Feeling stressed during the workday? Research says playing video games may help

More than half of Americans regularly experience cognitive fatigue related to stress, frustration, and anxiety while at work. Those in safety-critical fields, such as air traffic control and health care, are at an even greater risk for cognitive fatigue, which could lead to errors. Given the amount of time that people spend playing games on their smartphones and tablets, a team of human factors/ergonomics researchers decided to evaluate whether casual video game play is an effective way to combat workplace stress during rest breaks.

Read more at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-07-stressed-workday-video-games.html

Brains are more plastic than we thought

New research has shown just how adaptive the brain can be, knowledge that could one day be applied to recovery from conditions such as stroke.

Read more at Sciencedaily.com 

Vaccines protect fetuses from Zika infection, mouse study shows

Zika virus can cause severe brain damage in people infected before birth. A new study in mice shows that females vaccinated before pregnancy and infected with Zika virus while pregnant bear pups who show no trace of the virus. The findings offer the first evidence that an effective vaccine administered prior to pregnancy can protect vulnerable fetuses from Zika infection and resulting injury.

Read more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170713155034.htm

Eating lots of sugar when pregnant may raise risk of allergies

Pregnant women who eat large amounts of sugar may be more likely to have children with allergies.

A study of 9,000 women found that those who ate high levels of sugar during pregnancy were around twice as likely to have a child that went on to develop allergic asthma than woman who ate relatively little sugar. Allergic asthma is the most common form of asthma, and involves allergens provoking the immune system into causing breathing problems.

Read more at: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2139861-eating-lots-of-sugar-when-pregnant-may-raise-risk-of-allergies/