Just enough information will motivate young children to learn, drive curiosity

Preschoolers need to know just enough, but not all, about something to motivate them to learn more

June 29, 2021

Science Daily/Rutgers University

Preschool children are sensitive to the gap between how much they know and how much there is to learn, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study.

The research, published in the journal Psychological Science, found preschool children are more likely to choose to gather more information about something if they know just enough about it to find it interesting, but not too much that it becomes boring.

Researchers say this "optimal" amount of existing knowledge creates the perfect mix of uncertainty and curiosity in children and motivates them to learn more.

"There is an infinite amount of information in the real world," said lead author Jenny Wang, an assistant professor of cognitive psychology at Rutgers. "Yet despite having to learn so much in such a short amount of time, young children seem to learn happily and effectively. We wanted to understand what drives their curiosity."

The study focused on how children's knowledge level influences what information they find interesting. The findings suggest that children are not simply attracted to information by its novelty.

According to Wang, children are naturally curious but the difficult question is how to harness this natural curiosity.

"Ultimately, findings like this will help parents and educators better support children when they actively explore and learn about the world," Wang said.

In a series of experiments, Wang and her coauthors designed in-person and online storybooks to measure how much 3- to 5-year-old preschool children know about different "knowledge domains." The experiment also assessed their ability to understand and comprehend a specific topic, such as contagion, and asked how children's current knowledge level predicts their interest in learning more about it, including whether someone will get sick after playing with a sneezing friend.

"Intuitively, curiosity seems to belong to those who know the most, like scientists, and those who know the least, like babies," said Wang, who directs the Rutgers Cognition and Learning Center (CALC). "But what we found here is quite surprising: it was children in the middle who showed the most interest in learning more about contagion, compared to children who knew too little or too much."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210629120827.htm

Managing attention deficit disorder by training the brain

June 29, 2021

Science Daily/Université de Genève

Scientists explored a technique called 'neurofeedback,' which enables ADHD patients to train their attention, based on instant feedback from the level of their brain activity. The team of neuroscientists found that not only did the training have a positive effect on patients' concentration abilities, but also that the attention improvement was closely linked to an enhanced response from the brain -- the P3 wave -- which is known to reflect integration of information in the brain.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects about 7% of children, with a two out of three chance of persisting into adulthood. This neurodevelopmental disorder is characterised by concentration difficulties, increased distractibility, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Today, ADHD is treated with pharmaceutical drugs that may have unwanted side effects. This is why scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Switzerland, explored a new technique called 'neurofeedback', which enables ADHD patients to train their attention, based on instant feedback from the level of their brain activity. The team of neuroscientists found that not only did the training have a positive effect on patients' concentration abilities, but also that the attention improvement was closely linked to an enhanced response from the brain- the P3 wave -- which is known to reflect integration of information in the brain, with higher P3 amplitudes indicating greater attention towards detected targets. The findings are open-access and have been published in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) develops in childhood and leads to numerous difficulties with attention, concentration and impulsiveness. It has genetic associated with environmental causes, and is characterised by a deficit in dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in executive functions. "These disorders persist for the most part into adulthood and lead to problems in relational and socio-professional functioning, making it easier for people with this disorder to turn to alcohol or drugs," notes Marie-Pierre Deiber, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine and at the HUG Division of Psychiatric Specialties.

Today, ADHD is treated with medications that increase the concentration of dopamine, which improves the patient's attention. As the disorder is often accompanied by depression, anxiety or even bipolar disorders, treatment is generally combined with psychotherapy. "However, pharmaceutical treatments can be accompanied by significant side effects, such as nervousness, sleep disturbance, but also an increased risk of developing other psychiatric disorders or cardiovascular diseases," explains Roland Hasler, a researcher in the HUG Division of Psychiatric Specialties. "This is why we wanted to investigate a completely non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatment based on the principle of 'neurofeedback'."

Sending the brain its own signals

Neurofeedback is a type of neurocognitive intervention based on the training of "real-time" brain signals. Using an electroencephalogram (EEG) with 64 sensors, the scientists capture the electrical activity of cortical neurons and focus their analysis on the spontaneous Alpha rhythm (with frequency around 10 Hertz), coupling its amplitude fluctuation to a video game that the patients can control with the power of their attention. "The aim of neurofeedback is to make the patients aware of the moments when they are no longer attentive. With practice, brain networks then "learn" to reduce attentional lapses through neuroplasticity," explains Tomas Ros, researcher in the Department of Basic Neurosciences at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine and at the Centre for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM). To do this, the patient's EEG is connected to a computer that displays the image of a space shuttle. When the patient is in an attentive brain state (low Alpha rhythm), this makes the space shuttle move forward. But as soon as the patient is distracted or loses attention (high Alpha rhythm), this stops the space-shuttle movement instantly. Faced with the stopping of the space shuttle, the patient realizes that he/she was no longer paying attention and refocuses to restart the shuttle.

Training the brain to focus without medication?

To measure the effects of neurofeedback training, the Geneva team administered an attention test to 25 adults with ADHD, and 22 neurotypical adults. The results showed that, at baseline, ADHD patients made more mistakes and had a more variable reaction time than the control participants, in line with a signature of impaired attention. After 30 minutes of neurofeedback training, the participants took the attention test again.

"The first finding was that stimulus detection and response variability were improved, indicating attentional enhancement," says Marie-Pierre Deiber. "But what interested us most was the impact of the neurofeedback training on the P3 component, which has previously been shown to be reduced in ADHD, and directly linked to the neurocognitive processing of the stimulus." The higher the amplitude of the P3, the more efficient the processing of the stimulus is, and the more accurate the response to the attention task. "The amplitude of the P3 increased significantly after neurofeedback training, and was directly associated with a reduction in the number of errors made by the patients," reports Tomas Ros.

This study firstly shows that a single 30-minute session of neurofeedback can induce short-term plasticity in the brain and encourages attentional improvements in ADHD patients. Secondly, it supports the existence of an electro-physiological marker of attentional processing in ADHD. "Thus, the P3 could be a cerebral signature that would allow us to better understand the neurocognitive mechanisms of ADHD," continues Nader Perroud, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine and at the HUG Division of Psychiatric Specialties. Finally, as the effects are evident in the short term, the scientists plan to carry out a neurofeedback treatment based on multiple training sessions, in order to observe whether the brain's plasticity is strengthened over time. "The ultimate goal is to enable patients to learn to concentrate without medication and to be able to train their brain in the comfort of their home," concludes Tomas Ros.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210629120746.htm

How environmental factors could provide for a young brain

June 29, 2021

Science Daily/DZNE - German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases

A stimulating environment keeps the "hippocampus" -- which is the brain's memory control center -- young, so to speak. Causes of this are molecular mechanisms that affect gene regulation. These current findings from studies in mice provide clues as to why an active, varied life can help preserve mental fitness in old age. Researchers from the DZNE and the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) at the Technische Universität Dresden report on this in the journal Nature Communications.

Human DNA -- and this also applies to mice -- contains thousands of genes. However, it is not only the genetic blueprint that is decisive for the function of a cell and whether it is healthy or not, but above all which genes can be switched on or off. Aging, living conditions and behavior are known to influence this ability to activate genes. The phenomenon, referred to as "epigenetics," was the focus of the current study. For this, researchers including Dr. Sara Zocher and Prof. Gerd Kempermann examined mice that had grown up in different environments: One group of animals experienced, from a young age, an "enriched" environment with toys and tunnel tubes. The rodents of a second group did not have such occupational opportunities.

