A fruit fly model of a rare, neurodegenerative disease is helping researchers trace the series of steps that lead to neuronal cell death. Damage to astrocytes – star-shaped cells found in the brain and spinal cord – is found in many neurodegenerative conditions, but it’s been unclear exactly what role astrocyte dysfunction plays in the development of disease.
Research
Searching for associations: New Waisman investigator studies child behavior disorders and the genetics and environment behind them
James Li’s drive to research, understand and develop effective interventions for childhood behavioral disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), was sparked in the hallways of a juvenile justice center in Baltimore.
Divorce rate doesn’t go up as families of children with disabilities grow
Couples raising a child with developmental disabilities do not face a higher risk of divorce if they have larger families, according to a new study by researchers from the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kindness in the classroom
What if teaching young children compassion and kindness made them better students as well as better people? Researchers with the UW’s Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center recently tested that hypothesis with preschool students in the Madison Metropolitan School District, after years of work developing a curriculum designed to help children develop both kindness and self-regulation skills.
Vision research month
June is Vision Research Awareness Month and the Waisman Center is home to a comprehensive vision research program led by David Gamm, MD, PhD. Gamm, a Waisman Center investigator, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, studies human retinal development and potential therapies for retinal degenerative diseases.
Memory may suffer in mothers caring for children with disabilities
Mothers of kids with disabilities might be more forgetful as they age than other mothers, according to a new study that suggests the stresses of parenting a disabled child wear on mothers’ minds over time.
Infants give strong clues to language learning
Imagine that you’ve been dropped into an unfamiliar country. People are speaking all around you. But you don’t recognize the sounds or objects surrounding you. You don’t even hear words; all the sounds are mushed together. It is very confusing.
Living lab introduces the public to research on campus
Subtle interactions that demonstrate power, both verbal and nonverbal, take place in a child’s environment every day, and one UW researcher wants to know if children are actually paying attention. Through scripted scenarios geared to …
Video: Commemorating Kennedy’s Waisman connection
Fifty-one years ago today, President John F. Kennedy sent a telegram to Harry Waisman congratulating him on the dedication of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Laboratories. Two days later, the president was dead. Marsha Mailick recounts the connection between the Kennedys and what would become the Waisman Center.
Prematurity awareness month
Variation among preterm infants is the norm One in 10 infants in the United States is born preterm—less than 36 weeks gestation—each year. Infants born early are at a higher risk for long-term health problems …