodman on a paper that reignited the field of spiking neural networks
Friedemann Zenke’s 2019 paper, and its related coding tutorial SpyTorch, made it possible to apply modern machine learning to spiking neural networks. The innovation reinvigorated the field.
This paper changed my life: Dan Goodman on a paper that reignited the field of spiking neural networks
Friedemann Zenke’s 2019 paper, and its related coding tutorial SpyTorch, made it possible to apply modern machine learning to spiking neural networks. The innovation reinvigorated the field.
By
Dan Goodman
17 September 2025 | 5 min read
Autism and anxiety insights; and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 15 September.
Autism and anxiety insights; and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 15 September.
By
Jill Adams
16 September 2025 | 2 min read
First nerve-net connectome shows how evolutionarily ancient nervous system coordinates movement
The map of a comb jelly’s aboral nerve net, which helps the animal orient and position itself within the water column, reveals a unique system for sensing the world and coordinating movement.
First nerve-net connectome shows how evolutionarily ancient nervous system coordinates movement
The map of a comb jelly’s aboral nerve net, which helps the animal orient and position itself within the water column, reveals a unique system for sensing the world and coordinating movement.
By
Siddhant Pusdekar
16 September 2025 | 0 min watch