Determining a child’s best daily balance of sleep, activity and relaxation can be a challenge, but if you’re hoping to improve their academic results, then it’s time to cut back on chores and chill time, according to new research. Exploring associations between 24-hour daily activities (sleep, sedentary time, light physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity)…

In a new, rare study of direct brain recordings in children and adolescents, scientists have discovered as brains mature, the precise ways by which two key memory regions in the brain communicate make us better at forming lasting memories. The findings also suggest how brains learn to multitask with age. Historically, a lack of high-resolution…

A new review by Swansea University reveals there is widespread belief, around the world, in a teaching method that is not only ineffective but may actually be harmful to learners. For decades educators have been advised to match their teaching to the supposed ‘learning styles’ of students. However, a new paper by Professor Phil Newton,…

New research reveals that specialized cells within neural circuitry that triggers complex learning in songbirds bears a striking resemblance to a type of neural cell associated with the development of fine motor skills in the cortex of the human brain. The study by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University published today in the journal…

An international team of researchers has found the Internet can produce both acute and sustained alterations in specific areas of cognition, which may reflect changes in the brain, affecting our attentional capacities, memory processes, and social interactions. In a first of its kind review, published in World Psychiatry — the world’s leading psychiatric research journal,…

New study with 756 1st through 5th graders demonstrates that a six-week mashup of hoops and math has a positive effect on their desire to learn more, provides them with an experience of increased self-determination and grows math confidence among youth. Over the past decades, there has been a considerable amount of attention paid to…

New research from the shows that reading aloud can triple a child’s resilience at school, particularly for children at-risk. Focussing on early primary-aged children who had suffered abuse or neglect, the study explored factors that could modify the negative effects of adverse life circumstances, finding that one of the biggest predictors of resilience in both…

Virtual reality software which allows researchers to ‘walk’ inside and analyze individual cells could be used to understand fundamental problems in biology and develop new treatments for disease. The software, called vLUME, was created by scientists at the University of Cambridge and 3D image analysis software company Lume VR Ltd. It allows super-resolution microscopy data…

A multi-institution study has attempted to tease out the relative impact of two variables most often linked to life expectancy — race and education — by combing through data about 5,114 black and white individuals in four US cities. Now, a multi-institution study led by the Yale School of Medicine and University of Alabama-Birmingham has…

Children with mental health needs require urgent support from primary school onwards to avoid exclusion, which can be both cause and effect of poor mental health, new research concludes. The research, led by the University of Exeter, and published in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, concluded that a swift response is needed, finding that young…