Attachments to the DNA

When the scientists examined the genome, they found that in those mice that grew up in the stimulating environment, there was, with age, only a relatively small change in certain chemical tags of the DNA. In mice from the low-stimulus environment, these changes were much more pronounced -- in comparison between young and older animals. "We registered so-called methyl groups, which stick to the DNA," explains Gerd Kempermann, speaker for the DZNE's Dresden site, DZNE research group leader and also a scientist at the CRTD. "These chemical attachments do not alter the genetic information per se. Rather, they influence whether individual genes can be activated or not."

Malleable Brains

Such "epigenetic markings" tend to diminish with age, but in the animals with stimulating living conditions, the decrease in methyl groups was comparatively small. Thus, in old mice raised in a varied environment, gene activity had, in a sense, remained young. In particular, this affected a series of genes relevant to growing new neurons and cellular connections in the hippocampus. "Epigenetically, these animals retained a younger hippocampus," Kempermann says. Therefore, the brains of these mice were more malleable -- experts speak of greater "neuroplasticity" -- than in conspecifics of the same age that had grown up in a low-stimulus environment.

The current study did not include behavioral experiments. However, Kempermann points out that many other studies have shown that mice raised in high-stimulus settings perform better on memory tests than those from low-stimulus environments. "It is fair to assume that this mental fitness is due to the stabilization of methylation patterns that we observed," the neuroscientist says. "Of course, the question is to what extent our findings also apply to humans. Here, the situation is likely to be more complicated. After all, it is about how living conditions influence behavior and the way humans react to external stimuli is much more complex than in mice. However, we have good reasons to believe that the basic epigenetic principles are the same in humans as in mice."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210629120733.htm

Evidence against physically punishing kids is clear

June 29, 2021

Science Daily/University of Texas at Austin

A conclusive narrative review has found physical punishment of children is not effective in preventing child behavior problems or promoting positive outcomes and instead predicts increases in behavior problems and other poor outcomes over time. The study by an international group of scientists including a researcher from The University of Texas at Austin was published today in The Lancet.

Caregivers in many parts of the world use physical punishment as a response to children's perceived misbehavior: 63% of children between the ages of 2 and 4 worldwide -- approximately 250 million children -- are regularly subjected to physical punishment by caregivers.

Sixty-two countries have banned the practice, which is increasingly seen as a form of violence.

The team looked at studies involving physical punishment such as spanking and excluded any behaviors that could constitute child physical abuse. The researchers found ample evidence to support a United Nations statement from the Committee on the Rights of the Child that recommended countries end the use of all types of physical punishment on children.

"There is no evidence that physical punishment is good for children," said Elizabeth Gershoff, the Amy Johnson McLaughlin Centennial Professor in Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin and senior author of the paper. "All the evidence indicates that physical punishment is harmful to children's development and well-being."

The review looked at 69 studies, most of which were from the United States, with eight from other countries. Scientists found that physical punishment was not associated with any positive outcomes for children and increased the risk that children would experience severe violence or neglect. The paper points out that negative outcomes associated with physical punishment, such as behavior problems, occurred no matter the child's sex, race, or ethnicity and regardless of the overall parenting styles of the caregivers. The authors also found evidence that the magnitude of negative outcomes for children increased the more frequently physical punishment was used.

"Parents hit their children because they think doing so will improve their behavior," Gershoff said. "Unfortunately for parents who hit, our research found clear and compelling evidence that physical punishment does not improve children's behavior and instead makes it worse."

In the U.S., it is legal in all 50 states for parents to use physical punishment. It is also legal in 19 states for schools to use physical punishment against children. The paper was intended as a resource for policymakers and people who work with families, such as medical and mental health providers.

"This is a public health issue," said Anja Heilmann, lead author of the paper who is an associate professor at University College London. "Given the strength of the evidence that physical punishment has the potential to cause harm to children, policymakers have a responsibility to protect children and legislate to end the use of physical punishment in all settings."

Gershoff previously authored a landmark 2016 meta-analysis of dozens of studies and found that physical punishment was not associated with any positive outcomes for children and was heavily associated with a variety of negative outcomes. Gershoff's work was cited by former Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. in a 2016 federal letter urging states to consider ending the use of physical punishment in schools. Gershoff also helped to inform policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association that use research on the harmful effects of physical punishment as a basis for recommending that caregivers no longer use it.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210629101233.htm

The most curious babies become the most curious toddlers

Infants' responses to surprising events are linked to later cognitive ability

June 28, 2021

Science Daily/Johns Hopkins University

A first-of-its-kind longitudinal study of infant curiosity found that months-old babies most captivated by magic tricks became the most curious toddlers, suggesting a pre-verbal baby's level of interest in surprising aspects of the world remains constant over time and could predict their future cognitive ability.

"Something about a baby's curiosity about magic tricks is predicting how curious they become as preschoolers," said Lisa Feigenson, co-director of the Johns Hopkins University Laboratory for Child Development. "What the data suggest is that some three-year-olds have a leg up or seem particularly well positioned to learn a lot about the world."

The findings appear today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Until this study, little was known about curiosity in the pre-verbal mind, as curiosity has mainly been studied in much older children and adults.

The key question behind this work was sparked by Feigenson's own curiosity, and that of lead author Johns Hopkins graduate student Jasmin Perez, about a constant frustration with the classic experimental method for studying infant cognition. In those experiments, babies are shown regular objects and objects behaving in surprising, unexpected ways. Many but not all babies tend to look longer at the unexpected events. Some will stare and stare at a car that seems to float in midair or a ball that seems to pass through a solid wall. Other babies will take a glimpse, yawn and they're done.

Researchers assumed the variability was due to babies being babies -- maybe they were fussy or hungry or distracted. But Feigenson and Perez suspected something important was happening.

"We started to wonder if maybe all of that individual variability is actually meaningful, and tells us that babies are responding to the world differently, from baby to baby," Perez said.

To find out, they launched an experiment where they studied 65 babies over time. At 11 months old, some babies were shown a toy that behaved normally, while others saw the toy seemingly pass straight through a wall. Six months later, the babies, now a year and a half old, now saw either a new toy that behaved normally, or seemed to float in mid-air.

"We found babies who looked really long at magical objects at 11 months were the same babies that looked really long at magical objects at 17 months," Perez said. "Babies are affected by these magical events in different ways, and these ways appear to be stable across a six-month period during infancy."

There was also little change in the least interested babies over the six-month period.

But was this difference among babies predictive of future thinking? To determine that, the team originally wanted to bring the participants back to the lab after they turned three, but because of the pandemic, they instead sent their parents standardized curiosity questionnaires.

They found that the babies who looked longest at events that defied their expectations were the ones whose parents rated them as most curious in an information-seeking, problem-solving way -- the type of curiosity most likely to help children learn about the world.

Feigenson's lab previously found that these magical, expectation-defying events are learning opportunities for babies. The new findings, which show some kids are better at noticing these surprising events in the first place, raise the possibility that some kids are better positioned to learn, at least in this way that uses expectation violations as leverage to think more deeply about the world.

The team plans to follow-up with the cohort to see just how long lasting and broad the individual differences among the children become.

"One reason these results are exciting is they open the door to so many other important questions," Feigenson said. "What does it mean for the children in the future? Are these kids also rated as most curious in middle school? Are those kids going to score highest on school achievement tests or IQ tests? These results are screaming out for longitudinal follow-up."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210628152903.htm

Flickering screens may help children with reading and writing difficulties

June 10, 2021

Science Daily/University of Gothenburg

Previous studies have shown that children with attention difficulties and/or ADHD solve cognitive tasks better when they are exposed to auditory white noise. However, this is the first time that such a link has been demonstrated between visual white noise and cognitive abilities such as memory, reading and non-word decoding in children with reading and writing difficulties.

