Health/Medical Research

Children and teens with autism spectrum disorder use screen-based media, such as television and video games, more often than their typically developing peers and are more likely to develop problematic video game habits, a researcher found.

The use of harsh discipline of unwanted behavior in children has long been controversial. Whether verbal (insults, disparaging remarks, threats) or physical (slapping/spanking), harsh discipline at all stages of childhood carries a large risk of manifesting antisocial ‘externalizing behaviors’ in the child, including aggression, delinquency or hyperactivity.

Light drinking during pregnancy is not linked to adverse behavioural or cognitive outcomes in childhood, suggests a new study. This study collated data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a national study of infants born in the UK between 2000-2002, to assess whether light drinking (up to two units of alcohol per week) in pregnancy was linked to unfavourable developmental outcomes in 7-year-old children.

In a study including children and adolescents six to 18 years of age, those who have experienced migraine headaches were more likely to have had colic as an infant, according to a new study.

The transition from high school to college is a particularly vulnerable time for alcohol experimentation. A new study looks at which student characteristics may enhance parent-based interventions. Results indicate that teens who perceive their friends as more approving of alcohol consumption also seem to be more influenced by communication with their parents about drinking.

Standardized testing has facilitated “an incredibly toxic environment in our schools and in our discourse about education, ultimately turning schools from learning centers to testing factories,” according to a professor. That emphasis on standardized testing has corrupted the focus on learning, turning school-aged children into “experimental pawns,” he says.

Playing simple games using words and pictures can help people to learn a new language with greater ease, researchers have shown.

Investigators found that propranolol, a drug commonly used to treat high blood pressure, anxiety and panic, improves the working memory performance of individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

A brain-training task that increases the number of items an individual can remember over a short period of time may boost performance in other problem-solving tasks by enhancing communication between different brain areas. The new study is one of a growing number of experiments on how working-memory training can measurably improve a range of skills -- from multiplying in your head to reading a complex paragraph.

An innovative program that supports parents and teachers of public school pre-kindergarten students improves early academic achievement, according to a new study.

A new study is challenging a long held belief among speech therapists and audiologists that bad behavior in young children with hearing implants is an indicator of device failure and a predictor of poor language development.

Scientists have revealed deep similarities in how the brain regulates behavior in arthropods (such as flies and crabs) and vertebrates (such as fish, mice and humans). The findings shed new light on the evolution of the brain and behavior and may aid understanding of disease mechanisms underlying mental health problems.

Do the brains of different people listening to the same piece of music actually respond in the same way? An imaging study says the answer is yes, which may in part explain why music plays such a big role in our social existence.

A new study has shown that children as young as two understand basic grammar rules when they first learn to speak and are not simply imitating adults. The study also applied the same statistical analysis on data from one of the most famous animal language-acquisition experiments -- Project Nim -- and showed that Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who was taught sign language over the course of many years, never grasped rules like those in a two-year-old's grammar.

The age at which a child with autism is diagnosed is related to the particular suite of behavioral symptoms he or she exhibits, new research shows.

Sure, many young adults are ecstatic at that first taste of freedom that comes with "going away to college." But for some, the intense transition can also trigger intense homesickness.

Teachers in the Republic of Ireland consistently view medication treatment for Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a last resort, even when they view the disorder as biologically based.

Newborn babies' immune system development and levels of vitamin D have been found to vary according to their month of birth, according to new research.

A new study found three factors that contribute to feelings of closeness in stepfamilies: the couple keeps arguments to a minimum; mothers help children feel comfortable sharing their frustrations; and the stepfather and mother agree on how to parent.

Exposure to the anesthetic agent isoflurane increases "programmed cell death" of specific types of cells in the newborn mouse brain, a new study reports.