Bahar Gholipour is a freelance science journalist based in New York. She focuses on the brain, neuroscience and psychology, and is passionate about reporting on artificial intelligence, genetics and the politics of healthcare. Her writing has appeared in various print and online publications including WIRED, New York Magazine and Scientific American. Bahar has a Masters degree in neuroscience from Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, and has done graduate-level work at Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism.
Bahar Gholipour
Contributing writer
The Transmitter
From this contributor
In memoriam: Yves Frégnac, influential and visionary French neuroscientist
Frégnac, who died on 18 October at the age of 73, built his career by meeting neuroscience’s complexity straight on.
In memoriam: Yves Frégnac, influential and visionary French neuroscientist
By
Bahar Gholipour
18 December 2024 | 9 min read
Mistaking a duck for a skvader: How a conceptual form of circular analysis may taint many neuroscience studies
These logical loops are harder to spot than circularity involving noise in the data, but they result from neglecting something closer to home: existing knowledge about the brain.
Mistaking a duck for a skvader: How a conceptual form of circular analysis may taint many neuroscience studies
By
Bahar Gholipour
22 December 2023 | 7 min read
Double immune hit challenges female mice’s resistance to autism
Female mice can withstand a maternal antibody that triggers brain abnormalities and autism-like behaviors in males. But additional immune challenges spell trouble.
Double immune hit challenges female mice’s resistance to autism
By
Bahar Gholipour
23 October 2019 | 3 min read
New technique records neuronal teamwork in live mice
A new imaging technique detects specific groups of firing neurons in the brains of moving mice, enabling scientists to study brain activity linked to a particular behavior.
New technique records neuronal teamwork in live mice
By
Bahar Gholipour
23 October 2019 | 2 min read
Leaky mitochondria may play central role in fragile X syndrome
Some traits of fragile X syndrome may be due to problems with mitochondria, the cell’s energy factories.
Leaky mitochondria may play central role in fragile X syndrome
By
Bahar Gholipour
23 October 2019 | 2 min read
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Revised statistical bar extracts less-common variants from autism genetics studies
Adjusting genetic analyses could help plug autism’s heritability gap, according to a new preprint.
Revised statistical bar extracts less-common variants from autism genetics studies
Adjusting genetic analyses could help plug autism’s heritability gap, according to a new preprint.
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Holly Barker
12 March 2026 | 4 min read
Tom Griffiths describes how neural networks, logic and probability theory together explain cognition
In his new book, “The Laws of Thought,” Griffiths shows how these three pillars of study complement one another and together form a solid foundation to eventually explain all of our cognition, from brain to mind.
Tom Griffiths describes how neural networks, logic and probability theory together explain cognition
In his new book, “The Laws of Thought,” Griffiths shows how these three pillars of study complement one another and together form a solid foundation to eventually explain all of our cognition, from brain to mind.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
11 March 2026 | 100 min listen
This paper changed my life: Talia Lerner reflects on dopamine neuron diversity and the value of simple experiments
In a 2011 Neuron study, Stephan Lammel and his colleagues showed that dopamine neurons with different projections have different physiological properties. The work inspired Lerner to think about how to challenge widely held assumptions in the field.
This paper changed my life: Talia Lerner reflects on dopamine neuron diversity and the value of simple experiments
In a 2011 Neuron study, Stephan Lammel and his colleagues showed that dopamine neurons with different projections have different physiological properties. The work inspired Lerner to think about how to challenge widely held assumptions in the field.
By
Talia Lerner
11 March 2026 | 6 min read