Stress and the City: The Overachiever Epidemic and When to Slow Down
An Expert Take on Performing Under Pressure (New York Times - February 3, 2017)
Psychology professor Sian Beilock studies how people think in stressful situations—and why they choke.
Next-Generation Genomics: Re-Inventing Medicine For You and Your Children—Fall 2016 Benefit
A New ‘Manhattan Project’: New York Genome Center (MedPage Today - March 9, 2016)
Rockefeller's Robert Darnell, president and CEO of the New York Genome Center, said that although the NYGC’s membership had extended beyond the NYC area, the diversity of the city’s population made it the perfect setting for gathering genomic information.
Science Saturday—May 7, 2016
Know Your Audience: A Blueprint for Successful Science Outreach (ASBMB Today - May 4, 2016)
Rockefeller's Jeanne Garbarino, Ph.D., Director of Science Outreach, discusses what makes an outreach curriculum successful and what techniques are most effective in connecting with students.
Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success—Spring 2016
The Limits of “Grit”
(The New Yorker - June 21, 2016)
In her best-selling book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” Angela Duckworth celebrates grit as the single trait in our complex and wavering nature which accounts for success.
How Kids Learn Resilience
(The Atlantic - June 2016 Issue)
Paul Tough discusses how to teach students grit in an adapted excerpt from his new book "Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why."
How to Get More Grit in Your Life (Freakonomics - May 4, 2016)
The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person’s level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big surprise there. But grit, she says, isn’t something you’re born with — it can be learned. Here’s how.
Angela Duckworth on Passion, Grit and Success (New York Times - April 8, 2016)
A Q&A with Angela Duckworth, who has an upcoming book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” available in May.
Testing for Joy and Grit? Schools Nationwide Push to Measure Students' Emotional Skills (New York Times - March 1, 2016)
The race to test for social-emotional skills has raised alarms even among the biggest proponents of teaching them, who warn that the definitions are unclear and the tests faulty. Angela Duckworth is quoted and Paul Tough is mentioned.
Should You Let Your Child Win at Monopoly? (The Wall Street Journal – December 16, 2015)
Conflicting parental philosophies can make even a simple board game complex: On the one hand, children must be supported. On the other, the world is a tough place, and losing is vital to developing the resilience and grit necessary to succeed.
Grit Trumps Talent and IQ: A Story Every Parent (and Educator) Should Read (National Geographic – October 14, 2014)
Angela Duckworth and her team devise strategies to help students learn how to work hard and adapt in the face of temptation, distraction, and defeat.
Angela Duckworth, a 2013 MacArthur Fellow (MacArthur Foundation – September 25, 2013)
The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.
The Key to Success? Grit (TED Talks Education – April 2013)
Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.
Sleep: Why Our Brains and Our Bodies Need It—Fall 2015
A Good Night's Sleep Is Tied to Interruptions, Not Just Hours (The Wall Street Journal - November 30, 2015)
Getting up in middle of the night multiple times to soothe a crying baby or go to the bathroom impacts your mood and cognitive abilities the next day, new research has found.
Poor Sleep May Spur College Weight Gain (New York Times - October 26, 2015)
New research suggests that an underlying cause for the so-called "freshman 15" weight gain may be the students' widely vacillating patterns of sleep.
Long Nights in a Sleep Lab (The Wall Street Journal - October 19, 2015)
How two research subjects pass the time—and work to stay awake—during a Penn study on sleep deprivation.
Why Your Body Clock Gets Out of Whack (The Wall Street Journal - September 4, 2015)
Sleep rhythms lose beat when knocked off the 24-hour cycle of day and night.
Epigenetics Changes Everything: Revisiting the Nature vs. Nurture Debate—Fall 2015 Benefit
Lifelong learning is made possible by recycling of histones, study says (Rockefeller University Newswire - July 1, 2015)
Researchers have discovered a new mechanism that helps neurons make new connections with one another, the basis for learning. Their discovery focuses on one particular type of DNA-supporting protein, the histone H3.3, and its role regulating gene expression.
Odd histone helps suppress jumping genes in stem cells, study says (Rockefeller University Newswire - May 4, 2015)
A recent discovery reveals a basic mechanism for epigenetics, or the control of inherited traits through means other than DNA.
