Language News and Research

RSS

Language skills are essential to a child’s ability to communicate and develop. These skills enable children to engage with other people and learn from their surroundings and in the classroom.

Calif. readies Medicaid changes for dual-eligibles, adult day care program; Other Medicaid news from the states

California is revamping its adult day health care program as well as its program for people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. In Florida, a judge orders the Medicaid program there to cover autism therapy, and Georgia prepares to restructure its program.

30 Mar 2012

Bilingualism can offer protection from symptoms of dementia

New research explains how speaking more than one language may translate to better mental health. A paper published by Cell Press in the March 29th issue of the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences examines how being bilingual can offer protection from the symptoms of dementia, and also suggests that the increasing diversity in our world populations may have an unexpected positive impact on the resiliency of the adult brain.

30 Mar 2012

E-Readers motivates boys, while girls prefer actual books

Middle school boys rated reading more valuable as an activity after two months of using an e-reader, according to a new study.

28 Mar 2012

Chronically ill Central American immigrants struggle to pay for health care

The national recession didn't just hit people living in the U.S. - it's made it more difficult for people to pay for medical bills in poor countries like Honduras, according to a new University of Michigan study.

27 Mar 2012

NIH OBSSR creates Web-based interactive anthology

A Web-based interactive anthology will provide psychologists, economists, anthropologists, sociologists and other scientists with the latest research methods and tools to address emerging challenges in public health, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of chronic diseases such as heart disease.

26 Mar 2012

Medica Foundation awards $2.5 million in grants to 104 recipients

The Medica Foundation in 2011 awarded $2.5 million in grants to 104 recipients across five funding priority areas. The awards include $1 million in longitudinal grants to five Minnesota organizations. Those grant amounts range from $100,000 to $300,000 each and are designed to provide funding to the recipients over a three-year period.

26 Mar 2012

AstraZeneca's lawsuit against FDA dismissed without prejudice

AstraZeneca today announced that on March 23, 2012 the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion and order in AstraZeneca's lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration regarding final marketing approval of generic quetiapine. The Court denied the Company's request for a preliminary injunction and dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice.

26 Mar 2012

OAA, AOA form SUN alliance

The American Optometric Association (AOA) and the Opticians Association of America (OAA), with sponsorship from Luxottica and The Vision Council, have formed a SUN alliance designed to empower practices and businesses with the training and information needed to educate and prescribe appropriate sun protection for every patient.

26 Mar 2012

Obesity in later life linked to decreased mental faculties

The study found said out of 250 test subjects involving people over 59 years old, people between 60 and 70 who had the highest BMIs also had the lowest cognitive function. There was also a connection between visceral fat -- otherwise known as the belly fat around the torso - and poor mental abilities. The study, which was published in the British journal Age and Aging, measured the subjects fat-related measures including BMI, waist circumference and the amount of visceral - which could be close to organs - and subcutaneous -under the skin - fat using a abdominal CT scan. Cognitive ability was determined by a test called a Mini-Mental State Examination.

25 Mar 2012

Ryan praised for 'sticking his neck out'; Others call budget plan a 'path to nowhere'

Commentators review the federal budget proposal announced Tuesday by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan.

23 Mar 2012

IBM, MSKCC partner to develop decision support tool for oncologists

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and IBM have agreed to collaborate on the development of a powerful tool built upon IBM Watson in order to provide medical professionals with improved access to current and comprehensive cancer data and practices.

23 Mar 2012

Reading Arabic is more challenging to the brain

Readers whose mother tongue is Arabic have more challenges reading in Arabic than native Hebrew or English speakers have reading their native languages, because the two halves of the brain divide the labor differently when the brain processes Arabic than when it processes Hebrew or English.

22 Mar 2012

Study shows how brain function differs in children with math anxiety

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown for the first time how brain function differs in people who have math anxiety from those who don't.

22 Mar 2012

Drexel experts available to comment for news stories about autism

Experts at Drexel University are available to comment for news stories about autism for Autism Awareness Month in April. Drexel recently established the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, the nation's first autism center focused on public health science.

22 Mar 2012

UT Dallas postdoctoral fellow to study effectiveness of bilingual education programs

A postdoctoral fellow in the UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders has won a competitive research grant to study the effectiveness of bilingual education programs.

22 Mar 2012

Women diagnosed with DCIS need clear communication guidelines

Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) need clear communication and tailored support to enable them to understand this complex breast condition, which has divided the medical profession when it comes to its perception and prognosis.

22 Mar 2012

Alzheimer's may spread through connected neurons

Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia may spread within nerve networks in the brain by moving directly between connected neurons, instead of in other ways proposed by scientists, such as by propagating in all directions, according to researchers who report the finding in the March 22 edition of the journal Neuron.

22 Mar 2012

Heart Failure Congress 2012 to take place from May 19-22

Four days of scientific sessions will be devoted to the latest advances and controversies in heart failure at this year's Heart Failure Congress 2012. The latest results from drugs and devices trials will be announced at the meeting.

21 Mar 2012

Health law oral arguments: Analyzing the moving parts

News reports explore the constitutional questions to be explored in the high court's review of the health law and the most likely potential outcomes.

21 Mar 2012

Factors that increase the possibility of having migraines

A migraine is the most common type of headache that propels patients to seek care from their doctors. Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches, with women affected almost three times more often than men, according to statistics from the National Headache Foundation in Chicago.

21 Mar 2012