Children appear to approach adult levels of performance on many basic cognitive and motor skills by age 11 or 12, according to a new study coordinated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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.
Researchers Discover Gene Crucial for Nerve Cell Insulation
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how a defect in a single master gene disrupts the process by which several genes interact to create myelin, a fatty coating that covers nerve cells and increases the speed and reliability of their electrical signals.
Largest-ever Search for Autism Genes Reveals New Clues
The largest search for autism genes to date, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has implicated components of the brain's glutamate chemical messenger system and a previously overlooked site on chromosome 11.
Brain's Fear Center Shrinks in Autism's Most Severely Socially-Impaired
The brain's fear hub Likely becomes abnormally small in the most severely socially impaired males with autism spectrum disorders, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered.
World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse
Abuse of children and adolescents is a complex international problem that seems to defy simple analysis and easy answers. To understand child abuse and exploitation, and to make an impact on the outcomes of these children, the NICHD is joining the American Psychological Association in marking the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse on November 19.
SIDS Infants Show Abnormalities in Brain Area Controlling Breathing, Heart Rate Serotonin-Using Brain Cells Implicated in Abnormalities
Infants who die of sudden infant death syndrome have abnormalities in the brainstem, a part of the brain that helps control heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, temperature and arousal, report researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Backgrounder: Searching for Those at Greatest Risk for SIDS
The current study appears in the November 1 Journal of the American Medical Association provides additional evidence that brainstem abnormalities may impair an infant's ability to sense high carbon dioxide and low oxygen levels.
In Most Comprehensive Study Yet, Two-Week Regimen Helps Stroke Survivors Regain Arm Control
In the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind to date, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have shown that when stroke survivors who've lost function in one arm are given a unique, two-week rehabilitation regimen that involves restraining their functional arm, they show improvements that last for as long as one year post-treatment.
Gene Linked to Autism in Families with More Than One Affected Child
A version of a gene has been linked to autism in families that have more than one child with the disorder. Inheriting two copies of this version more than doubled a child's risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder, scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered.
Study Provides Evidence that Autism Affects Functioning of Entire Brain Previous View Held Autism Limited to Communication, Social Behavior, & Reasoning
A recent study provides evidence that autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain, and is not limited to the brain areas involved with social interactions, communication behaviors, and reasoning abilities, as had been previously thought. The study, conducted by scientists in a research network supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that autism also affects a broad array of skills and abilities, including those involved with sensory perception, movement, and memory.
Researchers Gain Insight into Why Brain Areas Fail to Work Together in Autism
Researchers have found in two studies that autism may involve a lack of connections and coordination in separate areas of the brain.
Electrical Impulses Foster Insulation of Brain Cells, Speeding Communications
Electrical impulses foster myelination, the insulation process that speeds communication among brain cells, report researchers at two institutes of the National Institutes of Health.
NICHD Alerts Parents to Winter SIDS Risk & Updated AAP Recommendations
The number of infants who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, increases in the cold winter months, according to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health.
Mouse Gene Accounts for Blood Abnormalities as Well as Parkinson's Symptoms
Mice found in a previous study to develop a Parkinson's-like deterioration when deprived of a gene for iron metabolism were also found to develop anemia and signs of a rare skin condition, according to a follow up study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers Uncover Key Step In Manufacture of Memory Protein
A cellular enzyme appears to play a crucial role in the manufacture of a protein needed for long-term memory, according to a team of researchers led by scientists at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Brains of People with Autism Recall Letters of the Alphabet in Brain Areas Dealing With Shapes
In contrast to people who do not have autism, people with autism remember letters of the alphabet in a part of the brain that ordinarily processes shapes, according to a study from a collaborative program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Infection Puts Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants at Risk For Developmental Delays
Extremely low birth weight infants--the tiniest category of premature infants are much more likely to experience developmental impairments if they acquire an infection during the newborn period, according to a study by the Neonatal Research Network of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.
Prolonged Crying in Infants a Marker for Later Cognitive Problems
Infants who cry persistently in an uncontrollable manner without any obvious cause after 12 weeks of age may be at risk for lower IQ scores and poorer fine motor skills by the time they reach 5 years of age, according to researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers Find Protein That Makes Long-Term Memory Possible
From language to literature, from music to mathematics, a single protein appears central to the formation of the long-term memories needed to learn these and all other disciplines, according to a team of researchers led by scientists at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Breathing Problems During Sleep May Affect Mental Development in Infants & Young Children
Children who have problems breathing during sleep tend to score lower on tests of mental development and intelligence than do other children their age, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).