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pregnant belly clad in hospital gown with IV line going into hand
Registry Review Casts Doubt on Causal Link Between Maternal Infection and Autism
Maternal infection during pregnancy may be associated with autism, as previous studies have suggested—but perhaps not in a causal way.
Registry Review Casts Doubt on Causal Link Between Maternal Infection and Autism
Registry Review Casts Doubt on Causal Link Between Maternal Infection and Autism

Maternal infection during pregnancy may be associated with autism, as previous studies have suggested—but perhaps not in a causal way.

Maternal infection during pregnancy may be associated with autism, as previous studies have suggested—but perhaps not in a causal way.

infectious disease, neuroscience

Illustration of several warped and stretched analog clocks swirling around a central point.
It’s Not Just You: Lockdowns Had Us Living in “Blursday,” Study Says
Dan Robitzski | Aug 26, 2022 | 6 min read
The Scientist spoke with Maximilien Chaumon about his database showing how COVID-19 related lockdowns warped more 2,800 people’s perception of time.
Conceptual image of a person's brain with a cluster of cells inside
Is the Immune System to Blame for Schizophrenia?
Diana Kwon | Apr 18, 2022 | 10+ min read
Several lines of evidence suggest that targeting the body’s defense pathways might help treat a subset of people with the psychiatric disorder. But many open questions remain.
How Infectious Diseases Affect the Brain
The Scientist | 1 min read
From a loss of taste to dementia, infectious agents cause an array of neurological symptoms.
Illustration comparing neural pathway and the humoral pathway
Infographic: How the Body’s Defenses Attack the Brain
Diana Kwon | Apr 18, 2022 | 2 min read
Scientists have pinpointed several pathways through which the immune system could disrupt neuronal functioning and thereby lead to psychotic symptoms.
Artist’s rendering of brain fog: a bright blue drawing of a brain sits inside of a pink drawing of a head in profile surrounded by miscellaneous shapes
Brain Fog Caused by Long COVID and Chemo Appear Similar
Dan Robitzski | Jan 28, 2022 | 6 min read
Data from mouse models for mild coronavirus infections and human tissue samples offer further evidence that it doesn’t take a severe infection—or even infection of brain cells at all—to cause long-term neurological symptoms.
Epstein-Barr virus EBV, a herpes virus which causes infectious mononucleosis and Burkitt's lymphoma isolated on black background. 3D illustration
Epstein-Barr Virus Causes Multiple Sclerosis: Study
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Jan 13, 2022 | 3 min read
Experts say new research provides strong evidence that a common herpesvirus can trigger the chronic inflammatory disease.
Contributors
The Scientist | Jun 1, 2021 | 4 min read
Meet some of the people featured in the June 2021 issue of The Scientist.
CAR T Cells Derived from Stem Cells Target HIV Tissue Reservoirs in Monkeys
Berly McCoy, PhD | May 25, 2021 | 3 min read
Transplanted CAR stem cells persisted long term and showed multilineage engraftment in tissues that harbor HIV.
Special Report
olfactory bulb sars-cov-2 coronavirus covid-19 pandemic brain infection
COVID-19’s Effects on the Brain
Katarina Zimmer | Jan 20, 2021 | 9 min read
Autopsy studies have yet to find clear evidence of destructive viral invasion into patients’ brains, pushing researchers to consider alternative explanations of how SARS-CoV-2 causes neurological symptoms.
herpes herpesvirus ms multiple sclerosis
Type of Herpes Virus Tied to Multiple Sclerosis
Katarina Zimmer | Jan 10, 2020 | 5 min read
A study of 16,000 people suggests that human herpesvirus 6A is a risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis, reinvigorating a neglected hypothesis that the virus could be involved in triggering the disease.
brain virus infographic the scientist
Infographic: Viruses on the Brain
Ashley Yeager | Mar 1, 2019 | 1 min read
Pathogens can take various routes to pass the blood brain barrier and damage cells.
viral brain feature the scientist
Can the Flu and Other Viruses Cause Neurodegeneration?
Ashley Yeager | Mar 1, 2019 | 10+ min read
Scientists may need to seriously reconsider the cast-aside hypothesis that pathogens can play a part in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Amyloid plaques (stained for amyloid-? peptide) detected in a post-mortem brain sample of a patient with Alzheimer's disease. Purple purple dots in the background are the nuclei of neurons and glia.
Herpes Viruses Implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease
Anna Azvolinsky | Jun 21, 2018 | 5 min read

A new study shows that the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients have a greater viral load, while another study in mice shows infection leads to amyloid-β build up.

Prions Found in Skin of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Patients
Jef Akst | Nov 23, 2017 | 2 min read
Infectious protein aggregates from the skin of human patients can cause disease in mice.
Contributors
Aggie Mika | Oct 1, 2017 | 3 min read
Meet some of the people featured in the October 2017 issue of The Scientist.
A Single Mutation in Zika Led to Devastating Effects
Anna Azvolinsky | Sep 28, 2017 | 4 min read
One amino acid change within a viral structural protein makes the difference between mild cases of brain damage and severe microcephaly in mice.
Infection During Pregnancy Tied to Autism in Mouse Model
Kerry Grens | Sep 13, 2017 | 2 min read
Bacterial strains in mice’s gut microbiomes mediated their pups’ risk for developing abnormal behaviors.
Zika Linked to More Neurological Problems in Adults
Kerry Grens | Aug 14, 2017 | 2 min read
A review of several dozen hospitalized patients in Brazil finds neurological conditions, including inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, in addition to Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Quick and Cheap Zika Detection
Ruth Williams | May 3, 2017 | 3 min read
A heat block, a truck battery, and a novel RNA amplification assay make for in-the-field surveillance of the virus.
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