http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that people can train their minds to stay focused. http://phys.org/news177347438.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:12:26 EST news177347438 Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be responsible for bipolar disorder in children. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry found four versions of the regulatory gene RORB that were associated with pediatric bipolar disorder. http://phys.org/news177224772.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:16:31 EST news177224772 It has long been suggested that healthy folate (the natural form of folic acid) levels in expectant mothers goes hand in hand with healthy nervous system development in their children. A study published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry finds that low maternal folate levels is linked to the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems in children at age seven to nine years. http://phys.org/news175951426.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:29 EST news175951426 Deep brain stimulation may be a safe and effective treatment for Tourette syndrome, according to research published in the October 27, 2009, print issue of Neurology. http://phys.org/news175885169.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:40:02 EST news175885169 Parents have long lectured their children about the mind-numbing effects of playing video games all day. And a new Iowa State University study has found that high volume action video game players -- those who play around 40 hours per week -- actually had more difficulty keeping focused on tasks requiring longer, more proactive attention than those who played video games less than a couple of hours a week. http://phys.org/news175436509.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:22:36 EST news175436509 Rats exposed to high doses of amphetamines at an age that corresponds to the later years of human adolescence display significant memory deficits as adults - long after the exposure ends, researchers report. http://phys.org/news175364781.html Medicine & Health Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:00:01 EST news175364781 (PhysOrg.com) -- Schoolchildren with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are substantially more likely to engage in many types of criminal activity such as burglary, theft and drug dealing as they grow older, a new study by the Yale School of Public Health has found. The research was published in The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. http://phys.org/news175194408.html Other Sciences Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:30:01 EST news175194408 Video game players are often accused of passively reacting to tasks that are spoon fed to them through graphics and stimuli on the screen. A group of researchers from Iowa State University shows that playing lots of video games has different effects on two types of cognitive activity, proactive and reactive attention. http://phys.org/news174665129.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:20:02 EST news174665129 (PhysOrg.com) -- Mothers whose children suffer from emotional and behavioral disabilities say they shoulder a tremendous social burden of responsibility to remedy their kids’ problems, says Linda Blum, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Northeastern University. http://phys.org/news174067424.html Other Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:04:15 EST news174067424 Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of liquorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behaviour, a study has shown. http://phys.org/news174044675.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:45:23 EST news174044675 Adolescents with psychiatric symptoms such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social phobia, hostility and depression may be more likely to develop an Internet addiction, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. http://phys.org/news173987521.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:30:01 EST news173987521 The increasing use of smart drugs or "nootropics," to boost academic performance, could mean that exam students will face routine doping tests in future, suggests an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://phys.org/news173560595.html Medicine & Health Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:17:17 EST news173560595 The brain never sits idle. Whether we are awake or asleep, watch TV or close our eyes, waves of spontaneous nerve signals wash through our brains. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies studying visual attention have discovered a novel mechanism that explains how incoming sensory signals make themselves heard amidst the constant background rumblings so they can be reliably processed and passed on. http://phys.org/news172932462.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:40:01 EST news172932462 Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood. Worldwide, 3󈝸% of children are affected with the disorder. Key symptoms of ADHD include age-inappropriate hyperactive and impulsive behaviour and/or a reduced ability to focus attention. Clinically, three different ADHD subtypes are classified, a primarily inattentive subtype, a primarily hyperactive/impulsive subtype, and a combined subtype in which patients show deficits in both domains. At the level of the brain, small aberrations in both structure and activity of specific brain regions, as well as the connectivity between brain regions have been observed in children and adults with ADHD (Valera et al., 2007; Schneider et al., 2006; Makris et al., 2008; Pavuluri et al., 2009; Broyd et al., 2009). http://phys.org/news172215581.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:41:20 EST news172215581 Dr. Lixia Yang (above) and her co-author, Ralf Krampe of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany, found that seniors were able to retain 50 per cent of concepts they learned almost a year before. http://phys.org/news172165840.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:51:31 EST news172165840 A brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provides the first definitive evidence that patients suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lower-than-normal levels of certain proteins essential for experiencing reward and motivation. http://phys.org/news171652613.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:17:27 EST news171652613 The public health measures taken in response to swine flu may be seen as alarmist, overly restrictive, or even unjustified, says a US expert in a paper published on BMJ.com today. http://phys.org/news171227423.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:10:48 EST news171227423 (AP) -- Calls to poison control centers about teens abusing attention-deficit drugs soared 76 percent over eight years, sobering evidence about the dangerous consequences of prescription misuse, a study shows. http://phys.org/news170307731.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:00:01 EST news170307731 (PhysOrg.com) -- You're meeting a friend in a crowded cafeteria. Do your eyes scan the room like a roving spotlight, moving from face to face, or do you take in the whole scene, hoping that your friend's face will pop out at you? And what, for that matter, determines how fast you can scan the room? http://phys.org/news169299018.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:30:57 EST news169299018 (AP) -- China is investigating the death of a teenager who was allegedly beaten to death in a camp designed to treat Internet addiction, state media said. http://phys.org/news168777628.html Technology Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:10:04 EST news168777628 (PhysOrg.com) -- Serving lower-alcohol drinks at public events can help reduce the number of people who need medical attention. http://phys.org/news168702890.html Medicine & Health Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:10:02 EST news168702890 A study in the Aug.1 issue of the journal Sleep found that alcohol consumption during pregnancy and small body size at birth predict poorer sleep and higher risk of sleep disturbances in 8-year-old children born at term. Findings are clinically significant, as poor sleep and sleep disturbances in children are associated with obesity, depressive symptoms, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and poor neurobehavioral functioning. http://phys.org/news168324269.html Medicine & Health Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:30:01 EST news168324269 A study by Kansas State University researchers is looking at how children perceive and interact with peers who have various undesirable characteristics, such as being overweight or aggressive. http://phys.org/news168178937.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:40:02 EST news168178937 A chimp's attention is captured by faces more effectively than by bananas. A series of experiments described in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology suggests that the apes are wired to respond to faces in a similar manner to humans. http://phys.org/news167548374.html Biology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:13:57 EST news167548374 Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have a high risk of psychiatric problems, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, or both. Often children with FASD are initially diagnosed with ADHD. A new study is the first to examine a range of cognitive factors and social behavior in children with FASD and ADHD, finding that those with FASD have significantly weaker social cognition and facial emotion-processing abilities. http://phys.org/news166982802.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:10:01 EST news166982802 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stimulant medications used to treat Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, are often assumed to improve memory and make a person smarter, but experts have found that is not the case. Researchers in the Department of Psychology at LSU, including Professor Claire Advokat, are working to find out why. http://phys.org/news166727448.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:12:32 EST news166727448 Eye movement tests developed by Queen's University researchers to aid in understanding childhood brain development and healthy aging may also help in the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and detecting the early onset of Parkinson's disease. The project has received close to $1 million in recent funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). http://phys.org/news166714506.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:37:34 EST news166714506 It comes as no surprise that some babies are more difficult to soothe than others but frustrated parents may be relieved to know that this is not necessarily an indication of their parenting skills. According to a new report in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, children's temperament may be due in part to a combination of a certain gene and a specific pattern of brain activity. http://phys.org/news166703720.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:35:50 EST news166703720 Visitors can see how their stress levels could affect the heart rate of their unborn baby and find out why pregnant women should reduce their anxiety, at a new exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, which opens today. http://phys.org/news165564870.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:14:59 EST news165564870 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stimulant medications, such as Ritalin and Adderall, are the accepted treatment to stem hyperactivity in children with attention deficit-hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and improve their behavior. http://phys.org/news165514095.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:08:54 EST news165514095