On histones and glamour (ASBMB Today - March 2015)
In this interview, Rockefeller University professor David Allis discusses his epigenetics research and recent Breakthrough Prize.
Vincent Allfrey's Work on Histone Acetylation (The Journal of Biological Chemistry - January 13, 2012)
Rockefeller University professor Vincent Allfrey laid the foundation for modern day epigenetics research with his early research on histone modifications.
The Origins of Morality: How Biology and Culture Shape Us—Spring 2015
Why do we Create Stereotypes? (TED Radio Hour - November 14, 2014)
Psychologist Paul Bloom explains why prejudice is natural, rational and even moral — the key is to understand why we depend on it, and recognize when it leads us astray.
Listen now. 
Darwin, Diet, Disease and Dollars: How the Sugar in Processed Foods Has Changed Society—Winter 2013 Benefit
It's the Sugar, Folks (New York Times - February 28, 2013)
Opinion piece by Mark Bittman in which he discusses a new study showing solid links between added sugar and the onset of diabetes.
Defusing the health care time bomb (San Francisco Chronicle - January 5, 2013)
Opinion piece by Dr. Lustig
Dr. Robert Lustig crusades against sugar (San Francisco Chronicle - January 1, 2013)
Is Sugar Toxic? (New York Times Magazine - April 13, 2011)
Robert Lustig, a former Rockefeller Postdoctoral fellow, specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and leading expert in childhood obesity, focuses on sugar as a possible cause of metabolic syndrome, which is linked to heart disease, cancer, and other disorders.
The Toxic Truth About Sugar (Nature - February 2, 2012)
Added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol, argue Robert H. Lustig, Laura A, Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis.
Is Sugar Toxic? (60 Minutes - Aired: April 1, 2012)
Robert Lustig's research is featured in this segment. Watch now. 
Regulating Sugar (On Point with Tom Ashbrook - Aired: March 1, 2012)
Dr. Lustig is interviewed with Mark Bittman. Listen now.
Stress and Resilience—Winter 2012
Pregnant 9/11 survivors transmitted trauma to their children (The Gaurdian - September 9, 2011)
The emerging field of epigenetics shows how traumatic experiences can be transmitted from one generation to the next. The work of Rachel Yehyda, Ph.D., our winter 2012 P&S speaker, is discussed.
Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Culture Count—Spring 2012
Can You Make Yourself Smarter? (New York Times Magazine - April 18, 2012)
A new memory game has revived the tantalizing notion that people can work their way to a higher I.Q.
How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain (New York Times Magazine - April 18, 2012)
A mouse that runs all the time is smarter than one that doesn’t. Probably true for people, too.
The Dynamic Childhood Brain: Preparing for a Lifetime—Fall 2011
The Child's Developing Brain (New York Times - September 2008) An interactive feature exploring how different areas of the brain mature at different rates, which helps to explain many of the intellectual and emotional changes seen in children, teens and young adults. While no two children develop in exactly the same way, scientists have been able to link certain developmental milestones to changes in brain tissue, observed by MRI scans taken repeatedly over years.
Science 101 for Parents: How Epigenetics Is Revolutionizing the Understanding of Heredity—Spring 2011
Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny (Time - January 2010) This article discusses what the new science of epigenetics reveals about how the choices you make can change your genes--and those of your children.
The First Big Love: Exploring the Neurobiology of Parent-Child Bonding—Winter 2011
Can Oxytocin Ease Shyness? (Time - July 2008) This article discusses how the functioning or malfunctioning of oxytocin plays a role in social interactions, and notes relevant studies related to autism, anxiety and trust; Dr. Thomas Insel is quoted.
Dads, Too, Get Hormone Boost While Caring for Baby (LiveScience - October 2010) A recent study indicates that oxytocin, produced at high levels in mothers during birth and breastfeeding, is also key to the father-baby bond, and is produced in fathers due to stimulatory parenting. The implications regarding postpartum depression in women are briefly discussed.
Kids and Stress (American Public Media - November 2008) Research conducted at the University of Minnesota compared the stress responses in children with varying early childhood experiences—from those raised by biological families to those adopted at an older age from orphanages—with interesting results.
