Still-face paradigm

An experimentalprocedure designed to disrupt an ongoing pattern of communication, followed byan assessment of how the infant responded to the disruption.  The disruption consists of an adult becomingsuddenly unresponsive, while maintaining a face-to-face position with the baby. This still face period is both precededand followed by the adult to engaging in interaction with the infant.  The …

Stigmata

minor physical anomalies, such as low-seated or soft and pliable ears, epicanthus, and Greig hypertelorism (a congenital malformation of the skull characterised by an enlarged sphenoid bone, extremely wide bridge of the nose with great width between the eyes, exophtalnos or abnormal eyeball protusion, divergent strabismus and optic atrophy) . See Down‚was syndrome. Williams syndrome

Steroids

Refer to a class of chemicals defined by their chemical structure, an important group of which is steroid hormones. Cortisol and DHEA are both members of the steroid family because of their chemical structure.  They have critical and widespread functions in metabolism, including adjustment to physical and psychological stress.  See Cortisol, Hormones, Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, …

Steroid hormones

A general class of chemically related hormones, including primarily those synthesised in the testes, ovaries and adrenal cortex, or they are produced by enzymatic conversion of steroid precursors in peripheral tissues, especially adipose tissue. Steroids are directly involved in the regulation of growth and maturation, in addition to being essential to many other body functions …

Stereoscopic depth perception

Computation or detection of an aspect of object distance by comparison of the images of the same scene in the two eyes (i.e., by means of binocular disparity resulting from slightly different viewpoints of the eyes).  See Binocular disparity, Depth perception, Eye movements, Motion parallax

Stem cells

Undifferentiated embryonic or adult cells that have the potential to give rise to any type of differentiated cells.  There are three basic sorts of stem cells: multipotent (give rise to only specific types of cells), pluripotent (can form most kinds of tissue, but not a whole organism), and totipotent (can form a whole organism as well …