Jessica Wright was senior news writer at Spectrum from 2010 to 2019. Her writing has also appeared in Nature and Scientific American.
Jessica has a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Stanford University.
Jessica Wright was senior news writer at Spectrum from 2010 to 2019. Her writing has also appeared in Nature and Scientific American.
Jessica has a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Stanford University.
The bulk of the increase in autism prevalence stems from a growing awareness of the condition and changes to the diagnostic criteria.
The number of top autism genes has risen from 65 to 102, based on an analysis of more than 35,000 sequences. And researchers are seeing the first hints of autism risk variants in the regions between genes.
A child’s environment exerts a strong influence on the severity of her autism, a study of identical twins suggests.
Autism and epileptic seizures often go hand in hand. What explains the overlap, and what does it reveal about autism’s origins?
Experimental surgeries to prevent seizures may help scientists understand the link between autism and epilepsy.
Brain levels of the agouti gene determine whether African striped mice are doting fathers—or infanticidal ones.
Brain levels of the agouti gene determine whether African striped mice are doting fathers—or infanticidal ones.
The energy-intensive neural tissue relies instead on anaerobic glucose metabolism provided by the pecten oculi, a structure unique to the avian eye.
The energy-intensive neural tissue relies instead on anaerobic glucose metabolism provided by the pecten oculi, a structure unique to the avian eye.
Studying individual synapses has the potential to help neuroscientists develop new theories, better understand brain disorders and reevaluate 70 years of work on synaptic transmission plasticity.
Studying individual synapses has the potential to help neuroscientists develop new theories, better understand brain disorders and reevaluate 70 years of work on synaptic transmission plasticity.