Researchers identify widespread brain alterations in children with callousness

Children with elevated levels of callous traits—such as a lack of remorse and disregard for other people’s feelings—show widespread differences in brain structure compared with children with lower levels of the traits, according to a new study published in Biological Psychiatry. The differences, which included large- and small-scale structural alterations, support the idea of callous traits as a neurodevelopmental condition. […]

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New insight into widespread virus behind birth defects

A Northwestern Medicine study published in Developmental Cell provides new insights into how cytomegalovirus—a common virus in the herpes family—replicates within human cells, and identifies proteins that may be therapeutically targeted to suppress infection. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is widespread around the world, infecting between 60 to 100 percent of all adults. There is currently no cure or vaccine for HCMV; […]

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