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Pregnant women with bulimia have more anxiety and depression

Women who have bulimia in pregnancy have more symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to pregnant women without eating disorders. A new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows that they also have lower self-esteem and are more dissatisfied with life and their relationship with their partner.

The findings come from the world's first major population study of psychosocial factors in bulimia (bulimia nervosa) during pregnancy. Bulimia in pregnancy can have serious consequences for both mother and child.

Research supports correlation between finger lengths and stress hormones

Edmonton—If you find yourself lacking in motivation to go for a run or hit the gym, you may want to check your fingers. According to a joint University of Alberta/ University of California- Riverside research study to be published by PLoS ONE, the online, open-access journal from the Public Library of Science, there is a direct correlation between digit length and voluntary exercise.

The study also casts some doubt on a previously released study which linked digit length and male aggression.

Face blindness research shows emotions are key in the study of face recognition

Recognizing the faces of family and friends is usually an effortless process. However, a minority of people have difficulties identifying the person they are meeting or remembering people they have met before. These problems can be quite dramatic, to the point where those affected fail to recognize the face of their spouse or child or even their own face. New research on face blindness demonstrates the importance of using naturalistic emotional faces and bodies for a better understanding of developmental face disorders.

Smart desks make sci-fi a reality in the classroom

Schools are set for a Star Trek make-over thanks to the development of the world's first interactive classroom by experts at Durham University.

Researchers at the Technology-Enhanced Learning Research Group (TEL) are designing new learning environments using interactive multi-touch desks that look and act like a large version of an Apple iPhone.

Example: Click here to see how the new desks work: http://smart.dur.ac.uk/index.php?n=Main.MultitouchPage

Inflammatory response to infection and injury may worsen dementia

Inflammation in the brain resulting from infection or injury may accelerate the progress of dementia, research funded by the Wellcome Trust suggests. The findings, published this week in the journal Biological Psychiatry, may have implications for the treatment and care of those living with dementia.

Sole use of impaired limb improves recovery in spinal cord injury

A new study finds that following minor spinal cord injury, rats that had to use impaired limbs showed full recovery due to increased growth of healthy nerve fibers and the formation of new nerve cell connections. Published in the September 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, these findings help explain how physical therapy advances recovery, and support the use of rehabilitation therapies that specifically target impaired limbs in people with brain and spinal cord injuries.

UT Southwestern cardiologists find physical exams just as good for assessing heart failure

DALLAS – Sept. 16, 2008 – Patient history and physical examination, traditionally the cornerstone diagnostic tool for medical care, may still be among the most accurate and cost-efficient methods to assess patients with congestive heart failure, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

Such time-honored techniques have diminished in importance in recent years as doctors have come to rely on high-tech diagnostic approaches, such as imaging and measuring biomarkers.

Vanderbilt researchers seek to make standardized tests accessible

Standardized testing is an inescapable part of modern education; however, these tests often fail to meet the needs of students with learning disabilities. Vanderbilt University Learning Sciences Institute researchers Stephen N. Elliott, Peter A. Beddow and Ryan J. Kettler have developed a decision-making instrument called the Test Accessibility and Modification Inventory (TAMI) to address the issue of accessibility for students with special needs.

Baby eyes are taking in the world, applying self-experience to other people

Those wide-eyed babies are taking in and using more information than previously believed. In fact, new research by psychologists at the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences indicates 12- and 18-month-old babies not only are observing what is going on around them but also are using their own visual self-experience to judge what other people can and cannot see.

Expert urges FDA to take action to reduce BPA exposure

COLUMBIA, Mo. – In the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers report a significant relationship between urine concentrations of the environmental estrogen bisphenol A (BPA) and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities. In an accompanying editorial, Frederick vom Saal, a University of Missouri scientist, urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to follow recent action by Canadian regulatory agencies, which have taken significant steps to limit human and environmental exposures to BPA.

Child witnesses -- how to improve their performance

A study at the University of Leicester into how to improve child and young adult witnesses' evidence has looked at several issues that affect witnesses' accuracy.

The investigation, carried out in Estonia by postgraduate psychologist Kristjan Kask, looked at issues such as police officers' interviewing methods with children; young adults' skill in describing people; and the ability of both children and young adults to identify faces with different racial features.

Early parenting plays key role in infants' physiological response to stress

In infancy, genes are the key influence on a child's ability to deal with stress. But as early as 6 months of age, parenting plays an important role in changing the impact of genes that may put infants at risk for responding poorly to stress.

That's the message from a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Pennsylvania State University, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and North Carolina State University. It appears in the September/October 2008 issue of the journal Child Development.

Children who are concerned about parents arguing are prone to school problems

Children who worry about how their parents get along with each other are more likely than other children to have psychological problems. Now a new study says that children who worry a lot about conflicts between their parents are more likely to have problems in school because they have more difficulty paying attention to the tasks before them.

Parenting program for low-income families reduces toddlers' problem behavior

Low-income families who participated in a brief, tailored intervention program designed to improve parenting saw less problem behavior in their toddlers than families who did not take part. That's the finding of a new study published in the September/October 2008 issue of the journal Child Development. The research was conducted at the University of Oregon, University of Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve University, Oxford University, and the University of Virginia.

Older problem gamblers may face greater suicide risk than younger counterparts, study finds

WASHINGTON – Compared to their younger counterparts, older problem gamblers who ask casinos to bar them from returning are three to four times more likely to do so because they fear they will kill themselves if they don't stop betting, according to a new study.