Emily L. Casanova, PhD

@emlywill.bsky.social

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Scientist, zebra, #ActuallyAutistic. I study #autism #genetics #evolution #NeanderthalDNA #EhlersDanlos -- Asst Prof @ Loyola University, New Orleans. Tweets = mine.

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Just did an interview with Seth Chagi from World of Paleoanthropology. Had a fun time talking about our new work! Exploring Brain Evolution and #Neanderthal #Autism Relations - youtu.be/pbtHsR_i81s?...

Exploring Brain Evolution and Neanderthal Autism Relations | Interview with Dr. Emily Casanovayoutu.be Join us for an enlightening episode of “The Story of Us” YouTube series as we sit down with Dr. Emily Casanova, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Loyola University New Orleans. Dr. Casanova’s groundbreaking research delves into the intricate connections between brain evolution, Neanderthal DNA, and autism in modern humans. In this interview, Dr. Casanova shares her insights on: • How Neanderthal genetic variants influence autism susceptibility in contemporary populations. • The evolutionary impact of ancient human hybridization on brain development and function. • The significance of her findings for understanding the complexity of autism and related conditions. Discover how the legacy of our ancient ancestors continues to shape human health and development today. This episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in genetics, anthropology, and the cutting-edge intersections of neuroscience and evolutionary biology.

#Autism Linked With DNA Our Ancestors Inherited From Neanderthals - www.sciencealert.com/autism-linke...

Autism Linked With DNA Our Ancestors Inherited From Neanderthalswww.sciencealert.com Their legacy lives on.

Just started reading this book & and already having to grit my teeth. Even in the first chapter, I’m convinced the author doesn’t know how genetics or hybridizations work despite lavishly dealing out the criticisms. Anybody else jumped into this book yet? #Neanderthals

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

This idea has been around for a long time, e.g., Buffalo, et al 2011 www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Laminar differences in gamma and alpha coherence in the ventral stream | Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienceswww.pnas.org Attention to a stimulus enhances both neuronal responses and gamma frequency synchrony in visual area V4, both of which should increase the impact ...

Wow-- gamma waves seem to largely arise from neocortical layers 2-3 in primates as they're processing sensory information and alpha-beta from the lower infragranular layers as they're regulating output. How cool is that??? #neuroscience #brain www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A ubiquitous spectrolaminar motif of local field potential power across the primate cortex - Nature Neurosciencewww.nature.com This study reports a motif of local field potentials that maps onto the anatomical layers of the cortex, is preserved across macaque cortical areas and across primates and may represent a ubiquitous l...

Groundbreaking Study Unveils Role of Neanderthal Genes in #Autism - loyno.edu/news/jun-07-... #neurodiversity #actuallyautistic

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

Why a mission statement for your research agenda? Because you have to say “no” more often than you say “yes,” and this can help you make the hard decisions. 🧪

This, from @hormiga.bsky.social, is excellent: what's your research program's *mission*? As much as I hate writing (and reading) mission statements, thinking about *why* you're doing what you're doing is very much worthwhile. scienceforeveryone.substack.com/p/what-is-th...

What is the purpose of your research program?scienceforeveryone.substack.com No, really. Can you really explain why you're doing all this work?

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

Meet extinct goose giant Genyornis newtoni! It was ~5x as massive as a cassowary & stood ~7 feet tall, but with just one partial & damaged skull fossil found in over a century, paleontologists had no idea what the bird looked like—until now, with the recent discovery of an articulated skull 🧪

Rare skull of an extinct, massive ‘thunder bird’ discovered in Australia | CNNwww.cnn.com The recent discovery of a complete Genyornis newtoni skull has given scientists their first face-to-face encounter with the extinct, massive ‘thunder bird.’

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

The event has begun! Today, I'm giving a talk on caring for a patient with #SevereME, with focus on digestion and sensory sensitivity, but touching on orthostasis and allergies/intolerances, too. #MedSky, #SciSky, join us at this #TeachMETreatME event at Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh! 🧪

I'm giving a talk about that today! :D The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburg talk in about an hour was going to focus mostly on digestion in severe ME, but its secondary focus is on sensory sensitivity in severe ME. events.rcpe.ac.uk/rcpe-mecfs-a...

RCPE: ME/CFS and Long COVID | RCPE Eventsevents.rcpe.ac.uk

@seanmcarroll.bsky.social, since the plates can be observed in both states simultaneously, does that not defy #QuantumMechanics? 😂 j/k

My goal for the summer (aside from research, prepping new class, &c.): Bone up on some #physics! It's an area I'm terribly ignorant of and have managed to skate through life never taking a physics class (gasp! I know). Think I'm going to start with this guy:

If you ever hear #autism and #Neanderthal being used together in a derogatory way, please remind people that our negative concepts of Neanderthals are inherited from rich white men, who also tended to view POC, women, and all non-human creatures as “less than.” #Neurodiversity

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

Non-Africans carry around 2% Neanderthal DNA in their genomes — yet there's one chromosome where DNA from our ancient cousins is nowhere to be found. The mystery of the disappearing Neanderthal Y chromosome 🏺🧪 www.livescience.com/health/genet...

@ejwillingham.bsky.social, since you've had some interest in Neanderthal DNA and brain/behavior, wondering if our new article might interest you?

Our newest paper announcing the discovery that some #Neanderthal DNA appears to be playing important roles in autism - www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neurodiversity #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

Amazing map to explore...🧪

Where was your city a few million years ago? Interactive map lets you pin your location and select the timeframe. Large chunks though. dinosaurpictures.org/ancient-eart... #Earth #Geology #Science

Ancient Earthdinosaurpictures.org Earth looked very different long ago. Search for addresses across 750 million years of Earth's history.

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

It’s wild that plant and human structures are patterned in such similar ways. Both have a system where genes are expressed in a spatial sequence, and where those domains are expressed or overlap is where specific parts go. Plants and animals evolved multicellularity independently!🧪

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

This is a really clear story about something that's legitimately confusing and has gotten confusing coverage: Could Neosporin in the nose block covid? Maybe! Here's where the research stands, why it could work, and how this could fit in with other covid protections 🧪 by @meghanbartels.bsky.social

Could Putting Neosporin in Your Nose Fend Off COVID?www.scientificamerican.com People may someday have a surprisingly familiar tool to prevent viral infections: one of the antibiotics found in a common ointment

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

Mary Anning was born #OnThisDay in 1799 A pioneering paleontologist and fossil collector Mary Anning: The unsung hero of fossil discovery 🏺🧪 www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/mar...

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Emily L. Casanova, PhD

"Dear Editor, I have incorporated all suggestions from reviewer 2, and I hope you find the changes an improvement to the manuscript as a whole."

Hopping over here from Twitter to see what's up with the science community. For some reason, didn't realize Bluesky existed. It's what Twitter used to be and should still be. Glad to be here!

Our newest paper announcing the discovery that some #Neanderthal DNA appears to be playing important roles in autism - www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neurodiversity #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic

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