NACD Science Corner Vol. 14 – Why Do People with Down Syndrome Have Less Cancer?

with No Comments

A study published in Nature – International Journal of Science confirms that individuals with extra copies of chromosome 21, as found in individuals with Down syndrome, have genes that block certain types of cancer growth. This may have far-reaching implications in the therapies we use to treat cancer. Most types of cancer are rare in individuals with Down syndrome and … Read More

NACD Science Corner Vol. 13 – Is Reading to Your Child Better Than Using Other Media?

with No Comments

  A newly published study explored the effects of reading to your child versus having them use other media, such as watching a cartoon or listening to an audiobook. “In a single generation, the explosion of screen-based media has transformed the experience of childhood, from TV and videos, to an unlimited range of content available at any time via portable … Read More

Science Corner Vol. 9 – Evidence That Sending a Child on a Guilt Trip Has Long-Lasting, Negative Effects

with No Comments

  A recent research article published in The Journal of Family Psychology reported the use of guilt-inducing parenting causes distress and anger that is still measurable the next day. Guilt-inducing parenting is when a parent tries to impact a child’s behavior by trying to make them feel guilty. An example might be when a child won’t eat his dinner and … Read More

Science Corner Vol. 7 – Sleep Apnea and Its Association to Behavior, Learning Problems and ADHD

with No Comments

  The Tucson Children’s Assessment of Sleep Apnea Study was published this year in the journal SLEEP [1]. In this study of 263 youth, sleep study and neurobehavioral data was collected twice, five years apart. Twenty-one of the children had persistent sleep apnea throughout the entire study. These children were six times more likely to have behavioral problems when compared … Read More

Science Corner Vol. 3 – The Sleep Advantage of Homeschooling: Scientifically Verified

with No Comments

It might not be that shocking to find homeschoolers get more sleep than their public school peers, but a new study which featured 2,600 adolescents around the nation found homeschoolers get on average 90 minutes more sleep per night! Just to put that into perspective, 90 minutes a night over the course of a 5-day school week equates to 1 entire … Read More

Science Corner Vol. 2: Working Memory Training Physically Changes Brain for the Better, fMRI Neuroimaging Study Finds

with No Comments

Last summer, a group of researchers
 published a study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in which they
used fMRI technology to show
auditory working memory training
 (such as the auditory sequential processing activities in Simply Smarter) resulted in physical changes 
to the brain. In addition to showing
 auditory working memory can be
 trained, this research was able to demonstrate such training is … Read More

Science Corner Vol. 1: Cracking the Code Behind the Cognitive Development Challenges of Down syndrome

with No Comments

Have you ever wondered what it is exactly about the extra chromosome 21 that makes cognitive development in children with Down syndrome so challenging? Just this March researchers at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute published research that may have cracked the code on this one. The researchers have found that a protein called sorting nexin 27, or just SNX27, is … Read More

Find Out How to Get Started with NACD Today!