Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Title: Age at menopause by CGG repeat length Legend: There was a significant curvilinear association between CGG repeat length and age at menopause (b = .003, p < .01). Neither maternal education nor smoking history was significantly associated with age at menopause. The effect remained significant even after the case with 180 CGG repeats was …
Title: Four-year-olds’ selective production of verbal cues predicts their spatial skills Legend: (Top panel) Sample trials of spatial tasks children completed (A) mental transformations, (B) spatial analogies, (C) feature binding, and (D) picture rotation. (Bottom left panel) Examples of the spatial scene description task trial types, in which children could use (A) three cues, color, …
It has been said that communication is the essence of human life. In fact, our ability to communicate an unlimited number of thoughts and ideas separates humans from all other creatures.
Much like electricity traveling down wires, nerve impulses in our brain travel along nerve fibers. And just as wires need insulation to function well, nerve fibers, too, rely on a kind of insulation called myelin, a fatty substance that protects them and increases the speed at which nerve impulses travel.
April 29, 2016 Niamh Rahman, Waisman Communications The Waisman Center opened its doors on Sunday, April 24, and welcomed friends, donors, faculty and students to the Friends of the Waisman Center’s 21st annual spring benefit concert. With more than 175 people in attendance, the evening was abuzz with music, mingling, delectable hors d’oeuvres and wine. The …
A University of Wisconsin—Madison neuroscientist has inserted a genetic switch into nerve cells so a patient can alter their activity by taking designer drugs that would not affect any other cell.
A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who studies the most common genetic intellectual disability has used an experimental drug to reverse—in mice—damage from the mutation that causes the syndrome.
Title: Young children’s automatic encoding of social categories Legend: Mean encoding scores at each age in each condition. One-sample t-tests comparing performance to chance (0) appear above each bar in the graph. Error bars depict standard error. Children encoded gender as early as four years of age, but no age group showed significant encoding of …
April 22, 2016 Niamh Rahman, Waisman Communications Sometimes a theater performance is better with headphones and fidgets. This may sound strange, but for individuals with certain disabilities, headphones and other add-ons, like fidgets, can make an event more enjoyable, instead of detracting from the experience. Using headphones can help tone down loud, potentially overwhelming noises, …
April 18, 2016 Waisman Communications The Waisman Center mourns the passing of Ethel Waisman Tarkow, age 98, on Sunday, April 17. Ethel was married to the late Harry Waisman, MD, PhD. She and her family have been great supporters of the Waisman Center. A lifetime member of the Friends of the Waisman Center, she and …
