Parent-Led Intervention May Lower Kids' Autism Risk - Disability Scoop

Parent-Led Intervention May Lower Kids' Autism Risk - Disability Scoop: Training parents to enhance social interactions with their infant children may reduce the likelihood that kids at risk for autism will ultimately develop the disorder, researchers say.
Families who participated in a video-based therapy program were able to improve engagement, attention and social behavior in their babies, according to findings published Wednesday in The Lancet Psychiatry.
“Our findings indicate that using video feedback-based therapy to help parents understand and respond to their infant’s individual communication style during the first year of life may be able to modify the emergence of autism-related behaviors and symptoms,” said Jonathan Green, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Manchester in England who led the study.

Childhood Neglect May Affect Brain Development, Study Says

Childhood Neglect May Affect Brain Development, Study Says: Childhood neglect is associated with changes in the brain's white matter, a small study shows.

"Our findings have important implications for public health related to early prevention and intervention for children reared in conditions of severe neglect or adverse contexts more generally," the researchers wrote.

The Economist explains: How marriage makes people healthier | The Economist

The Economist explains: How marriage makes people healthier | The Economist

Sleep training for babies: Why it doesn't work, and what does - Parents - TODAY.com

Sleep training for babies: Why it doesn't work, and what does - Parents - TODAY.com: What I’ve learned through research, clinical practice, and with my own little ones is that babies want to sleep, but we, as parents (unknowingly and with great intentions) can interfere with their ability to do so.

My co-author Julie Wright and I want a revolution in how we all talk about sleep. Sleep “training” is an old term that conjures up ideas of babies being forced into something that doesn’t come naturally. Let’s talk about sleep as the lovely, natural aspect of life that it is. It’s a polarizing topic, but it doesn’t have to be. When you clear up some basic misunderstandings about how baby brains work, the whole business of good sleep gets a lot easier.

Lillian Grace's story: The case for removing half of a baby's brain | CMV

Lillian Grace's story: The case for removing half of a baby's brain | Fox News: CMV refers to cytomegalovirus, which is a common viral infection that can affect almost anyone without symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can spread from person-to-person through contact with bodily fluids, and can be dangerous as an active infection in pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.

“CMV is the most common virus most people have never heard of,” Dr. Gail Demmler, an infectious disease specialist and CMV researcher at Texas Children’s Hospital told FoxNews.com. “Most of the time, when their babies are diagnosed with CMV, mothers haven’t heard of it – but it’s also a virus that every woman should know about.”

Marijuana dangerous to the developing brain - Journal Advocate

Marijuana dangerous to the developing brain - Journal Advocate: The younger you are, the more harm marijuana use can do to your brain. That was the message Jade Woodard, executive director of the Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, shared during a free educational program on marijuana last week at Sterling Middle School.

Part of her presentation included information about the effects of marijuana on the brain. She explained that there are cannabinoid receptors in all of the significant portions of the brain and using marijuana throws off the function of all of those parts of the brain.

Paternal Involvement and Attention Sharing in Interactions of Premature and Full-Term Infants with Fathers: A Brief Report : Psychology of Language and Communication

Paternal Involvement and Attention Sharing in Interactions of Premature and Full-Term Infants with Fathers: A Brief Report : Psychology of Language and Communication: The aim of this study was to analyze possible links between paternal involvement and children’s competence in coordinated joint attention (CJA) in preterm versus full-term 12-month-old babies. Paternal involvement was measured through the amount of time fathers allocated to different activities with their infants, whereas children’s capacity for CJA was inferred on the basis of episodes of joint attention (EJA), empirically derived from father-infant interactions. Fifty-nine father-infant dyads participated in the study. Fatherinfant interactions in free-play situations, diaries of infant activities, and semi-structured family interviews were analyzed. Episodes of joint attention were more frequent in interactions of fathers with full-term babies in comparison to extremely premature babies, and in the case of preterm infants, in dyads with highly involved fathers as compared to those with a relatively low level of involvement.