"The white noise to which we exposed the children, also called visual pixel noise, can be compared with giving children glasses. The effect on reading and memory was immediate," explains Göran Söderlund, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Gothenburg and Professor of Special Education at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

11-year-olds tested 

The study was conducted on around 80 students in the Småland region of southern Sweden. The children who took part were selected following a word recognition test and were split into three groups: good readers, children with some reading difficulties and children with major reading difficulties (i.e. having phonological impairments).

In the study, the children were asked to read 12 words while being exposed to four different levels of visual white noise, from zero to high. The test involved assessing how many of the words the children could read correctly and how many words they were able to recall afterwards.

White noise improves reading skills and memory 

The results showed that the group with major reading difficulties, particularly phonological difficulties, performed significantly better when exposed to visual pixel noise. They read more words correctly and also recalled more words in the moderate noise conditions. The white noise had no effect or negative effects on the good readers and those with only minor reading problems.

"This is the first evidence of visual white noise having effects on higher-level cognition, in this case both reading and memory," says Göran Söderlund.

Right amount of white noise key

The children were exposed to different levels of white noise, with the results showing that the amount of noise is critical for reading and memory.

"You can compare it with being shortsighted and needing glasses. We saw that when we exposed the children to a medium level of white noise, their reading improved. However, their reading skills were less good when there was no noise or a high level of noise," adds Göran.

"These results show that children with reading and writing difficulties can be helped with an incredibly simple intervention. By adjusting screens in school or at home, we hope to be able to resolve their problems at a stroke. This is the first study of its kind, and replications are needed."

Further research required 

Göran Söderlund now wants to further investigate the effects of white noise. He hopes that new studies can answer the question of whether practising with white noise for a prolonged period can lead to lasting improvements.

"It's worth exploring, as we just don't know. This first study of ours is basic research. But our results show that the children improved immediately, so it's important to continue with new studies to establish whether this simple measure, which everyone can do on their own laptop, will actually provide enduring help for these children."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210610091052.htm

Persistent insomnia symptoms since childhood associated with mood, anxiety disorders

Study emphasizes importance of early interventions to address insomnia symptoms in children

June 9, 2021

Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine

A 15-year longitudinal study shows that childhood insomnia symptoms that persist into adulthood are strong determinants of mood and anxiety disorders in young adults.

Results show that insomnia symptoms persisting from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood were associated with a 2.8-fold increased risk of internalizing disorders. Insomnia symptoms that newly developed over the course of the study were associated with a 1.9-fold increased risk of internalizing disorders. No increased risk of internalizing disorders was found for those children in whom insomnia symptoms remitted during the study period.

"We found that about 40% of children do not outgrow their insomnia symptoms in the transition to adolescence and are at risk of developing mental health disorders later on during early adulthood," said lead author Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, who has a doctorate in psychobiology and is an associate professor at Penn State College of Medicine. He is a psychologist board certified in behavioral sleep medicine at Penn State Health Sleep Research and Treatment Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Data were analyzed from the Penn State Child Cohort, a population-based sample of 700 children with a median age of 9 years. The researchers had followed up 8 years later with 421 participants when they were adolescents (median age of 16 years) and now 15 years later with 492 of them when they were young adults (median age of 24 years). Insomnia symptoms were defined as moderate-to-severe difficulties initiating or maintaining sleep.

The symptoms were parent-reported in childhood and self-reported in adolescence and young adulthood. The presence of internalizing disorders was defined as a self-report of a diagnosis or treatment for mood and/or anxiety disorders. Results were adjusted for sex, race/ethnicity, age, and any prior history of internalizing disorders or use of medications for mental health problems.

According to the authors, childhood insomnia symptoms have been shown to be associated with internalizing disorders, which include depressive disorders and anxiety disorders. "These new findings further indicate that early sleep interventions are warranted to prevent future mental health problems, as children whose insomnia symptoms improved over time were not at increased risk of having a mood or anxiety disorder as young adults," said Fernandez-Mendoza.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210609143437.htm

A link between childhood stress and early molars

June 9, 2021

Science Daily/University of Pennsylvania

Early in her career neuroscientist Allyson Mackey began thinking about molars. As a researcher who studies brain development, she wanted to know whether when these teeth arrived might indicate early maturation in children.

"I've long been concerned that if kids grow up too fast, their brains will mature too fast and will lose plasticity at an earlier age. Then they'll go into school and have trouble learning at the same rate as their peers," says Mackey, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Penn. "Of course, not every kid who experiences stress or [is] low income will show this pattern of accelerated development."

What would help, she thought, was a scalable, objective way -- a physical manifestation, of sorts -- to indicate how children embodied and responded to stresses in their world. Eruption timing of the first permanent molars proved to be just that.

In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Mackey, with doctoral student Cassidy McDermott and colleagues from Penn's School of Dental Medicine and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, shows that children from lower-income backgrounds and those who go through greater adverse childhood experiences get their first permanent molars earlier. The findings, generated initially from a small study and replicated using a nationally representative dataset, align with a broader pattern of accelerated development often seen under conditions of early-life stress.

"It's really important for us to understand how to detect early maturation sooner," Mackey says. "Right now, we're relying on seeing when kids hit puberty, which might be too late for some meaningful interventions. If we can inexpensively see that a child is experiencing this maturation earlier, we might be able to direct more intervention resources toward them."

A novel rating system

Broadly speaking, Mackey's lab studies how the brain changes and grows as people learn. It's well-established that stress during childhood speeds up maturation and that children who hit puberty earlier are at greater risk for both physical and mental health problems in adulthood.

Beyond that, in studies across primate species, molar eruption has been used to measure childhood length and correlates with a number of other developmental events. Similarly, for humans, the timing of dental events often plays a role in estimating biological age.

"That all made molar eruption a compelling developmental indicator," says McDermott, who is training to be a clinical psychologist.

It helped that more than 100 children, ages 4 to 7, had been participating in two Penn brain development studies, which included structural and functional MRI scans. "There's one type of MRI scan called a T2 weighted scan where you can visualize the morphology of the tooth pretty well," McDermott says. These scans -- typically used to look at the brain -- showed the researchers just how close these molars were to breaking through the gum line.

Once Mackey and McDermott realized this, they partnered with Katherine Hilton, then a student in Penn Dental Medicine, and Muralidhar Mupparapu, a professor in the Department of Oral Medicine, who developed a novel scale to precisely rate each tooth's position.

"The scale ranges from 1 to 4," McDermott says. "At the low end of the scale is 1, which is before the tooth has really developed at all. As the tooth emerges, there are intermediate stages, and the highest rating, a 4, is when the tooth is fully in the mouth and parallel with the other teeth." Four molars each received a score, which then got averaged, leaving a single score per individual.

Controlling for factors like age and gender, the researchers then looked for associations between early environment and molar eruption. "What we found is that income and adverse childhood experiences are both individually associated with molar eruptions status," McDermott says.

Replicating the findings

Those findings derived from just 117 participants, so although the correlation was clear, Mackey and McDermott hoped to replicate what they'd seen.

Collaborators at the University of Missouri-Kansas City told them about a large population-representative dataset called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which is publicly available and includes dental data, demographic data, and family income, among other measures.

"Because our sample is only from one city and is much smaller than a population-representative study like that," McDermott says, "we saw it as an opportunity to verify that the findings exist outside of what we had collected in Philadelphia."

Though some facets differed -- NHANES measures dental development a little differently, for example -- the models showed similar results, indicating a connection between lower family income and earlier first molars.

Whether this overall trend is new or just now coming to light is something Mackey wants to study further. She's also curious about when the rate of maturation gets set. "Is it as early as in utero or is it dynamically adjusted based on stressors in the world?" she says. "If it's the latter, that tells you there are more opportunities to intervene."

