While many people believe that poor sleep during pregnancy is inevitable, new research has determined that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) while pregnant can not only improve sleep patterns but also address postpartum depression.
Researchers from UBC’s Okanagan and Vancouver campuses, as well as the University of Calgary, discovered that delivering CBTi during pregnancy significantly reduces postpartum depressive symptoms after a baby arrives.
“Early intervention is crucial for infant and parental mental health,” says Dr. Elizabeth Keys, an Assistant Professor in UBCO’s School of Nursing and a study co-author. “Our research explores how addressing sleep problems like insomnia can lead to better mental health outcomes for families, helping parents and their children thrive.”
CBTi is a therapeutic intervention that identifies thoughts, behaviors and sleep patterns that contribute to insomnia. Treatment includes challenging or reframing misconceptions and restructuring habits to improve sleep quality.
“CBTi is the gold standard for the treatment of insomnia and has consistently been shown to improve symptoms of depression,” says Dr. Keys. “Its treatment effects are similar to antidepressant medications among adults, but with fewer side effects, and is therefore often preferred by pregnant individuals.”
Sixty-two women assessed for insomnia and depressive symptoms participated in the study — with half randomly assigned to an intervention group and half to a control group.
“We found that CBTi during pregnancy significantly improved sleep and reduced postpartum depressive symptoms for participants,” explains Dr. Keys. “These are enormously encouraging results for anyone that has struggled in those early weeks and months with their newborns.”
Results indicate that effective insomnia treatment during pregnancy may serve as a protective factor against postpartum depression.
“Our study adds to the growing evidence that treating insomnia during pregnancy is beneficial for various outcomes,” Dr. Keys says. “It’s time to explore how we can make this treatment more accessible to pregnant individuals across the country to improve sleep health equity.”
The research highlights the interdisciplinary collaborations between researchers across Canada and UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. Dr. Elizabeth Keys is from UBCO, while Dr. Lianne M. Tomfohr-Madsen, a Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Intersectionality, is based at UBC Vancouver.
Dr. Keys and Dr. Tomfohr-Madsen are lead investigators on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Sleep Equity Reimagined team and Canadian Sleep Research Consortium members.
Researchers identify neuronal networks and mechanisms that show how contrasts can be rapidly and reliably perceived even when light levels vary.
When light conditions rapidly change, our eyes have to respond to this change in fractions of a second to maintain stable visual processing. This is necessary when, for example, we drive through a forest and thus move through alternating stretches of shadows and clear sunlight. “In situations like these, it is not enough for the photoreceptors to adapt, but an additional corrective mechanism is required,” said Professor Marion Silies of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). “Earlier work undertaken by her research group had already demonstrated that such a corrective ‘gain control’ mechanism exists in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, where it acts directly downstream of the photoreceptors. Silies’ team has now managed to identify the algorithms, mechanisms, and neuronal networks that enable the fly to sustain stable visual processing when light levels change rapidly. The corresponding article has been published recently in Nature Communications.
Rapid changes in luminance challenge stable visual processing
Our vision needs to function accurately in many different situations — when we move in our surroundings as well as when our eyes follow an object that moves from light into shade. This applies to us humans and to many thousand animal species that rely heavily on vision to navigate. Rapid changes in luminance are also a problem in the world of inanimate objects when it comes to information processing by, for example, camera-based navigation systems. Hence, many self-driving cars depend on additional radar- or lidar-based technology to properly compute the contrast of an object relative to its background. “Animals are capable of doing this without such technology. Therefore, we decided to see what we could learn from animals about how visual information is stably processed under constantly changing lighting conditions,” explained Marion Silies the research question.
Combination of theoretical and experimental approaches
The compound eye of Drosophila melanogaster consists of 800 individual units or ommatidia. The contrast between an object and its background is determined postsynaptic of the photoreceptors. However, if luminance conditions suddenly change, as in the case of an object moving into the shadow of a tree, there will be differences in contrast responses. Without gain control, this would have consequences for all subsequent stages of visual processing, resulting in the object appearing different. The recent study with lead author Dr. Burak Gür used two-photon microscopy to describe where in visual circuitry stable contrast responses were first generated. This led to the identification of neuronal cell types that are positioned two synapses behind the photoreceptors.
These cell types respond only very locally to visual information. For the background luminance to be correctly included in computing contrast, this information needs narrow spatial pooling, as revealed by a computational model implemented by co-author Dr. Luisa Ramirez. “We started with a theoretical approach that predicted an optimal radius in images of natural environments to capture the background luminance across a particular region in visual space while, in parallel, we were searching for a cell type that had the functional properties to achieve this,” said Marion Silies, head of the Neural Circuits lab at the JGU Institute of Developmental Biology and Neurobiology (IDN).
