Caregiver-child neural synchrony: Magic, mirage, or developmental mechanism?

Young children transition in and out of synchronous states with their caregivers across physiology, behavior, and brain activity, but what do these synchronous periods mean? One body of two-brain studies using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) finds that individual, family, and moment-to-moment behavioral and contextual factors are associated with caregiver-child neural synchrony, while another body of literature finds that neural synchrony is associated with positive child outcomes. Taken together, it is tempting to conclude that caregiver-child neural synchrony may act as a foundational developmental mechanism linking children's experiences to their healthy development, but many questions remain. In this review, we synthesize recent findings and open questions from caregiver-child studies using fNIRS, which is uniquely well suited for use with caregivers and children, but also laden with unique constraints.

Parenting relationships as a moderator of how socioeconomic status and household chaos relate to children's cognitive and socioemotional skills.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) and high household chaos are adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that increase the risk of worse executive functioning (EF) and socioemotional (SE) development. EF and SE skills are foundational for lifelong success, but less is known about how positive childhood experiences (PCEs) such as parenting relationships may buffer the impact of ACEs on these important skills. This study examined how SES and household chaos related to EF and SE skills within the context of varying parenting relationships among a sample of 83 socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse 4- to 7-year-old children in the urban United States.

Bursty, Irregular Speech Input to Children Predicts Vocabulary Size.

Children learn language by listening to speech from caregivers around them. However, the type and quantity of speech input that children are exposed to change throughout early childhood in ways that are poorly understood due to the small samples (few participants, limited hours of observation) typically available in developmental psychology. Here we used child-centered audio recorders to unobtrusively measure speech input in the home to 292 children (aged 2-7 years), acquiring English in the United States, over 555 distinct days (approximately 8600 total hours of observation, or 29.

Pubertal- and Stress-Dependent Changes in Cellular Activation and Expression of Excitatory Amino Acid Receptor Subunits in the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Hypothalamus in Male and Female Rats.

Introduction: Pubertal maturation is marked by significant changes in stress-induced hormonal responses mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, with prepubertal male and female rats often exhibiting greater HPA reactivity compared to adult males and females. Though the implications of these changes are unclear, elevated stress responsiveness might contribute to the stress-related vulnerabilities often associated with puberty.

Methods: The current experiments sought to determine whether differences in cellular activation, as measured by FOS immunohistochemistry, or excitatory ionotropic glutamate receptor subunit expression, as measured by qRT-PCR, in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) were associated with these noted pubertal shifts in stress reactivity in male and female rats.

How parent-child brain-to-brain synchrony can inform the study of child development.

It is well established that parent-child dyadic synchrony (e.g., mutual emotions, behaviors) can support development across cognitive and socioemotional domains.

Dynamic Functional Connectivity Correlates of Trait Mindfulness in Early Adolescence.

Background: Trait mindfulness-the tendency to attend to present-moment experiences without judgment-is negatively correlated with adolescent anxiety and depression. Understanding the neural mechanisms that underlie trait mindfulness may inform the neural basis of psychiatric disorders. However, few studies have identified brain connectivity states that are correlated with trait mindfulness in adolescence, and they have not assessed the reliability of such states.

Risk and resilience models in child development.

This chapter provides the most comprehensive review of risk and resilience models for child development thus far, synthesizing these interdisciplinary frameworks for ease of use in research and practice. This review specifically focuses on process models with broader conceptualizations of risk and resilience that have effects across multiple developmental domains. Risk and resilience models alike agree that alleviating risk factors is beneficial for children's development, including risks ranging from proximal issues with households (e.

Shoulder balloon spacer for massive irreparable rotator cuff tears results in significant improvements.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of balloon implantation in patients with irreparable supraspinatus tears alone or in combination with other rotator cuff (RC) tendon tears and the effect of several covariables, such as age, gender, status of the long head biceps, with or without tendon repair and regardless the number of tendon involved.

Methods: Patients enrolled from 'San Carlo' Hospital of Potenza (Italy, IT), from January 2012 to September 2014, underwent arthroscopic implantation of shoulder balloon by a single surgeon, and followed for 3 years. The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and Constant score (CS) were administered pre-, post-operatively at 12 months, and then annually.

Footprint of sustained poleward warm water flow within East Antarctic submarine canyons.

The intrusion of relatively warm water onto the continental shelf is widely recognized as a threat to Antarctic ice shelves and glaciers grounded below sea level, as enhanced ocean heat increases their basal melt. While the circulation of warm water has been documented on the East Antarctic continental shelf, the modes of warm water transport from the deep ocean onto the shelf are still uncertain. This makes predicting the future responses of major East Antarctic marine-grounded glaciers, such as Totten and Ninnis glaciers, particularly challenging.

Dynamic functional connectivity correlates of trait mindfulness in early adolescence.

Background: Trait mindfulness, the tendency to attend to present-moment experiences without judgement, is negatively correlated with adolescent anxiety and depression. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying trait mindfulness may inform the neural basis of psychiatric disorders. However, few studies have identified brain connectivity states that correlate with trait mindfulness in adolescence, nor have they assessed the reliability of such states.

Precision fMRI reveals that the language network exhibits adult-like left-hemispheric lateralization by 4 years of age.

