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.
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All Stories by Laura Sanders
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Health & Medicine
Overheard, baby edition: Making sense of new words
Eavesdropping babies learn new words when they understand familiar ones.
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Neuroscience
Music doesn’t move some people
One study offers a glimpse into those who find no enjoyment in tunes.
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Neuroscience
Brain uses decision-making region to tell blue from green
Language and early visual areas of the brain are not crucial for distinguishing colors, an fMRI study suggests.
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Health & Medicine
Should you hush that white noise?
Some sleep machines can pump out a dangerous amount of noise, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be used safely.
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Neuroscience
Girls may require more mutations than boys to develop autism
New results may help explain why more males wind up with autism.
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Health & Medicine
Brush kids’ teeth with just a little fluoride toothpaste
The American Dental Association has released new brushing guidelines for infants.
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Neuroscience
Like people, dogs have brain areas that respond to voices
MRI study may help explain how pups understand human communication.
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Psychology
Lend an ear to science
Pop music hit maker Clive Davis knows a catchy song when he hears one. Now an app aims to define that elusive quality more concretely.
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Psychology
Stress hormone rise linked to less risky financial decisions
People given cortisol chose safer options, suggesting inherent risk aversion as an overlooked variable in financial crises.
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Neuroscience
White matter scaffold offers new view of the brain
A new neural map of white matter connections may explain why some injuries are worse than others.
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Neuroscience
Gene adds wrinkle to brain development
Mutations in the gene GPR56 results in misshapen folds in the brain tied to intellectual and language disabilities.
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Neuroscience
Ways of seeing the brain inspire notions of how it works
As scientists have developed more sophisticated methods and ideas, their understanding of how the brain works has shifted too.