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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: cognitive development

cognitive development stories: 8 news summaries
glossies

Video Games May
Stave Off Mental Decline


Jul 11, 09 7:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Shelling goblins and building medieval empires may be perfect ways to stave off cognitive decline, Anita Hamilton writes in Time. Research already shows that challenging tasks can keep brains sharp in old age, but now multi-million-dollar studies are getting the elderly to play video games—not puzzle or math games,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
elderly • brain • cognitive decline • cognitive development • video games • cognitive enhancement

Poor Kids' Stress Harms the Brain, Chance of Success

Elevated stress hormones early can lead to lack of working memory later

Apr 6, 09 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chronic stress caused by growing up poor appears to impair a developing child’s working memory, the Washington Post reports, pointing to another link between childhood poverty and lessened long-term success. While environmental and experiential factors—such as having fewer toys and more exposure to lead—likely affect the achievement... More »

MORE ABOUT:
memory • children • stress • poverty • cognitive science • cognitive development • scientific study • working memory

 Your Toddler's Listening, Really 

It just might not seem that way

Mar 25, 09 12:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - If your toddler seems to be ignoring everything you tell them to do, take heart: They’re just squirreling that advice away for later, researchers tell LiveScience. “The good news is what we’re saying to our kids doesn’t go in one ear and out the other, like... More »

MORE ABOUT:
parenting • children • toddler • cognitive development • psychological research

 Researchers Push 
 'Brain Steroids' for All 

Future drugs could boost job, classroom performance

Dec 8, 08 10:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Healthy adults should be able to take brain-boosting drugs for a competitive advantage at work or on an exam, researchers say in a provocative paper. Seven authors say ethical questions about cognitive-enhancement pills are both warranted and imminent, and that such medicinal aid is no less moral than caffeine consumption,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
drugs • pharmaceutical companies • brain • cognitive science • cognitive development • health research • cognitive enhancement

 Birds Think Like Us 

New book chronicles the life and mind of Alex, the world's smartest parrot

Nov 22, 08 4:01 AM CST
(Newser) - In her new book Alex and Me researcher Irene Pepperberg explains how her work with the African gray parrot shed light on human intelligence, Scientific American reports. The author says Alex’s smarts demonstrate why scientists should examine how an animal’s brain works, not just how it looks, because... More »

MORE ABOUT:
language • Irene Pepperberg • African gray parrot • cognitive development • parrot

TV Not All Bad for Kids, Study Discovers

Some couch potatoes apparently got wise
watching boob tube

Sep 6, 08 6:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - TV has long been blamed for social ills from childhood obesity to plunging SAT scores, but a pair of researchers say the "idiot box" could actually be doing kids some good, the Wall Street Journal reports. Examined test data from 1965 showed that children with more access to TV... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • television • children • pediatrics • cognitive development • American Academy of Pediatrics • television watching • childhood

Focus, Not IQ, Might be Best School Skill

Kids trained to flex 'executive function' muscles learn better

Jun 5, 08 3:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - EF is the new IQ, and if educators accept that new acronym mantra, more preschoolers will be playing games, Newsweek reports. Executive function—the ability to repress distracting thoughts and focus on a task—could be a better indicator of scholarly success than intelligence alone; psychologist Adele Diamond implemented an... More »

MORE ABOUT:
intelligence • learning • psychology • cognitive development • public schools • preschool • executive function

World's Smartest Parrot Is No More

Alex was no bird brain: He amused millions, aided science

Sep 11, 07 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Brandeis researchers feel as though they’ve lost a colleague: Alex, the African gray parrot they studied for 30 years, died Friday. He helped them reach surprising new conclusions about the avian brain and “was extraordinary in breaking the perceptions of birds as not being intelligent,” according to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obituary • language • Alex • Brandeis • Irene Pepperberg • African gray parrot • cognitive development • parrot

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