 |
|
|
|
March 12th, 2012
11:51 AM ET
Love key to brain development in childrenEditor's note: Dr. Charles Raison, CNNhealth's mental health expert, is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Take the importance of mothers in the development of children. In the early days of psychiatry almost every mental illness, from depression to schizophrenia to autism was blamed on bad mothering. Then in the 1960’s and 70’s the discovery of medications that helped these illnesses allowed psychiatry to reframe them as biological conditions, no different from cancer or heart disease. Parents were fully absolved for the mental illnesses of their children, except to the degree that they passed along bad genes that caused chemical imbalances in the brain. Myths inevitably survive long after they’ve been scientifically disproven. Such is the case with the fantasy that mental illnesses can be written off solely to genes and chemicals. Over the last decade a string of scientific discoveries has shown that the biology driving mental illness has at least as much to do with the environment as with chemicals or genetic inheritance. And it increasingly appears that the single most powerful environmental factor is the love - or its lack - that children receive from their parents. So in a very real way we parents are back on the hook for the lifelong emotional well-being of our kids. I say this based on a thousand studies. But to make the point here, let me describe a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that more definitively than any before it shows how parental care literally changes not just kids’ hearts and minds, but their brains as well. Here’s how the study was done. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis recruited 92 children between the ages of 3 and 6. Rather than asking parents about how they treated their children, the researchers brought the kids and parents into a lab and videotaped them as the parents, almost always mothers, tried to help their children cope with a mildly stressful task that was designed to approximate the stress of daily parenting. Ratings of parental ability to nurture their children were done by study personnel who watched the videos while knowing nothing about either children or parents. Several years later, on average, the children had the size of a brain area called the hippocampus measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). After taking into account a whole range of factors that can affect hippocampal size, the researchers found that children with especially nurturing, caring mothers, based on their behavior during the laboratory stressor, had significantly larger hippocampi (plural of hippocampus - you’ve got one on each side of the brain) than kids with mothers who were average or poor nurturers. Why is this finding important? Because more than any place else in the brain, when it comes to the hippocampus, size matters. Other things being equal, having small hippocampi increases your risk for all sorts of troubles, from depression and post traumatic stress disorder to Alzheimer’s disease. If you’ve got depression, having small hippocampi predicts that you won’t respond as well to antidepressants as well as depressed people with larger hippocampi. Just as having small hippocampi increases the risk for all sorts of mental disorders, all the things in our lives that put us under undue stress and strain also shrink the hippocampus. This is as true for cigarette smoking as it is for being exposed as a child to abuse or parental neglect. In addition to protecting us against brain illnesses, we all need big hippocampi because this brain area, while not much bigger than your little finger, plays a disproportionately large role in how you will be able to handle the stresses and strains of your life, and how you will remember your life when it’s all said and done. This is so because the hippocampus is crucial for our ability to form and store personal memories. It is also of central importance for restraining the body’s stress and inflammatory responses, both of which can induce significant damage to bodily organs and the brain if not properly reined in. The finding that especially nurturing mothers can literally grow their children’s hippocampi doesn’t exist in isolation. It is consistent with hundreds of animal studies showing that maternal nurturing has a range of biological effects relevant to physical and emotional health. An especially striking example of this is a study done several years ago in rodents showing that maternal nurturance (measured as amount of licking that rat pups received from their mothers) literally changed how the rat pups’ DNA was expressed in the hippocampus. As a result of these changes, pups who received extra licking had changes in their stress systems that have been repeatedly associated with well-being in humans. So we underestimate our power as parents at our children’s peril. But I would be remiss if I left you with the impression that mother love is all-powerful or that genes and chemicals don’t matter at all. The association of parental nurturing with subsequent hippocampal size in children was only observed in non-depressed children. In children with signs of significant early depression, maternal nurturing in the laboratory had no association with subsequent hippocampal volume. Why this was the case is anybody’s guess, but it might suggest that at least some cases of major depression are indeed mostly genetic or “hardwired” from an early age, and so are fairly resistant to positive things from the environment. Given the complexity of the human brain, should we be surprised that every possible outcome of genes, chemicals and environment is actualized in someone somewhere? Meantime, one generation full of deeply loving parents would change the brain of the next generation, and with that, the world. soundoff (1,587 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Next »Leave a Reply to Social-Media Services-2020
Next entry »A soda per day may raise heart-attack risk
« Previous entry'Cutting' your risk of prostate cancer
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
 |
|
|
|
Ever noticed how scientific opinions swing from one extreme to the other?