Information on luminance is spatially pooled
The Mainz-based team of neuroscientists has identified a cell type that meets all required criteria. These cells, designated Dm12, pool luminance signals over a specific radius, which in turn corrects the contrast response between the object and its background in rapidly changing light conditions. “We have discovered the algorithms, circuits, and molecular mechanisms that stabilize vision even when rapid luminance changes occur,” summarized Silies, who has been investigating the visual system of the fruit fly over the past 15 years. She predicts that luminance gain control in mammals, including humans, is implemented in a similar manner, particularly as the necessary neuronal substrate is available.
The cost of government borrowing has gone up and the value of the pound has fallen as the money markets react to the Budget delivered by Rachel Reeves on Wednesday.
On Thursday afternoon, bond yields – effectively the interest rate the government pays on its debt – hit 4.568%, the highest it has been since August last year.
That is significant because the more money the government has to pay servicing debt, the less there is available to spend on public services.
Sky News economics editor Ed Conway said voters should be “certainly a bit worried” by what is happening on the money markets.
Posting on X, he said: “There has been a marked rise in UK bond yields following the Budget which is greater than what we’re seeing in other markets.”
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But he added: “Perhaps the most important thing to say is: this is NOTHING like the reaction we saw following the Truss mini Budget.
“Even so, there has definitely been SOME reaction. The pound weakened a bit and gilt yields rose. This despite the fact that most of this Budget was pre-briefed long in advance. Investors are actively re-pricing UK debt. And that matters.
“The issue at present isn’t the one Liz Truss had to grapple with – a near financial crisis – but something else. The cost of debt servicing is going up. And if debt interest costs goes up it has a direct bearing on the government’s fiscal plans.”
🫢In the time it took me to put together this thread, UK bond yields lurched quite a bit higher. Just touched past 4.5% for the first time in a year. Other European bonds up too – so UK not alone. But UK does seem to be moving faster than most of the others… pic.twitter.com/KjVwD8stWs
At the same time, the value of the pound against the dollar has also fallen – further evoking memories of the financial crisis which followed Truss’ disastrous mini-Budget two years ago.
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Now the pound is falling. Over the past three days sterling (in trade weighted terms) is down by 1.2%. That’s the biggest fall in more than 18 months. pic.twitter.com/sTqE3Mcpzt
Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at trading firm XTB, said the the Budget “has not been well received” by the markets.
Kyle Chapman, an analyst at trading firm Ballinger Group, said the fall in the pound and rise in gilt yields indicated that the market had decided Labour had “overextended” with its borrowing and spending plans.
However, other analysts insisted the current situation was completely different to when Kwasi Kwarteng, Truss’ chancellor, announced £45bn of unfunded tax cuts.
“Investors feared a new Liz Truss moment, but in the end the announcements do not suggest an uncontrolled surge in debt,” Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management portfolio manager, Nabil Milali, said.
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Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said: “Of course, markets are especially sensitive to the effect chancellors can have on interest rates ever since Kwasi Kwarteng took to the despatch box, and with the ten-year gilt yield now climbing to levels seen in the wake of mini-Budget, it’s fair to ask whether Rachel Reeves’ maiden Budget could cause similar problems.
Children tend to pick up on a lot more than adults realize. They absorb not only what we say to them directly but also what we say around them — even when we think they’re not paying attention.
That got us wondering: Are there certain topics that just shouldn’t be discussed with or in front of kids? And on the flip side, are there certain conversations adults assume are not appropriate for young minds but are actually OK — or even beneficial — to address?
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We reached out to parenting experts to get their take. As clinical psychologist Laura Markham, author of the “Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids” series, said, it’s generally less about the subject itself and more about how you approach it.
“For instance, you would not have a discussion about your financial worries that would make your child worry. But you could certainly discuss the fact that a new car or a pricey vacation is not in your budget this year,” she told HuffPost.
Below, Markham and other therapists share their thoughts on the do’s and don’ts of communicating when young or school-age kids are present.
5 Things Adults Shouldn’t Talk About In Front Of Kids
1. People’s bodies
When adults speak poorly about their own bodies or other people’s bodies, children notice and may internalise those negative messages, said marriage and family therapist Brianne Billups Hughes.
