Child Development News

December 24, 2024

Top Headlines

AI May Help Researchers With Medical Chart Review

Dec. 20, 2024 — Researchers trained a large language model to read medical charts, looking for signs that kids with ADHD received the right follow-up care when using new ...

Dyslexia Genetics Linked to Brain Structure

Dec. 18, 2024 — Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty in which genes often play a role. How do genes associated with dyslexia relate to brain structure in the general population? In a large-scale study, a team of scientists found that genetic variants that ...

Heart Rate Activity Influences When Infants Speak

Dec. 17, 2024 — A psychologist found that a baby's first sweet sounds and early attempts at forming words are directly linked to the baby's heart ...

App Helps Alleviate Mental Health Symptoms in Bereaved Parents

Dec. 18, 2024 — A new study shows that an app can help parents who are mourning the loss of a child. Parents who used the app for three months reported reduced symptoms of prolonged grief and post-traumatic stress, and also had fewer negative thoughts. Some parents ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:31pm EST

Unraveling the Power and Influence of Language

Dec. 23, 2024 — A choice was made to include each word in this sentence. Every message, even the most mundane, is crafted with a specific frame in mind that impacts how the message is perceived. The study of framing ...

Almost Three Quarters of Adolescents Experience Depression or Anxiety

Dec. 17, 2024 — Almost three quarters of adolescents in Australia experience clinically significant depression or anxiety symptoms, with most being chronic, according to a new study. And preventive strategies ...

Breaking Barriers: Study Uses AI to Interpret American Sign Language in Real-Time

Dec. 16, 2024 — A study is the first-of-its-kind to recognize American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet gestures using computer vision. Researchers developed a custom ...

Naughty or Nice? Many Parents Rely on Threats to Manage Misbehavior -- From No Dessert to No Santa

Dec. 16, 2024 — When young children's behavior becomes challenging, many parents resort to threats -- from taking away toys to threatening that Santa will skip their ...

Mothers Bear the Brunt of the 'Mental Load,' Managing 7 in 10 Household Tasks

Dec. 12, 2024 — The study, conducted in the US, found that mothers take on seven in ten (71%) of all household mental load ...

Sculpting the Brain (Without Chisel or Scalpel)

Dec. 10, 2024 — Researchers report that they have successfully tested a novel approach for teaching the human brain to learn through external manipulation and neural feedback -- what they call the 'sculpting' of ...

Antidepressants May Act in Gut to Reduce Depression and Anxiety

Dec. 11, 2024 — In animal studies, boosting serotonin in the cells that line the gut reduced anxious and depressive-like behaviors without causing cognitive or gastrointestinal side ...

Mothers' Language Choices Have Double the Impact in Bilingual Families

Dec. 10, 2024 — New research shows that mothers have twice the impact on language exposure, challenging traditional parenting advice. In a new study, researchers found that there wasn't a single strategy that could ...

Could Online Technology Be a Clue as to Why Boys in Norway Are Outperforming Girls in Learning English as a Second Language?

Dec. 8, 2024 — Bucking conventionality, boys in Norway are making early gains in reading English as a second language and even outperforming girls at age 10 and 13 ...

Unlocking the Science of Sleep: How Rest Enhances Language Learning

Dec. 5, 2024 — Sleep is critical for all sorts of reasons, but a team of international scientists has discovered a new incentive for getting eight hours of sleep every night: it helps the brain to store and learn a ...

AI May Help Researchers With Medical Chart Review, Study Finds

Dec. 20, 2024 — Researchers trained a large language model to read medical charts, looking for signs that kids with ADHD received the right follow-up care when using new ...

Tracking Other People's Minds in Communication

Dec. 18, 2024 — Language and social cognition are fundamental to human communication. But how do these capacities interact? In a review paper, researchers show how language and social cognition are integrated in ...

Genetic Testing Changes Course of Care in Children With Neurodevelopmental Conditions

Dec. 18, 2024 — Adding genetic testing to the evaluation of pediatric patients with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) resulted in more individualized ...

