Laura Sanders

Laura Sanders

Senior Writer, Neuroscience

Laura Sanders reports on neuroscience for Science News. She wrote Growth Curve, a blog about the science of raising kids, from 2013 to 2019 and continues to write about child development and parenting from time to time. She earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she studied the nerve cells that compel a fruit fly to perform a dazzling mating dance. Convinced that she was missing some exciting science somewhere, Laura turned her eye toward writing about brains in all shapes and forms. She holds undergraduate degrees in creative writing and biology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where she was a National Merit Scholar. Growth Curve, her 2012 series on consciousness and her 2013 article on the dearth of psychiatric drugs have received awards recognizing editorial excellence.

All Stories by Laura Sanders

  1. Health & Medicine

    Ketamine cultivates new nerve cell connections in mice

    In mice, ketamine prods nerve cells to connect, which may explain the hallucinogenic drug’s ability to ease depression.

  2. Neuroscience

    Our brains sculpt each other. So why do we study them in isolation?

    Studying individual brains may not be the way to figure out the human mind, a social neuroscientist argues.

  3. Health & Medicine

    When an older person’s brain waves are in sync, memory is boosted

    A brain stimulation treatment that nudges older people’s brain waves into sync could lead to noninvasive therapies for dementia and other disorders.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Pumping may be linked to an altered microbial mix in breast milk

    Beneficial bacteria are more abundant in the milk of mothers whose babies feed straight from the breast.

  5. Science & Society

    The CBD boom is way ahead of the science

    As CBD-laced foods and health products gain popularity, researchers are just beginning to fill the gaping holes in knowledge about this cannabis molecule’s benefits.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Epileptic seizures may scramble memories during sleep

    Overnight seizures seemed to muddle memories in people with epilepsy.

  7. Health & Medicine

    A single sweaty workout may boost some people’s memory

    Memory improvements after a short bout of exercise mirrored those seen after months of training.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Signs of new nerve cells spotted in adult brains

    A study finds new evidence that adult brains grow new nerve cells, even the brain of an octogenarian.

  9. Health & Medicine

    A new ketamine-based antidepressant raises hope — and questions

    Little is known about the long-term effects on people of a newly approved antidepressant based on the anesthetic ketamine.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Flickers and buzzes sweep mouse brains of Alzheimer’s plaques

    Precisely timed clicking noises can counter signs of Alzheimer’s in the brains of mice and improve memory.

  11. Health & Medicine

    FDA has approved the first ketamine-based antidepressant

    A nasal spray with a ketamine-based drug promises faster relief from depression for some people.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Ripples race in the brain as memories are recalled

    A fast brain wave called a ripple often came before a person’s correct answer on a memory test.