Humanities & Society

A baby’s first relationship is the most important.A child’s first relationship can begin in the womb as a parent reads or talks to the unborn baby. An infant’s first relationship is the most important because it begins the foundation for all future relationships, says School of Medicine child psychiatrist John Constantino.

RichardsPresident Bush’s nomination of John Roberts to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement has the potential to spark a messy confirmation process. “I think that both sides have been preparing for a war that seems inevitable regardless of whomever was nominated,” says Neil Richards, former law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “On a personal level, I know John fairly well, and really like him. I’d imagine that he and I would disagree about many basic ideological and interpretive questions of law, but he’s very smart and a very decent human being who has the right sort of personality to do the job in a collegial and effective manner. So I strongly support his nomination, especially when I consider some of the other names on the shortlist, who lacked either John’s qualifications, his intellect, or his judicious temperament.”

Hydration is crucial during summer activities.The number of heat-related illnesses is rising as fast as the thermometer. Dehydration is the key component in most cases of sun-induced sickness. Barnes-Jewish Hospital and School of Medicine physicians Mark Levine and Matthew Matava discuss the symptoms and means for prevention in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

With the heat of summer upon us, kids everywhere are flocking to the pool. With that in mind, Kim Quayle, St. Louis Children’s Hospital emergency physician and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, provides a list of water safety tips in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

Teenage soda consumption is on the rise.A new study released by the Center for Science in the Public Interest calls on the Food and Drug Administration to require health warnings on sodas as teenage consumption of sugary drinks continues to rise. Teenage boys who drink carbonated or non-carbonated soft drinks consume an average of three 12-ounce cans per day, and girls more than two cans, according to a new analysis of 1999-2002 government data. Teens who drink soft drinks get nearly 15 percent of their total calories from those drinks. Connie Diekman, a dietary expert at Washington University in St. Louis, has several suggestions for helping to curb teenage soda consumption.

Deanna Barch (center) discusses brain imaging techniques used in the experiment, which used the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine (shown at right).When encouraged to use memorization strategies commonly employed by healthy individuals, people with schizophrenia can be helped to remember information just as well as their healthy counterparts, a process that in itself seems to spur a normalization of memory-related activities in the brains of people with schizophrenia, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Written in a plainspoken and often humorous style, the memoir offers a fresh and engaging perspective on Reagan’s leadership style and motivations.

He joins Lee Epstein, Ph.D., professor of political science, and Murray L. Weidenbaum, Ph.D., professor of economics, as the third Mallinckrodt professor in Arts & Sciences.

Abnormal heart rate variability increases the risk of death for depressed heart patients.Scientists have known for years that depression increases the risk of dying in the months after a heart attack, but they haven’t understood how depression raises that risk. Now, behavioral medicine specialists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine that abnormal heart rate variability is partially responsible for depression’s effects in heart patients.

Deanna Barch (right), co-author of a memory study that used a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine (shown in the background) to monitor the brain activity of people with schizophrenia.When encouraged to use memorization strategies commonly employed by healthy individuals, people with schizophrenia can be helped to remember information just as well as their healthy counterparts, a process that in itself seems to spur a normalization of memory-related activities in the brains of people with schizophrenia, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.