The five most-read stories on Scope this week were:
Debunking a Halloween myth: Sugar and hyperactivity: Tom Robinson, director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, helps us understand the growing body of evidence that counters the long-held belief that sugar causes hyperactivity.
Using meditation to train the brain: A Huffington Post article discusses some of the health benefits of meditation, and how scientists at Stanford, and elsewhere, are using medical imaging to deepen our understanding of how meditation works. Their research shows that meditation can manifest physical changes in brain structure and function.
Skin cancer images help people check skin more often and effectively: A new study found that images of skin cancer encourage people to check their skin more often, and helps them examine their skin more effectively, than people who’d only read about it. The findings of this study, conducted by Jennifer E. McWhirter, and professor Laurie Hoffman-Goetz, PhD, MPH, of the University of Waterloo, were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
No bribery necessary: Children eat more vegetables when they understand how food affects their bodies: Stanford psychologists Sarah Gripshover and Ellen Markman, PhD, found that children are more likely to voluntarily consume vegetables when they understand how food affects their bodies. Their findings, published in the journal Psychological Science, highlight the importance of educating children early and often about healthy eating habits.
Stanford researchers work to translate genetic discoveries into widespread personalized medicine: Stanford geneticist Michael Snyder, PhD, experienced the benefits of using genetic sequencing to identify potential health risks firsthand. A recent story in Palo Alto Weekly tells how Snyder, the director of the Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, discovered he had a genetic predisposition for type 2-diabetes when he had his genome sequenced as part of a nearly year-long study in his lab at Stanford.
