Social practices and cultural beliefs of modern life are preventing healthy brain and emotional development in children, according to an interdisciplinary body of research presented at a symposium at the University of Notre Dame. “Life outcomes for American youth are worsening, especially in comparison to 50 years ago,” says Darcia Narvaez, Notre Dame professor of […]
The hormonal changes which are triggered by obesity can “program” the reproductive systems of the female offspring of obese women and lead to infertility, report endocrinologists in the journal Endocrinology. Hormones involved in energy balance and metabolism have been shown to regulate reproductive function in animals and humans. Levels of one of these hormones – […]
A new Northwestern University study of men in the Philippines makes a strong case for nurture’s role in male to female differences. For male infants, rapid weight gain in the first six months of life predicts a future where they will be taller, more muscled, stronger, have more sex partners and higher levels of testosterone […]
New research has found that in fragile X syndrome – a genetic defect that is the best-known cause of autism – there is delayed development of the sensory cortex, the part of the brain that responds to touch, which researchers speculate may trigger a domino effect and cause further problems with the wiring of the […]
Finger length ratio is a reliable predictor of how a primate will behave socially, say scientists who have been running the tape-measure over groups of baboons and gibbons. Such ratios are governed by exposure in the womb to androgens like testosterone, which figure importantly in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. […]
Embryonic stem cells have astonished scientists with their facility to develop into any kind of cell in the human body, but our understanding of howstem cells make this transformation has been sketchy at best. Now, researchers at University of Florida’s (UF) McKnight Brain Institute have shown that embryonic stem cells develop according to their environment, […]
Just when does an adolescent transform into a mature, responsible adult? Some parents who are still cooking, washing and picking up after their 18 year old offspring may suspect the answer is never. These parents may feel vindicated when they hear of two Dartmouth researchers who claim that a person’s brain continues developing toward adult […]
The SARS virus is capable of changing rapidly and unpredictably, which could present serious challenges for managing the disease and developing drugs and vaccines to combat it, research at the University of Michigan suggests. Ever since the SARS virus suddenly appeared in humans, scientists have been speculating about its origins and relationships to other, similar […]
There was a striking association in women between being overweight at 70 and developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) ten to 18 years later, according to a Swedish study reported in the July 15 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. In the study, sponsored in part by a grant from the Alzheimer’s Association, 392 adults were […]
