Showing posts with label hippocampus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hippocampus. Show all posts
Sunday, March 11, 2012
New Research: The Nicer the Mom, the Smarter the Kid
Pin It
Human nature is wanting what you can't have. My kids seem to think that I need lessons in how this works because no matter what they are currently playing with, they have a few items that are always in demand and they will instantly fight over any of the following:
1. The Mickey Mouse ball
2. The stuffed cow (from the dollar store)
3. The large Tonka Truck (from a garage sale)
Things can quickly escalate and in no time they are screaming at each other and crying. If I ignore the situation, it quickly turns into this:
It really amazes me how they can be oblivious to the smoke that I am sure begins to steam out of my ears as they fight over that stupid stuffed cow. I would love to go get another one, just so they each have one, but of course they don't sell them anymore. Plus, I am trying not to get into the habit of buying them stuff just to make them happy. It's amazing how quickly I can feel my blood begin to boil when the kids start fighting, but something I read recently has made me really attempt to control my anger. Did you know that a new research study has been released that shows that Moms who get testy with their kids may actually permanently decrease their child's intelligence?
The researchers of this study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, studied two groups of children and their mothers. They were put into a frustrating situation. The mothers and children were left a small room that had a shiny package on the table. They were told they could open the package, but only after the mother filled out all the forms. The Mothers had no idea they were being watched. Based on the behavior of the mothers, everyone was categorized everyone into two groups. This was observed: Half of the mothers either ignored their child or harshly scolded them. The other half were more nurturing and explained patiently to the children why they couldn’t open the package yet. The researchers used this event as a starting point and went on to study numerous other factors over several years, such as medication use, traumatic life events, and maternal history of depressions.
They waited several years and brought everyone back in for MRI scans. The study showed that children with nurturing mothers had a larger hippocampus (area of the brain that controls short-term and long-term memory) by almost ten percent than the children whose mothers tended to scold in a harsh manner. In order to make sure their assumptions were correct on how they categorized everyone, they added the external variables (such as medications etc) as co-variates.
Of course, every study has its flaws, but if you look closely at the findings and the science behind this study, you will find that the evidence is pretty solid. If you want to read more about the actual study, feel free to click here.
"It is to our knowledge the first study that links early maternal nurturance to the structural development of a key brain region," said study author Dr. Joan Luby, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "It provides very powerful evidence of the importance of early nurturing for healthy brain development and has tremendous public health implications."
Of course, every study has its flaws, but if you look closely at the findings and the science behind this study, you will find that the evidence is pretty solid. If you want to read more about the actual study, feel free to click here.
"It is to our knowledge the first study that links early maternal nurturance to the structural development of a key brain region," said study author Dr. Joan Luby, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "It provides very powerful evidence of the importance of early nurturing for healthy brain development and has tremendous public health implications."
Now, don't panic. Researchers of this study stress that occasionally losing your temper won’t cause the hippocampus to suddenly shrink and simply being patient can't guarantee smart kids, but it is clear that long-term impatience can have lasting effects. Ever since I read this study, I find it easier to take a deep breath, because I now have true motivation to quit snapping at my kids.
So, if your kids get under your skin and you feel the need to snap at them, DON'T! Instead, listen to this advice from child expert, author and former Kindergarten teacher, Susan Case. Susan's blog, Kindergarten Basics, has other tips on discipline, crafting, and preparing kids for Kindergarten:
So, if your kids get under your skin and you feel the need to snap at them, DON'T! Instead, listen to this advice from child expert, author and former Kindergarten teacher, Susan Case. Susan's blog, Kindergarten Basics, has other tips on discipline, crafting, and preparing kids for Kindergarten:
1. Try a little self talk: “I am the adult. I am a role model. I teach respect. I love my kids and they love me.”
2. Put the incident into perspective. Take a few deep breaths and ask yourself these questions:
-What difference will this make a year from now
-Can I let it go or let the child have his way?
-How is this making my child feel? How will I feel about this tomorrow?
-What difference will this make a year from now
-Can I let it go or let the child have his way?
-How is this making my child feel? How will I feel about this tomorrow?
3. Take some time to pamper yourself so you don't have such a short fuse. Go for walks, ask someone to babysit, indulge in your favorite reality TV show or take a bubble bath...whatever you enjoy, do it and don't feel guilty about it!
If you liked this post, you will LOVE my new book (which is currently ranked#4 on Amazon in the category of Motherhood!). If you have ever asked yourself questions like, these, then this is the book for you!
- Why do my kids drive me so crazy sometimes?
- Why do they just want to watch TV all day long?
- How am I ever supposed to get anything done when my kids won't stop pestering me?
In this book, I teamed up with former Kindergarten teacher, Susan Case, and we worked together to give a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that we could give you activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity. Here is what one of the reviews says on Amazon:
"This book seriously saved my sanity. I've read a bunch of parenting books but this is literally the only one that actually gave me real and specific advice and ideas for things to do with my daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year old and I was at my wits end trying to come up with ideas of fun, easy, creative things to do with her that will keep her busy and occupied and help her learn. I wasn't very good at following through on ideas that I heard about from friends or read in other books or online because they seemed too complicated (aka: messy!) but this book broke it down and made it so simple. I highly recommend it!"
Did you enjoy my post? I could really use your vote!! Just click here and you're done!! Pretty please?!?!?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
