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. Life

    A new way to breach the blood-brain barrier

    Researchers working with rodents have found a drug that can temporarily open a door for treatments.

  2. Chemistry

    If that’s a TV, this must be the den

    In some situations, the brain identifies a location based on a checklist of objects.

  3. Humans

    Willpower endures

    A person's ability to resist temptation stays constant throughout life, study suggests.

  4. Life

    Antidepressants show signs of countering Alzheimer’s

    Human brain scans and mice data link serotonin-boosting drugs with reduced plaque density.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Lost in the periphery

    The human visual system discards information along the edges, a new study shows.

  6. Tech

    Computers get under our skin

    Epidermal devices offer new potential to integrate electronics into the body.

  7. Life

    Common virus may ride up nose to brain

    Almost everyone is infected, but in some people a widespread herpes bug appears to reach the central nervous system by an olfactory route.

  8. Life

    How exercise benefits nerve cells

    Activity stimulates production of a neural insulation that moves messages faster.

  9. Humans

    Brain waves make a fast brake

    New technology would allow drivers to slam on the brakes faster just by thinking about it.

  10. Health & Medicine

    One problem, many paths

    Autism’s many genetic players may act through common networks.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Chimp brains don’t shrink

    Primate studies aim to find out why humans get dementia.

  12. Health & Medicine

    ‘Wave of death’ may not be a last gasp

    A minute after decapitation, a rat's severed head shows signs of life.