Jyoti Madhusoodanan is a freelance science writer based in Portland, Oregon.

Jyoti Madhusoodanan
From this contributor
Confusion at the crossroads of autism and hearing loss
Hearing difficulties and autism often overlap, exacerbating autism traits and complicating diagnoses.

Confusion at the crossroads of autism and hearing loss
Mutations in cancer gene tied to unique autism traits
Autistic people who carry mutations in a gene called PTEN have distinct behavioral and motor problems.

Mutations in cancer gene tied to unique autism traits
Analysis finds little evidence to support dietary interventions for autism
Special diets that eliminate certain foods or contain added supplements have minimal impact on autism traits, according to a review of 27 clinical trials.

Analysis finds little evidence to support dietary interventions for autism
Studies of autism treatments lack standard yardsticks
Clinical trials of autism treatments rarely use a consistent set of tools to measure efficacy, making it tough to compare the treatments.

Studies of autism treatments lack standard yardsticks
Explore more from The Transmitter
Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order
Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.

Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order
Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.
How to teach this paper: ‘Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia,’ by Liddelow et al. (2017)
Shane Liddelow and his collaborators identified the factors that transform astrocytes from their helpful to harmful form. Their work is a great choice if you want to teach students about glial cell types, cell culture, gene expression or protein measurement.

How to teach this paper: ‘Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia,’ by Liddelow et al. (2017)
Shane Liddelow and his collaborators identified the factors that transform astrocytes from their helpful to harmful form. Their work is a great choice if you want to teach students about glial cell types, cell culture, gene expression or protein measurement.
Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior
Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.

Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior
Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.