Nora Bradford

Lecturer, Critical Writing Program
University of Pennsylvania

Nora Bradford is a lecturer in the Critical Writing Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a Ph.D. in cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine and a B.S. in neuroscience, psychology and philosophy at the University of Chicago. Bradford has previously written freelance articles for Spectrum.

From this contributor

Neuro education

By Nora Bradford

26 March 2026

5 min read

Illustration of a laptop computer superimposed over a scroll.

‘Friction-maxxing’ in school: Students should read primary literature, not AI summaries

Trainees need to learn how to identify a neuroscience paper’s major takeaways and integrate them into their understanding. This skill doesn’t come from outsourcing the work to large language models.

Neuro education

‘Friction-maxxing’ in school: Students should read primary literature, not AI summaries

By Nora Bradford

26 March 2026 | 5 min read

Spectrum

By Nora Bradford

16 February 2023

5 min read

Research image of cell bodies of rett-like neurons, some of which were treated with epigenome editors.

Epigenome edits unmute MECP2 in Rett-like neurons

The approach removes methyl tags from the gene and shields it from other silencing factors without changing the gene itself, raising hopes for a new treatment.

Spectrum

Epigenome edits unmute MECP2 in Rett-like neurons

By Nora Bradford

16 February 2023 | 5 min read

Spectrum

By Nora Bradford

1 December 2022

4 min read

Common and rare autism-linked variants share functional effects

Within the 16p region of the genome, the two types of variants similarly decrease neuronal gene expression — an effect that may reflect their spatial relationship.

Spectrum