Present implications, future work

There are still significant unknowns, as well as findings that need further examination, Mackey says. For example, the research team found racial disparities in this timing, with first molars emerging in Black children sooner than in white children.

"These race differences in molar eruption have been known for a long time, but no one thought critically about where they came from," she says. "It's consistent with higher levels of stress due to structural racism. This is a clear indication that it's not just speculation that experiences with racism can cause stress and early aging. They are having an effect on kids that we can't ignore."

For all children, a year-plus of pandemic-driven grief and social isolation most certainly amplified stress levels, making it even more important to understand who is at greatest risk for early maturation, Mackey says.

Yet she and McDermott emphasize that molar timing shouldn't become another parental fear. "What I really don't want is for parents to either worry or feel complacent just based on when their kids got their molars," says Mackey. "We don't have those data yet."

The Penn researchers are working on it. In the future, they hope to collaborate with dental offices to recruit children into studies based on their molar-eruption status. The goal would be to follow them into adulthood, to get more information on what precisely early first molars may indicate. "If this is the meaningful discovery that I think it is," Mackey says, "I would love for many scientists to jump on board and test these hypotheses."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210609123414.htm

Sugar overload may be a recipe for long-term problems

A new study on the impact of sugar supports World Health Organization recommendations

June 8, 2021

Science Daily/Queensland University of Technology

Children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired, as adults, according to the results of a new study of mice led by QUT and published by Frontiers in Neuroscience.

The study resulted in a reduced risk of sugar-induced weight gain and other health problems when the mice were given a much smaller daily dose of sucrose, supporting World Health Organisation calls for a reduction in sugar intake by humans.

One of the lead authors, QUT neuroscientist Professor Selena Bartlett, says many children, adolescents, and adults in more than 60 countries, including Australia, have a diet consisting of more than four times the sugar (100g) recommended by the World Health Organisation (25g per person per day).

"More work needs to be done in the investigation of the long-term effects of sugar on adolescents and adults but our results with the mouse model are very promising," said Professor Bartlett.

"Recent evidence shows obesity and impulsive behaviours caused by poor dietary habits leads to further overconsumption of processed food and beverages but the long-term effects on cognitive processes and hyperactivity from sugar overconsumption, beginning at adolescence, are not known," said Professor Bartlett.

"Our study found long-term sugar consumption (a 12-week period with the mice which started the trial at five weeks of age) at a level that significantly boosts weight gain, elicits an abnormal and excessive stimulation of the nervous system in response to novelty. It also alters both episodic and spatial memory. These results are like those reported in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.

"Human trials would need to be done but it suggests a link to the long-term overconsumption of sugar, beginning at a young age, which occurs more commonly in the Western Diet and an increased risk of developing persistent hyperactivity and neurocognitive deficits in adulthood."

Professor Bartlett said while the concept of 'sugar addiction' and the classification of sugar as a substance of abuse were still being debated, there is increasing evidence of overlap in the brain circuitry and molecular signalling pathways involved in sugar consumption and drug abuse.

"People consume sugar and food to regulate energy balance, but also for pleasure and comfort. This hedonistic desire for palatable food is reward-driven and overeating can impact upon and even override our ability to regulate," Professor Bartlett said.

"It is increasingly considered that unrestricted consumption of high-sugar food and beverages within the Western Diet might be linked to the increased obesity epidemic. A strong association between attention-deficits/hyperactivity disorders and being overweight or obese have also been revealed.

"Taken together, these data suggest that sugar-induced obesity may participate to the developing pathogenesis of ADHD-like symptoms in western countries. In children, high sugar consumption correlates with hyperactivity and in adults, with inattention and impulsivity.

"What has been unclear though, is whether chronic overconsumption of sucrose -- starting from childhood -- would have the same negative impact on our nervous system, emotions or cognition throughout adulthood as other addictive drugs.

"This study on mice goes a long way to resolving that question. Our results show for the first time that long-term consumption of sucrose leads to significant weight gain and produces persistent hyperactivity and learning impairments."

Co-lead author Dr Arnauld Belmer added that while the overall sugar consumption has dropped since the mid-1990s, obesity rates have climbed.

"This rise in obesity rates could result from a delayed effect of excess sugar, suggesting that adult obesity may be driven by high sugar intake over a life span," Dr Belmer said.

"Interestingly, our investigation with the mice found reducing the daily sucrose intake four-fold did prevent sugar-induced increase in weight gain, supporting the WHO's recommendation to restrict sugar intake by this amount would be effective. It could also limit the other negative consequences including hyperactivity and cognitive impairment."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210608092239.htm

Lack of math education negatively affects adolescent brain and cognitive development

A new study suggests that not having any math education after the age of 16 can be disadvantageous

June 7, 2021

Science Daily/University of Oxford

Adolescents who stopped studying maths exhibited greater disadvantage -- compared with peers who continued studying maths -- in terms of brain and cognitive development, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

133 students between the ages of 14-18 took part in an experiment run by researchers from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. Unlike the majority of countries worldwide, in the UK 16-year-old students can decide to stop their maths education. This situation allowed the team to examine whether this specific lack of maths education in students coming from a similar environment could impact brain development and cognition.

The study found that students who didn't study maths had a lower amount of a crucial chemical for brain plasticity (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) in a key brain region involved in many important cognitive functions, including reasoning, problem solving, maths, memory and learning. Based on the amount of brain chemical found in each student, researchers were able to discriminate between adolescents who studied or did not study maths, independent of their cognitive abilities. Moreover, the amount of this brain chemical successfully predicted changes in mathematical attainment score around 19 months later. Notably, the researchers did not find differences in the brain chemical before the adolescents stopped studying maths.

Roi Cohen Kadosh, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, led the study. He said: "Maths skills are associated with a range of benefits, including employment, socioeconomic status, and mental and physical health. Adolescence is an important period in life that is associated with important brain and cognitive changes. Sadly, the opportunity to stop studying maths at this age seems to lead to a gap between adolescents who stop their maths education compared to those who continue it. Our study provides a new level of biological understanding of the impact of education on the developing brain and the mutual effect between biology and education.

"It is not yet known how this disparity, or its long-term implications, can be prevented. Not every adolescent enjoys maths so we need to investigate possible alternatives, such as training in logic and reasoning that engage the same brain area as maths."

Professor Cohen Kadosh added, "While we started this line of research before COVID-19, I also wonder how the reduced access to education in general, and maths in particular (or lack of it due to the pandemic) impacts the brain and cognitive development of children and adolescents. While we are still unaware of the long-term influence of this interruption, our study provides an important understanding of how a lack of a single component in education, maths, can impact brain and behaviour."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210607161149.htm

Attentive listening helps teens open up

June 4, 2021

Science Daily/University of Reading

Engaged listening techniques such as eye contact, nodding and using key words to praise openness helps teenagers when they admit bad behaviour and share hurt feelings with their parents, a new study has shown.

University of Reading and Haifa researchers asked 1001 13 to 16-year-olds to watch a staged conversation between a parent and teenager about a difficult situation, with the parent adopting different body language and listening behaviour in different versions.

The participants who watched the versions where the parent was visibly attentive stated that they would have felt better about themselves as the teenager and would be more likely to open up about their feelings again in the future.

The study, the first to look at quality of listening in isolation from other parenting techniques, revealed that being more engaged while listening made the teenagers feel more authentic and connected with the parent.

Dr Netta Weinstein, associate professor in clinical and social psychology at the University of Reading, who co-led the study, said:

"We all know that listening to someone talk about their problems is an effective way of reassuring them and establishing a connection. However, until now there has been little thought given to the quality of that listening, and the difference that makes."

