Things We Don’t Know

2nd April, 2020

We can’t measure the brain activity of a human foetus – not whilst they’re inside their mother. But we’re really interested. What happens to a baby’s brain as it’s developing, and what does this tell us about our own and the developing process of sleep? Researchers into brain activity have performed EEG exams on premature babies, and monitored eye movement in the womb to learn about sleep cycles, although big errors are common. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep was detected from around

20th March, 2020

Does the microbiome of caesarean-born babies affect them later in life? And why is the incidence of autism and ADHD higher amongst caesarean-born babies? Could it be for the same reasons caesarean was necessary, or because of the antibiotics used during the birth? How does caesarean birth affect hormone levels like oxytocin, and maternal-infant bonding?

14th March, 2020

Changing climates have impacted the Earth for millions of years, and massive ice sheets have repeatedly advanced and retreated throughout history. These moving walls of ice have had an enormous impact on landscapes and the distribution of species, and little is known about how current species distribution is impacted by present day glacial recession.

26th February, 2020

The literature disagrees whether baby brain is real, or just a figment of women’s imaginations. Multiple studies, however, have shown that having a baby and being a parent changes your brain, especially in later stages of pregnancy and parenthood. Is baby brain an adaptive mechanism, by-product of hormone fluctuations, or simply the result of overtiredness?

12th February, 2020

Persistent organic pollutants, or POPs are long-lived and harmful chemicals that bioaccumulate in wildilife, but scientists are still exploring what they are, how much and where they are.

6th February, 2020

Is it a safe and good idea to take vitamins whilst pregnant? Evidence is contradictory, and may depend on your diet and the time of year your baby is due. Ongoing research has linked diseases such as heart disease, cancer and autism to oversupplementation of vitamins, and vitamin A can be downright toxic – especially if you’re pregnant. There’s so much we don’t know about vitamins, including how they effect your microbiome, how well they absorb, and how they are stored in the body.