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neurodevelopment

·March 21, 2023·3 min read

Newborn Babies’ Brains Reveal New Insights in Child Development

Researchers found the presence of numerous brain asymmetries in brain areas associated with language and visual tasks like facial recognition in newborns. They also discovered the asymmetries in preterm babies were the same as in those born to term. The findings suggest brain asymmetry may be hard-wired and critical for later brain development.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 20, 2023·4 min read

Changing One’s Behavior in Different Social Interactions Is Child’s Play

Young children encode social cues according to context, then process the social stimuli to form a representation of the current social situation. Once the action values are compared, children then chose to perform the optimal action that has the highest value.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·March 20, 2023·4 min read

Excess Calories During Development May Alter the Brain and Spur Adult Overeating

Early overnutrition rewires brain development to crave unhealthy food and increases the risk for obesity late in life in children born to mothers who were overweight during pregnancy.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 19, 2023·4 min read

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Linked to Gender-Specific Adversities

A new study identified sex-specific differences in neurodevelopment and health-related disorders in children who were exposed to alcohol while in the womb. Prenatal alcohol exposure increased female children's risk of developing depression and anxiety, while in males, prenatal alcohol exposure increased the risk of ADHD, conduct disorders, and oppositional defiance disorder.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·March 16, 2023·5 min read

The Painful Truth: Preterm Infants Don’t Adapt to Pain Like Other Babies Do

Infants who are born preterm do not habituate to repeated pain the same way in which full-term babies or adults do. Researchers believe this is because preterm infants have not yet developed the mechanism that enables people to adapt to moderate pain, which is thought to develop during the third trimester of pregnancy.

This shows a child walking with her parents

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 15, 2023·5 min read

How Moms and Dads View Each Other as Co-parents Affects Kids

How a mother and father view each other as a co-parent has an impact on a child's well-being, researchers say. When parents consider their co-parenting relationship to be positive, children are better adjusted. Children were almost as well-adjusted when the parent's relationship was moderate or if the mother had a more negative view of the father's parenting. However, when a father viewed the co-parenting relationship as negative, child outcome suffered.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 13, 2023·4 min read

Maternal Autonomy and Controlling Parenting Predict Teenage Depression

A new study found that both adolescents and their mothers can have differing perceptions of parenting behavior, which can have an impact on adolescents' mental health. The study found that while maternal autonomy support positively predicted adolescents' basic psychological needs satisfaction, adolescents' perceived controlling parenting had a negative impact on their mental health. The findings suggest the importance of understanding the nature of support that adolescents seek and guiding parenting behavior to enhance mental health and well-being.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·March 10, 2023·5 min read

Could an Ancient Virus Be a Genetic Driver of Autism?

Genome and transcriptome analysis revealed BTBR autism mouse models have increased levels of endogenous retrovirus genes. BTBR/R models of ASD showed differences in the expression of a variety of genes that are indicative of endogenous retrovirus activation. BTBR/R mice exhibit autistic-like behaviors without reduced learning abilities.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 9, 2023·4 min read

All Work, No Independent Play Cause of Children’s Declining Mental Health

The rise in childhood mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression may be linked to the decline in opportunities to play, explore, and engage in activities independent of parental control and oversight.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 8, 2023·4 min read

Mobile Devices Distract Adolescents From Negative Thoughts Before Sleep

Controlled nighttime use of social media and apps can help ease teenagers' negative thoughts before they fall asleep, a new study reports.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 6, 2023·5 min read

Iron & the Brain: Where and When Neurodevelopmental Disabilities May Begin During Pregnancy

Gestational iron deficiency (GID) affects the behavior of embryonic progenitor cells, resulting in the creation of sub-optimal networks of specialized neurons later in life.

Autism Featured Neuroscience

·March 3, 2023·6 min read

Age-Related Brain Differences in Autistic Individuals

Genes linked to inflammation, neurotransmission, and immunity act differently in the brains of those on the autism spectrum compared to neurotypical people. These differences begin during childhood and evolve throughout a person's lifespan.