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

    Tired parents don’t always follow sleep guidelines for babies

    Night videos revealed parents putting their babies to bed in unsafe environments.

  2. Neuroscience

    Fentanyl’s death toll is rising

    The ability of fentanyl, an opioid, to freeze chest muscles within minutes may be to blame for some overdoses, a new autopsy study shows.

  3. Neuroscience

    Eating shuts down nerve cells that counter obesity

    A group of nerve cells shut down when food hits the lips, a study of mice finds.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Keep it simple when choosing a sunscreen for your kid

    For parents swimming in a sea of sunscreen choices, look for a few key attributes.

  5. Neuroscience

    Aging-related protein may play role in depression

    Mouse study reveals link between aging protein and depression.

  6. Neuroscience

    ‘Neural dust’ can listen to body’s electrical signals

    Tiny crystals can detect electrical signals in nerves and muscles of rats.

  7. Neuroscience

    Red blood cells sense low oxygen in the brain

    Red blood cells sense low oxygen and speed to the scene, a new study suggests.

  8. Neuroscience

    Gift-giving brain cells are lifeline to injured nerve cells

    After an injury, astrocytes give nerve cells a gift of mitochondria, mouse study suggests.

  9. Neuroscience

    Antibiotics might fight Alzheimer’s plaques

    A new study found that antibiotics hit Alzheimer’s plaques in the brains of mice.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Nail-biting and thumb-sucking may not be all bad

    Nail-biters and thumb-suckers may actually be warding off allergies by introducing germs to their mouths, a new study suggests.

  11. Neuroscience

    New brain map most detailed yet

    By combining different types of data, researchers have drawn a new detailed map of the human brain.

  12. Neuroscience

    The brain’s blueprint for aging is set early in life

    The brain's decline may mirror its beginning, offering clues to aging.