Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Waisman Center investigator Brad Christian and Waisman Center affiliates Sterling Johnson and Barbara Bendlin were featured in a Nov. 26 Wisconsin State Journal article this week about Alzheimer’s research. The article is a part of a series on Alzheimer’s called “Fading away: Wisconsin’s dementia crisis,” which chronicles the doubling rate of dementia patients in Wisconsin.
Not so many years ago, people with Down syndrome rarely survived to middle age. Many died young due to heart problems associated with the congenital condition. Today, advances in treatment have allowed them to live longer, healthier lives.
About once every year and a half, Erin Harvey takes time off of her job as a teacher’s aide and along with her mom, Nancy, makes a two and a half hour drive from her home in central Illinois to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Waisman Center to “embark on an afternoon of adventure.” At the …
By Marianne Spoon, UW Communications Many factors can influence the development of a baby during pregnancy and after birth, but until recently, researchers knew little about the relationship between an expectant mother’s mental health and the subsequent development of her baby after birth. Findings from a University of Wisconsin–Madison team published Monday, Aug. 27, in …
Individuals undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan often need to minimize movements for up to 10 minutes at a time to maximize scan quality. That can be challenging for many people.
“We think this video game-based training could be a unique way to help individuals with ASD who have challenges with their balance address these issues,” says Travers, an investigator at UW–Madison’s Waisman Center and an assistant professor of kinesiology.
Several research and infrastructure projects featuring Waisman Center researchers as the primary or co-investigator have been selected for the second round of funding through the UW2020
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.
At the age of 9, Xavier Hansen already has it figured out. Someday, he is going to be the boss. “He has great aspirations to make things,” says his mom, Gail. “His goals are to own a movie theater. He wants to be in charge. If he wants something, he’ll find a way to get it.”
Brad Christian, PhD, Waisman investigator and associate professor of medical physics and psychiatry, is part of a new National Institutes of Health initiative to identify biomarkers and track the progression of Alzheimer’s in people with Down syndrome.
