brain development Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Urgent: 25% of Pregnant Women Risk Omega-3 Deficiency

The AHA! Team — Mon, 06 May 2024 18:02:57 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – Omega-3 fatty acids are vital to a healthy diet and provide many benefits, including brain and heart health. However, a recent study says pregnant women may not get enough omega-3 from their diet or supplements. Getting enough omega-3 during pregnancy can help prevent preterm birth and promote neurodevelopment and overall health of the baby. This gives babies a good, healthy start in life, but almost a quarter of the study participants reported that they did not eat any fish or take any omega-3 supplements during their pregnancy. Research reveals omega-3 deficiency common among expectant mothers A recent study, led by researchers at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and published on February 27, 2024, sheds light on omega-3 deficiency in pregnant women. Drawing data from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, the study examined the dietary habits of 10,800 pregnant women regarding fish consumption and supplement intake from 12,646 expectant mothers. After carefully examining the data, the study reveals a concerning reality: many pregnant women are at significant risk of omega-3 deficiency. 25% of pregnant women lack omega-3-rich fish consumption The study’s findings showed that almost a quarter (25%) of the participants reported not consuming any fish or consuming fish less than once a month during their pregnancy. It also showed that just 16% of the women reported taking omega-3 supplements. The findings also showed that women who consumed less fish were also less likely to use omega-3 supplements. This put that group at an even greater risk of not getting sufficient omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy. Potential risks of omega-3 deficiency during pregnancy There are several risks that an omega-3 deficiency can cause in infants and fetuses. Omega-3 is vital not only for a child’s neurodevelopment after birth but also for fetal brain development. Omega-3 deficiency during pregnancy has been linked to lower behavior and developmental scores. There are also benefits for the pregnant mother. Omega-3 intake during pregnancy has also been linked to regulating inflammation, preventing heart disease, and preventing mood disorders. It can also be beneficial for many medical conditions, such as IBS, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. In short, omega-3 intake during pregnancy can benefit both mother and baby. How to make sure you get enough omega-3 While there isn’t a set daily recommended intake for omega-3, guidelines for alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 fatty acid, offer insight into suggested amounts: Pregnant women: 1.4 g Breastfeeding women: 1.3 g Children: Birth to 12 months: 0.5 g 1-3 years: 0.7 g 4-8 years: 0.9 g Boys 9-13 years: 1.2 g Girls 9-13 years: 1.0 g Teens: Boys 14-18 years: 1.6 g Girls 14-18 years: 1.1 g Incorporating omega-3 fatty acids into your diet can be achieved through supplements or by consuming foods rich in omega-3s daily, such as: Cold water, fatty fish like mackerel, salmon, herring, and sardines Nuts and seeds such as chia seeds, flaxseed, and walnuts Plant oils like, flaxseed oil Whole foods like organic milk, pasture raised eggs and raw yogurt Bottom line: prioritizing good prenatal care alongside a wholesome diet can benefit both the baby’s and the mother’s health. Fortunately, incorporating enough omega-3 into your diet is relatively straightforward. Take action now – your baby is counting on you. Sources for this article include: Cambridge.org Sciencedaily.com NIH.gov Americanpregnancy.org NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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A Book-Filled Childhood Prevents Later Cognitive Decline

AHA Publisher — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 08:00:39 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – Books intrigue and delight children, and now we know they may also help those children preserve cognitive functioning into old age. Growing up in a book-filled home seems to improve memory in those 65 years old and older as well as preserve against cognitive decline, according to a study by Galit Weinstein of the University of Haifa, Ella Cohn-Schwartz of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Noam Damri of the Israel Gerontological Data Center. The researchers drew their conclusions from an analysis of results from two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In 2011 and 2013, the survey was completed by the same 8,239 individuals aged 65 or over who did not suffer from neurodegenerative disease. Their analysis concluded that a book-filled childhood home – defined modestly as containing 11 to 25 books — correlated significantly with improved immediate memory, delayed memory, verbal fluency, and less global cognitive decline. “If we can identify early life factors that affect brain aging and give an advantage to people in late life, then we can preserve cognitive function in older age,” explained Cohn-Schwartz, from BGU’s Department of Public Health. The team’s findings were published recently in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. “This study contributes to our understanding of the importance of our childhood environments for brain health in old age. More studies are needed to determine the long-term effects on the brain of the transition from reading printed books to using digital media,” said Weinstein. To read the original article click here.

