Moms Influence How Children Develop Advanced Cognitive Functions

Executive functioning is a set of advanced cognitive functions -- such as the ability to control impulses, remember things, and show

mental flexibility -- that help us plan and monitor what we do to reach goals. Although executive functioning develops speedily between ages 1 and 6, children vary widely in their skills in this area. Now a new longitudinal study tells us that moms play a role in how their children develop these abilities.

The study was conducted at the University of Montreal and the University of Minnesota. It appears in the January/February 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.

The researchers looked at 80 pairs of middle-income Canadian moms and their year-old babies. It turns out that the ways moms act when they're playing and solving puzzles with their babies can explain some of the differences in children's development of executive functioning.

Children of moms who answered their children's requests for help quickly and accurately; talked about their children's preferences, thoughts, and memories during play; and encouraged successful strategies to help solve difficult problems performed better at a year and a half and 2 years on tasks that call for executive skills than children of moms who didn't use these techniques in interacting with their youngsters.

"The study sheds light on the role parents play in helping children develop skills that are important for later school success and social competence," according to Annie Bernier, professor of psychology at the University of Montreal and the study's lead author.

Migraine May Double Risk of Heart Attack

Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to have heart attacks as people without migraine, according to a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study, published in the February 10 online issue of Neurology, found that migraine sufferers also face increased risk for stroke and were more likely to have key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

"Migraine has been viewed as a painful condition that affects quality of life, but not as a threat to people's overall health," said lead investigator Richard B. Lipton, M.D., senior author of the study and professor and vice chair in The Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology at Einstein. Dr. Lipton added, More than 29 million Americans suffer from migraine, according to the National Headache Foundation. There are two major forms, migraine without aura and migraine with aura. Both forms involve pulsing or throbbing pain, pain on one side of the head, nausea or vomiting, or sensitivity to light or sound. Migraine with aura has additional neurological symptoms including flashing lights, zig-zag lines, or a graying out of vision. Migraine is most common between the ages of 25 and 55; women are affected three times more frequently than men.

Previous population studies found that migraine with aura is associated with heart disease and stroke, particularly in health care professionals over the age of 45. The Einstein study showed that both migraine with aura and migraine without aura are risk factors for heart disease and stroke in a broadly representative sample of the U.S. population, including people from all walks of life between the ages of 18 and 80.

Headache May Linger Years Later in People Exposed to World Trade Center Dust, Fumes

Workers and residents exposed to dust and fumes caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 frequently reported headache years later, according to research released February 11 that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

The study involved 765 people who were enrolled in the Bellevue Hospital World Trade Center Environmental Health Center seven years after the building collapse and who did not have headaches prior to 9/11. Of those, about 55 percent reported having exposure to the initial World Trade Center dust cloud.

Headaches in the four weeks prior to enrollment were reported by 43 percent of those surveyed, suggesting that headache is a common and persistent symptom in those exposed to World Trade Center dust and fumes. People caught in the initial dust cloud were slightly more likely to report headaches than those not caught in the dust cloud, which may indicate that greater exposure may be associated with a greater risk of developing persistent headache. People with headaches were also more likely to experience wheezing, breathlessness with exercise, nasal drip or sinus congestion and reflux disease after 9/11.

"More research needs to be done on the possible longer-term effects of exposure to gasses and dust when the World Trade Center fell," Crystal said. "We also need additional studies to understand the relationship between headaches, other physical symptoms, and mental health issues."

 [ By Ritu Pandey ]