Judith Van de Water is professor of internal medicine at the University of California, Davis and director of the UC Davis Center for Children’s Environmental Health.
Judy Van de Water
Professor
University of California, Davis
From this contributor
What the placenta could reveal about autism
Understanding the interactions between the placenta and the uterine lining could explain how maternal immune activation leads to autism.

What the placenta could reveal about autism
Premature ideas
A New York Times opinion column on 25 August suggested that at least some cases of autism could be considered inflammatory disorders. But this theory is still in its infancy.
Explore more from The Transmitter
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.