Study Says Massage Benefits Kids with Autism
According to a newly published report, A massage treatment developed for children who have autism can lessen its severity by a third in the first five months after diagnosis, making the treatment an effective early intervention. Dr. Louisa Silva, founder of the Oregon-based Qigong Sensory Training Institute and a visiting professor at Western Oregon University […]
The Neuroscience Behind Positive Emotion for Babies and Grownups
Researchers at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds observe how structures inside the infant’s brain communicate with each other; for 45 minutes, an infant is swaddled and snoozed into a cozy fMRI machine. “It’s so neat because the babies are just such quiet little bundles, but there’s so much going on developmentally,” said Nicole Schmidt, […]
The Neuroscience of Calming a Baby
New research published in the journal Current Biology shows that infants experience an automatic calming reaction when they are being carried, whether they are mouse pups or human babies. Kumi Kuroda of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Saitama, Japan says, “From humans to mice, mammalian infants become calm and relaxed when they are carried […]
Babies Feel Pain as Sharply as Adults
A new discovery overturns current consensus in the medical community holding that babies have such a small brain that it is not developed enough to feel pain. Based on this premise, newborns go without painkillers, even during invasive procedures. Oxford University doctors suggest that not only do babies feel pain, but they have a lower […]
Study Says Mothers Are More Sensitive to Crying Babies Due to the “Cuddle” Hormone
As any bleary-eyed new mother will confirm, the sound of a baby’s cry is almost impossible to ignore, no matter how tired you are feeling. Scientists have uncovered clues that could help explain why parents are so sensitive to the sound of crying. Robert Froemke, who led the study at New York University, says, “We […]
Babies and Magic
We base our behavior on thousands of predictions about how reality will unfold around us as we interact with our physical and social environment. Some of these expectations are programmed in infancy and hard-wired into our neural systems with little or no exposure to external stimulation. Scientists refer to these expectations as “core knowledge”. Some […]
Infants’ Environments Play Key Role In Their Heights As Adults
If you’ve ever wondered why you aren’t a little taller, it turns out it’s not all about genetics. In findings published in the Journal of Pediatrics (January 2015), an Israeli research team shows that the environment in which one lives from the womb to about age one largely determines an adult’s height. The pioneering study […]
Shy Babies Need Secure Parent Bond to Help Prevent Teen Anxiety
According to a new study co-authored at the University of Waterloo, shy babies need to have a strong bond with their parents to avoid developing anxiety disorders in their teens. Young children who react with behavioral inhibition or shyness to new situations have an increased risk of internalizing problems as they grow older. “But with […]
Depression Link for Moms Whose Babies Wake During Night
According to research that found one in four mothers reported their baby’s sleep to be causing problems for them, mothers of infants who wake during the night are more likely to suffer from depression, stress, and poor physical health. The investigation was carried out by researchers at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Mothers reported on […]
Infant Temperaments May Reflect Parents’ Cultural Values
A new study examining temperamental differences between U.S. and Dutch babies found infants born in the Netherlands are more likely to be happy and easier to soothe in the latter half of their first year. U.S. infants, on the other hand, were typically more active and vocal, said study co-author Maria Gartstein, a Washington State […]