Month: July 2021

With nearly 70% of New Jersey adults fully vaccinated against COVID, the state has the eighth highest vaccination rate in the country, according to federal data. More than 5.11 million people who live, work or study in the state have now been fully vaccinated, according to state data. But there are still some large communities that are lagging, state officials note. The state continues to focus on increasing vaccinations in areas where there are lower rates, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at Monday’s coronavirus briefing. Of municipalities with populations of over 10,000, Lakewood and Phillipsburg tie for the lowest rate, with only 39% of the adult population fully vaccinated, according to June 13 data on the state’s COVID vaccination dashboard. Both municipalities’ vaccin...

');$vidEndSlate.removeClass('video__end-slate--inactive').addClass('video__end-slate--active');}};CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;var configObj = {thumb: 'none',video: 'health/2018/12/11/opioids-addiction-overdose-orig-nws.cnn',width: '100%',height: '100%',section: 'domestic',profile: 'expansion',network: 'cnn',markupId: 'large-media_0',adsection: 'const-article-pagetop',frameWidth: '100%',frameHeight: '100%',posterImageOverride: {"mini":{"width":220,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/181211182939-opioids-addiction-overdose-orig-nws-00003207-small-169.jpg","height":124},"xsmall":{"width":307,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/181211182939-opioids-addiction-overdose-orig-nws-00003207-medium-plus-169.jpg","height...

These past studies of brain plasticity generally focused on gray matter, though, which contains the celebrated little gray cells, or neurons, that permit and create thoughts and memories. Less research has looked at white matter, the brain’s wiring. Made up mostly of fat-wrapped nerve fibers known as axons, white matter connects neurons and is essential for brain health. But it can be fragile, thinning and developing small lesions as we age, dilapidations that can be precursors of cognitive decline. Worryingly, it also has been considered relatively static, with little plasticity, or ability to adapt much as our lives change. But Agnieszka Burzynska, a professor of neuroscience and human development at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, suspected that science was underestimating w...

Daniel Horowitz’s grip tightened around his children’s hands as he looked upon the sea of people in horror. Nobody was wearing a mask. The amusement park's website said any unvaccinated visitors were required to wear face coverings, but it didn’t take long for the 42-year-old father to realize these rules weren’t being enforced.  This was not the safe, socially distanced summer Horowitz had in mind. Although the dad from Wilmington, Delaware, is fully vaccinated, his 8-year-old daughter, Emily, and 4-year-old son, Adam, are still unprotected. Horowitz was excited to give them the summer they had lost last year, but he says the lack of regard for unvaccinated children puts them at risk. A family portrait -- taken by a socially distant photographer -- of Daniel Horowitz with his wife, Da...