Maternal Support Builds Brain Development in Children
“Early maternal support and nurturing has a strong positive effect on brain development in young children, new research shows.
In a longitudinal study, researchers found that supportive caregiving during the preschool years predicted larger hippocampal volume at school age in nondepressed children.
‘This particular publication is unique in that it combines observational data of parent-child interaction at preschool with structural brain outcomes at school age,’ Dr. Joan Luby, MD, professor of child psychiatry and director of the Early Emotional Development Program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who led the study, told Medscape Medical News.”