"This study shows that in parent-teenager relationships, quietly listening to a teenager while showing them they are valued and appreciated for their honesty has a powerful effect on their willingness to open up."

For the study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, a roughly even split of male and female adolescents were recruited, with three identifying as another gender. The team found that active listening was equally important across all participants.

The first video conversation scenario portrayed a teenage boy admitting to his mother that he had tried vaping and felt ashamed, and in the second he tells his mother he was rejected by his peers after refusing to vape and felt hurt.

Each video scenario had a version where the parent listened attentively, and another where they appeared more distracted, and used less eye contact.

Dr Weinstein said:

"With such a large group of participants, it is reassuring to see that active listening was universally beneficial across these years of adolescence."

"The study has some important implications for teenage wellbeing as well. The participants said that the good listening model observed in the videos would lead to better wellbeing. Although we don't know how often the expectations meets reality, but it's clear that active listening is more likely to lead to a good outcome for teenagers than the more passive style we tested it against."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210604122722.htm

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It's never too early to begin healthy eating habits

New randomized trial shows promoting healthy guidelines result

June 1, 2021

Science Daily/Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil found that when health workers were trained to promote infant healthy feeding practices to pregnant women their children consumed less fats and carbohydrates at 3 years of age and had lower measures of body fat at the age of 6. The study is the first to show that the roots for obesity start in the first year of life, after mothers stop breastfeeding. The findings are published online in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.

"The first year after birth is a critical window for the establishment of habits that will influence health patterns throughout one's lifetime, said Caroline N. Sangalli, in the Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil, and first author. "The message worldwide is that to avoid obesity later in life you cannot start too early to help mothers feed their children well. And this study is proof of principle that it is possible to change a mother's behavior."

"Most surprising was that the mothers in our randomized trial offered ultra-processed foods, that are high in sugar and fat, as early as 6 months of age," said Ma?rcia Vitolo, Graduate Program in Pediatrics: Child and Adolescent Health Care, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil, and co-senior author. "This behavior can be explained by cultural influences and strong marketing of processed baby foods which continues globally."

The researchers conducted the randomized trial in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 31 centers that provide prenatal, infant, and other primary care services to low-income families. The intervention was based on births from May 2008 to February 2009 and consisted of a training program to increase the knowledge of primary healthcare workers centered on the 'Ten Steps for Healthy Feeding for Brazilian Children from Birth to Two Years of Age', the Brazilian dietary guideline.

All families were informed about complementary foods that should not be offered to children under 2 years of age (i.e., cookies, snacks, soft drinks and sweets) through posters in waiting rooms. Trained interviewers measured children's growth and other outcomes at ages 6 months, 12 months, 3 years and 6 years at subsequent home visits. Details about food types, amounts and preparation methods were also recorded.

Energy intake at all ages was lower in the intervention group compared to the control group with a statistically significant difference at age 3 years. Also, children from the intervention group at 3 years of age had lower consumption of carbohydrates and total fat than the control group and at 6 years of age had accumulated less body fat as measured by a smaller waist circumference and thinner skinfolds. "We found that the energy intake in both study groups was above the requirement across all age waves; however, the excess energy intake was less in the intervention group," observed Sangalli, who analyzed the study results with Dr. L.H. Lumey at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health with a grant from the Brazil government. "Although the disparity was slight at the onset, in the long term, the reduced intake of 92 kcal per day adds up to 33,000 kcal per year, and changes of this magnitude could explain changes in weight gain during childhood."

The findings were particularly striking with regard to calories from cookies and powder chocolate, important sources of carbohydrates and fats. During the health workers training, sugar, sweets, soft drinks, salty snacks, cookies and ultra-processed foods were emphasized as foods for mothers to avoid for their babies until 2 years of age.

The intervention group at 6 years of age had lower body fat on several measures but this difference was not reflected in BMI-scores, a less sensitive measure of adiposity. "However with the prevalence of overweight in the intervention group at 7 percent lower than the control group at 6 years, this does suggest a valuable public health impact -- especially since estimates indicate that the reduction in 1 percent of obesity prevalence among children up to age 6 years would save $1.7 billion in medical costs," said Vitolo.

"Many individuals including Alice Waters, Jamie Oliver, and Michelle Obama have devoted efforts to improve school lunches and eating habits of school age children to aid in the fight against obesity," said Dr. Lumey, professor of Epidemiology and a co-senior author. "All these efforts are to be applauded and encouraged. What this study suggests is that we might have to think even earlier. Feeding practices early in life can already have a significant impact on the body size of pre-school children."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210601135806.htm

Kids who sleep with their pet still get a good night's rest

Study upends common beliefs about sharing the bed with four-legged friends

June 2, 2021

Science Daily/Concordia University

There is a long-held belief that having your pet sleep on the bed is a bad idea. Aside from taking up space, noisy scratching, or triggering allergies, the most common assertion averred that your furry companion would disrupt your sleep.

A new study published in the journal Sleep Health tells a different story. Researchers at Concordia's Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab (PPHP) found that the sleep quality of the surprisingly high number of children who share a bed with their pets is indistinguishable from those who sleep alone.

"Sleeping with your pet does not appear to be disruptive," says the paper's lead author, PhD student Hillary Rowe. "In fact, children who frequently slept with their pet endorsed having higher sleep quality."

Rowe co-wrote the paper with fellow PPHP researchers Denise Jarrin, Neressa Noel, Joanne Ramil and Jennifer McGrath, professor of psychology and the laboratory's director.

Serendipitous findings

The data the researchers used was found amid the findings of the larger Healthy Heart Project, a longitudinal study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which explores the links between childhood stress, sleep and circadian timing.

Children and parents answered questionnaires about bedtime routines and sleep hygiene: keeping a consistent bedtime, having a relaxing pre-sleep routine and sleeping in a quiet comfortable space. For two weeks, children wore wearables (wrist actigraphy) and filled out daily logs to track their sleep. Children were also fitted with a specialized home polysomnography device for one night to allow the researchers to record their brain waves (EEG signals) while they were sleeping.

"One of the sleep hygiene questions asked if they shared their bed with a pet," McGrath says. "We were startled to find that one in three children answered yes!"

Following this discovery, they looked to see what the existing literature said about the subject of bed-sharing with animals. They found a few studies with adults, but almost nothing with youth.

"Co-sleeping with a pet is something many children are doing, and we don't know how it influences their sleep," Rowe adds. "So, from a sleep science perspective, we felt this was something important we should look into."

Shining a better light on sleep measurement

The researchers categorized the children into one of three groups based on how often they sleep with their pet: never, sometimes or frequent. They then compared the three groups across a diverse range of sleep variables to see if there were any significant differences between them.

"Given the larger goals of the Healthy Heart Project, we were able to not only look at bedtimes and amount of time sleeping (duration), but also how long it took to fall asleep (latency), nighttime awakenings (disruptions) and sleep quality," McGrath says. They found that the three groups were generally similar across all sleep dimensions.

"The findings suggest that the presence of a pet had no negative impact on sleep," Rowe notes. "Indeed, we found that children who slept with their pets most often reported higher perceived sleep quality, especially among adolescents."

She hypothesizes that the children are more likely to consider pets as their friends and derive comfort from sleeping with them.

"These findings also sharpen our thinking about how to improve technology to measure sleep," McGrath adds.