Left hemisphere damage in adulthood often leads to linguistic deficits, but many cases of early damage leave linguistic processing preserved, and a functional language system can develop in the right hemisphere. To explain this early apparent equipotentiality of the two hemispheres for language, some have proposed that the language system is bilateral during early development and only becomes left-lateralized with age. We examined language lateralization using functional magnetic resonance imaging with two large pediatric cohorts (total n=273 children ages 4-16; n=107 adults).

Development and evaluation of a manualised mental health awareness and stigma reduction intervention for Black faith communities: study protocol for the ON TRAC feasibility study.

Introduction: This paper presents the study protocol for a feasibility study of a manualised mental health awareness and stigma reduction intervention for Black faith communities, as part of the Outcomes and Needs of Traditional Religious And Complementary practitioners (ON TRAC) project. The primary objective is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and the secondary objectives include assessment of the feasibility of: recruiting participants to take part in the intervention, delivering the intervention, and conducting qualitative assessments, and use of the selected scales. The findings from this study will be used to inform the development of a subsequent trial which will focus on exploring the potential impact of the intervention on stigma-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour.

Evaluation of the Shelf life of Ready-to-Eat Fresh Bamboo Sprouts () Packaged in a Modified Atmosphere or Vacuum: A Comparative Study.

During the last decades, the consumption of bamboo sprouts () has increased because they are considered a "superfood". However, this product is characterized by a short shelf life due to the deterioration in quality parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of two modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) systems (MAP1: 2% O, 5% CO, 93% N and MAP2: 3% O, 7% CO, 90% N) to fresh-shelled ready-to-eat bamboo sprouts and compare these packaging systems with vacuum packaging during storage for 28 days at 4 °C using heat-sealable polyamide and polyethylene (PA/PE) trays.

The everyday speech environments of preschoolers with and without cochlear implants.

Children who receive cochlear implants develop spoken language on a protracted timescale. The home environment facilitates speech-language development, yet it is relatively unknown how the environment differs between children with cochlear implants and typical hearing. We matched eighteen preschoolers with implants (31-65 months) to two groups of children with typical hearing: by chronological age and hearing age.

Striatal and Behavioral Responses to Reward Vary by Socioeconomic Status in Adolescents.

Disparities in socioeconomic status (SES) lead to unequal access to financial and social support. These disparities are believed to influence reward sensitivity, which in turn are hypothesized to shape how individuals respond to and pursue rewarding experiences. However, surprisingly little is known about how SES shapes reward sensitivity in adolescence.

Socioeconomic Status and Reading Development: Moving from "Deficit" to "Adaptation" in Neurobiological Models of Experience-Dependent Learning.

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the strongest predictors of student reading outcomes, and these disparities have persisted for decades. Relatedly, two underlying skills that are required for successful reading-oral language and executive function (EF)-are also the two neurocognitive domains most affected by SES. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on how SES influences the neurobiology of language, EF, and their intersection, including the proximal factors that drive these relationships.

Considering intersectionality and interacting levels of early intervention on early brain development-a commentary on Nelson et al. (2023).

It has long been recognized that an individual's experiences can metaphorically 'get under the skin' and become biologically embedded, thus affecting behavior and life outcomes (Hertzman, 2012). While this term is most often used to describe how adverse experiences influence biological process, it is rarely discussed how the same can be said of positive experiences, such as intervention to prevent or treat negative outcomes. In their annual review, Nelson et al.

Early life adversity reduces affiliative behavior with a stressed cagemate and leads to sex-specific alterations in corticosterone responses in adult mice.

Experiencing early life adversity (ELA) alters stress physiology and increases the risk for developing psychiatric disorders. The social environment can influence dynamics of stress responding and buffer and/or transfer stress across individuals. Yet, the impact of ELA on sensitivity to the stress of others and social behavior following stress is unknown.

Antiviral Compounds to Address Influenza Pandemics: An Update from 2016-2022.

In recent decades, the world has gained experience of the dangerous effects of pandemic events caused by emerging respiratory viruses. In particular, annual epidemics of influenza are responsible for severe illness and deaths. Even if conventional influenza vaccines represent the most effective tool for preventing virus infections, they are not completely effective in patients with severe chronic disease and immunocompromised and new small molecules have emerged to prevent and control the influenza viruses.

Neurocognitive mechanisms of co-occurring math difficulties in dyslexia: Differences in executive function and visuospatial processing.

Children with dyslexia frequently also struggle with math. However, studies of reading disability (RD) rarely assess math skill, and the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying co-occurring reading and math disability (RD+MD) are not clear. The current study aimed to identify behavioral and neurocognitive factors associated with co-occurring MD among 86 children with RD.

Early life adversity reduces affiliative behavior towards a distressed cagemate and leads to sex-specific alterations in corticosterone responses.

Experiencing early life adversity (ELA) alters stress physiology and increases the risk for developing psychiatric disorders. The social environment can influence dynamics of stress responding and buffer and/or transfer stress across individuals. Yet, the impact of ELA on sensitivity to the stress of others and social behavior following stress is unknown.

Metabolic dysfunctions following chronic oral corticosterone are modified by adolescence and sex in mice.

Adolescence is a period of development in which shifts in responses to glucocorticoids is well-documented. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are substantial health issues whose rates continue to rise in both adult and adolescent populations. Though many interacting factors contribute to these dysfunctions, how these shifts in glucocorticoid responses may be related remain unknown.