Coming to the Association of Psychological Sciences Convention in Chicago? CLICK on the picture to see who is!
Here is what I am doing today:
“In a look at how major stressors during childhood can change a person’s biological risk for psychiatric disorders, researchers at Butler Hospital have discovered a genetic alteration at the root of the association. The research, published online in PLoS ONE on January 25, 2012, suggests that childhood adversity may lead to epigenetic changes in the human glucocorticoid receptor gene, an important regulator of the biological stress response that may increase risk for psychiatric disorders.
“Like their healthy peers, children with disabilities may spend too much time in front of a video screen. For children with cerebral palsy (CP), this leads to an even greater risk of being overweight or developing health issues such as diabetes or musculoskeletal disorders. A group of scientists has found that video games such as Nintendo’s Wii offer an enjoyable opportunity to promote light to moderate physical activity in children with CP, and may have a role to play in rehabilitation therapy. Their research is published online today in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.”
“Researchers in Spain have found that at least some of the individuals claiming to see the so-called aura of people actually have the neuropsychological phenomenon known as “synesthesia” (specifically, “emotional synesthesia”). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged ability.”
“A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has shown that an extra copy of a brain-development gene, which appeared in our ancestors’ genomes about 2.4 million years ago, allowed maturing neurons to migrate farther and develop more connections.”
“A study carried out by researchers from Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina suggests that in a work environment, sexual competition affects women more than men. However, a rival’s social skills provoke jealousy and professional envy equally in both sexes.”
“”Previous studies in mice have demonstrated that low doses of BPA alter the developing mammary gland and that these subtle changes increase the risk of cancer in the adult,” says Patricia Hunt, a geneticist in Washington State University’s School of Molecular Biosciences. “Some have questioned the relevance of these findings in mice to humans. But finding the same thing in a primate model really hits uncomfortably close to home.””
5 Comments
montalban · May 9, 2012 at 6:41 pm
“Childhood Adversity Causes Changes in Genetics”
In general, I feel like it makes sense for animals with lower levels of maternal care to experience greater sensitivity to stress and fear in certain situations because they were not eased into mechanisms on how to deal with these types of situations. For instance, a child that is taught how to cross the street would have less stress crossing the street later in his/her life because they have been guided on the proper way to handle that type of situation. However, if the child was not taught how to cross a street it is more likely that when this individual has to do this he/she will experience greater anxiety because he/she is learning by doing. Without the maternal care on how to deal with situations like these the individual will act blindly and may be unable to cope with the stresses or steps that should be taken prior to crossing the street. Although this is not the best example because maternal care is usually applied to different scenarios of younger animals/individuals, maternal care in other animals could range from anything on how to get food to how to avoid predators in dangerous situations. In addition, the biological part of this finding also makes sense because we know that stress has strange effects on humans. For instance, high levels of stress can throw off a woman’s menstrual cycle or it can cause individuals to get headaches in both men and women.
montalban · May 9, 2012 at 6:42 pm
“Kids with cerebral palsy may benefit from video game play”
I think that this is really cool because it is kind of a way to trick children with CP into helping themselves. We’ve all heard of those learning to read programs like Leapfrog that turned learning words and grammar into something that kids naturally enjoy doing. Incorporating work with play and disguising the work is, in my opinion, one of the most influential ways to teach kids. This also goes along with the idea of learning songs to remember all the presidents or the capitals of the U.S. I am glad that video games are not just for wasting away children’s time but actually help individuals with CP; it’s like the next generation where physical therapy is like a game literally. In addition, the fact that we now know that playing these types of video games can help children with CP, we could possibly create specific video games to better target the physical therapy affects that these games provide. As long as the game is fun, there is a goal in mind, and the goal is achievable; I’m sure children would love to play it. It would be a change in the video game industry if those creators began creating games that were less violent and more structured to help children; not only would this help parents in supporting their children to play video games but it may overall increase sales. Children would no doubt rather increase their motor skills and such by playing a game than doing physical therapy or boring exercises. I think that our society should begin to shift our focus when creating video games and other products towards child developmental skills rather than fake military games that promote violent behavior.
camillephillips3 · May 10, 2012 at 9:35 am
“Childhood Adversity Causes Changes In Genetics”
It has been known for quite some time that childhood adversity has negative consequences later in life, but it is a big step to be able to determine WHY adversity causes this. The determining that this affects the GR gene, this research could provide the crucial link which could prevent neglected children from having social and behavioral problems later on in life. Epigenetics is a very up-and-coming type of technology which could have a tremendous impact in finding cures and preventions of many disorders. Hopefully, by inducing and inhibiting the GR gene at various times, this will pave the way for preventing the consequences of childhood adversity.
anguye15 · May 11, 2012 at 6:47 pm
In response to “Jealousy and Envy at Work,” not only should they further the research and look into the intrasexual responses/behaviors of men (as the article mentioned as a limitation), but they should also look at whether this stays true for homosexual individuals, who may technically would not be applicable to the article’s definition of intrasexual rivalry–which is “competition with other people of the same sex caused by the desire to obtain and keep access to the opposite sex.” I think the results to either of these possible follow-up studies would be very intriguing, and of course would add content and/or contrast to this original study.
christucker · May 11, 2012 at 7:01 pm
“video games to those with cerebral palsy”
I loved this article! Because children with cerebral palsy are physically hindered and mentally handicapped, they might not be accepted by peers to participate in physically active sports. However, with video game systems like the Wii, these kids can have fun and be able to be physically active.
It is so important for kids to be physically active today that even playing Wii can make a difference in these kids’ lives. I love that there is research going on that directly works to help the underdogs of society.
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