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Low Levels of BPA Exposure Can Affect Prenatal Brain Development

AHA Publisher — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 07:00:11 +0000

University of Calgary via News-Medical – Humans are exposed to a bath of chemicals every day. They are in the beds where we sleep, the cars that we drive and the kitchens we use to feed our families. With thousands of chemicals floating around in our environment, exposure to any number is practically unavoidable. Through the work of researchers like Dr. Deborah Kurrasch, PhD, the implications of many of these chemicals are being thoroughly explored. “Manufacturers follow standards set by regulatory bodies, it’s not up to the manufacturers to prove the chemicals in consumer products are safe,” says Kurrasch, a researcher in the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) and Alberta Children’s Research Institute at the Cumming School of Medicine. “Scientists play a critical role and do the meticulous work of determining where the risks lie.” Kurrasch’s research over the past decade has focused on a chemical that is broadly recognizable: Bisphenol A, also known as BPA. This chemical is commonly found in plastics, canned food linings, and even thermal receipts. Studies from Kurrasch’s lab contribute to the collective research that shows the harms of exposure to this industrial compound. The latest study out of Kurrasch’s lab, published in Science Advances, suggests that continued vigilance is needed. A postdoctoral researcher in her lab, Dr. Dinu Nesan, PhD, examined the impact of low levels of BPA exposure to pregnant mice and the brain development of their offspring. “Our goal was to model BPA levels equivalent to what pregnant women and developing babies are typically exposed to. We purposefully did not use a high dose. In fact, our doses were 11-times and nearly 25-times lower than those deemed safe by Health Canada and the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), respectively. Even at these low levels, we saw effects on prenatal brain development in the mice.” Dr. Deborah Kurrasch, PhD, Researcher, University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) Using this BPA exposure model, Nesan found striking changes to the brain region responsible for driving circadian rhythms, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, located in the hypothalamus. When prenatally exposed to these low levels of BPA, the suprachiasmatic nucleus failed to develop properly. This change can have implications for sleep, activity levels, and other behaviours. “Previously we showed embryonic exposure to low-dose BPA can affect the timing of when neurons develop in zebrafish, but it was unclear whether a similar effect would be observed in a mammalian model with more similarities to humans,” says Nesan, first author on the study. When neurons develop, they rely on proper signals to guide them. If neurons develop too early, the cues they experience are different, which can lead to developmental errors such as migrating to the wrong location, becoming the wrong type of neuron, or forming inappropriate connections. These errors can lead to altered behaviors later in life. “Our study shows that in pregnant mice, prenatal exposure to BPA affects the timing of neuron development in the fetal brain, which has lasting effects on behaviours. Offspring that are exposed to BPA during gestation are awake longer and exhibit hyperactivity. The prenatal BPA exposure seems to change the brain’s circadian cues, causing the animals to have elevated energy levels and spend less time resting,” says Nesan. The researchers are hopeful their findings will add continued pressure on regulatory bodies to keep revisiting their determinations around safe levels of BPA. “We think there’s an incredible abundance of data showing BPA exposure guidelines are not yet at the appropriate level, which includes even the EU (European Union) who is leading on this front, but their ‘safe’ levels are still twice the dose we used in our study” says Kurrasch, “We hope our research serves as a reminder that low dose BPA is still capable of causing changes that are measurable and significant.” Her message of how to interpret this research is simple: Limit your exposure to BPA the best you can. Maintain smart practices with plastics in your kitchen, for example not heating them, and using glass or stainless steel when possible. This research was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Michael Antle, PhD, professor of psychology and member of the HBI. To read the original article click here.