Work Satisfaction, Pay Are Worse for Those Who Stutter, Study Finds

Dec. 10, 2024 — People who stutter have lower earnings, experience underemployment and express lower job satisfaction than those who don't stutter, a new study ...

20th Century Lead Exposure Damaged American Mental Health

Dec. 4, 2024 — Exposure to car exhaust from leaded gas during childhood altered the balance of mental health in the U.S. population, making generations of Americans more depressed, anxious and inattentive or ...

Perceptions of Parent Cannabis Use Shape Teen Attitudes

Dec. 4, 2024 — Teens who think their parents use cannabis are more likely to hold favorable attitudes toward the drug and to consider trying it themselves, according to a new study. The research also reveals that ...

Preschool Education: A Key to Supporting Allophone Children

Nov. 28, 2024 — A Canadian study reveals that allophone children often face learning and communication difficulties in kindergarten, which can negatively impact their educational ...

Scientists Discover Shared Genetic Foundations Between Musical Rhythm and Human Language

Nov. 27, 2024 — A study has revealed that genetic variants associated with higher likelihood of rhythm impairments tended to be also associated with higher likelihood of dyslexia. The reverse was also the case: ...

Newer Epilepsy Medications Used During Pregnancy Do Not Affect Neurological Development in Children

Nov. 27, 2024 — Children of mothers who took certain anti-seizure medications while pregnant do not have worse neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 6, according to a long-running ...

Great Apes Visually Track Subject-Object Relationships Like Humans Do, Study Finds

Nov. 26, 2024 — Great apes track events with their eyes in the same way that humans do, according to a new ...

Language Used by Mothers Affects Oxytocin Levels of Infants

Nov. 25, 2024 — Infants whose mothers regularly use language to describe what their child is thinking or feeling, have higher levels of the hormone oxytocin, finds a new ...

Beyond Screen Time: Complex Factors Shaping Child Development

Nov. 25, 2024 — New research challenges views on screen time, revealing factors such as parental mental health and the type of screen being used may have some impact on child ...

Need a Landing Pad for Helicopter Parenting? Frame Tasks as Learning

Nov. 22, 2024 — Parents are much less likely to intervene when their young children are getting dressed or performing other simple chores if those tasks are framed as learning opportunities, according to a new ...

Animal Characters Can Boost Young Children's Psychological Development

Nov. 22, 2024 — A study has shown that iconic characters such as Peter Rabbit -- or Toad and Ratty from The Wind in the Willows -- can also play an important role in the development of children's theory of mind ...

Your Child, the Sophisticated Language Learner

Nov. 21, 2024 — Sentences contain subtle hints in their grammar that tell young children about the meaning of new words, according to new ...

Snoring Linked to Behavioral Problems in Adolescents Without Declines in Cognition

Nov. 21, 2024 — Adolescents who snore frequently were more likely to exhibit behavior problems such as inattention, rule-breaking, and aggression, but they do not have any decline in their cognitive abilities, ...

Tantrums in Young Children Could Be Linked to ADHD, Study Finds

Nov. 21, 2024 — Preschool children who struggle to control their emotions and behaviour have more symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- known as ADHD -- at age seven, a study suggests. Children ...

Signals of Inflammation During Pregnancy Linked to Aging and Memory Changes 50 Years Later

Nov. 21, 2024 — A new study analyzed data from participants who have been followed for over 50 years, starting before their births. Researchers found that maternal immune activity during a critical period of ...

Researchers Use Artificial Intelligence to Diagnose Depression

Nov. 20, 2024 — Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses. As many as 280 million people worldwide are affected by this disease, which is why researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) ...

R Sounds Are Rough, and L Sounds Are Smooth, According to Cross-Cultural Study

Nov. 20, 2024 — People around the world associate a trilled R sound with a rough texture and a jagged shape, and an L sound with smooth texture and a flat shape, according to the findings of a new study. Researchers ...