Mark Johnson is professor of experimental psychology and head of the psychology department at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Mark Johnson
Professor
Birkbeck University of London
From this contributor
Autism may arise from brain’s response to early disturbances
Autism is not a developmental disorder, but rather the brain’s adaptive response to early genetic or environmental disturbances, says Mark Johnson.
Autism may arise from brain’s response to early disturbances
By
Mark Johnson
18 August 2015 | 6 min read
Executive confusion
Among siblings of children with autism, those with better prefrontal cortex functioning — observable as relatively strong executive functions for their age — are better able to compensate for atypicalities in other brain systems early in life, and are therefore less likely to receive a diagnosis of autism later in their development, argues Mark H. Johnson.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Human brain organoids flourish in emptied mouse cortex
The chimeric mice could help untangle the biology of human brain development or conditions such as autism.
Human brain organoids flourish in emptied mouse cortex
The chimeric mice could help untangle the biology of human brain development or conditions such as autism.
By
Brianna Abbott
16 September 2026 | 6 min read
What if Hegel were a neuroscientist?
Andrea Gambarotto shares what Hegel and enactivism have in common: an agency-first approach to understanding minds and brains.
What if Hegel were a neuroscientist?
Andrea Gambarotto shares what Hegel and enactivism have in common: an agency-first approach to understanding minds and brains.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
16 September 2026 | 1 min read
This paper changed my life: Transformative work in addiction neuroscience
A 2011 Nature study found that loss of a nicotinic receptor subunit leads to increased nicotine intake in mice. The work set the standard for how to functionally validate genetic association study findings in neuroscience.
This paper changed my life: Transformative work in addiction neuroscience
A 2011 Nature study found that loss of a nicotinic receptor subunit leads to increased nicotine intake in mice. The work set the standard for how to functionally validate genetic association study findings in neuroscience.
By
Jibran Khokhar
16 September 2026 | 6 min read