Study: A mother's love crucial for an infant's social development
Most parents want their children to develop into healthy, competent individuals, and they will do almost anything to ensure the success of their offspring. With a new study coming from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, we can see just how integral a mother’s love and attention is to ensure a young child’s social development.
When a mother soothes a baby that cries, she is lessening the destruction of DNA – since crying destroys fragile, developing DNA. In fact, even your grandmother’s love of your mother likely left epigenetic markers that will either support or hinder your own growth. Your ancestors’ loving parents or horrid childhoods can change your personality, bequeathing you a resilience to handle stress or the epigenetic pre-disposition to be a basket case. It turns out love really is the answer.