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Friendly Gut Bacteria Emerged as an Invaluable Ally in the Battle Against Malnutrition

AHA Publisher — Mon, 03 May 2021 07:00:36 +0000

SciDev.Net via News-Medical Net – Treating malnutrition by boosting gut microbes produces better results than traditional nutritional supplements. Friendly gut bacteria have emerged as an invaluable ally in the war against malnutrition after a research study in Bangladesh showed that bacteria-targeting food supplements were more effective than standard nutritional supplements in improving the health of undernourished children. The supplement – made from ingredients such as chickpeas, soy, bananas, and peanuts and developed to boost normal gut microbes – helped Bangladeshi children with malnutrition gain more weight than those receiving a standard nutritional supplement, the study found. Published on 22 April in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study showed that the supplement also increased certain protein levels in the blood which are linked with the health of bone, cartilage and brain. Last year, 144 million children were too short for their age due to malnutrition, while 47 million were too light for their height, according to the World Health Organization. The friendly bacteria study showed that children with malnutrition have defects in the development of their gut microbiota – the bacteria, virus and fungi that are normally found in the digestive system. According to the study, the effects of the current therapies for childhood malnutrition showed “limited efficacy” in taking care of the long-term consequences of inadequate nutrition and in repairing the gut microbiota. In the study, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in US and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, assessed the efficacy of a food supplement they developed, called microbiota-directed complementary food prototype (MDCF-2), which targets friendly gut bacteria, in comparison to a ready-to-use supplementary food (RSUF) among slum-dwelling children aged 12-18 months in Bangladesh who had moderate acute malnutrition. The supplements were provided twice daily for three months and after that the children were monitored for a month. They found that children treated with the new supplement put on more weight and grew more compared with children who were just given the normal supplement. The new supplement was linked to changes in the blood levels of 70 proteins and 21 bacterial units that influenced growth, as well as brain development. “This study demonstrated that MDCF-2 was able to repair immature microbiota, promote weight gain and increase plasma biomarkers related to bone formation, neurodevelopment, and immune function.” (Ishita Mostafa, Study Author and Assistant Scientist, Nutrition and Clinical Services Division of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) “These foods [MDCF-2], consumed during the complementary feeding period by malnourished children could provide an effective, affordable, culturally acceptable, and sustainable approach to treatment,” she tells SciDev.Net. “Larger trials will need to be performed in different geographic regions to further assess the efficacy of this therapeutic approach for treating childhood undernutrition,” she says. According to Rahuldeb Sarkar, consultant of respiratory medicine and critical care, Medway Hospital, Kent, UK, it is exciting that the new approach may promote brain development. “We should really aim for more upstream intervention that can prevent occurrence of malnutrition in the first place. Until it is achieved, this intervention can potentially mitigate the harms associated with malnutrition to affected children,” he tells SciDev.Net. “Most importantly, this new food supplement potentially promotes the brain development among undernourished children, which is exciting.” To read the original article click here.

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Low-Income Preschoolers Exposed to Nurturing Care Have Higher IQ Scores Later On

AHA Publisher — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 08:00:30 +0000

