Researchers say they’ve identified a human “neural compass” — a pattern of brain activity that helps prevent humans from becoming lost. For the first time, the internal compass humans use to orient themselves and navigate through the environment has been pinpointed in the human brain, researchers reported May 6 in the journal Nature Human Behavior.… read on > read on >
Parents can be very effective buzzkills for their teens, just by letting kids know they’re being closely watched, a new study reports. Teenagers are less likely to drink, smoke or use drugs when parents keep tabs on their activities, according to findings published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. What’s more, teens… read on > read on >
An artificial intelligence (AI) program trained to analyze cardiac ultrasounds can detect abnormal heart rhythms that a doctor is apt to overlook, a new study reports. “Atrial fibrillation can come and go, so it might not be present at a doctor’s appointment,” said corresponding author Dr. Neal Yuan, a staff scientist at Smidt Heart Institute… read on > read on >
A small, implantable heart pump could help children await heart transplants at home rather than languishing in a hospital, according to a new study. The pump is surgically attached to augment the heart’s blood-pumping action, giving more time to find a donor heart, researchers said. The pump worked well for seven children participating in a… read on > read on >
An injectable gene therapy caused measurable improvements in vision among a small group of people with inherited blindness, an early-stage clinical trial says. Researchers recruited 14 people with Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a rare genetic condition that causes babies to lose some or all of their sight from birth. Eleven of the 14 had measurable… read on > read on >
Nearly 100,000 U.S. children lost a parent in 2020 to gun violence or drug overdose, a three-fold rise since 1999, according to a new study. Overall, these two causes made up nearly a quarter (23%) of parental losses in 2020, almost double the level cited in 1999, according to a team who reported its findings… read on > read on >
Worries over health-related costs are plaguing the minds of older Americans of all backgrounds, a new poll suggests. Five of the six health-related issues that most people found very concerning had to do with health care costs, according to results from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. And the sixth issue –… read on > read on >
Scientists are busy working on a vaccine that might fight strains of the COVID virus SARS-CoV-2 that haven’t even emerged yet. The effort from a British team at the University of Cambridge is already showing promise in mouse studies. Of course, mouse studies don’t always pan out in humans, but study first author Rory Hills… read on > read on >
Two-thirds of kids who suffer a subtle type of epileptic seizure go undiagnosed when they seek emergency room treatment, new research shows. “We do not know how many people are walking around with seizures that they are unaware of, and we are unaware of,” said researcher Jacqueline French, a professor of neurology at NYU Grossman… read on > read on >
Parents of newborns diagnosed with cystic fibrosis often are confused about both the disease and their next steps, a new national survey has found. In fact, about half of new parents don’t even know that newborns are routinely screened for the genetic disorder, the poll found. This confusion can lead to a delay in treatment… read on > read on >
