Tessa van Leeuwen is a postdoctoral fellow at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Tessa van Leeuwen
Postdoctoral researcher
Radboud University
From this contributor
People with autism may smell songs or hear colors
One in five autistic people may have synesthesia, a crossing of the senses. Studying synesthesia in autism may deepen our understanding of both conditions.

People with autism may smell songs or hear colors
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Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.

Emotion research has a communication conundrum
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Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood
By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.

Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood
By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.
Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.

Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.