Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
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 …
A recent story in the New York Times discusses the trauma that parents experience after the death of a child. In particular, elderly parents who lose a child are vulnerable both emotionally and pragmatically. Waisman Center investigators Marsha Mailick, PhD, and Jan Greenberg, PhD, are quoted in the article and their research is highlighted. You …
Abused children tend to develop lifelong emotional and physical problems, and now UW-Madison scientists may have found a biological reason: Maltreatment appears to turn off a gene that regulates stress.
For children, stress can go a long way. A little bit provides a platform for learning, adapting and coping. But a lot of it — chronic, toxic stress like poverty, neglect and physical abuse — can have lasting negative impacts.
“Lots of families didn’t know how to talk about it. Does a 3-year-old really understand when one of their parents in is jail?"
By Käri Knutson It doesn’t get talked about much, yet nearly 2.7 million children are growing up with a parent who is in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. What do you tell those kids? What don’t you tell them? “Half of families say nothing,” says psychologist Julie Poehlmann, a professor in the …
How does childhood environment shape the human brain? Can caregiver abuse and neglect - as well as nurturing - promote behaviors and reaction patterns that last a lifetime?
At least one in 13 pregnant women suffers from mental health problems...
A woman with a history of poor mental health is eight times more likely to have the problem occur during pregnancy, a new study shows.
The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Waisman Center will welcome His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to its public grand-opening celebration Saturday-Sunday, May 15-16. UW–Madison neuroscientist Richard Davidson established the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) to scientifically determine how healthy qualities of mind develop and to investigate interventions to …