University of Maryland School of Medicine via EurekAlert – Preschoolers living in impoverished communities who have access to a nurturing home environment have significantly higher intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in adolescence compared to those raised without nurturing care. That is the finding of a new international study conducted by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers, which examined data from more than 1600 children from Brazil and South Africa who were followed from birth through their teenage years. Results were published this week in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Healthjournal. The researchers analyzed data from long-running studies conducted in Brazil and South Africa to assess whether children exposed to early adversities (such as extreme poverty, low birth weight, or pre-term birth) could reach their full learning potential by experiencing responsive caregiving and opportunities to learn in their home. They found that prenatal and early life adversities matter throughout life. Adolescents who had been exposed to multiple adversities early in life had lower IQ scores, were more likely to have difficulties adjusting socially and psychologically, and achieved a lower physical height compared to adolescents exposed to fewer adversities. They also found that being raised in a nurturing environment could significantly counteract the detrimental effect of early adversities on IQ and help children achieve their full intellectual potential. “We found that adolescents who were raised in nurturing environments had IQ scores that were on average 6 points higher than those who were not. This is a striking difference that has profound implications by increasing the intelligence of entire communities,” said study corresponding author Maureen Black, PhD, the John A Scholl and Mary Louise Scholl Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at UMSOM. “A nurturing environment also led to better growth and fewer psycho-social difficulties in adolescence, but it did not mitigate the effects of early adversities on growth and psycho-social difficulties.” Globally, more than 250 million children younger than 5 years are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential because of adversities that co-occur early in life and accumulate with age. In the U.S, almost one in five children are raised in poverty and 15 percent do not complete high school, with higher rates for children in Black and Hispanic families. Exposing these children to a nurturing environment, whether at home or in daycare or pre-school settings, can lead to cognitive benefits that last into adolescence and beyond. “I think our findings could apply to communities here in the U.S. where children are hungry, living in poverty or lacking in access to medical care,” Dr. Black said. Added study lead author Angela Trude, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in the UMSOM Department of Pediatrics, “Parents want to provide nurturing environments and we need to help them.” She said this includes interacting with young children in a positive way such as reading children’s books from the library, singing songs together, and playing games with numbers and letters. Children who engage in age-appropriate chores with adult supervision like picking up toys and clearing the table gain skills and feel good about helping. “Get children involved in friendly activities as much as possible rather than parking them in front of a screen,” Dr. Black said. “Children love to learn and in a nurturing environment they can grow into adolescents and adults with the abilities to care for themselves, their families, and their communities.”

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How Many Hugs a Day Does a Person Need? (Plus Top Hug Benefits)

AHA Publisher — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 08:00:15 +0000