"Many wearables like Apple Watch and Fitbit or even smartphones themselves have accelerometers that detect movement to decode one's sleep. Given the number of people who share their bed with their partner, or their pet, it may be sensible to develop a setting for co-sleeping to tweak the algorithm used to define sleep intrusions or awakenings, which would make for a much more accurate sleep assessment."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210602153334.htm

Head injury and concussion in toddlers: Early detection of symptoms is vital

June 1, 2021

Science Daily/University of Montreal

A research team led by scientists at Université de Montréal has developed a unique observational tool for assessing children up to 5 years of age who have had a concussion. The work is explained in a study published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is particularly prevalent in toddlers; they're more likely to be injured because they have a lower sense of danger and are still developing physically. But parents and clinicians have trouble detecting symptoms of trauma, given the toddler's limited verbal skills.

"A young child will not tell you that they have a headache or feel dizzy," said Dominique Dupont, an UdeM postdoctoral student in neuropsychology and first author of the study.

"But assessing post-concussion symptoms is the cornerstone for patient management and follow-up," she added. "Without documentation, it's difficult to know whether they're doing well or not."

To address the lack of assessment tools for this age group, UdeM neuropsychology professor Miriam Beauchamp, who conducts research at the UdeM-affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine children's hospital, designed a new observational tool that allows parents and clinicians to assess the child's health status.

Can be damaging

Traditionally, it was suggested that TBI in early childhood did not have significant adverse effects, because the high plasticity of the brain at this time of life allowed for rapid recovery.

"This is true to some extent, but the reverse is also true," said Beauchamp, the study's principal author and director of the ABCs Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory. "In young children, many things are not yet permanently consolidated. So when a shock disrupts brain function, the response can be as damaging as in older children."

She added: "We felt it was paramount to develop a tool to document the physical, cognitive, and behavioural status of these children and allow for appropriate clinical management."

The tool is also designed to document the progression of symptoms and their severity over time.

The challenge for 0- to 5-year-olds is that they do not have the communication skills to verbalize their condition. In addition, post-concussion symptoms can easily be confused with behaviours typical of this developmental period.

"No one is surprised when a 1-year-old becomes irritable or throws up their snack," said Dupont.

Long list of symptoms

In designing their new tool, the researchers listed all the known symptoms observed in older patients: headaches, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, hypersensitivity to light and noise, irritability, balance or coordination problems, dizziness, and sleep problems are among them.

They then catalogued, with the support of parents of children in the LION cohort and the emergency care staff at CHU Sainte-Justine, post-concussion manifestations observed in very young children. The research team then broke down these symptoms into observations that reflect their child's actual condition.

"Unlike the questionnaires we use with older children, here we include examples to explain how symptoms can manifest in a young child," said Beauchamp. "We also added observations that are potentially unique to this age group and therefore not found in existing questionnaires.

"For example, we asked questions about so-called comfort-seeking: 'Is my baby in my arms more often?' and 'Does my child keep asking for their pacifier or stuffed animal?' We also use 'regression' observations: 'Was my child potty trained, but is no longer?' and 'Did my child sleep through the night, but now wakes up at all hours?'"

She added: "This study is very promising, as it allows us to design patterns to validate our tool.

"We are continuing our research to compare post-concussion symptoms with the behaviour of children who have not been injured in a large multi-centre study in Canada. Ultimately, we'll be able to transfer the tool to clinical use throughout Quebec, and even internationally."

Finally, the study "also highlights the importance for parents to be vigilant in tracking behavioural changes in their child," she said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210601121801.htm

Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain

June 1, 2021

Science Daily/Virginia Tech

An enhanced learning environment during the first five years of life shapes the brain in ways that are apparent four decades later, say Virginia Tech and University of Pennsylvania scientists writing in the June edition of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

The researchers used structural brain imaging to detect the developmental effects of linguistic and cognitive stimulation starting at six weeks of age in infants. The influence of an enriched environment on brain structure had formerly been demonstrated in animal studies, but this is the first experimental study to find a similar result in humans.

"Our research shows a relationship between brain structure and five years of high-quality, educational and social experiences," said Craig Ramey, professor and distinguished research scholar with Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and principal investigator of the study. "We have demonstrated that in vulnerable children who received stimulating and emotionally supportive learning experiences, statistically significant changes in brain structure appear in middle age."

The results support the idea that early environment influences the brain structure of individuals growing up with multi-risk socioeconomic challenges, said Martha Farah, director of the Center for Neuroscience and Society at Penn and first author of the study.

"This has exciting implications for the basic science of brain development, as well as for theories of social stratification and social policy," Farah said.

The study follows children who have continuously participated in the Abecedarian Project, an early intervention program initiated by Ramey in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1971 to study the effects of educational, social, health, and family support services on high-risk infants.

Both the comparison and treatment groups received extra health care, nutrition, and family support services; however, beginning at six weeks of age, the treatment group also received five years of high quality educational support, five days a week, 50 weeks a year.

When scanned, the Abecedarian study participants were in their late 30s to early 40s, offering the researchers a unique look at how childhood factors affect the adult brain.

"People generally know about the potentially large benefits of early education for children from very low resource circumstances," said co-author Sharon Landesman Ramey, professor and distinguished research scholar at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. "The new results reveal that biological effects accompany the many behavioral, social, health, and economic benefits reported in the Abecedarian Project. This affirms the idea that positive early life experiences contribute to later positive adjustment through a combination of behavioral, social, and brain pathways."

During follow-up examinations, structural MRI scans of the brains of 47 study participants were conducted at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Human Neuroimaging Lab. Of those, 29 individuals had been in the group that received the educational enrichment focused on promoting language, cognition, and interactive learning.

The other 18 individuals received the same robust health, nutritional, and social services supports provided to the educational treatment group, and whatever community childcare or other learning their parents provided. The two groups were well matched on a variety of factors such as maternal education, head circumference at birth and age at scanning.

Analyzing the scans, the researchers looked at brain size as a whole, including the cortex, the brain's outermost layer, as well as five regions selected for their expected connection to the intervention's stimulation of children's language and cognitive development.

Those included the left inferior frontal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus, which may be relevant to language, and the right inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, relevant to cognitive control. A fifth, the bilateral hippocampus, was added because its volume is frequently associated with early life adversity and socioeconomic status.

The researchers determined that those in the early education treatment group had increased size of the whole brain, including the cortex.

Several specific cortical regions also appeared larger, according to study co-authors Read Montague, professor and director of the Human Neuroimaging Lab and Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, and Terry Lohrenz, research assistant professor and member of the institute's Human Neuroimaging Laboratory.

The scientists noted the group intervention treatment results for the brain were substantially greater for males than for females. The reasons for this are not known, and were surprising, since both the boys and girls showed generally comparable positive behavioral and educational effects from their early enriched education. The current study cannot adequately explain the sex differences.

"When we launched this project in the 1970s, the field knew more about how to assess behavior than it knew about how to assess brain structure," Craig Ramey said. "Because of advances in neuroimaging technology and through strong interdisciplinary collaborations, we were able to measure structural features of the brain. The prefrontal cortex and areas associated with language were definitely affected; and to our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence on a link between known early educational experiences and long-term changes in humans."

"We believe that these findings warrant careful consideration and lend further support to the value of ensuring positive learning and social-emotional support for all children -- particularly to improve outcomes for children who are vulnerable to inadequate stimulation and care in the early years of life," Craig Ramey said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210601100732.htm

Being born very preterm or very low birthweight is associated with continued lower IQ performance into adulthood

June 1, 2021

Science Daily/University of Warwick

The average IQ of adults who were born very preterm (VP) or at a very low birth weight (VLBW) has been compared to adults born full term by researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick. Researchers have found VP/VLBW children may require special support in their education to boost their learning throughout childhood.

Birth before 32 weeks of gestation is classed as very preterm (VP) and those born weighing less than 1500g are classed as very low birthweight (VLBW).

