Behavior: Napping Can Prime the Brain for Learning

AUTHOR: Roni Caryn Rabin
PUBLICATION NAME: The New York Times
DATE OF PUBLICATION: February 23, 2010
SUMMARY: Research lead by Matthew Walker, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at University of California - Berkeley, demonstrated that young adults who slept for at least an hour and a half in the afternoon increased their memory capacity. This study reflects a well-known fact in which toddlers who take afternoon naps have greater learning capacities than those who don't. This study also "suggests that sleep can actually restore the ability to learn." Educators around the country have consistently emphasized the need for adolescents to sleep for at least 8 hours, and this study supports this claim; as Walker put it, "You need to sleep before learning, to prepare your brain, like a dry sponge, to absorb new information." Everyone should be aware of this study, so all can learn the importance of getting a full night's sleep!
LINKS TO STUDY: None that were included in the original article.
ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/research/23beha.html
SUBMITTED BY: Bettina Pancho

Do cell phones cause behavioral problems?

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Landau

PUBLICATION NAME:CNN

DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 7, 2010

Summary: Today, cell phones are how teenagers communicate. Most teens and even adults can go a few hours without their cell in their pocket. It’s crazy to think that these modern devices can cause behavioral problems for young children. Studies say that children that were exposed to cell phones either in the womb of their mother or after they were born up until the age of seven were at higher risk of behavioral problems. Researchers analyzed more than 28,000 children and more than 10 percent of them had mothers that spoke on the phone twice a day or even more and 50 percent had their phones turned on the whole day. The more a mother would use her cell phone the greater the risk of behavioral problems. It is very hard to believe that such a thing can cause damage to your behavior but they said that cell phones could have led up to a mother’s metabolism and could affect the brain of the fetus. This is very important to take account of since cell phones are used in our everyday lives. Women need to be aware of our cell phone usage when pregnant.

ARTICLE:http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/07/do-cell-phones-cause-behavioral-problems/?npt=NP1

SUBMITTED BY: Corri Takeda