New Trails Learning Systems
Ending the notion that suffering is necessary for learning
It’s not always what we say, but how we say it: Even a ‘hello’ can take on dramatically different meanings, depending on its delivery. Spoken quickly and with a pitch that rises and falls, it suggests happy excitement; said slowly and with a falling pitch, it can impart disappointment.
Sometimes it's easy to think that banning a harmful product, or cracking down on its disposal, can simply erase any future problems.
But a new study from Drexel University indicates that that might not be the case. Older readers may remember the infamous pesticide DDT, which was banned in 1972, ten years after the publication of Rachel Carson’s seminal book Silent Spring, which detailed the many ways in which DDT was ravaging the environment. (The pesticide might be most infamous for very nearly pushing the bald eagle to extinction.)
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Source and more: http://modernfarmer.com/2016/08/pesticides-autism-study/
Abstract
Current research suggests that incidence and heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms may arise through a variety of exogenous and/or endogenous factors. While subject to routine clinical practice and generally considered safe, there exists speculation, though no human data, that diagnostic ultrasound may also contribute to ASD severity, supported by experimental evidence that exposure to ultrasound early in gestation could perturb brain development and alter behavior.
Forcing them to stay still is counterproductive.
Children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) are always being told to sit still and concentrate, but new research has revealed that they actually need to move in order to learn.
In fact, small movements such as fidgeting, squirming, leg-swinging, foot-tapping and chair-scuffling may be vital to remembering information and working out complex tasks. The new research contradicts the long-term guidelines for how to deal with children with ADHD, and suggests that incorporating things such as activity balls or treadmill desks to the classroom could help certain students perform better.
More and source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vaccines-and-autism-a-new-scientific-review/
For all those who've declared the autism-vaccine debate over - a new scientific review begs to differ. It considers a host of peer-reviewed, published theories that show possible connections between vaccines and autism.
The article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology is entitled "Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes--A review." The author is Helen Ratajczak, surprisingly herself a former senior scientist at a pharmaceutical firm. Ratajczak did what nobody else apparently has bothered to do: she reviewed the body of published science since autism was first described in 1943. Not just one theory suggested by research such as the role of MMR shots, or the mercury preservative thimerosal; but all of them.
Ratajczak's article states, in part, that "Documented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or deletions, viral infections, and encephalitis [brain damage] following vaccination [emphasis added]. Therefore, autism is the result of genetic defects and/or inflammation of the brain."
The article goes on to discuss many potential vaccine-related culprits, including the increasing number of vaccines given in a short period of time. "What I have published is highly concentrated on hypersensitivity, Ratajczak told us in an interview, "the body's immune system being thrown out of balance."
University of Pennsylvania's Dr. Brian Strom, who has served on Institute of Medicine panels advising the government on vaccine safety says the prevailing medical opinion is that vaccines are scientifically linked to encephalopathy (brain damage), but not scientifically linked to autism. As for Ratajczak's review, he told us he doesn't find it remarkable. "This is a review of theories. Science is based on facts. To draw conclusions on effects of an exposure on people, you need data on people. The data on people do not support that there is a relationship. As such, any speculation about an explanation for a (non-existing) relationship is irrelevant."
It's still not known whether people with autism have more or less connections in parts of their brains that normally work in together.
Now a new study suggests the lack of common ground in this area reflects the fact that people with autism have connections that are uniquely their own.
The groundbreaking research could help lead to better diagnosis of autism and improve treatments, the scientists claim.
'It opens up the possibility that there are many altered brain profiles all of which fall under the umbrella of 'autism','' said Dr Marlene Behrmann at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
The researchers studied data taken from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) conducted while the participants were at rest.
Mutant mice that exhibit many of the characteristics of human autism spectrum disorders, including social deficiency, have more interactions with fellow mice when given a dose of oxytocin, according to a report published today (January 21) inScience Translational Medicine. The beneficial effect was also apparent when the mice’s own oxytocin production was increased—which may be important for translating such a treatment to humans.
“It’s very exciting. They created a mouse model of autism . . . that had social deficits, and they found that if they gave oxytocin, it would rescue those social deficits,” said Larry Young who studies social neuroscience at Emory University and was not involved in the work.
The model mouse lacks a functional gene for contactin-associated protein-like 2 (Cntnp2). In humans, mutation of this gene causes cortical dysplasia and focal epilepsy (CDFE) syndrome; at least 70 percent of CDFE patients also display symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. Importantly, the characteristics of the mice—including their deficiencies in social behavior—are highly similar to those of humans with the CNTNP2 mutation.
The New York Times Magazine recently ran a cover article about mapping the connectome, all of the connections that link all of the neurons in someone's brain. Many of these connections are formed and reinforced as a result of our experiences, and their sum total constitutes everything about our personalities: the memories we've formed, the skills we've learned, the passions that drive us.
There is even data suggesting that some neurological disorders are in fact "connectopathies," characterized by either aberrant connections or an unusual extent of connections among neurons. Some studies have found that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with decreased functional connectivity in the brain, but other experiments have foundincreasedconnectivity in autistic brains. A new study may have reconciled these contradictory findings. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel determined that brain regions with high interconnectivity in controls have reduced connectivity in ASD, and regions with lower connectivity in controls have elevated connectivity in people with ASD.