Research has previously found that those who were born VP or VLBW had lower cognitive performance in childhood.

In the paper, 'Association of Very Preterm Birth or Very Low Birth Weight with Intelligence in Adulthood: An Individual Participant Meta-analysis', published today, the 28th of May in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, a consortium of researchers led by the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick have conducted an Individual participant meta-analysis investigating IQ in adulthood.

Participants were 1068 VP/VLBW adults and 1067 term born controls born between 1978-1995 from 6 cohort studies in Europe and 2 from Australia and New Zealand, who had been studied from birth and had their IQ assessed in adulthood (aged 18-30 years).

The average IQ score in the general population is 100. The researchers found that VP/VLBW individuals scored approximately 12 IQ points less (i.e. 88) compared to term born adults (born 37-41 weeks gestation). Even when they removed those who had a childhood neurosensory impairment or learning disability (e.g childhood IQ score below 70) the adult IQ difference between VP/VLBW and term born adults was still on average 9.8 IQ points.

The risk factors that were associated with lower IQ performance for VP/VLBW adults included neonatal severe lung problems (bronchopulmonary dysplasia), neonatal bleeds into their brain (intraventricular haemorrhage) and being born to mothers with lower education.

Robert Eves, first author from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick comments:

"We have found that being born very preterm or at a very low birthweight continues to have a highly significant long term impact on the average IQ as compared to their peers in 7 different countries. The multi cohort, international aspect of this research can especially give us confidence in this important finding"

Professor Dieter Wolke, senior author and project lead from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick adds: "While most born VP/VLBW show cognitive development within the normal range, many may benefit from better tailored early interventions. These may include reducing bronchopulmonary dysplasia and intraventricular hemorrhage in neonatal care and educational interventions of those born into socially disadvantaged families."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210601100723.htm

These cognitive exercises help young children boost their math skills

May 20, 2021

Science Daily/Karolinska Institutet

Young children who practice visual working memory and reasoning tasks improve their math skills more than children who focus on spatial rotation exercises, according to a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings support the notion that training spatial cognition can enhance academic performance and that when it comes to math, the type of training matters. The study is published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

"In this large, randomized study we found that when it comes to enhancing mathematical learning in young children, the type of cognitive training performed plays a significant role," says corresponding author Torkel Klingberg, professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. "It is an important finding because it provides strong evidence that cognitive training transfers to an ability that is different from the one you practiced."

Numerous studies have linked spatial ability -- that is the capacity to understand and remember dimensional relations among objects -- to performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a result, some employers in these fields use spatial ability tests to vet candidates during the hiring process. This has also fueled an interest in spatial cognition training, which focuses on improving one's ability to memorize and manipulate various shapes and objects and spot patterns in recurring sequences. Some schools today include spatial exercises as part of their tutoring.

However, previous studies assessing the effect of spatial training on academic performance have had mixed results, with some showing significant improvement and others no effect at all. Thus, there is a need for large, randomized studies to determine if and to what extent spatial cognition training actually improves performance.

In this study, more than 17,000 Swedish schoolchildren between the ages of six and eight completed cognitive training via an app for either 20 or 33 minutes per day over the course of seven weeks. In the first week, the children were given identical exercises, after which they were randomly split into one of five training plans. In all groups, children spent about half of their time on mathematical number line tasks. The remaining time was randomly allotted to different proportions of cognitive training in the form of rotation tasks (2D mental rotation and tangram puzzle), visual working memory tasks or non-verbal reasoning tasks (see examples below for details). The children's math performance was tested in the first, fifth and seventh week.

The researchers found that all groups improved on mathematical performance, but that reasoning training had the largest positive impact followed by working memory tasks. Both reasoning and memory training significantly outperformed rotation training when it came to mathematical improvement. They also observed that the benefits of cognitive training could differ threefold between individuals. That could explain differences in results from some previous studies seeing as individual characteristics of study participants tend to impact the results.

The researchers note there were some limitations to the study, including the lack of a passive control group that would allow for an estimation of the absolute effect size. Also, this study did not include a group of students who received math training only.

"While it is likely that for any given test, training on that particular skill is the most time-effective way to improve test results, our study offers a proof of principle that spatial cognitive training transfers to academic abilities," Torkel Klingberg says. "Given the wide range of areas associated with spatial cognition, it is possible that training transfers to multiple areas and we believe this should be included in any calculation by teachers and policymakers of how time-efficient spatial training is relative to training for a particular test."

The researchers have received funding by the Swedish Research Council. Torkel Klingberg holds an unpaid position as chief scientific officer for Cognition Matters, the non-profit foundation that owns the cognition training app Vektor that was used in this study.

Examples of training tasks in the study

• In a number line task, a person is asked to identify the right position of a number on a line bound by a start and an end point. Difficulty is typically moderated by removing spatial cues, for example ticks on the number line, and progress to include mathematical problems such as addition, subtraction and division.

• In a visual working memory task, a person is asked to recollect visual objects. In this study, the children reproduced a sequence of dots on a grid by touching the screen. Difficulty was increased by adding more items.

• In a non-verbal reasoning task, a person is asked to complete sequences of spatial patterns. In this study, the children were asked to choose the correct image to fill a blank space based on previous sequences. Difficulty was increased by adding new dimensions such as colors, shapes and dots.

• In a rotation task, a person is asked to figure out what an object would look like if rotated. In this study, the children were asked to rotate a 2D object to fit various angles. Difficulty was moderated by increasing the angle of the rotation or the complexity of the object being rotated.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520133755.htm

Children's physical activity linked to academic achievement via regulation of emotions

New findings could inform policies to improve educational outcomes and close achievement gaps

May 19, 2021

Science Daily/PLOS

A new study of children in the U.K. suggests that physical activity is linked to emotional regulation in early childhood, which in turn predicts academic achievement. Fotini Vasilopoulos and Michelle Ellefson of the University of Cambridge, U.K. (Vasilopoulos now at University of London, UK), present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on May 19, 2021.

Previous research suggests that physical activity in childhood can boost self-regulation -- the skill of controlling one's emotions and behavior as required by a given context. However, previous studies of the impact of physical activity on academic outcomes have had mixed findings.

To better understand the interplay between physical activity, self-regulation, and academics, Vasilopoulos and Ellefson used the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of 4,043 children in the U.K. Parents and teachers filled out questionnaires to measure the emotional and behavioral components of the children's self-regulation skills at ages 7, 11, and 14. Children's physical activity was assessed according to several parameters, including intensity, duration, and enjoyment.

Statistical analysis of the data showed that a greater degree of physical activity was linked to greater emotional regulation, but not behavioral regulation, across all three time points when measurements were taken. However, when the researchers accounted for the children's socioeconomic status, physical activity was linked to lower emotional regulation and had a negligible link with behavioral regulation.

The analysis also suggested that, for 7-year-olds, physical activity positively predicted emotional regulation skills resulting in higher academic achievement throughout early primary school. For 11-year-olds, physical activity appeared to positively impact academic achievement via behavioral regulation. After accounting for socioeconomic status, these links were even more pronounced.

These findings suggest that early and sustained physical activity is an important element in children's development and schooling. The researchers note that evaluating childhood risks for poor academic achievement is complex, as evidenced, in part, by the influence of socioeconomic status on the results. The findings demonstrate the importance of ensuring that children have access to forms of physical activity, particularly for children from less-advantaged settings who lack the resources or opportunities to participate in physical activity than their better-advantaged peers.

