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. Animals

    Mantis shrimp’s bizarre visual system may save brainpower

    The mantis shrimp sees each color separately with one of a dozen kinds of specialized cells, a system that may help the animal quickly see colors without a lot of brainpower.

  2. Health & Medicine

    How to read a book to your baby

    To help your baby get the most out of story time, turn the story into a conversation, not a monologue.

  3. Neuroscience

    Thinking hard weighs heavy on the brain

    A balance measures the tiny changes in force due to blood flow behind a person's thoughts.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Baby-cam captures an infant’s world

    What do babies see all day? Faces. Lots of faces.

  5. Neuroscience

    Caffeine may improve memory

    Taking the stimulant after learning new information boosted people’s recall the next day.

  6. Neuroscience

    A schizophrenia drug turns on protein factories in cells

    Haloperidol reshapes neurons, which might explain how the medicine works.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Babies tune in to happy sounds

    High pitched, cutesy voices prove irresistible to infants.

  8. Neuroscience

    Hormone hampers effects of marijuana

    Study of pot-blocking brain chemical in rodents could lead to new treatments for cannabis addiction.

  9. Neuroscience

    Year in Review: Obama unveils brain initiative

    In April, the president announced an ambitious plan to reveal the human brain’s secrets.

  10. Neuroscience

    Bad memories fade with a short jolt

    Research illustrates the vulnerability of the brain’s information storage.

  11. Humans

    Year in Review: Language learning starts before birth

    Babies seem familiar with vowels and words heard while in the womb.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Your youngest kid is three inches taller than you think

    Mothers fall prey to the “baby illusion” and consistently underestimate the height of their youngest kid.