newsweek.com

New approaches, he says, could focus on social and emotional development as well, since science now tells us that relationships and interactions with the environment sculpt the areas of the brain that control behavior (like the ability to concentrate), which also can affect academic achievement (like learning to read). As of 2014, the national poverty rate was at 14.8 percent, according to U.S. census figures: 26.2 percent of African-Americans and 23.6 percent of Latinos are poor, compared with 10.1 percent of whites and 12 percent Asian-Americans, proving that poverty is not equally distributed among ethnic groups. Young minorities who are more likely to experience poverty—and in turn more likely to face the cognitive development challenges laid out by science—could end up shouldering another burden, says W. Carson Byrd, assistant professor of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville: the assumption, based on these studies and headlines, that minority children "are less capable than their white peers. In 2013, Clancy Blair of the New York University Neuroscience and Education Lab, led a study that found the time a child spent in poverty, and in a household filled with chaos, was significantly related to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Childhood exposure to dogs may reduce a person's likelihood of developing schizophrenia as an adult, according to a study published this month by researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine. The study, published December 2 in the online journal PLOS One, was conducted to determine the relationship between the development of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and a person's interaction with dogs and cats before age 13. He said that they chose to examine schizophrenia and bipolar disorder because people with those disorders comprise the largest group that can be compared with people who have no psychiatric disorder. Yolken told Newsweek that future studies will likely examine the microbiomes of people diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder to determine if there are patterns there that correlate with a higher likelihood of developing psychiatric disorders.

Crawfish-stuffed beignets, butter-pecan-sauce-topped French toast, and crispy pork belly paired with a poached egg are excellent and edible ways to celebrate the weekend. Comstock brunch fare includes the $20 mozzarella stick (complete with caviar and 23-karat gold leaf), the volcanic-looking ham and Fontina croque madame, and the over-the-top burger (which includes malt chips in the burger). Order a classic bloody during Sunday brunch and you can add on fried chicken, bacon, beef jerky, pickled quail eggs, jalapeño poppers, and poached shrimp, among other things. Wood-fired pizzas with broccoli and grilled orange, deep-fried Alaskan halibut with an egg and a slew of veggies, and even a house-ground grass-fed burger highlight a list of Sunday brunch standouts.

In her new book, Kushner, Inc., journalist Vicky Ward set out to show just how much power the "remarkably unstoppable" couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner had in influencing decisions at the White House, including the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. In an interview with ABC News early this week, Ward divulged that one of the "biggest reveals" in Kushner, Inc. focused on how Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, "really pushed the president to fire James Comey in a way that hasn't really been reported before. Asked by ABC News's Chris Vlasto whether she had any concerns that the White House or representatives for Kushner would attribute the claims to Bannon, the former White House chief strategist Bannon who left the White House in August 2017, and dismiss him as a "disgruntled person," Ward said she was "fully aware of all the different personal agendas and personal vendettas" at play and was careful to "double source" the revelations in her book. A new book by journalist Vicky Ward set out to show just how much power the "remarkably unstoppable" couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner had in influencing White House decisions.