I never usually post on blogs but I have found this is very useful work.
special info http://gaji-penjawat-awam-keraja59023.dsiblogger.com/2133144/what-you-must-understand-about-downloading-music
Currently it looks like WordPress is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I've read) Is that what you're using on your blog?
http://career-alternative.com/home.html
Your home is valueble for me. Thanks!?
fornecedor de bonecas sexuais https://www.yogodolls.com/pt/
you are really a good webmaster. The web site loading speed is incredible. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. Moreover, The contents are masterpiece. you've done a wonderful job on this topic!
DCDA https://www.zbiz.org/jinma/dicyandiamide-cas-461-58-5.html
Thanks so much for giving everyone an extraordinarily breathtaking chance to read articles and blog posts from this blog. It can be so nice plus packed with a great time for me personally and my office fellow workers to search your web site really 3 times in a week to see the new issues you have got. And lastly, I am also always pleased with all the attractive guidelines you give. Selected 3 facts on this page are clearly the simplest we've had.
Plataforma De Trabalho Suspensa https://www.buildinglift.com/pt/products/suspended-working-platform
N級コピー
業界最大級のスーパーコピーブランド(N級品)激安通販専門店！
世の中のほとんどの ブランドコピー品はココで揃います。
偽物の時計、バッグ、財布など激安で買える！
弊社はルイヴィトン、シャネル、グッチ、エルメス、ロレックス、
オメガなどブランドショップ です。
ブランドスーパーコピー専門店、全国送料無料！
SweatCoin Cash Exchange has 6290 members. Welcome to the Sweatcoin Cash Exchange! Come to sell your sweatcoins! Message Me if you want to advertise ...
This seems like such a good idea, will have to take a look at it!
http://diceview.com/7-reasons-falling-in-love-for-the-second-time-is-better-than-the-first/
Lorsque ma femme me fait un cadeau, j'ai deux surprises : d'abord le cadeau, ensuite de le payer. https://www.cialis20.fr Some distillers of alcohol make.
f88tw｜Wacoal｜I appreciate your kind assistance.
http://mypaper.pchome.com.tw/f88tw/post/1370781143
http://mypaper.m.pchome.com.tw/f88tw/post/1370781143
Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic for a long time and yours is the best I've discovered till now. But, what about the conclusion? Are you certain in regards to the supply?
https://BobJohnsonblog398.com/
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I've really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
https://BobJohnsonblog398.com/
detectives privados las palmas
https://www.argadetectives.com/detectives-en-benalmadena-malaga.html
detectives privados manresa
https://www.argadetectives.com/detectives-arcos-de-la-frontera-cadiz.html
detectives privados las rozas
https://www.argadetectives.com/detectives-mijas-malaga.html
At this moment I am going away to do my breakfast, later than having my breakfast
coming yet again to read further news.
My webpage ... rapid-office-movers-los-angeles
Transfer from bitcoin to paypal very fast and low cost.
https://exchanger24.org/xchange_btc_to_ppusd/
Good post. I am dealing with many of these issues as well..
Here is my web site: excalibur-movers-los-angeles-ca
Hello! Quick question that's completely off topic.
Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
My weblog looks weird when viewing from my apple iphone. I'm trying to find
a theme or plugin that might be able to fix this
problem. If you have any suggestions, please share. Appreciate it!
my website: specialty-and-big-furniture-movers-in-los-angeles
I’d have to talk with you here. Which is not something It’s my job to do! I love reading an article that could make people believe. Also, many thanks permitting me to comment!
http://6dollarmillion.xyz
Sometimes he managed to catch Avatar and the friends, speculate
Aang could manage the air good, he still to overcame Zuko and liberate himself and his
friends. Be sure the party games are active, creative and another that they'll use their imagination.
Of all the Stark children she looks probably the most like Jon Snow as well
as their lord father.
My blog post :: 가족관계증명서 인터넷발급
Imagine getting hundreds of people flooding your inbox on autopilot, 24/7. Cutting-edge funnel-based app that can generate 100 commissions of up to 900+ dollars DAILY. More details: Click in link in profile
https://bit.ly/2YfQFcC
Unquestionably think that that you stated. Your best justification seemed to be in the net the simplest thing to understand.
