Spontaneous discovery of novel task solutions in children

Children often perform worse than adults on tasks that require focused attention. While this is commonly regarded as a sign of incomplete cognitive development, a broader attentional focus could also endow children with the ability to find novel solutions to a given task. To test this idea, we investigated children’s ability to discover and use …

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Early life inflammation is associated with spinal cord excitability and nociceptive sensitivity in human infants

Immune function and sensitivity to pain are closely related, but the association between early life inflammation and sensory nervous system development is poorly understood—especially in humans. Here, in term-born infants, we measure brain activity and reflex withdrawal activity (using EEG and EMG) and behavioural and physiological activity (using the PIPP-R score) to assess the impact …

Continue reading Early life inflammation is associated with spinal cord excitability and nociceptive sensitivity in human infants

Early childhood allergy linked with development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundPrevious studies reported controversial results regarding the association between allergic disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)/autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this article was to investigate whether allergic disorders are associated with ADHD/ASD in a large cohort of pediatric patients. MethodsA retrospective study using the pediatric (0–18 year) database (ICD-9-CM codes) of Clalit Health …

Continue reading Early childhood allergy linked with development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder

Effectiveness of BNT162b2 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in children aged 5–11 years in Italy: a retrospective analysis of January–April, 2022

BackgroundBy April 13, 2022, more than 4 months after the approval of BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) for children, less than 40% of 5–11-year-olds in Italy had been vaccinated against COVID-19. Estimating how effective vaccination is in 5–11-year-olds in the current epidemiological context dominated by the omicron variant (B.1.1.529) is important to inform public health bodies in defining …

Continue reading Effectiveness of BNT162b2 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in children aged 5–11 years in Italy: a retrospective analysis of January–April, 2022

Prenatal antibiotic exposure, asthma and the atopic march: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundAntibiotic use during pregnancy may increase the risk for asthma in children. We performed a meta-analysis assessing prenatal antibiotic exposure and the risk for childhood wheeze or asthma, as well as for diseases associated with the atopic march. MethodsA systematic literature search protocol (PROSPERO-ID: CRD42020191940) was registered and searches were completed using Medline, Proquest, Embase, …

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