Rachel Keck, MS via Dr. Axe – A hug is universal. Hugs are so versatile, people all around the world use them to express everything from joy and affection to sadness and despair. During times of social, emotional and mental turmoil, individuals seek out the comfort and social bonding that hugs bestow. Some people even believe a hug is at the heart of humanity since it has the ability to transcend race, religion, gender and age. In fact, being a professional hugger and/or cuddler is a legitimate job. Professional huggers and cuddlers provide hug benefits to people during all different points of their lives. For instance, some specialize in using this touch therapy on premature babies in neonatal intensive care units. Other hug and cuddle professionals focus on nursing home or hospice situations, while others are available for hire by anyone in need of human touch. Similarly, Ken Nwadike Jr., a peace activist and founder of the Free Hugs Project, attends rallies and protests to spread love and compassion. During the 2016 protests in Charlotte, Nwadike wore a “free hugs” T-shirt and was captured sharing hugs during a time of riots, protesting and intense emotion. How to Hug During a Pandemic During a pandemic, keeping social distance is important. We also know about the importance of human connection, so if you’re going to hug a loved one, there are ways you can do it more safely. For starters, both huggers should wear masks. During your embrace, put your faces in opposite directions in order to reduce the risk of exposure. For children, hugging an adult around the waist is safer. You should also keep your hugs brief during a pandemic. It’s also helpful to wash hands after hugging and avoid making contact with someone’s skin. Although the idea of changing up your hugging may seem strange, it’s best to make these little adjustments right now so we can continue occasional close contact with loved ones while keeping them safe. How Many Hugs a Day Does a Person Need? How many hugs a day does a person need? Although not technically proven by science, the late psychotherapist Virginia Satir once said: “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” Although these numbers aren’t an exact science, it suggests that we could probably all stand to give (and receive) more hugs every day. There is a pretty large body of research proving the importance of hugs and physical contact. It’s not only the amount of hugs you give or receive in a day, but the amount of time that the hug lasts that’s important. While the average length of a hug is about three seconds, some researchers suggest that longer hugs, lasting 20 seconds or more, are even more therapeutic for the body and mind. The science behind a longer hug being better comes from the oxytocin release that occurs during an extended hug. This “love hormone” is able to calm our anxiety and ease our fears. Benefits of Hugs In order to understand the benefits of hugs, we have to first take a look at the sensory pathway involved. When an individual is hugged, the sensory receptors in the skin are activated. There are several sensory receptors within the skin, and they respond to touch or distortion on the skin. Along with the sensory receptors, there are also sensory nerves that innervate the skin and respond to touch. One group in particular, the C-tactile afferents, play a major role in the effects of hugging and touch. Research shows that C-tactile afferents are found in hairy skin and respond optimally to a low-intensity, stroking touch, and they have been shown to fire most strongly to what people perceive as pleasant touch. These sensory nerves also play a prominent role in the touch hypothesis. This hypothesis states that the sensory nerves are developed to signal the rewarding value of physical contact. Once activated, the sensory receptors and nerves transduce the mechanical stimulation into electrical and chemical signals that travel along the peripheral nerve to the spinal cord and continue onto the opposite side of the brain. Sensory pathways activate brain regions associated with: Social bonding Pleasure Pain Now that we’ve got a little pathway education under our belts, let’s take a look at the fun part: hug benefits. 1. Vital for Healthy Childhood Development Ever wonder what a hug does? Turns out, hugs/human contact are a vital first part of life. Interaction through touch is so crucial to the human experience, especially to a child’s well-being. The sense of touch is widely believed to be the first of the senses that develops in utero. Immediately following the birth and the early stages of life, physical contact (skin-to-skin) between the mother/caregiver and the infant is crucial for child development. That’s why whether you’re having a natural childbirth or C-section, getting that mother-to-child, skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible is so very important. The touch of the mother enhances feelings of attachment, security and positive emotions. A 2010 study showed that babies with affectionate mothers grew up to be happy, resilient, less stressed and less anxious adults. Studies using EEG to measure brain activity have shown cuddling increases brain responses when infants are presented with displays of affection from parents, which may cause lasting effects on the way the brain builds connections. These interactions and new-forming brain connections enable children to learn how to manage stressful situations on their own and how to manage their emotions appropriately. On the other hand, children with little affection or skin-to-skin contact following birth have been shown to have cognitive, emotional and physical issues, as well as have an increase in cortisol levels. (Cortisol is the hormone commonly associated with stress.) In 2015, a study done at Notre Dame found that children experiencing just a small amount of touching and hugging in early infancy grew up to have worse health and more emotional problems compared to kids experiencing more hugs. This illustrates the damaging effects of a lack of affection. 