Synaptic

An autistic researcher’s paper called attention to a huge disparity in autism funding research between children and adults. It nearly derailed her life.

The MacArthur Foundation “genius” discusses his return to his home state of Minnesota and why it’s important to protect the developing brain.

Season 3 will begin next year.

Dissuaded from pursuing theoretical physics and deterred by the “long feedback loop” in experimental physics, the National Academy of Sciences member took inspiration from “polymath” Watt Webb and “visionary” Stephen Smith—and learned to work “completely outside his comfort zone.”

Tian discusses protein function and structure, and the historic city in China where she was born.

The 2021 Breakthrough Prize winner explains how reading widely shaped her worldview, and discusses the vomeronasal organ.

The Korea University professor on her path to autism research and studying in the United States.

The National Medal of Science winner explains why she built her career around the crustacean and what it was like attending high school in a Hudson River town.

The Dartmouth College researcher talks about her quest to understand behavior and doing neuroscience “in the woods.”

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator discusses what drew him to study the brain and his current work at the University of California, San Francisco.

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

The director of the Center for Neural Science shares a ghost story and talks about his collaboration with Todd Sacktor. (This podcast was updated on 26 February 2024 to clarify past work related to PKMzeta.)

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

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

The Nobel Prize winner talks about PIEZO 1 and 2, proprioception and the viral photo of him and his son from the 2021 Nobel Prize announcement.

The leader of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute talks about what drew him into the autism field, and his departure from — and return to — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Holland Bloorview clinician and research director discusses how growing up on a small island shaped her career and the existential questions that keep her up at night.

Carla Mazefsky is the Nancy J. Minshew endowed chair in autism research and professor of psychiatry, psychology, and clinical and translational science at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. In this episode of “Synaptic,” Mazefesky talks about what she learned while volunteering with the Williamsburg, Virginia, police department; the insight that got her thinking about emotion regulation in autistic people; and why the people of Pittsburgh love their city.

Ashura Buckley is director of the Sleep and Neurodevelopment Core in the Office of the Clinical Director at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Her research focuses on sleep and autism, and the basics of the sleep/wake cycle. In this episode of “Synaptic,” she discusses the need to consider different perspectives when doing science, the connection between sleep and mental health, and the sacrifices her mother made for the family.

Connie Kasari is distinguished professor of human development and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she is also a founding member of the Center for Autism Research and Treatment. She is co-creator of JASPER, a play-based intervention for young autistic children. In this episode of “Synaptic,” Kasari talks about the need for inclusion in educating autistic children, what drew her into the autism research field, and growing up on the family farm.