Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder - the quest for a new UK database18 September 2024Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, is the most common preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disability worldwide, and it’s thought to be particularly prevalent in the UK. It is associated with learning and behaviour problems, issues with physical and mental health, substance misuse and social problems, including over-representation in the criminal justice system.
Mood Music—how streaming services can help mental health studies 9 July 2024Analysing social media use can offer a novel and fascinating insight into a population’s behaviour patterns, but it can come with challenges. Users of social media often consume rather than create content, which can mean that not everyone is represented in the data. It can also be ethically challenging, as social media data often includes personal information, and so needs to be handled in a way that respects that. However, music streaming is both easier to measure than social media consumption and less personal than the information shared, so researchers from the University of Bristol are exploring how these data could yield useful insights into mental health and behaviour.
Autism and Emotion Recognition – a translational approach16 May 2024Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that occurs in childhood affecting 1-3% of the population, with many more presenting with autistic traits. Atypical emotional processing is often experienced by autistic individuals, including difficulties in recognising facial emotional expressions.
Inclusion, decolonising and dentistry27 March 2024A new study from the University of Bristol seeks to understand the barriers and facilitators of inclusion for dental students, ensuring that every new student, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or background, has access to the same opportunities and facilities.
Towards understanding the relationship between age, breast development and breast cancer30 January 2024Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK: every month, an estimated 4,000 new cases are diagnosed. Throughout a woman’s lifetime, however, the risk of developing the disease varies greatly. Early puberty, for example, is associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer, whereas pregnancy before the age of 20 is associated with a decreased risk - but the biological reasons aren’t clear.
Building collaborative research relationships through creative activities11 January 2024Engaging in creative activities can help to shift the power dynamics between public contributors and researchers, according to a paper published in BMC Research Involvement and Engagement. However, collaborative projects need to work for everyone and taking community-led ideas forwards remains challenging.
