Ingrid Wickelgren

Features Editor
Spectrum

Ingrid Wickelgren edits Deep Dives, Spectrum’s long-form stories on important topics in autism research.

Before joining the foundation in 2015, Ingrid was senior editor at Scientific American Mind and wrote the Streams of Consciousness blog for ScientificAmerican.com. She has also authored three popular science books and has written for Science, Discover, Health and The New York Times.

Ingrid has a B.S. in biological sciences from Stanford University.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

This paper changed my life: John Tuthill reflects on the subjectivity of selfhood

Wittlinger, Wehner and Wolf’s 2006 “stilts and stumps” Science paper revealed how ants pull off extraordinary feats of navigation using a biological odometer, and it inspired Tuthill to consider how other insects sense their own bodies.

By John Tuthill
12 January 2026 | 7 min read
Rhesus macaque monkey makes an intimidating face.

Some facial expressions are less reflexive than previously thought

A countenance such as a grimace activates many of the same cortical pathways as voluntary facial movements.

By Natalia Mesa
8 January 2026 | 5 min read
Mouse on top of drinking water spout in crowded cage.

Cracking the neural code for emotional states

Rather than act as a simple switchboard for innate behaviors, the hypothalamus encodes an animal's internal state, which influences behavior.

By Natalia Mesa
8 January 2026 | 8 min read

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