Parenting has a very large impact on its subsequent development, to the point that researchers showed in 2012 the effects of maternal love on the brain (and showed that anatomical changes could occur); they belong to the Sant Louis School of Medicine (University of Washington). They did it by scanning the brains of some children, and repeating the tests four years later.
The images revealed that the brains of those who had had a positive interaction, whose mothers were patients, and showed their affection frequently and explicitly, presented a 10 percent hippocampus increase compared to those who had little contact with their mothers or a less affectionate relationship.
The statements in this study only validate something we can intuit: maternal / paternal love is a brain nutrient that can contribute to creating adaptable human beings
In an attempt to explain what the hippocampus has to do with love, and how it performs its functions, I will say that in the face of tensions, the brain activates the autonomic nervous system, which controls the release of stress hormones. As you can guess, these hormones help increase the heart rate and help the body adapt. We go now with the hippocampus: it is the main structure of the brain that is involved in this adaptive response.
But surprisingly, this response is also key in learning and memory, therefore, it could be directly related to performance in school.
Although 95 percent of parents whose parenting skills were evaluated during the study were biological mothers, the researchers say the effects of nourishing the brain are likely could be the same for any primary caregiver, be it parents, grandparents or adoptive parents.
Paraphrasing María José Garrido Mayo in Ethnopediatrics: 'A nurturing style based on affection seems, in light of the research shown in this work, to favor emotional, cognitive and cerebral development in childhood. Love as a modulator of brain anatomical changes ... '
Images | Gabriela Pinto, elise ramsey Via | Ethnopediatrics More information | Proceding of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) More information | Study: Maternal support in early childhood predicts larger hippocampal volumes at school age In Peques and More | 'Modern' parenting styles negatively affect brain development, Demonstrations of affection will help children build their self-esteem: they need our unconditional love
