Language News and Research

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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.

Narrative skills track cognition in children with language impairments

Children with specific language impairment show poor general narrative skills alongside deficits in verbal working memory and sustained auditory attention relative to children with typical development, research shows.

1 Aug 2012

Namibian High Court rules HIV-positive women were improperly counseled before sterilization procedures, but not based on HIV status

"The Namibian High Court has ruled that the human rights of three HIV-positive women were violated when they were coerced into being sterilized while they gave birth, but the judge dismissed claims that the sterilization amounted to discrimination based on their HIV status," PlusNews reports.

1 Aug 2012

Increased cortical thinning in schizophrenia patients

Patients with schizophrenia show greater cortical thinning in selected subregions of both the frontal and temporal lobes over a 2-year period than mentally healthy individuals, study results show.

31 Jul 2012

Intensive multidisciplinary approach effective for chronic back pain

An intensive interdisciplinary outpatient program for managing chronic back pain has shown clinically significant results in a pilot study.

31 Jul 2012

Kids with congenital heart defect should receive early evaluation for developmental disorders

Children born with a congenital heart defect should receive early evaluation, prompt treatment and ongoing follow-up for related developmental disorders affecting brain function, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published in Circulation.

31 Jul 2012

Evidence for ADHD due to delay in brain development

Is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) due to a delay in brain development or the result of complete deviation from typical development? In the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Philip Shaw and colleagues present evidence for delay based on a study by the National Institutes of Health.

30 Jul 2012

Researchers describe new human tissue dendritic cell with cross-presenting function

Researchers in Newcastle and Singapore have identified a new type of white blood cell which activates a killing immune response to an external source - providing a new potential target for vaccines for conditions such as cancer or Hepatitis B.

30 Jul 2012

Everyday words that describe feelings lost in dementia

Dementia can affect a person’s ability to recognise the meaning of common emotional words such as ‘thrilled’ and ‘annoyed’, according to new research.

25 Jul 2012

Poststroke speech therapy ‘should be reorganized’

Results of the randomized ACT NoW trial show no benefit of "enhanced" over "everyday" communication therapy for patients with dysarthria resulting from stroke.

25 Jul 2012

Hispanics or Asians have higher percentage of HIV infections attributed to heterosexual contact

An examination of the characteristics of persons born outside the United States diagnosed with HIV while living in the U.S. finds that, compared to U.S.-born persons with HIV, they are more likely to be Hispanic or Asian, and to have a higher percentage of HIV infections attributed to heterosexual contact, according to a study appearing in JAMA being published online.

23 Jul 2012

Neuroscience 2012 annual meeting to take place from Oct. 13-17

Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, is the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Learn how the brain works and new developments on a range of topics: aging, language, brain injury, parenting, and mental illness, among others. More than 16,000 new discoveries will be presented, with 30,000 attendees from around the world.

21 Jul 2012

Montefiore physician to develop tablet computer app for children with cochlear implants

Elena Willis, MD Resident Physician, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Montefiore Medical Center, has been awarded a $10,000 Resident Research Grant by The American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, sponsored by The Oticon Foundation, to develop a tablet computer app to help improve the speech of children with cochlear implants.

20 Jul 2012

Poststroke speech therapy ‘should be reorganized’

Results of the randomized ACT NoW trial show no benefit of “enhanced” over “everyday” communication therapy for patients with dysarthria resulting from stroke.

20 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Researchers see potential to control HIV pandemic; The 'ceaseless attacks' on women's reproductive health

We are at a moment of extraordinary optimism in the response to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A series of scientific breakthroughs ... have the potential to markedly expand the available preventive tools. There is evidence of the first cure of an HIV-infected person. And most important, the finding that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy can both improve individual patient outcomes and reduce the risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners by 96% has led many to assert what had so long seemed impossible: that control of the HIV pandemic may be achievable.

20 Jul 2012

Impaired frontostriatal circuitry linked to cognitive defects in PD

Reduced activation of the frontostriatal circuits may underlie the mild cognitive impairment often seen in patients with early Parkinson’s disease, say researchers.

19 Jul 2012

House GOP advances Labor-HHS appropriations bill that blocks health law funding

The proposed spending bill includes language preventing the use of federal dollars to "implement, administer or further" the Affordable Care Act. A number of other programs and agencies -- including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality -- are targeted for termination.

19 Jul 2012

NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Lung Cancer Screening now available free of charge

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), with the support of the NCCN Foundation and Lung Cancer Alliance, announces the latest addition to the library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients, patient-friendly translations of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.

19 Jul 2012

State roundup: Mass. to allow coupons for some branded drugs

Johns Hopkins Hospital lost its coveted spot as the nation's top-ranked hospital for the first time in 22 years, edged out by Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in the latest analysis by U.S. News & World Report to be released Tuesday. Hopkins still ranked No. 2, and marketing experts said falling one spot will hurt the hospital's ego more than its reputation.

18 Jul 2012

First-episode schizophrenia patients show frontal white matter deficits

Results from a Brazilian study suggest that patients with a first episode of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder show significant white matter deficits in the middle frontal gyrus region of the brain.

17 Jul 2012

Unisys becomes AOptix strategic alliance partner

AOptix Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of advanced optical technologies and products, today announced that Unisys, a worldwide information technology company, has become an AOptix strategic alliance partner.

17 Jul 2012