Psychology Today (11/1/22): Best Age for Kids to Start Doing Chores

• “Science suggests that chores make kids happy and that you should start assigning little jobs early, even when they are toddlers.”
• “Seemingly insignificant chores like setting the table or folding laundry are valuable building blocks toward a child’s independence.”

NY Times (11/1/22): How Brains Send a Signal That It’s Time to Vomit (in mice) Reference article: Z Xie et al. Cell: The gut-to-brain axis for toxin-induced defensive responses “They traced the effect to certain neurons in the brain that released neurotransmitters when the drug [eg. chemotherapy] or the toxin [eg. bacterial] reached the gut. Following those messages back, they discovered cells in the small intestine that reacted to the presence of these noxious substances. A central player in the pathway to nausea and retching was an immune system molecule called interleukin 33, or IL33. Keeping mice from making IL33 significantly reduced their symptoms.”

N Ohmura et al. Current Biology 2022; 32,  P4521-4529. A method to soothe and promote sleep in crying infants utilizing the transport response

• “Infant cry is attenuated by transport, but not by motionless holding”
• “5-min transport promotes sleep for crying infants even in the daytime”
• “Laydown of sleeping infants into a cot either interrupts or deepens infants’ sleep”
• “Laydown at 5 to 8 min after the sleep onset tends to prevent infant awakening”