The study published in Child Development found that singing to infants can significantly boost their mood. This is according to researchers at Yale University’s Child Study Center, who conducted an experiment where parents were encouraged to sing more frequently to their babies. The results showed a measurable improvement in infants’ moods overall, compared to those in the control group.

The study included 110 parents and their babies, most of whom were under four months old. Parents were randomly assigned into two groups: one group received encouragement to sing more frequently by teaching them new songs, providing karaoke-style instructional videos, and sending weekly newsletters with ideas for incorporating music into daily routines. For four weeks, these parents received surveys on their smartphones at random times throughout the day.

The researchers found that parents were successfully able to increase the amount of time they spent singing to their babies. Not only did the parents sing more frequently, but they also chose to use music especially in one context: calming their infants when they were fussy.

“This simple practice can lead to real health benefits for babies,” said Eun Cho, postdoctoral researcher at the Yale Child Study Center and co-first author of the study. “We show that singing is something that anyone can do, and most families are already doing.”

The researchers believe that the benefits of singing may be even stronger than the current study shows, especially in a family that does not already rely on music as a way of soothing their infants.

A follow-up study, “Together We Grow,” will investigate the impact of infant-directed singing over an eight-month period. The Child Study Center researchers are currently enrolling parents and babies under four months old in this study to further explore the benefits of singing.

The findings have implications for alleviating stress or conditions such as postpartum depression in the long term, and may also show benefits beyond mood in infants, such as improved sleep.

As Samuel Mehr, an adjunct associate professor at the Child Study Center and director of The Music Lab, said, “Our understanding of the evolutionary functions of music points to a role of music in communication. Parents send babies a clear signal in their lullabies: I’m close by, I hear you, I’m looking out for you — so things can’t be all that bad.”

The article you provided raises critical concerns about the potential consequences of early teenage obesity on future generations. A recent study published in Communications Biology has shed light on the biological mechanism behind this issue, revealing that boys who become overweight in their early teens may pass on harmful epigenetic traits to their children.

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Bergen in Norway investigated the epigenetic profiles of 339 people, aged 7 to 51. They found that fathers who gained weight during adolescence were more likely to have epigenetic changes in over 2,000 sites in 1,962 genes linked with adipogenesis (formation of fat cells) and lipid metabolism in their children.

These epigenetic changes can regulate gene expression and are associated with asthma, obesity, and low lung function. The study found that the effect was more pronounced in female children than male children, with different genes involved.

The findings have significant implications for public health and may be a game-changer in public health intervention strategies. As Professor Cecilie Svanes from the University of Bergen noted, “A failure to address obesity in young teenagers today could damage the health of future generations, further entrenching health inequalities for decades to come.”

The research was funded by the Norwegian Research Council and highlights the importance of addressing childhood obesity globally. As Prof John Holloway from the University of Southampton and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Southampton Biomedical Research Centre added, “Childhood obesity is increasing globally, and the results of this study demonstrate that this is a concern not only for the health of the population now but also for generations to come.”

The discovery of nine specific molecules in the blood has revolutionized our understanding of teen depression. McGill University researchers have developed a novel lab method to detect these molecules, known as microRNAs, which can predict how symptoms might progress over time. This breakthrough could lead to earlier detection and intervention before symptoms worsen and become harder to treat.

The alarming rise in adolescent depression diagnoses has severe consequences, including long-lasting effects on mental health, substance use, social isolation, and treatment resistance. By identifying unique microRNA biomarkers linked specifically to teens, researchers hope to provide an additional objective metric for early identification and care.

A minimally invasive approach was used to collect small blood samples from 62 teenagers, 34 with depression and 28 without. The McGill team developed the lab method to extract and analyze microRNAs from these samples, making it practical and scalable for broader use.

The study’s findings pave the way for using dried blood spots as a tool in psychiatric research, allowing us to track early biological changes linked to mental health using a minimally invasive method. Researchers plan to validate their findings in larger groups of adolescents and explore how these microRNAs interact with genetic and environmental risk factors.

The study was funded by various organizations, including the Douglas Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.