Synaptic

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

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.”

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.