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).
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.
Children Follow Same Steps to Learn Vocabulary, Regardless of Language Spoken
Regardless of the language they are learning to speak, young children learn vocabulary in fundamentally the same way, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Pineal Gland Evolved to Improve Vision, According to Theory by NICHD Scientist
The pineal gland-which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking--appears to have evolved as an indirect way to improve vision, by keeping toxic compounds away from the eye, according to a new theory by a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health.
Genes Promoting Nerve, Other Cell Communications May Have Come From Bacteria
Some of the genes that allow nerve cells and some other types of cells to send elaborate chemical messages to each other appear to have been transferred to animals or their immediate ancestors from bacteria eons ago, according to a study by researchers from the National Library of Medicine and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, both part of the National Institutes of Health.
U.S., Irish Researchers Identify Important Clue to Genetic Basis for Neural Tube Defects
A team of U.S. and Irish researchers has come one step closer to understanding why a high proportion of the population is genetically at risk for neural tube defects, according to a genetic study by researchers in Ireland and at two of the National Institutes of Health, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Human Genome Research Institute.
NICHD Funded Researchers Discover Gene for Cornelia De Lange Syndrome
A team of researchers has discovered a gene for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, a disorder consisting of mental retardation, heart defects and a number of physical abnormalities.
Imaging Study Reveals Brain Function of Poor Readers Can Improve
A brain imaging study has shown that, after they overcome their reading disability, the brains of formerly poor readers begin to function like the brains of good readers, showing increased activity in a part of the brain that recognizes words.
New Study Finds Babies Born to Mothers Who Drink Alcohol Heavily May Suffer Permanent Nerve Damage
Newborns whose mothers drank alcohol heavily during pregnancy had damage to the nerves in the arms and legs, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.
NICHD Alerts Parents to Winter SIDS Risk
The cold winter months bring an increase in the number of infants who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, according to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.
New Study Identifies Gene Signaling Puberty
NIH-funded researchers have identified a gene that appears to be a crucial signal for the beginning of puberty in human beings as well as in mice.
Vulvodynia Workshop Highlights Prevalence of Disorder
Vulvodynia is a condition characterized by burning, stinging, irritation, or rawness of the female genital area when there is no apparent infection or skin disease that could cause these symptoms.
NICHD Study to Test Surgical Technique to Repair Spinal Defect Before Birth
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) will conduct a large study to determine whether a new surgery to correct spina bifida in the womb is safer and more effective than the traditional surgery to correct the disorder, which takes place a few days after birth.
Human Gene Affects Memory
NIH scientists have shown that a common gene variant influences memory for events in humans by altering a growth factor in the brain's memory hub.
Compounds Prevent Alcohol's Disruption of Important Developmental Process
Two experimental compounds prevent one of the cellular events that is a likely contributor to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Children's Reading Disability Attributed to Brain Impairment
Children who are poor readers appear to have a disruption in the part of their brain involved in reading phonetically, according to a sophisticated brain imaging study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Mouse With Rett Syndrome May Provide Model for Testing Treatments, Understanding Disorder
Scientists funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have developed a new mouse model for Rett syndrome - a heartbreaking disorder which gradually robs apparently healthy infants of their language, mental functioning, and ability to interact with others.
NIH Licenses New MRI Technology That Produces Detailed Images of Nerves, Other Soft Tissues
A new technology that allows physicians and researchers to make detailed, three-dimensional maps of nerve pathways in the brain, heart muscle fibers, and other soft tissues has been licensed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Infant Mortality Rate Drops, Children More Likely to Have A Working Parent, Be Read to, Report Says
Children in America are less likely to die during infancy than they were in previous years, less likely to smoke in 8th or 10th grade, and less likely to give birth during adolescence, according to the 6th annual report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2002.
Possible Gene for Form of Mental Retardation, Brain Development Identified
Researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have come one step closer to identifying one of the causes of previously unexplained mental retardation.
Researchers Gain Insight into Function of Memory Enhancing Drugs
Researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have come one step closer to understanding how experimental, memory-enhancing drugs affect the brain on a molecular level.