It’s no secret that fussy newborns can be especially challenging for parents already facing physical and mental exhaustion from caring for a new baby. But now science backs up the impact on parents: The less soothable the infant, the more distressed the mother. Mothers of highly irritable infants experience greater depressive symptoms, according to new University of Michigan-led research. The nationally representative study, which included data from more than 8,200 children and their parents, appears in Academic Pediatrics. The study is also believed to be the first to explore whether the…
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Exercise adds up to big brain boosts
Anyone who trains for a marathon knows that individual running workouts add up over time to yield a big improvement in physical fitness. So, it should not be surprising that the cognitive benefits from workouts also accumulate to yield long-term cognitive gains. Yet, until now, there was has been little research to describe and support the underlying neurobiology. In new work being presented this week about the effects of exercise on the brain at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) in San Francisco, researchers are finding that brain changes that occur…
Read MoreSkin cancer can spread in mice by hijacking the immune system
Scientists have uncovered molecules released by invasive skin cancer that reprogram healthy immune cells to help the cancer to spread. Targeting these molecules with inhibiting drugs could help to prevent this aggressive skin cancer coming back after treatment. The findings of the Cancer Research UK-funded study are published in Cell, today (Thursday). Researchers from Queen Mary University of London looked at cells from the edges of invasive melanomas in mice and human tumour samples, to investigate the effects of a protein they produce — called Myosin II*. They found that high…
Read MoreWhen neurons are out of shape, antidepressants may not work
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed medication for major depressive disorder (MDD), yet scientists still do not understand why the treatment does not work in nearly thirty percent of patients with MDD. Now, Salk Institute researchers have discovered differences in growth patterns of neurons of SSRI-resistant patients. The work, published in Molecular Psychiatry on March 22, 2019, has implications for depression as well as other psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that likely also involve abnormalities of the serotonin system in the brain. “With each new…
Read MoreDetrimental effect of overlooking female athletes’ nutritional needs
As poor nutrition can negatively affect everything from bone to reproductive health, more attention needs to be paid to the specific nutritional needs of female athletes, a collaborative study from New Zealand’s University of Otago and University of Waikato argues. Dr Katherine Black, of Otago’s Department of Human Nutrition, says most research into sport and nutrition focuses on male athletes, but the number of women participating in sport is growing, and female athletes have specific nutritional challenges and needs. “They are not just male athlete adjusted for weight,” she says.…
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