Neuroscientists have long believed that there are sensitive periods in development during which the effects of experience play a critical role. And developmental psychologists have argued for the importance of early experience in the first years of life as being critical for brain and behavioral development. Most of the neuroscience research…

We consider the effects of daytime fasting by pregnant women during the lunar month of Ramadan on their children's test scores at age seven. Using English register data, we find that scores are 0.05 to 0.08 standard deviations lower for Pakistani and Bangladeshi students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. These estimates are downward biased to…

Analyzed the influence of a comprehensive program of nurse home visitation on the intellectual functioning of children born to women who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy. Found that comprehensive home-visitation services before and after delivery can offset the impairment in intellectual functioning associated with substantial maternal smoking…

During the 1960's a growing body of experimental evidence suggesting that early malnutrition could affect the development and the functioning of the brain was translated into a concern that nutritional deprivation might be producing permanent mental retardation among "disadvantaged" children. The purpose of this paper is to show, through a review…

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are characterized by cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and social disabilities. FASD are complex and pose many challenges for clinicians and researchers in the assessment, diagnosis, and intervention process. The variations in amount, timing, and frequency of alcohol that is consumed during pregnancy can…