brain development

By measuring various pollutants in the immediate vicinity of pregnant women and tracking brain development of their children, researchers in Barcelona aim to untangle any influence the former has on the latter.

In mice, epigenetic marks made on histones during infancy influence depression-like behavior during adulthood. A drug that reverses the genomic tags appears to undo the damage.

Overactive immune cells identified in a mouse model and in postmortem human brain tissue may offer a potential therapeutic target for cognitive delays associated with the condition, researchers report.

Scans of eight fossilized adult and infant Australopithecus afarensis skulls reveal a prolonged period of brain growth during development that may have set the stage for extended childhood learning in later hominins.

Without a brain, the frog embryo immune system doesn’t receive the signals it needs to mobilize macrophages and fight infections.

Juvenile birds learn the length of the sounds in a song from a false memory introduced via optogenetics, instead of from real interactions with a tutor bird.

Recent federal announcements serve as reminders that in the US policy continues to outpace science when it comes to cannabis.

The federal government cautions that the drug can affect brain development in both teens and fetuses.

The agency argues that chlorpyrifos is one of few “cost-effective options” for controlling certain farm pests.

Rhesus monkeys engineered to express a human gene reportedly show delayed brain development and better short-term memory. Fellow scientists are raising ethical red flags.

A study links having a male twin with women’s educational, financial, and childbearing decisions. Researchers suspect prenatal exposure to testosterone may play a role.

An analysis of the contours of more than 600 kids’ brains points to links between cerebral surface area and heritability in regions of the brain important in cognition.  

Young rats injected with a synthetic cannabinoid have more of the brain’s motivating dopaminergic signaling and fewer numbers of inhibitory neurons than controls.

A longitudinal study tracking the progress of an epilepsy patient after surgery shows the brain’s ability to reorganize itself to function nearly normally.

Regardless of parental income and education, children who engage in more two-way conversation with their parents learn better.

The findings highlight the need for long-term monitoring of children exposed to the virus, say scientists.