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Experiences early in life have an impact on the brain’s biological and functional development, shows a new study by a team of neuroscientists. Its findings, which centered on changes in mice and rats, reveal how learning and memory abilities may vary, depending on the nature of individual experiences in early life. Continue reading “Early life experiences biologically and functionally mature the brain”
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have together with an international team mapped the relationship between length of pregnancy and chemical DNA changes in more than 6,000 newborn babies. For each week’s longer pregnancy, DNA methylation changes in thousands of genes were detected in the umbilical cord blood. The study is published in Genome Medicine. Continue reading “Length of pregnancy alters the child’s DNA”
Biology encodes information in DNA and RNA, which are complex molecules finely tuned to their functions. But are they the only way to store hereditary molecular information? Continue reading “DNA is only one among millions of possible genetic molecules”
Children of women who reported domestic violence in pregnancy or during the first six years of the child’s life are almost 50% more likely to have a low IQ at age 8, research finds. Continue reading “Children of abused mothers 50% more likely to have low IQ”
Sleep states are active processes that support reorganisation of brain circuitry. This makes sleep especially important for children, whose brains are developing and reorganizing rapidly. Continue reading “Children’s mental health is affected by sleep duration”
Mothers’ and babies’ brains can work together as a ‘mega-network’ by synchronising brain waves when they interact. Continue reading “Mothers’ and babies’ brains ‘more in tune’ when mother is happy”
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