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The Selection of Traits – Can Evolution Hit a Small Target?
Darwinism and the 20th century Modern Synthesis placed considerable emphasis on gradualism — the descent of species by slow, constant, often laborious modification. It’s an idea that’s been sold so...
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Links between Autism & Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: The Science Behind the...
For those of you within the zebra community, you are probably already aware of an association between autism (and other neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD) and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome...
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MDPI: Women’s Health at the Expense of Rapid Publishing
A few weeks back, I submitted a review for an article submitted to MDPI involving an aspect of women’s health concerning a chronic pain condition (dyspareunia). Overall, I felt like it was a decent...
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Guest Blog – Neuroscience: The Path Forward
Steve Spiegel is a natural scientist and independent neuroscientist who had an epiphany about human psychology after experiencing trauma in early adulthood. The revelation initiated nearly five...
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Sensory Issues in Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders
For those of you interested in the overlap between Ehlers-Danlos (EDS)/hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and autism, sensory issues in EDS/HSD probably come as no great surprise. Nevertheless,...
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Why do bad things happen to good people?
Rest in peace, Buddy. You were such a remarkable little man. Cortical Chauvinism My little bear passed away. He had been battling the fight of his life and decided to slip into heaven a few minutes...
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#LongHaulers – A New Infectious Disease But a Not-so-new Postviral Phenomenon
In early December, I’ll be giving a grand rounds lecture to clinicians on the topic of coronavirus “long haulers” or “long COVID.” Because the lecture is unfortunately not going to be recorded, I...
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Our latest article on “The Relationship between Autism and Ehlers-Danlos...
There has been rapidly growing interest from the zebra community concerning the overlap between autism and the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS)/hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD). Although COVID19...
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Could Mast Cell Disorders Be a Result of Humanity’s Past Battles with...
Plagues and pandemics are on the forefront of peoples’ minds today. And though the coronavirus may be the current plague of the hour, our histories are spotted with a litany of infectious assaults to...
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How’d You Get So Smart??? The Little Known History about Brain Evolution
Contrary to the old adage, you don’t have a reptilian brain. At least, not any more than you have an amphibian brain or a fish brain. The idea that the baser functions of our brain evolved in and were...
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The Struggles of a Furparent: My Cats Have a Lysosomal Storage Disease
It’s so rewarding– but so hard– being a guardian to pets with a rare disease. I know I get just a snippet of understanding of what it’s like to be a parent to a child with a similar condition. The...
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Some People with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome May Actually Be Fragile X...
Along with our collaborators, our group recently identified an important and overlooked overlap between Fragile X premutation carriers (fXPC) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS). We recently...
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“Leaky” Connective Tissue in Ehlers-Danlos?
Hello, friends. Apologies for the somewhat long hiatus I’ve taken from blogging. I began teaching a couple classes this semester and most of my free time has been filled with Powerpoints and Zoom...
View ArticleI’m moving to the Big Easy!
It’s with great excitement that I announce I have accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Loyola University in New Orleans, starting this August. I will be setting up my lab and...
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Where did all the Ediacaran fauna go?
Sorry, folks. I know it’s been an insanely long time since I’ve posted on Science Over a Cuppa. I’ve been drowning in teaching, packing, moving, and starting a new job. But I’ve made it, I’ve started...
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Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Theory of Punctuated Equilibria
Earlier this week, I had the great honor of joining an incredible group of scientists at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Denver to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the theory of...
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The Tale of the Red Thunderbird– Or, the Historical Contingency of Human...
I’ve always had a fondness for classic thunderbirds. The sleek, sporty chassis– the loud hum of the engine; the characteristic fins along the trunk. And even better if they had a bit of whitewall on...
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Recruiting Women with Fragile X Premutation for a Scientific Study
Many of you probably know me as a researcher who studies autism and/or Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. However, I also study a related spectrum of conditions known as Fragile X Syndrome and Fragile X...
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A Lot of Autism Genes Evolved during the Cambrian Period
You’ve heard of the “Cambrian Explosion,” right? The Cambrian period is known for its plethora of bizarre animal forms that seemingly exploded out of nowhere. The period began about 541 million years...
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Interview: Autism, Genetics, Tissues, and New Discoveries
Recently, I had the enjoyable experience of being interviewed for the podcast, Autism Weekly, by Jeffrey Skibitsky. Jeff’s a super-nice guy, great host, and I had a lovely time. I hope you find the...
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