2. Boosts Oxytocin Following activation of the C-tactile afferents, the “love” hormone, oxytocin, is released from the neurons projecting from the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that is part of the limbic system or reward system. It is responsible for regulation of many of the metabolic processes of the autonomic nervous system. Oxytocin is made within the hypothalamus and is largely known for its effects on social bonding. Studies indicate that neurons that produce oxytocin project widely throughout the brain, including into regulatory regions associated with social interaction, fear, aggression, calm and stress. While much of the oxytocin that is released acts on various structures that have an impact outside of the brain, some of the oxytocin remains within the brain and influences behavior, mood and physiology by acting on the limbic (emotion) center, stimulating the feeling of contentment, decreasing anxiety/stress and increasing social bonding. 3. Provides Immune System Support The increase of oxytocin also helps the effectiveness of the immune system. Yes, that’s right: Hugging can be considered a natural immune system booster. Hugging induces the “stress buffering effect” in which an individual who is hugged often is less likely to become sick due to stress-induced illness. Oxytocin acts on the pituitary gland to decrease the stress hormone cortisol. Along with a decrease in cortisol, the social support through physical contact also allows an individual to cope with stressful situations, rather than wearing down the immune system and leaving room for illness. A study in 2015 at Carnegie Mellon exposed healthy adults to the cold virus and found that individuals with social support had a decreased chance of getting sick due to the stress-induced buffering effects of hugging. The results concluded that those individuals who did get sick had less severe symptoms if they were hugged and had a stable social support than those that did not. Simultaneously, as the activated sensory receptors send signals to the brain, signals are also sent to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the cranial nerve that helps mediate the parasympathetic response of the heart, lungs and digestive tract. This decreases the blood pressure, helping both individuals involved in the hug feel calmer. In animal studies, activation of the vagus nerve has also been shown to increase the release of oxytocin, decreasing the heart rate and cortisol, leaving the person feeling less stressed and more relaxed. 4. Produces “Chill Out” Neurotransmitters Several neurotransmitters are increased in the brain following the activation of the sensory neurons that play a role in the positive emotions associated with being touched. The neurotransmitter dopamine is associated with motivation, goals and reinforcing behavior. Research shows that hugging releases dopamine within the limbic pathway in the brain, creating feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Studies also indicate that another neurotransmitter, serotonin, is increased due to the activation of sensory receptors and leads to a general feeling of satisfaction and an increase in mood. It is through the increased release of oxytocin, in conjunction with the neurotransmitters, that creates the soothing and calming feelings one experiences following a hug. 5. Boosts Self-Esteem Hugging and human contact are critical for infants, children and adults. There are also associations of self-worth and tactile sensations that are established when we are babies, which have a lasting impact on our nervous system. Who knew that hugs have a major impact, even at a cellular level? Research shows that hugging is an effective means of conveying social support, which we know is so important for our self-esteem and sense of self-worth. Final Thoughts The simple act of human touch, including a hug, causes a cascade of events, beginning with the sensation of a touch on the skin traveling along nerves to the brain, causing changes that affect the entire body. Sensory receptors and nerves work together sending signals to the central nervous system to provide enough information for the individual to create an appropriate motor and emotional response. This allows an individual to engage with the environment through the neuronal processing of a touch stimulus, which leads to eliciting a response that is often emotional in nature. Hugging increases oxytocin and other neurotransmitters associated with happiness and pleasure, while decreasing stress hormones, blood pressure and heart rate. The overall general effects of hugging lead to an increase in social bonding, relaxation and a decrease in stress — and therefore result in a better quality of life. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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Early-Intervention Helps Parents to Manage Toddlers with Challenging Behaviors