The authors add: "Physical activity is linked to emotional regulation in early childhood and behavioural regulation in middle childhood. This relationship predicts academic attainment, suggesting that early and sustained physical activity is an important element in children's development and schooling. The findings demonstrate the importance of ensuring that children have access to forms of physical activity, particularly for children from less-advantaged settings who lack the resources or opportunities to participate in physical activity than their better-advantaged peers."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210519163656.htm

A third of kids develop a mental health problem after concussion

April 29, 2021

Science Daily/Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

A third of children and adolescents develop a mental health problem after a concussion, which could persist for several years post-injury, according to a new literature review.

The research, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found mental health should be evaluated as part of standard pediatric concussion assessment and management.

MCRI researcher and Monash University PhD candidate Alice Gornall said despite many post-concussion and mental health symptoms overlapping, the relationship between delayed recovery and mental health had remained poorly understood until this literature review.

The review of 69 articles published between 1980 to June 2020, involved almost 90,000 children, aged 0-18 years, from nine countries including Australia, US, Canada and New Zealand, who had a concussion. Falls (42.3 per cent) and sporting injuries (29.5 per cent) were the most common cause of injury, followed by car accidents (15.5 per cent).

It found up to 36.7 per cent experienced significantly high levels of internalising problems such as withdrawing, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress and 20 per cent externalising problems such as aggression, attention problems and hyperactivity after concussion compared with healthy children or children who sustained other injuries such as an arm fracture.

Pre-existing mental health problems were a strong predictor of post-concussion mental health issues. The review stated 29 per cent of children with a pre-injury mental health diagnoses received a new mental health diagnosis post-concussion. Up to 26 per cent without prior mental health problems went onto develop symptoms.

Ms Gornall said while significant improvements in mental health emerged between three and six months post-injury, a minority of children experienced persisting symptoms for several years afterwards.

The findings come after a recent study, led by MCRI and published in The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, found having a traumatic brain injury in early childhood was associated with lower IQ scores that persist up to seven years post-injury.

Ms Gornall said concussion was a growing public health concern with a third of children experiencing a head injury before 13 years of age.

"Despite the high incidence of concussion among children and adolescents, identifying those at risk of ongoing difficulties after concussion remains a prominent challenge for clinicians," she said.

"On top of this, children take twice as long to recover from concussion than adults, with one in four children experiencing symptoms beyond one-month post-injury."

Melbourne resident Emma, 17, has been seeking mental health support after suffering two concussions, a year apart.

In 2019 while playing netball she knocked her head on a goal post and last March she was hit with a ball in the back of the head.

Emma said after the second concussion she developed anxiety, headaches, a sense of hopelessness and had trouble concentrating.

"After my last concussion I found it very hard to be motivated for school and everyday life. Doing the simplest of tasks such as a walk was difficult for me, not being able to complete these tasks got me quite disheartened which impacted on my mental health," she said.

Emma's dad Bruce Henry said he welcomed the push for mental health to be part of paediatric concussion assessment and management as many cases would be going untreated.

"When a child has a concussion they might look fine but you can't see the underlying impact," he said. It's so important for mental health to form part of concussion management, which has been essential to Emma's recovery process."

MCRI researchers are also trialling an intervention, Concussion Essentials, to prevent children suffering long term post-concussion symptoms.

The eight session intervention combines physiotherapy and psychology treatments that target presenting symptoms with education around common concerns such as headache, fatigue and return to exercise, school and sports. Early data shows that the intervention is effective in accelerating recovery.

MCRI Professor Vicki Anderson said assessment, prevention and intervention of mental health difficulties after concussion should be integrated into standard concussion management.

"Mental health is central to concussion recovery. Concussion may both precipitate and exacerbate mental health difficulties, impacting delayed recovery and psychosocial outcomes," she said.

"Incorporating mental health risk into post-injury management represents an opportunity to engage children and adolescents with mental health services to either prevent unnecessary problems emerging or to treat already existing issues."

Developed by world-leading concussion experts at MCRI and The Royal Children's Hospital and in collaboration with the AFL, the HeadCheck app also helps parents, coaches and first aiders to recognise the signs of concussion and manage the child's safe return to school, play and organised sport.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210429142621.htm

Sugar-sweetened drinks linked to increased risk of colorectal cancer in women under 50

Sugary beverage consumption in adolescence, young adulthood associated with increased risk

May 6, 2021

Science Daily/Washington University School of Medicine

Colorectal cancer diagnoses have increased among people under age 50 in recent years and researchers are seeking reasons why. A new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found a link between drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer in women under age 50. The findings suggest that heavy consumption of sugary drinks during adolescence (ages 13 to 18) and adulthood can increase the disease risk.

The study, published online May 6 in the journal Gut, provides more support for public health efforts that encourage people to reduce the amount of sugar they consume.

"Colorectal cancer in younger adults remains relatively rare, but the fact that the rates have been increasing over the past three decades -- and we don't understand why -- is a major public health concern and a priority in cancer prevention," said senior author Yin Cao, ScD, an associate professor of surgery and of medicine in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University. "Due to the increase in colorectal cancer at younger ages, the average age of colorectal cancer diagnosis has gone down from 72 years to 66 years. These cancers are more advanced at diagnosis and have different characteristics compared with cancers from older populations.

"Our lab is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to identify risk factors, the molecular landscapes, and precision screening strategies for these cancers so that they can be detected earlier and even prevented," said Cao, who also has a master's of public health. "In past work, we have shown that poor diet quality was associated with increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer precursors, but we have not previously examined specific nutrients or foods."

Compared with women who drank less than one 8-ounce serving per week of sugar-sweetened beverages, those who drank two or more servings per day had just over twice the risk of developing early-onset colorectal cancer, meaning it was diagnosed before age 50. The researchers calculated a 16% increase in risk for each 8-ounce serving per day. And from ages 13 to 18, an important time for growth and development, each daily serving was linked to a 32% increased risk of eventually developing colorectal cancer before age 50.

Sugar-sweetened drink consumption has been linked to metabolic health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, including in children. But less is known about whether such high-sugar beverages could have a role in the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer in younger people. Like early-onset colorectal cancer rates, consumption of such drinks has increased over the past 20 years, with the highest consumption level found among adolescents and young adults ages 20 to 34.

The researchers analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study II, a large population study that tracked the health of nearly 116,500 female nurses from 1991 to 2015. Every four years, participants answered surveys that included questions about diet, including the types and estimated amounts of beverages they drank. Of the total participants, over 41,000 also were asked to recall their beverage habits during their adolescence.

The researchers identified 109 diagnoses of early-onset colorectal cancer among the nearly 116,500 participants.

"Despite the small number of cases, there is still a strong signal to suggest that sugar intake, especially in early life, is playing a role down the road in increasing adulthood colorectal cancer risk before age 50," said Cao, also a research member of Siteman Cancer Center. "This study, combined with our past work linking obesity and metabolic conditions to a higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer, suggests that metabolic problems, such as insulin resistance, may play an important role in the development of this cancer in younger adults."

With the increasing rates in mind, the American Cancer Society has recently lowered the recommended age for a first screening colonoscopy to 45, down from the previously recommended age 50 for people at average risk. Those with additional risk factors, such as a family history of the disease, should start even earlier, according to the guidelines.

Since the study only included female nurses, most of whom were white, more work is needed to examine this link in people of more diverse races, ethnicities and genders.

While sugar-sweetened beverages were linked to an increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer, some other drinks -- including milk and coffee -- were associated with a decreased risk. This observational study can't demonstrate that drinking sugary beverages causes this type of cancer or that drinking milk or coffee is protective, but the researchers said that replacing sweetened beverages with unsweetened drinks, such as milk and coffee, is a better choice for long-term health.

"Given this data, we recommend that people avoid sugar-sweetened beverages and instead choose drinks like milk and coffee without sweeteners," Cao said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210506183353.htm