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“Kids are like sponges, absorbing everything they hear. If they witness adults being critical of themselves, it can lead to issues with self-esteem and body image as they grow,” she told HuffPost.
And it’s not just the negative comments that can be damaging over time. When adults make frequent remarks about body shape or weight — even if they’re complimentary in nature — it can make kids “overly concerned about their own appearance,” Markham noted.
2. Critical remarks about a parent or caregiver
It’s best for adults to avoid bad-mouthing the child’s other parent or caregivers in their life. It doesn’t matter if you’re speaking to the kid directly or having the conversation when they’re in earshot.
Hearing negative comments about a parent can make a child feel as if they have to choose sides or that they’re responsible for fixing the situation, which can be damaging to their sense of security, Markham said.
It can also “strain the relationship with the criticised parent since they now see them as ‘not good enough,’” she added, while also making the child feel guilty for thinking of their parent in a negative light.
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3. Comments that compare the child to their sibling
Markham advises parents to avoid comments that compare one sibling with another. Such comparisons can breed competition between siblings and lead to increased conflict, she said.
“That intuitively makes sense to us because we can see how it fosters resentment, jealousy and insecurity. But this is just as true for positive messages, which also set up competition,” Markham said.
For example, you might say to your child something like, “You’re my good boy. You never give me a tough time like your brother does.”
Now your child not only feels pressure to hold on to his place as the “good” one but is also “motivated to keep his sibling in the role of ‘bad’ kid,” Markham said. “How else will he maintain his special place in your eyes?”
So when they overhear conversations about money-related stressors in adults’ lives, they draw their own conclusions, “often assuming the worst,” she told HuffPost.
“Children may think, for example, that the family will lose their home or that they won’t be able to buy food, even if the situation is not that extreme,” Lockhart said. “This fear can lead to increased anxiety and, for some children, a sense of guilt that they’re a ‘burden’ if they need things like new shoes or supplies.”
That’s not to say you have to completely keep them in the dark if your financial situation has changed. Just keep explanations clear and concise and your tone calm. If money is tight, Lockhart suggested saying something like, “We’re sticking to a budget so we can make good choices,” which she said is “often more reassuring.”
“You can help them understand that adults have systems to manage expenses and that their needs will be met,” she added.
5. Comments that glorify alcohol or drug use
Hughes warned that conversations “normalising or glorifying” drinking alcohol and using drugs when kids are around can lead to “unhealthy attitudes toward these substances” down the line.
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“Kids are impressionable, and hearing adults speak positively about drinking or using drugs, even jokingly, can set the foundation for curiosity or risky behaviours later in life,” she explained. “It’s important to model responsible behaviour and avoid making these substances seem glamorous or harmless.”
5 Things Adults Actually Can Discuss In Front Of Kids
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It’s important for kids to know that, although their parents may not always agree, they always love each other, Markham said.
On the other hand, there are topics that adults have a tendency to shy away from because they assume talking about them would be harmful to kids. But our experts say these conversations can be good ones to have with or in the presence of children, as long as they are approached in a thoughtful, age-appropriate way.
1. Healthy disagreements
Parents might be under the impression they need to resolve any and all conflict behind closed doors. But that’s not necessarily true. In fact, it can be beneficial for kids to observe their parents modelling how to respectfully work through a disagreement, Markham said.
“It’s important for them to know that we don’t always agree, but we always love each other. Kids need to see us ask for what we need without attacking the other person,” she added.
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“And it’s critical for them to see us make up with affection and forgiveness.”
And when it comes to certain topics, it’s better for adults to hash out those matters privately. “Discussions about sex or other tender issues are more respectfully conducted without an audience,” developmental psychologist Diana Divecha wrote for Greater Good Magazine.
2. Honest emotions
Many adults try to avoid showing or talking about their emotions around kids, but “it’s actually important for kids to see adults process their feelings in healthy ways,” Hughes said.
It’s OK to share that you’re feeling upset, worried or frustrated in an age-appropriate way. Doing so helps normalise a wider range of emotions and can help children learn to express and regulate their own emotions, Hughes said.
This also helps them develop their emotional intelligence, Lockhart added.
“If they see you saying something like, ‘I’m feeling sad because a friend moved away, and that’s normal,’ they learn that all emotions are OK and temporary, helping them feel safe to express their own,” she explained.
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3. Mistakes they’ve made
Adults shouldn’t feel pressure to uphold a facade of perfection in front of kids. It’s OK to admit to them when you’ve messed up in some way, Lockhart said.
