Behavior: Research

Lead

A doctor takes a blood sample from a child to test for lead. Despite the 1978 U.S. ban on lead paint for residential use, more than 300,000 American children still have high levels of the toxin in their blood, and are at risk for learning deficits and behavioral problems. But Tomás R. Guilarte offers hope that the damage can be reversed. His research shows that rats exposed to lead regain cognitive skills when put in an enriched environment that stimulates brain function. “We want something that is helpful after kids have been exposed,” he says.

Motor vehicle crashes

The soaring number of cars in cities like Dhaka, Bangladesh (left), has created a new public health issue: motor vehicle crashes. Of the 1.2 million people who die each year from motor vehicle crashes, about 900,000 come from developing countries. Pakistani-born physician Adnan A. Hyder notes that rules created for industrialized societies might not work in places where the “traffic mix” involves bicycles, animals, and over-crowded buses. And mandatory seatbelts wouldn’t save many lives in a country where most highway victims are pedestrians.

Terrorists

Danger made visible: If terrorists explode a “dirty bomb” studded with radioactive material, the deadly particles would be impossible to see. Medical physicist Jonathan M. Links, a member of Baltimore’s radiological strike team, trains emergency responders in the use of special handheld radiation detectors and teaches them what to do if radioactivity is detected.

Memory

Chess players in Shanghai exercise their mental muscles. This kind of brain-training can significantly improve seniors’ memory, concentration, and problem-solving abilities, according to a study done by George W. Rebok and colleagues. The study’s 2,832 U.S. participants got their daily practice through simple tasks, like memorizing a grocery list. “I see in 20 years this being more a part of daily life,” Rebok says. “You go to a doctor, and you get a cognitive checkup and you get a prescription written for cognitive exercises.”

Stress

It seems logical to advise pregnant women to avoid stress, yet developmental psychologist Janet DiPietro learned something surprising in a recent study: At age 2, children of 137 mothers who had reported stressful pregnancies were more developmentally advanced. “I don’t want mothers to seek out stress during a pregnancy; I just want them to stop worrying about it,” says DiPietro.