http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Experienced ballet spectators with no physical expertise in ballet showed enhanced muscle-specific motor responses when watching live ballet, according to a Mar. 21 report in the open access journal PLoS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brains-frequent-spectators-motor-mirroring.html Neuroscience Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:01 EST news251557556 Impaired social function is a cardinal symptom of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). One of the brain circuits that enable us to relate to other people is the "mirror neuron" system. This brain circuit is activated when we watch other people, and allows our brains to represent the actions of others, influencing our ability to learn new tasks and to understand the intentions and experiences of other people. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mirror-brain-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:06:37 EST news249912274 Babies still too small to speak know how to make jokes and form friendships, say researchers at an Australian university who have spent two years filming the behaviour of young children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-babies-friends.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:40:04 EST news248790309 Deaf people who use sign language are quicker at recognizing and interpreting body language than hearing non-signers, according to new research from investigators at UC Davis and UC Irvine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-deaf-language-users-faster-body.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST news245599159 (Medical Xpress) -- Learning a new language usually requires written and spoken instructions but a new study shows that the use of word-specific gestures may aid in the learning process and help students better retain new words. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-gestures-language.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:10:01 EST news244988738 Teaching young children with autism to imitate others may improve a broader range of social skills, according to a new study by a Michigan State University scholar. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:15:42 EST news242910930 Players of the game rock paper scissors subconsciously copy each other's hand shapes, significantly increasing the chance of the game ending in a draw, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-rock-paper-scissors-players-natural-copycats.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:40:24 EST news230352002