Babies pay attention with down payment from immature brain region

Yale :Anyone who has watched an infant’s eyes follow a dangling trinket dancing in front of them knows that babies are capable of paying attention with laser focus.

But with large areas of their young brains still underdeveloped, how do they manage to do so?

Fathers can get new baby depression too

Auckland: Depression symptoms among men before and after the birth of their children were identified by recent research from the University of Auckland’s Centre for Longitudinal Research – He Ara Ki Mua.
The study found that expectant fathers were at risk if they felt stressed or were in poor health. Elevated depression symptoms following their child’s birth were linked to social and relationship problems.
The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry investigated depression symptoms in more than 3,500 New Zealand men during the third trimester of their partner’s pregnancy and again nine months after their child’s birth.

Two out of ten plastic rings for babies release chemicals with hormone-like effect

Frankfurt: In laboratory tests, two out of ten teethers, plastic toys used to sooth babies’ teething ache, release endocrine disrupting chemicals. One product contains parabens, which are normally used as preservatives in cosmetics, while the second contains six so-far unidentified endocrine disruptors. The findings were reported by researchers at the Goethe University in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Toxicology.