AHA Publisher — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 07:00:27 +0000

UNSW Sydney via News-Medical Net – “One of the best things a parent can do is to help their child understand and manage their emotions. We can’t expect young toddlers to do it themselves.” A play-based therapy aimed at helping parents manage children’s behavior has seen long-lasting results in a live trial. Parents of young toddlers with challenging behaviors have found support through a new early-intervention program aimed at children aged 12-24 months, a study has shown. The unique program focuses on not only addressing the child’s behavioral problems, but also enriching the relationship between the parent and the child. It was developed by researchers at UNSW Sydney and the early parenting organization, Karitane. “Having young toddlers can be hard, but it’s especially hard when your child is having multiple tantrums per day and showing aggression. It can make it difficult to enjoy parenting. Our findings are encouraging for so many parents because this program is a new way of learning how to manage these behaviors, improve the quality of your relationship with your toddler, and also to put them on a positive pathway.” Dr Jane Kohlhoff, lead author of the study and senior lecturer in UNSW Medicine’s School of Psychiatry The eight-week program takes place during weekly parent-child play sessions. The parent and child play together while a therapist – who sits behind a one-way mirror in another room – coaches the parent in how to best respond to challenging behaviors via a Bluetooth earpiece. “The therapist first helps the parent identify the source of the child’s challenging behavior and then guides them in how to respond. This instant feedback is supportive and powerful,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “As parents become better equipped to identify why the child is being disruptive, they can help the child manage and regulate their emotions. With this support, the child will gradually become better at doing this on their own.” While this style of parent coaching (called ‘Parent-Child Interaction Therapy’) has been used before, it’s the first time the method has been adapted to young toddlers as an early intervention technique. A check up with the families four months after the program, the trial’s set follow-up period, show that the benefits were long lasting. The results were published over the weekend in Infant Mental Health Journal. “Not only were there dramatic improvements in children’s behavior, but also in parenting sensitivity and the quality of the relationship between the parent and the child,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “Parents also reported feeling less stressed after the program.” These program outcomes were measured using a series of parent-report surveys and therapist observations of parent and child behavior. The long-term findings support the immediate benefits of the program, which were tested in a randomized controlled trial and published in Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology earlier this year. While the cohort of this pilot study was small (25 parents completed the program and 18 completed the follow-up), the findings are an important first step in testing the effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for toddlers. Finding the Cause of the Behavior Adrienne* decided to join the program after noticing her daughter’s tantrums were a bit different to other kids her age. “Sophie* was constantly screaming, crying and throwing tantrums,” says Adrienne. Her daughter was 15 months old when they joined the program. “At that young age, she didn’t have the words to say what she wanted, so she used her voice to get attention.” During the intervention, parents are coached to identify the cause of the child’s disruptive behavior and respond accordingly. If the behavior stems from difficulty regulating emotions, the parent is coached to see the behavior as a sign that the child is having difficulty managing a ‘big emotion’. “One of the biggest benefits about the program is that it teaches parents to reconceptualise their child’s challenging behaviors. Often, the behavior isn’t a deliberate disobedience, but a result of the child’s struggle with new, big emotions, like frustration, fear and anxiety.” Dr Jane Kohlhoff When the child is struggling with a big emotion, the parent is coached to use practical techniques to help the child become calm again. “If a child starts to play roughly with their toys, it may be because they are having difficulty knowing how they work,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “For example, take a child in a play kitchen trying to get a large toy saucepan to fit into a small oven. For a young child, this can be frustrating and the feelings may escalate quickly. It may lead them to become rough and aggressive, or to have a tantrum. “In this instance, the parent would be coached to notice this change in emotion early, and then to move closer to the child and validate their emotions by saying, ‘I know you are feeling frustrated right now’. The parent could also reassure the child by saying ‘Mummy is here to help you’, while soothing them with a calm voice, showing physical comfort, and suggesting another place to put the saucepan.” Adrienne found this style of on-the-spot guidance invaluable. “It really helped getting instant advice through the headset,” says Adrienne. “My husband and I feel more at ease with knowing how to help her during meltdowns. “Our relationship with our daughter improved. We learnt important play skills, like the way we sit on mats with her and how we use our language. “I’m more mindful of what I say – for example, I’ve learnt to be specific in my praises rather than saying something general, like ‘Good girl,’ when she’s behaving well.” The Importance of Early Intervention While it’s normal for children to express aggression and irritability, persistent challenging behaviors could be a sign that a child is on a pathway towards increased psychological problems as they grow older. “Emotion regulation problems underly many adult psychological disorders. By addressing these behaviors early, it can help give children the best chance in their future mental health. A positive parent-child relationship in the early years is a key indicator for a child’s lifelong psychological health. Letting the child lead the play, using lots of specific praises, and just having fun together are really important for the child.” Dr Jane Kohlhoff Facilitating Long-Lasting Change “Children at this young age are still trying to work out what emotions are, and how to navigate them,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “One of the best things a parent can do is to help their child understand and manage their emotions. We can’t expect young toddlers to do it themselves.” This research was conducted in southwestern Sydney at parenting organisation Karitane, who contributed funding to the program. The program is now part of the suite of clinical treatments offered at the Karitane Toddler Clinic, and Dr Kohlhoff says it is the kind of program that could be taught to other clinicians and rolled out to other clinics further down the track. To build on this research, Dr Kohlhoff is conducting a larger randomized control trial to evaluate how the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for toddlers program compares to other parenting programs. *Names of the program participants have been changed. To read the original article click here.

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Study Shows Some Infants Can Identify Differences in Musical Tones at Six Months

AHA Publisher — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 07:00:34 +0000

