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

    Suicidal Threads

    Early abuse weaves its way into the brain, with potentially tragic consequences.

  2. Neuroscience

    Drug helps put bad memories to rest

    A brain injection before sleep aids fearful mice — and might lead to a PTSD treatment strategy.

  3. Neuroscience

    Teens can keep their cool to win rewards

    An unexpected experimental result suggests adolescent impulsivity is not inevitable.

  4. Neuroscience

    To understand meetings of minds, scientists should study brains in the wild

  5. Humans

    Car-crazy kid wins middle school science competition

    First place at Broadcom MASTERS goes to 14-year-old who studied automotive aerodynamics.

  6. Humans

    Building a funner mousetrap

    Middle school science champs solve problems with style.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Male DNA found in female brains

    Postmortem sampling suggests fetal cells can slip through the blood-brain barrier.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Gamblers go all-in on Ritalin

    Risk-taking may rise when healthy people use the stimulant to boost concentration.

  9. Neuroscience

    Copycat mentality may be a hardwired way for animals to learn to avoid others’ mistakes

    Copycat mentality may be a hardwired way for animals to learn to avoid others’ mistakes.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Brain’s white matter diminished in isolated mice

    Experiments may offer a biological explanation for the social and emotional problems of neglected children.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Military combat marks the brain

    Regions involved in memory and attention changed after soldiers' deployment, though most eventually returned to their pre-combat state.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Brain learns while you snooze

    Mind can make associations between smells and sounds during sleep.