Depth of the Kindness Hormone Appears to Know Some Bounds (NYTimes - January 2011) Nicholas Wade writes about how the effects of the hormone oxytocin are dual in nature—the love and trust that it promotes are not toward the world in general, just toward a person's in-group.
Body Image, Nutrition, and Eating Disorders: Insights from Neuroscience and Psychiatry—Fall 2010
Treating Eating Disorders and Paying for It (NYTimes - December 2010) Parents & Science speaker, Dr. Evelyn Attia, discusses how eating disorders, notoriously difficult to treat, may persist for years wreaking havoc not just on the patient’s health and personal relationships, but often on family finances as well.
Parental Role Aids Anorexia Recovery (NYTimes - October 2010) A new study suggests parental involvement in the treatment of adolescents with anorexia is more effective than when a child works solely with a healthcare professional.
A Parent's Guide to Boys and Girls: How Hormones Shape the Brain and Influence Behavior—Spring 2010
Op-Ed: The Boys Have Fallen Behind (NYTimes - March 2010) Nicholas Kristof writes that encouraging boys to read books about monsters and explosions could help improve their faltering verbal skills.
The Biology of Substance Abuse: What Parents of Teens Need to Know—Winter 2010
The Science of Success (The Atlantic - December 2009) In discussing the intersection between the stress response and development, Dr. Bruce McEwen mentioned the above article from The Atlantic at the winter Parents & Science lecture.
From The Atlantic:
"Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle, but capable of blooming spectacularly if given greenhouse care. So holds a provocative new theory of genetics, which asserts that the very genes that give us the most trouble as a species, causing behaviors that are self-destructive and antisocial, also underlie humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success. With a bad environment and poor parenting, orchid children can end up depressed, drug-addicted, or in jail—but with the right environment and good parenting, they can grow up to be society’s most creative, successful, and happy people."
Genes, Germs and Immunity: Addressing Swine Flu and Other Infections in Children—Fall 2009
Op-Ed: What’s Your Underlying Condition? (NYTimes - November 2009) Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband write that during this influenza pandemic of H1N1, doctors and health officials invoke “underlying conditions.” But such underlying conditions are only part of the mystery of why this flu is so mild for some and so serious for others.
Science 101 for Parents: Or 20 Years of the Genetic Revolution in One Hour—Spring 2009
Books for Adults and Interested Teens:
- The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, James D. Watson
- What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery, Francis Crick
- Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley
- Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior, Jonathan Weiner
- Curious Minds: How a Child Becomes a Scientist, John Brockman
- Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
- Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors, Nicholas Wade
Books for Children:
- Gene Hunter: The Story of Neuropsychologist Nancy Wexler, Adele Glimm *
- Nature's Machines: The Story of Biomechanist Mimi Koehl, Deborah Parks *
- * These books are part of the "Women's Adventures in Science Series" co-published by the Joseph Henry Press (National Academy of Sciences) and Scholastic Library Publishing. See also the "Women's Adventures in Science" Web site.
- Books by Dr. Fran Balkwill with illustrations by Mic Rolph: Enjoy Your Cells, Have a Nice DNA, Gene Machines, and others (ages 9-12)
- Decoding Life: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Genome, Ron Fridell (grades 6-8)
- National Geographic Investigates—Genetics: From DNA to Designer Dogs, Kathleen Simpson (ages 9-12)
- The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin, Peter Sís (ages 9-adult)
Films
- Gattaca
- Jurassic Park
- Race for the Double Helix
It's Not Just Talk: How Children Learn and Acquire Language—Spring 2008
Foundations for a New Science of Learning Andrew N. Meltzoff, Patricia K. Kuhl, Javier Movellan, and Terrence J. Sejnowski Science 17 July 2009: 284-288.
Children Under Stress: Vulnerability and Resiliency in the Developing Brain—Fall 2007
Effects of stress on the developing brain(Dana Foundation Progress Report - March 2011) The recent debate in the popular press about “Tiger Mom” parenting is a timely sidebar to the exceptional progress occurring in research on development of the human brain and behavior: studies of infants and mothers are drawing a clear picture of the singular importance of early life experiences for the future adult.
Building the Brain's Air Traffic Control
System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function (Center on the Developing Child - Working Paper 11)