BACKGROUND As elegant structures designed for neural communication, synapses are the building bricks of our mental functions. Recently, many studies have pointed out that synaptic protein-associated mutations may lead to dysfunctions of social cognition. Dlgap2, which encodes one of the main components of scaffold proteins in postsynaptic density (PSD), has been addressed as a candidate gene in...

A major public health challenge is to develop large-scale health communication interventions that are successful with diverse and vulnerable audiences. Participatory design approaches are critical to create communication programs that are relevant to people’s literacy, language, culture, access and functional needs. Further, there are powerful synergies in linking participatory design and artif...

Previous studies on general parenting have demonstrated the relevance of strict parenting within a supportive social context for a variety of adolescent behaviors, such as alcohol use. Yet, alcohol-specific parenting practices are generally examined as separate predictors of adolescents' drinking behavior. The present study examined different developmental profiles of alcohol-specific parenting...

Emotional Intelligence Quotient is defined as a set of competencies demonstrating the ability one has to recognize his or her behaviors, moods, and impulses, and to manage them best according to the situation. Typically, "emotional intelligence" is considered to involve emotional empathy; attention to, and discrimination of one's emotions; accurate recognition of one's own and others' moods; mo...

People in modern societies form different social networks through numerous means of communication. These communication networks reflect different aspects of human’s societal structure. The billing records of calls among mobile phone users enable us to construct a directed calling network (DCN) and its Bonferroni network (SVDCN) in which the preferential communications are statistically validate...

The experience of touch is critical for early communication and social interaction; infants who show aversion to touch may be at risk for atypical development and behavior problems. The current study aimed to clarify predictive associations between infant responses to tactile stimuli and toddler autism spectrum, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors. This study measured 9-month-old infants...

In two vignette studies we examined beliefs about the nonverbal behavior and communication skills associated with high and low social power. Power was defined as both a trait (personality dominance) and a role (rank within an organization). Seventy nonverbal behaviors and skills were examined. Both Study 1 (a within-participants design) and Study 2 (a between-participants design) yielded highly...

The Children's Atypical Development Scale (CADS) is a 53-item rating scale designed to measure unusual behaviors in children. Principal-factor analysis on a clinic-referred and pediatric sample of 474 children resulted in a four-factor solution: Communication Deficits, Lability, Social Relatedness Deficits, and Preoccupation. The CADS is internally consistent and has adequate temporal stability...

The transformation of today’s mass media system leads to uncertainty about communication behaviors concerning scientific issues. So far, few researchers have investigated this issue among scientists. We conducted a survey of neuroscientists in Germany and the United States in which we asked them about their own information-seeking behaviors and their assessment of the influence of various types...