According to new research, maternal love can help children's brains develop twice as much.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous
THEmother's love is good for brain some children. An observation that seems almost obvious, yet now science confirms: maternal love, cuddles, pure affection can help the brains of the little ones to develop even twice as much, especially some key areas such as the hippocampus.
This is supported by a study by Washington University, published online in Pnas (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), according to which "feeding" one's preschool children with so much love means ensure them more robust growth in brain structures related to learning, memory and stress response. This would not happen so easily later in life.
"This study suggests there is a definite sensitive period when the brain responds most to maternal support," said first author Joan L. Luby, MD, a child psychiatrist at Washington University Hospital in St. Louis.
OUR OFFICE - The researchers looked through a series of brain scans 127 children from the time they were about to start school until early adolescence, while mothers' care of the children was measured by close observation or video recordings. Looking at the brain scans, the researchers found that babies whose mothers were more "supportive" than the average had a sharper increase in hippocampal volume, which was twice as large as that of peers whose mothers they offered a lower level of support. The researchers also found that the growth trajectory in the hippocampus was associated with healthier emotional functions by the time the boys entered the adolescent stage.
“The parent-child relationship during the preschool period is vital, even more important than when the child grows up,” says Luby. “This would be due to greater plasticity in the brain when children are younger, which means that the brain is affected more by early life experiences. This suggests that it is vital that children receive support and care during those early years. "
Having said that, science aside, since the world began, love and affection repay more than grumpiness and long faces, also and above all in terms of serenity and emotional intelligence of our puppies. Let's relax, then, and let's do it especially for them. Let's keep out the issues that make us nervous, all of them, turn off the smartphone and start playing, kneading, walking, talking with them.
Think about how you want them to become as adults, the role they will one day have to fill, the strength and intelligence they will have to have. Now don't you feel like filling them with hugs?
Germana Carillo
READ also:
CHILDREN: KISS ON THE MOUTH, YES OR NO?
BESAME MUCHO: HOW TO GROW YOUR CHILDREN "NATURALLY" AND WITH LOVE
CO-SLEEPING: IS SHARING A BED WITH OUR CHILDREN REALLY AS DANGEROUS AS THEY MAKE US BELIEVE?
