Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

Multimedia /

Podcasts

Synaptic

Exploring the people, the science and the challenges in autism research.
RECENT EPISODES
Illustrated portrait of Lauren O’Connell.

Setting up a frog colony and pair bonding with Lauren O’Connell

1 March 2024

To become a scientist, O’Connell first needed to leave the family farm.

Illustrated portrait of André Fenton.

Being uncomfortable and PKMzeta with André Fenton

1 February 2024

The director of the Center for Neural Science shares a ghost story and talks about his collaboration with Todd Sacktor.

Illustrated portrait of Joseph LeDoux.

Joseph LeDoux, the split brain and a traveling magic show

1 January 2024

The director of the Emotional Brain Institute discusses the Cajun music scene in Louisiana and how memories change with time.

Illustrated portrait of David Sussillo.

FORCE learning and finding an out with David Sussillo

1 December 2023

The senior research manager at Meta Reality Labs talks about neural networks and his time at the Milton Hershey School.

The Transmitter Stories

Stories about autism, featuring experts, families and journalists.
RECENT EPISODES
Black-and-white illustrated portrait of Jonathan Green.

‘Emergent and transactional’: How Jonathan Green is rethinking autism and interventions

28 August 2023

The experienced clinician discusses writing his recent paper, and its reception in the field.

Black and white watercolor-style portrait of Cheryl Dissanayake.

The story of autism research in Australia: A conversation with Cheryl Dissanayake

25 July 2023

With the help of a generous benefactor, autism research in Australia is gathering critical mass.

Images of Marie-Eve Lefebvre and Punit Shah sitting at their laptops.

New journals seek to fill neurodiversity gap

8 March 2023

The two journals, although differing in initial support, both realized the need for a publication focused exclusively on the neurodiverse experience.

Triangle that looks like a play button in a delicate collage of squares and circles on a cream colored background.

Writing a ‘new history of autism’

8 November 2022

Spectrum talks with David Dobbs about researching his latest article, and what he found.

RECENT EPISODES
A figure walks along a long road with a gene-sequence-like pattern.

How long-read sequencing will transform neuroscience

18 March 2024

New technology that delivers much more than a simple DNA sequence could have a major impact on brain research, enabling researchers to study transcript diversity, imprinting and more.

Illustration of a scientist standing on a ladder in front of a wall of shapes, holding a book-like object in their hand.

Incentivizing data-sharing in neuroscience: How about a little customer service?

11 March 2024

To make data truly reusable, we need to invest in data curators, who help people enter the information into repositories.

Three researchers, one wearing movement-tracking devices, walk around a university campus.

‘Into the wild’: Moving studies of memory and learning out of the lab

4 March 2024

People with electrodes embedded deep in their brain are collaborating with a growing posse of plucky researchers to uncover the mysteries of real-world recall.

Close-up of a green glass slide embedded with dozens of tiny electrodes.

Making cancer nervous

13 November 2023

Nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body can turbocharge tumor growth — a finding that not only expands conventional ideas about the nervous system but points to novel therapeutic targets for a range of malignancies.