YOUR CHILD'S BRAIN was the topic of an interview with two neuroscientists recently aired on NPR. Authors of a new book (naturally) called Welcome to Your Child's Brain, the interview covered things such as language development, self-control, and reward and punishment. Find the interview.
MEDIA BASHING is something we occasionally do in this blog. The American Academy of Pediatrics has released the results of a study showing that some TV s hows may be worse than others when it comes to a their effect on a four-year-old's attention, problem solving, self regulation and other executive function abilities. While the researchers could not determine exactly which features had a negative impact on kids, a fast-paced animated "SpongeBob" cartoon resulted in poorer test results. Find out more, and note that the creators of SpongeBob refute the findings.
PESTICIDES AND AD/HD. Rodale Press reports on the apparent association of certain pesticides and symptoms of AD/HD, based on a Canadian study involving organophosphate pesiticide byproducts excreted in urine. From the article: "Children with substantially higher levels of a breakdown product of neurotoxic organophosphate pesticides were twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD." Read the article for more scary stuff and what you can do about it.
AND THAT'S IT -- unless the topic of the complexities of children's naps is of interest to you ("a mix of individual biology, including neurologic and hormonal development, cultural expectations and family dynamics"). Seems like there's a dearth of items on giftedness and twice-exceptionalities this week, sorry.