Health and Medicine

The duration of exposure to daylight, or the “photoperiod,” may affect development of seasonal affective disorder by programming serotonin neurons in the brain, according to Vanderbilt University researchers.

Cognitive and attention deficits observed in children following surgery before age 5 to repair congenital heart defects likely will persist into their teens and young adulthood.

Researchers in the Schools of Medicine and Engineering at Vanderbilt University have discovered a proteomic “signature” from the airways of heavy smokers that could lead to better risk assessment and perhaps new ways to stop lung cancer before it starts.

It comes down to privacy — biomedical research can’t proceed without human genomic data sharing, and genomic data sharing can’t proceed without some reasonable level of assurance that de-identified data from patients and other research participants will stay de-identified after they’re released for research.

Preschool-age children from low-income families are more likely to be physically active if parents increase activity and reduce sedentary behavior while wearing movement monitors (accelerometers), according to a Vanderbilt study published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

To improve medical management of crisis situations, clinicians should be trained to use cognitive aids – checklists and concise manuals.

Vanderbilt investigators recommend that the presence of tumor deposits in the abdomen be included when staging midgut neuroendocrine tumors.