All in the Mind Radio 4
In the first programme in a new series, Claudia Hammond asks if anorexia nervosa could be an expression of autism in some people with the eating disorder. Consultant psychiatrist John Morgan at the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders outlines why he is investigating the possible link.
Claudia visits Deanery Road Children’s Centre in East London to see a 6 month baby being tested for his early language and social skills. The infant is one of 200 in the Take a Look Baby study by psychologists at the University of East London and Birbeck College. The researchers want to see if an eye-tracking computer can be used in community children’s centres to predict which babies might have language problems later. If screening at 6 months is possible, early intervention at this age could be more successful than waiting until children have reached the age of two.
New York Times science writer Barbara Strauch is upbeat about the middle aged brain. Don’t get hung up on the forgotten names and slower reaction times, she says. The brain between the age of 40 and 60 year is sharp. Barbara’s book ‘The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain’ documents research which suggests that in many respects the brain in middle age is at its peak performance