“Talking about your own mistakes and how you handled them helps kids learn resilience and accountability,” she said. “When they hear something like, ‘I made a mistake at work, but I took responsibility, and I’m working on a solution,’ they see that mistakes are natural and that they can handle them positively.”
4. Money in general
Though you wouldn’t want your child to be privy to the full scope of financial stress you may be facing, money doesn’t have to be a taboo subject.
“Discussing financial concepts in an age-appropriate manner can be a valuable learning opportunity,” Hughes said. “Kids who grow up with an understanding of budgeting, saving, investing, loans and responsible spending are more likely to develop good financial habits as they grow older.”
“The key is to avoid overwhelming them with adult-level stress about money,” she added.
5. Sex, consent and bodily changes
As a parent, you may find yourself avoiding conversations around these topics with your kids entirely because they seem too uncomfortable or mature to discuss. But introducing these subjects in developmentally appropriate ways is actually quite important, Hughes said.
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“Teaching children about consent, body autonomy and the basic facts of anatomy, reproduction or puberty helps them develop a healthy understanding of their bodies and relationships,” she explained.
“These discussions empower children to ask questions, set boundaries and feel comfortable about their own physical development. It also helps prevent misinformation from other sources.”
“The goal isn’t to shelter children completely but to be mindful of the language and tone used.”
– Brianne Billups Hughes, marriage and family therapist
No matter the topic, how we communicate with and around children can have a lasting effect on them, Hughes said. That’s why it’s so critical to approach conversations with mindfulness.
“Modelling healthy conflict resolution, self-acceptance and emotional intelligence can provide kids with essential life skills,” she said. ”The goal isn’t to shelter children completely but to be mindful of the language and tone used, creating a balanced environment where they can learn and feel secure.”
You’ve gotten past the dreaded talking stage, made plans and now finally, it’s here! The first date with someone new! And it’s going well! They’re exciting, they’re amazing, they’re… actually really, really boring and oh my fucking god I need to get out of here.
Yup, we’ve all been there when a date isn’t actually all we hoped it’d crack up to be – but cutting a first date short when things aren’t clicking isn’t always easy. You’ll often consider your date’s feelings above our own and no one wants to come out with some lame excuse about your dog needing a bath.
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In an era of all or nothing dating, research from Tinder revealed that singles know within 30 mins whether the spark is there or not – so how do we get out when there’s not even a flicker?
Do we just grin and bear it? Well, as Paul Brunson, Tinder’s global relationship insights expert points out: “While it can feel uncomfortable to cut a date short, prolonging it when you’re not feeling it, might actually be less considerate in the long run.”
So what’s the right way to get out? We asked dating experts for their advice and they’ve come up with a plan so perfect, you’ll never find yourself having to get a friend to phone with an ‘emergency’ again.
It’s all in the preparation
When we sent out our questions (see: call for help) to dating experts, the same idea came back time and time again – organise a first date that won’t go on too long, so that you don’t find yourself in an awkward position where you might need to cut it short.
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“For first dates where you don’t know the person well, it can be helpful to mention a time constraint as a backup, such as, ‘Thursday sounds great! I do have a deadline on Friday, so don’t keep me out too late!’,” clinical psychologist Dr Sarah Bishop tells us.
Rather than organise a dinner followed by drinks for your first encounter with someone new, opt instead for something low-key.
“Simple dates like meeting for a coffee or drinks are great options,” Sylvia Linzalone, FindingTheOne.com’s relationship guru says.
“And if it’s really going terribly, you won’t have to sit around forever – just drink up and say your goodbyes.”
Time frames are also a fail-safe way to make sure you don’t end up sitting wishing you’d never said yes in the first place – our favourite came from Jamie Johnston, founder of the neurodiverse friendly dating app Mattr, who suggested: “I have an hour free before meeting a friend if you would like to catch up.”
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“You have given a clear time frame and also a commitment after which means they won’t try and lengthen the time,” he points out.
And if you’re actually quite enjoying the date? Well, as Dr Melissa Cook at FunWithFeet and Sofia Gray says: “If you do enjoy their company you can always say that you can stay longer.”
OK but I failed to prepare – GET ME OUT
OK, OK, don’t panic. It sounds cliché as hell, but it’s true – honesty is in fact the best policy.
We know it’s scary, but you owe it to yourself – AND the other person.
As dating Expert at Pure, Drew Wyllie puts it: “Now, cutting a first date short requires nerves of steel and (if you don’t want to go out with a bang) a good amount of tact and empathy. The thing is, as humans we are often scared of letting people down – especially when it comes to dating and meeting new people.
