When brain development gets off to a bad start, the consequences are lifelong.  

One example is a condition called SCN2A haploinsufficiency, in which children are born with just one functioning copy of the SCN2A gene — instead of the normal two. They develop defects in the connections, or synapses, between some of their brain cells; they do not learn to speak; and many of them experience seizures. 

Research measured fetal movements in 51 pregnant women and found that higher frequencies were strongly linked to greater maternal attachment. Paying conscious attention to these signals may be a non-invasive and effective strategy for strengthening prenatal attachment and promoting more attentive and sensitive caregiving after birth.

Tulane University researchers have developed an enhanced CRISPR-based tuberculosis test that works with a simple tongue swab, a potential breakthrough that could allow easier, community-based screenings for the world’s deadliest infectious disease. The test amplifies detection of TB in low-concentration samples and can deliver results in 45 minutes. This research comes after the WHO issued a call to researchers to explore tongue swabs as a way to boost testing access.

A new international study led by researchers in Canada, Sweden and the U.S., has provided definitive proof that shunt surgery restores mobility and safety in older adults with idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (iNPH). Dr. Mark Hamilton, MD, Director of the Calgary Adult Hydrocephalus Program at at the University of Calgary says the groundbreaking double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, demonstrates that surgical treatment with a shunt (a small tube used to divert cerebrospinal fluid from the brain) produced significant improvements in walking speed and balance after just three months. The benefit to those in the group where the shunt was activated and functioning was so improved that the trial was halted early due to its efficacy. Findings are published in The New England Journal of Medicine.