I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people consider worries which they
just don't know about. You been able to hit the nail upon the top and in addition defined out everything without
the need of side-effects , people could have a signal. Will likely return to get more.
Thanks
My blog ... DamienHChino
Interested in more information. How can I contact you?
https://chrok1.blogspot.com/2021/01/36-96.html
Thanks so much the information. I love sucking dick btw hmu
https://chrok1.blogspot.com/2021/01/5.html
If you would like to improve your experience simply keep visiting this site and be updated with the most up-to-date gossip posted here.
https://chrok1.blogspot.com
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I think that you should publish more on this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but generally people don't discuss such issues To the next! All the best!!
http://www.virtual-circuit.org/
I really appreciate this post. I've been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You've made my day! Thank you again!
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
Very interesting topic , thanks for posting . "Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts." by Dan Quayle.
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
An fascinating discussion may be worth comment. I think you should write on this topic, it might certainly be a taboo subject but usually people are not enough to dicuss on such topics. To a higher. Cheers
http://yourmatrixcashmachine.com
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
To start with I want to say wonderful blog! I needed a quick question through which I'd like
to ask unless you mind. I was interested to find out the
way you center yourself and clear your head before writing.
I actually have had a tough time clearing my mind in getting my thoughts on the
market. I do enjoy writing nevertheless it just seems
like the 1st 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost just trying to
puzzle out how to begin. Any ideas or hints? Appreciate it!
My page: passport size
Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more
https://bit.ly/3iOPatX
Dead pent content , thanks for entropy.
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
Hiya! Quick question that's completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when viewing from my apple iphone. I'm trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to fix this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. Many thanks!
https://extraproxies.com/tag/http-www-supplementscart-com-provitazol/
Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more
https://bit.ly/3iOPatX
Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more
https://bit.ly/3iOPatX
Best Marketing Services – Cheapest on Market. SMM Supreme is the Top 5 Best Social Media Website in the World. Best Quality-Price Ratio on the market with 714,928 orders until now. – Facebook Fan Page Likes for $4.50/1000 – Instagram Followers for $0.78/1000 – Youtube Views: $1.62/1000 – Twitter followers: $2.10/1000 – Paypal Deposit – Bitcoin Deposit – Fast order processing – 1 Hour Delivery (Click on the link in the profile for more details)
https://bit.ly/2Hnl7vE
Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more
https://bit.ly/3iVO2Vh
Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more
https://bit.ly/3iOPatX
I have been browsing online greater than 3 hours as of late, yet I by no means discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It is pretty price enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the internet shall be much more helpful than ever before.
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
Get Our Passive Income System – Step 1: Get our ready made niche websites, Step 2: Run our Premium Unlimited Traffic Step 3: Setup your Paypal account. Then just sit back and relax while you watch your paypal account receiving payments during the whole day 100 in auto pilot. More info: https://www.k3reviews.com/2020/08/16/monster-mode-700k/
https://bit.ly/32Pc9iD
Good answer back in return of this issue with genuine arguments
and describing everything about that.
http://bit.ly/mind-hacker
http://bit.ly/mind-hacker
Earn 500 a Day With Our Passive Income System Doing These 3 Steps – Step 1: Get our ready made niche websites, Step 2: Setup your Paypal account. Step 3: Run our Unlimited Traffic System from our Free 850 sources of traffic (Approximately 35000 views a day guaranteed). Then in few hours you will start receiving payments without do nothing! More info: https://warriorplus.com/o2/a/gp8vk/0
https://bitly.com/2EgbfPr
My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he's tryiong none the
less. I've been using WordPress on numerous websites for about a
year and am anxious about switching to another platform.
I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is
there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it?
Any kind of help would be really appreciated!
Beaver Tree Services, 2545 N 29th Pl, Phoenix, AZ 85008; (602) 671-0226
https://goo.gl/maps/ymGC5gevqg4c2ihWA
esenyurt escort bayanar bu sitede üstelik hepsi ücretsiz...
http://www.cuba.tc/escort-kategori/malatya-escort-bayan
Get Our Passive Income System – Step 1: Get our ready made niche websites, Step 2: Run our Premium Unlimited Traffic Step 3: Setup your Paypal account. Then just sit back and relax while you watch your paypal account receiving payments during the whole day 100 in auto pilot.
https://warriorplus.com/o2/a/pdps2/0
Earn 3000 a Month With Our Passive Income System – Best Autopilot income system 2021
https://jvz1.com/c/289727/328078