“In the past within my dating life, I have stayed on the fence about not making my intentions clear and telling people that I’m not sure, and in the end this just makes the situation worse as you can lead the other person on and make them think romance is on the cards when in reality – it’s not.”
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When it comes to saying ‘okay that’s enough now’, the main thing is HOW you deliver that honesty.
“If the conversation has dried up, you feel a lack of chemistry or the date simply isn’t going anywhere, it’s okay to acknowledge that. Think about how you’re feeling in the moment and don’t be afraid to share it with your date,” Dr. Lalitaa Suglani, a relationship expert for eharmony advises.
“Being polite doesn’t mean hiding your feelings. If you think it’s time to end a date, don’t make excuses or be overly apologetic. Instead, try a gentle yet straightforward approach. Say something like: ‘I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, but I don’t see this going any further romantically’. This sets a clear boundary without being hurtful, your date will appreciate the honesty and it avoids leaving things in limbo.”
And while we’re on the topic of being polite, letting the other person know that you appreciate their time is also a must according to Dr. Tara (yes, from Celebs Go Dating!).
She also shared the PERFECT framework for a post-date follow-up text for if you’re not in the market for a second date:
“Whether it’s in person or via text, we need to always use empathetic communication – you can do this in three different ways.
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1. You can say thank you for your time, but I don’t feel a romantic connection.
2. You can say it has been lovely to meet you but I don’t think we have any chemistry.
3. if you want to remain friends because you like them as a person, but not romantically, then you can say I had so much fun today. I did not feel any chemistry, but if you would like it would be nice if we can remain friends.”
And finally, you don’t need to be polite if the person you’re on a date with is rude as hell – we’re allowed to put our feelings first.
“The situation is a bit different if the date is going poorly because the other person is being inconsiderate—like checking their phone constantly or not being present,” intimacy expert Magda Kay reminds us.
“In that case, I believe you owe it to yourself to speak up. It’s perfectly okay to be direct and say something like, ‘I don’t feel like you’re fully present, and I don’t think either of us is enjoying this. It’s probably best to end it now.’
“Being honest in situations where the other person isn’t showing respect is important, both for giving them feedback and for standing up for yourself. It’s about learning to speak up when you’re not being treated well.”
A monkey randomly pressing keys on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time would eventually type out the complete works of Shakespeare purely by chance, according to the Infinite Monkey Theorem.
This widely known thought-experiment is used to help us understand the principles of probability and randomness, and how chance can lead to unexpected outcomes. The idea has been referenced in pop culture from The Simpsons to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and on TikTok.
However, a new study reveals it would take an unbelievably huge amount of time — far longer than the lifespan of our universe, for a typing monkey to randomly produce Shakespeare. So, while the theorem is true, it is also somewhat misleading.
Mathematicians, Associate Professor Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), decided to examine the theorem using instead the limits of our finite universe.
“The Infinite Monkey Theorem only considers the infinite limit, with either an infinite number of monkeys or an infinite time period of monkey labour,” said Associate Professor Woodcock.
“We decided to look at the probability of a given string of letters being typed by a finite number of monkeys within a finite time period consistent with estimates for the lifespan of our universe,” he said.
The serious but light-hearted study, A numerical evaluation of the Finite Monkeys Theorem, has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Franklin Open.
For number-crunching purposes, the researchers assumed that a keyboard contains 30 keys including all the letters of the English language plus common punctuation marks.
As well as a single monkey, they also did the calculations using the current global population of around 200,000 chimpanzees, and they assumed a rather productive typing speed of one key every second until the end of the universe in about 10^100 years — that’s a 1 followed by 100 zeros.
The results reveal that it is possible (around a 5% chance) for a single chimp to type the word ‘bananas’ in its own lifetime. However, even with all chimps enlisted, the Bard’s entire works (with around 884,647 words) will almost certainly never be typed before the universe ends.
“It is not plausible that, even with improved typing speeds or an increase in chimpanzee populations, monkey labour will ever be a viable tool for developing non-trivial written works,” the authors muse.
“This finding places the theorem among other probability puzzles and paradoxes — such as the St. Petersburg paradox, Zeno’s paradox, and the Ross-Littlewood paradox — where using the idea of infinite resources gives results that don’t match up with what we get when we consider the constraints of our universe,” said Associate Professor Woodcock.
In the era of generative AI, the Infinite Monkey Theorem, and its finite version, perhaps also challenge readers to consider philosophical questions around the nature of creativity, meaning and consciousness, and how these qualities emerge.
