Jon Hamilton

Credit Doby / 2010

Jon Hamilton is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. Currently he focuses on neuroscience, health risks, and extreme weather.

Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hamilton was part of NPR's team of science reporters and editors who went to Japan to cover the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Hamilton contributed several pieces to the Science Desk series "The Human Edge," which looked at what makes people the most versatile and powerful species on Earth. His reporting explained how humans use stories, how the highly evolved human brain is made from primitive parts, and what autism reveals about humans social brains.

In 2009, Hamilton received the Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award for his piece on the neuroscience behind treating autism.

Before joining NPR in 1998, Hamilton was a media fellow with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation studying health policy issues. He reported on states that have improved their Medicaid programs for the poor by enrolling beneficiaries in private HMOs.

From 1995-1997, Hamilton wrote on health and medical topics as a freelance writer, after having been a medical reporter for both The Commercial Appeal and Physician's Weekly.

Hamilton graduated with honors from Oberlin College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. As a student, he was the editor of the Oberlin Review student newspaper. He earned his master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, where he graduated with honors During his time at Columbia, Hamilton was awarded the Baker Prize for magazine writing and earned a Sherwood traveling fellowship.

Children With Autism Are Often Targeted By Bullies

Credit Courtesy of the Mahoney family

Abby Mahoney, 13, has Asperger's syndrome. She says she has memorized nearly everything there is to know about Star Wars. Her enthusiasm for the subject helped make her the target of a bullying boy.

By Jon Hamilton

Originally published on Mon April 23, 2012 6:42 am

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Lots of kids get bullied. But kids with autism are especially vulnerable.

A new survey by the Interactive Autism Network found that nearly two-thirds of children with autism spectrum disorders have been bullied at some point. And it found that these kids are three times as likely as typical kids to have been bullied in the past month.

9:08 pm

Sun April 8, 2012

Study Warns Of Autism Risk For Children Of Obese Mothers

Credit iStockphoto.com

A pregnant woman measures her stomach.

By Jon Hamilton

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Scientists have found one more reason that pregnancy and obesity can be a bad combination.

A new study in the journal Pediatrics suggests that moms who are obese or have diabetes are more likely to have a child with autism or another developmental problem.

The finding is "worrisome in light of this rather striking epidemic of obesity" in the U.S., says Irva Hertz-Picciotto from the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, one of the study's authors.

7:59 am

Fri March 30, 2012

Feds To Decide On Banning BPA From Food And Other Products

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Environmental groups say a ban would protect consumers from the health effects of BPA that leaches from products including some soup cans.

By Jon Hamilton

Originally published on Fri March 30, 2012 2:26 pm

UPDATE 4:23 p.m.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has denied a call to ban the plastic additive BPA from food packaging. The action comes after government scientists found little reason to think people are being harmed by the chemical.

The FDA was responding to a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council, which called for the ban on BPA, also known as bisphenol A, from any use where it comes in contact with food.

12:19 pm

Thu March 29, 2012

How Your Brain Is Like Manhattan

Credit MGH-UCLA Human Connectome Project

This image shows the grid structure of the major pathways of the brain. It was created using a scanner that's part of the Human Connectome Project, a five-year effort which is studying and mapping the human brain.

By Jon Hamilton

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It turns out your brain is organized even if you're not.

At least that's the conclusion of a study in Science that looked at the network of fibers that carry signals from one part of the brain to another.

10:01 pm

Sun February 26, 2012

New Methods Could Speed Up Repair Of Injured Nerves

Credit iStockphoto.com

Pinwheels like these are often used to test nerve responses.

By Jon Hamilton

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When a nerve is injured, it's often hard to get it to regrow fast enough to restore function.

But now researchers say they can speed up that process, so that damaged nerves can be healed in days instead of months — at least in rats.

The scientists say they've developed a technique that reconnects the severed ends of a nerve, allowing it to begin carrying messages again very quickly. Usually, severed nerves must regrow from the point of injury — a process that can take months, if it ever happens.

10:01 pm

Thu February 2, 2012

Addicts' Brains May Be Wired At Birth For Less Self-Control

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Credit Simon Jones / Science/AAAS

The red areas show gray matter that is abnormally increased in drug users. Blue shows gray matter that is abnormally decreased in drug users. Yellow shows white matter tracts, called fractional anisotropy or FA. FA is significantly reduced in both the drug users and in their siblings, which suggests that the white matter tracts work less efficiently.

By Jon Hamilton

Many addicts inherit a brain that has trouble just saying no to drugs.

A study in Science finds that cocaine addicts have abnormalities in areas of the brain involved in self-control. And these abnormalities appear to predate any drug abuse.

The study, done by a team at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., looked at 50 pairs of siblings. One member of each pair was a cocaine addict. The other had no history of drug abuse.

10:01 pm

Mon January 30, 2012

'I Wanted To Live:' New Depression Drugs Offer Hope For Toughest Cases

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Credit Lianne Milton / For NPR

Chris Stephens, 28, has been battling depression all of his life, at home, in Concord, Ca., on Jan. 27. After a dose of ketamine, Stephens says "I actually wanted to do things. I wanted to live life."

Credit Ronald Duman / Yale University

By Jon Hamilton

A club drug called "Special K" is generating a lot of buzz among researchers who study depression.

That's because "Special K," which is actually an FDA-approved anesthetic named ketamine, can relieve even suicidal depression in a matter of hours. And it works on many patients who haven't responded to current antidepressants like Prozac.

Those traditional drugs, which act on the brain's serotonin system, can take more than a month to kick in, and don't work for up to 40 percent of people with major depression.

10:01 pm

Sun January 29, 2012

Could A Club Drug Offer 'Almost Immediate' Relief From Depression?

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Credit Huw Golledge / flickr

Ketamine has been used as an anesthetic for decades. It's also a widely popular but illegal club drug known as "Special K." When administered in low doses, patients report a rapid reduction in depression symptoms.

Credit Ronald Duman / Yale University

Credit Ben Taub General Hospital

Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston sees 100,000 emergency patients a year, 5,000 of whom need psychiatric evaluation.

By Jon Hamilton

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There's no quick fix for severe depression.

Although antidepressants like Prozac have been around since the 1970s, they usually take weeks to make a difference. And for up to 40 percent of patients, they simply don't work.

As a result, there are limited options when patients show up in an emergency room with suicidal depression.

The doctors and nurses at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston say they see this problem every day.

2:05 pm

Tue January 24, 2012

Common Chemicals Could Make Kids' Vaccines Less Effective

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Credit Stig Nygaard / Flickr

Even in the remote Faroe Islands, some children have high levels of perfluorinated compounds in their blood. The chemicals may interfere with the immune system.

By Jon Hamilton

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 4:07 pm

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The more exposure children have to chemicals called perfluorinated compounds, the less likely they are to have a good immune response to vaccinations, a study just published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association shows.

The finding suggests, but doesn't prove, that these chemicals can affect the immune system enough to make some children more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

9:46 am

Fri January 6, 2012

Middle-Aged Brains Are Already Past Their Prime

Credit iStockphoto.com

By Jon Hamilton

You may want to read this twice if you're older than 45. In fact, you may have to.

That's because your mental abilities are already in decline, according to a study of 7,390 British civil servants just published in BMJ, the British Medical Journal.

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12:39 am

Mon April 23, 2012