Irregular sleep and late bedtimes are linked to worse grades and more school-related behavioral problems among teens, a new study suggests. Interventions to promote regular sleep hours could potentially boost their academic performance.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living
systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Science Update: Omega-3 supplements may reduce schizotypal personality symptoms, NIH-funded study suggests
Taking an omega-3 fatty acid supplement lowered children’s scores for schizotypal personality disorder, which features unusual thoughts, speech, and behaviors that hinder the ability to form relationships. The results suggest that regular supplementation in childhood could prevent more severe symptoms from developing in adolescence.
Spotlight: Women in Science: Dr. Tracey Rouault on Resilience
NICHD’s Tracey Rouault, M.D., has had many notable achievements during her nearly four-decade career in the intramural program at NIH. Learn about her upbringing, career path, and accomplishments.
Science Update: Positive parenting may counteract children’s biological aging in the face of adversity, NIH-funded study suggests
Positive parenting practices, like praising, noticing, and encouraging children’s behavior, may help reduce the faster rate of biological aging seen in children under adverse conditions. Such positive parenting practices may counter the effects of children’s hardships, improving their long-term physical and psychological health.
Science Update: Altered fluid channels in the brain may be linked to diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, NIH-funded study suggests
Children with enlarged perivascular spaces—fluid-filled cavities surrounding the brain’s small blood vessels—had a higher risk for developing autism spectrum disorder and later sleep problems. Brain scans to detect the enlargement could be helpful for obtaining an earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.
Spotlight: Looking Back on NICHD in 2023
As we ring in 2024, we’d like to take a brief look back on our accomplishments during 2023. These activities illustrate the institute’s continued commitment to research and training in its mission areas.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Item of Interest: NICHD and CDC Partner on Healthy Native Babies Project
This collaboration will promote safe infant sleep with and within American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Science Update: NICHD researchers develop model for how energy-producing mitochondria obtain magnesium
Researchers at NIH have developed a model of how mitochondria—the energy producers in cells—obtain the essential mineral magnesium through the Mitochondrial RNA Splicing 2 (MRS2) channel.
Science Update: Mice models accurately replicate neuronal communication responsible for memory and learning in people, according to NIH study
The properties of neuronal junctions that help form long-term memories and aid in learning are similar between mice and people, according to a new NIH study.
Science Update: NIH-funded study of mice unravels how infant cries affect maternal hormones
New research in mice illuminates how infant cries activate maternal brain cells to increase release of oxytocin, a hormone that promotes mother-baby bonding. The findings provide a biological explanation for how sensory cues from an infant can help foster maternal behavior.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Science Update: Children with hereditary developmental disorder have high levels of Alzheimer-associated proteins
Children with creatine transporter deficiency, a hereditary developmental disorder, have higher levels of three proteins that are also found in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a small study by researchers at NIH and other institutions. The higher the level of proteins, the lower the children scored on a test of coping behaviors and skills. These findings may help inform diagnostic approaches for the transporter deficiency disorder.
Release: NIH zebrafish research included in U.S. Postal Service’s “Life Magnified” stamps
A microscopy image created by NIH researchers is part of the “Life Magnified” stamp panel issued by the United States Postal Service.
Science Update: Children’s IQ unlikely to be affected by concussion, NIH-funded study suggests
Children with concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, were no more likely to experience a drop in IQ scores after their injury than were children who received injuries to the muscles or bones, according to a study funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The findings suggest that concussion is unlikely to affect children’s intelligence in the long term, providing reassurance to caregivers of pediatric concussion patients.
Science Update: NIH study finds neurotrophic factor-α1 prevents memory loss and neurodegeneration in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
Delivery of the gene for neurotrophic factor-α1 directly into the hippocampus of the brain prevents neurodegeneration and memory loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Science Update: NIH-funded researchers identify another potential SIDS-related brain anomaly
Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have identified a second brain receptor abnormality in tissue from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases. Like the abnormality the group identified previously, the receptor binds to serotonin, a chemical that conveys messages between neurons. Although serotonin is involved in diverse functions such as mood, sleep, digestion, and wound healing, the abnormality the researchers identified is found in the medulla, or brain stem, a region involved in waking up, arousal, and breathing. The study authors believe the abnormalities underlie a vulnerability in the infant brain and may be responsible for an inability to wake up and take a breath under low oxygen conditions, such as when an infant’s mouth and nose are entrapped by bedding materials while sleeping face down.
Media Advisory: Researchers develop model for how the brain acquires essential omega-3 fatty acids
Findings may aid design of targeted drug delivery into the brain and central nervous system.