Grief and Bereavement Articles and Grief Research 

Rumination is common in individuals experiencing suicide bereavement and is unique compared with the responses to bereavement for other reasons. Suicide, the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, is on the rise. In 2016, nearly 45,000 Americans 10 or older died by suicide, up by 30% since 1999. An individual’s death by suicide has far-reaching effects on a wide range of people, including immediate and extended family, friends, acquaintances, and healthcare and mental health professionals.

Children's brains are far more engaged by their mother's voice than by voices of women they do not know, a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found. Brain regions that respond more strongly to the mother's voice extend beyond auditory areas to include those involved in emotion and reward processing, social functions, detection of what is personally relevant and face recognition. The study, which is the first to evaluate brain scans of children listening to their mothers' voices, will be published May 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers found that the neighborhoods most attractive to birds were those in which many yards had fruit or berry-bearing trees and shrubs; a mix of evergreen and other types of trees; and, to a lesser extent, other environmental features. They found that the presence of outdoor animals, especially cats, kept birds away. The research, Minor said, grew from wondering how many birds from the forest preserves flew into nearby neighborhoods. Many do so, they found. "Birds are really living out in the neighborhood," Minor said.