Premature infants benefit from adult talk, study shows

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~4/8rKDnSnSylI

Research led by a team at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University has been published in the February 10, 2014 online edition of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.The research indicates that premature babies benefit from being exposed to adult talk as early as possible.The research, entitled “Adult Talk in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) with Preterm Infants and Developmental Outcomes,” was led by Betty Vohr, MD, director of Women & Infants’ Neonatal Follow-Up Program and professor of pediatrics, along with her colleagues Melinda Caskey, MD, neonatologist and assistant professor of pediatrics; Bonnie Stephens, MD, neonatologist, developmental and behavioral pediatrician, and assistant professor of pediatrics; and Richard Tucker, BA, senior research data analyst.The goal of the study was to test the association of the amount of talking that a baby was exposed to at what would have been 32 and 36 weeks gestation if a baby had been born full term, using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd Edition (Bayley — III) cognitive and language scores.It was hypothesized that preterm infants exposed to higher word counts would have higher cognitive and language scores at seven and 18 months corrected age.”Our earlier study identified that extremely premature infants vocalize (make sounds) eight weeks before their mother’s due date and vocalize more when their mothers are present in the NICU than when they are cared for by NICU staff,” explained Dr. Vohr.At 32 weeks and 36 weeks, staff recorded the NICU environment for 16 hours with a Language Environment Analysis (LENA) microprocessor. The adult word count, child vocalizations and “conversation turns” (words of mother or vocalizations of infant within five seconds) between mother and infant are recorded and analyzed by computer.”The follow-up of these infants has revealed that the adult word count to which infants are exposed in the NICU at 32 and 36 weeks predicts their language and cognitive scores at 18 months. Every increase by 100 adult words per hour during the 32 week LENA recording was associated with a two point increase in the language score at 18 months,” said Dr. Vohr.The results showed the hypothesis to be true. Dr. Vohr concluded, “Our study demonstrates the powerful impact of parents visiting and talking to their infants in the NICU on their developmental outcomes. Historically, very premature infants are at increased risk of language delay.The study now identifies an easy to implement and cost effective intervention — come talk and sing to your baby — to improve outcomes.”Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by Women & Infants Hospital. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Read More: Premature infants benefit from adult talk, study shows

#Adult, #Agriculture, #Alternative-Medicine, #Analysis, #Hospital, #Infants, #Mother, #Professor, #Research, #Rhode, #University

New light shed on habitat of early apes

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~4/Rl9k6GEEApc

A University of Rhode Island anthropologist, along with colleagues from an international team of scientists, has discovered definitive evidence of the environment inhabited by the early ape Proconsul on Rusinga Island, Kenya. The findings provide new insights into understanding and interpreting the connection between habitat preferences and the early diversification of the ape-human lineage.Their research, which was published today in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrates that Proconsul and its primate relative Dendropithecus inhabited “a widespread, dense, multistoried, closed canopy” forest.Holly Dunsworth, URI assistant professor of anthropology, said that the research team found fossils of a single individual of Proconsul, which lived 18 to 20 million years ago, among geological deposits that also contained tree stump casts, calcified roots and fossil leaves. The discovery underscores the importance of forested environments in the evolution of early apes.”To have the vegetation of a habitat preserved right along with the fossil primates themselves isn’t a regular occurrence in primate paleontology,” she said. “It’s especially rare to have so many exquisite plant fossils preserved at ancient ape sites.”Rusinga has been known since the 1980s for preserving a fossil ape and other creatures in a hollowed out, fossilized tree trunk. But it wasn’t until the research team’s discovery of additional tree trunks and fossil primates preserved in the same ancient soil that there was a strong link between the ape and its habitat at the site.”It’s probably the best evidence linking ape to habitat that we could ask for,” Dunsworth said. “Combined with analyses of the roots, trunks and even beautifully preserved fossil leaves, it’s possible to say that the forest was a closed canopy one, meaning the arboreal animals, like Proconsul, could easily move from tree-to-tree without coming to the ground. This environmental evidence jibes with our behavioral interpretations of Proconsul anatomy–as being adapted for a life of climbing in the trees–and with present-day monkey and ape ecology.”Additional evidence from the excavation site has shown that the landscape was stable for many years while the forest grew.According to co-author Daniel Peppe of Baylor University, evidence from the forest soil suggests “the precipitation was seasonal with a distinct wet and dry period. During the dry season, there was probably relatively little rainfall,” he said. “Additionally, by studying fossil leaves at the site, we were able to estimate that there was about 55 to 100 inches of rainfall a year and the average annual temperature was between 73 and 94 degrees Fahrenheit.”Research on Rusinga Island has been ongoing for more than 80 years and has resulted in the collection of thousands of mammal fossils, including many well-preserved specimens of Proconsul and other primates. Evidence from these fossils indicate that Proconsul probably had a body position somewhat similar to modern monkeys, but that details of its anatomy suggest some more ape-like climbing and clambering abilities. …


Read More: New light shed on habitat of early apes

#Agriculture, #Ecology, #Evidence, #Kenya, #Rhode, #Rusinga, #Science, #University