York University via EurekAlert – There’s a common belief that musicians are born with a natural ability to play music, while most of us have to work twice as hard to hear the difference between musical notes. Now, new research from neuroscientists at York University suggests the capacity to hear the highs and lows, also known as the major and minor notes in music, may come before you take a single lesson; you may actually be born with it. The study, published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, examined the capacity of six-month-old infants to discriminate between a major and a minor musical tone sequence with a unique method that uses eye movements and a visual stimulus. Previous research with adults has shown that approximately 30 percent of adults can discriminate this difference but 70 percent cannot, irrespective of musical training. Researchers found that six-month-old infants show exactly the same breakdown as adults: approximately 30 percent of them could discriminate the difference and 70 percent could not. “At six months, it’s highly unlikely that any of these infants have had any formal training in music,” says Scott Adler, associate professor, Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health and member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) Program at the Centre for Vision Research. “Yes, parents play music for children. All children in western civilization hear music, but they don’t get that specific training in music. This breakdown, therefore, is due to some inborn mechanism.” Adler’s team at York collaborated on the study with Professor Charles Chubb, of the University of California at Irvine, whose earlier research with adults and adolescents found there are two populations of individuals: some who can discriminate between the major and minor tones and most who cannot discriminate. In adults, the capacity to discriminate between major and minor was shown not to be due to their level of musical training or their level of music exposure. The new study extends the existence of those different populations down to infants, suggesting that the source of this difference might be genetic – a capacity that we are born with. This capacity would have implications for developing appreciation of the emotional content of music, because it’s the major and minor notes that give music their emotion. In the study, researchers conducted trials with 30 six-month-old infants in which they heard a tone-scramble, a series of notes whose quality (major vs. minor) signalled the location (right vs. left) where a subsequent picture (target) would appear. The babies were tasked with determining which side to look when they heard a major or a minor sound. Once they heard a series of notes, a picture would either appear on the right or the left depending on whether it was a major or minor tone scramble. In a second experiment, tone-scrambles did not reliably predict the location of subsequent pictures. “What we measured over time was how the infants learned the association between which tone they heard and where the picture is going to show up. If they can tell the difference in the tone, over time, when they hear the major notes for example, they’ll make an eye movement to the location for the picture even before the picture appears because they can predict this. This is what we are measuring,” says Adler. The researchers found that for 33 percent or one-third of infants, these anticipatory eye movements predicted the picture location with near perfect accuracy; for the other 67 percent, they were unrelated to the picture location. These results may also have implications for language development, which relies on some of the same mechanisms and auditory content as music, says Adler. “There is a connection between music, music processing and mathematical abilities, as well as language, so whether these things connect up to those abilities is an unknown. However, when people talk to babies they change the intonation of their voice and the pitch of their voice so they’re changing from major to minor. That is actually an important component for babies to learn language. If you don’t have the capacity it might affect that ability in learning language.” To read the original article click here.

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Family Environment Affects Adolescent Brain Development

AHA Publisher — Fri, 22 May 2020 07:00:30 +0000

Karolinska Institutet via EurekAlert – Childhood environment and socioeconomic status affect cognitive ability and brain development during adolescence independently of genetic factors, researchers at Karolinska Institutet report in a new study published in the journal PNAS. The study demonstrates how important the family environment is, not just during early infancy but also throughout adolescence. While the way in which genes and environment affect the brain and cognitive faculties is a hotly debated topic, previous studies have not taken genes into account when describing environmental effects. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have therefore studied both environmental factors and a new genetic measure – an index value based on an aggregation of the 5,000 or so DNA locations that are most strongly associated with educational attainment. The study involved 551 adolescents from different socioeconomic environments around Europe. At the age of 14, the participants gave DNA samples, performed cognitive tests and had their brain imaged in a MR scanner, a process that was repeated five years later. At the age of 14, genes and environment were independently associated with cognitive ability (measured using working memory tests) and brain structure. The environmental effects were, however, 50 to 100 per cent stronger than the genetic. Differences in socioeconomic status were related to differences in the total surface area of the neocortex. “The previous debate was whether there is a special area that is affected by the environment, such as long-term memory or language,” says Nicholas Judd, doctoral student at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and co-first author of the study along with his departmental colleague Bruno Sauce. “However, we’ve been able to show that the effect occurs across the neocortex and so probably affects a whole host of functions.” Genetic differences were also linked to brain structure, affecting not only the brain’s total area but also specifically an area of the right parietal lobe known to be important for mathematical skills, reasoning and working memory. This is the first time a brain area has been identified that is linked to this genetic index. When the researchers followed up on the teenagers five years later, they were able to examine how genes and environment had affected the brain’s development during adolescence. What they discovered was that while the genes did not explain any of the cerebral changes, the environment did. However, it is unknown which aspect of the environment is responsible for this. “There are a number of possible explanations, such as chronic stress, diet or intellectual stimulation, but the study shows just how important the environment is, not only during early childhood,” says principal investigator Torkel Klingberg, professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. “Finding the most important environmental factors for optimising childhood and adolescent development is a matter for future research.” To read the original article click here.

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