The walking speed of 45-year-olds can be used as a marker of their aging brains and bodies. The evidence was there in neurocognitive testing these individuals took at age 3 to indicate who would become the slower walkers. At 45, slower walkers have 'accelerated aging' on a 19-measure scale devised by researchers, and their lungs, teeth and immune systems tended to be in worse shape than the people who walked faster.
Read moreChronobiologists show how critical the sleep-wake cycle is for protein and phosphorylation dynamics in synapses to ultimately regulate its activity.
Read moreThe largest study of its kind into childhood developmental disorders has discovered that jumping genes cause genetic changes in some patients with undiagnosed neurodevelopmental diseases. The research enabled genetic diagnoses for three children with previously undiagnosed rare developmental diseases, enrolled in the Deciphering Developmental Disorders project. Reported in Nature Communications, these diagnoses will help the families access support and understand the disease risks for any future children.
Read moreFuture treatment and prevention of suicidal behavior in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) should involve a wider range of approaches beyond just the treatment of psychiatric illness, according to a new study.
Read moreResearchers have identified a neural pathway implicated in social interaction between adult and juvenile animals.
Read moreThe stereotype that associates being 'brilliant' with white men more than white women is shared by children regardless of their own race, finds a team of psychology researchers. By contrast, its study shows, children do not apply this stereotype to black men and women.
Read moreScientists have provided unprecedented insight into the presynaptic distribution and profile of mitochondria in the developing and mature calyx of Held.
Read moreMothers are often their own toughest critics, but new research shows they judge other mothers just as harshly. According to the results — which build upon previous work identifying seven stereotypes of mothers — ideal and lazy mothers drew the most contempt from both working and stay-at-home mothers. The overworked stay-at-home mom also was near the top of the list.
Read moreA study reveals for the first time that three-year-olds use gestural and prosodic precursors in the expression of uncertainty, which they will express after five years of age through lexical cues.
Read moreNeurons are not randomly arranged in the human brain. In the cortex, they are organized in interconnected clusters with high intrinsic connectivity. This modular connectivity structure, in which clusters eventually serve as functional units, is formed in early phases of development. The underlying self-organization process is regulated by neuronal activity but the detailed mechanisms are still poorly understood. Based on in vitro studies and computational modeling, neuroscientists have now made an important contribution to the understanding of brain networks and their development: in their current study, they show how neuronal outgrowth and migration interact in shaping network architecture and the degree of modularity in mature networks.
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