Children With Supportive Mothers During Preschool Have More Developed Brains

It is essential for mothers to be supportive of their preschool children so that they can have more developed brains, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This is compared to children who had less supportive mothers.

The researchers found that children whose mothers were nurturing during the preschool years -- as against to later in childhood -- have more robust growth in brain structures associated with learning, memory and stress response, Science Daily reported. Meanwhile, children who had supportive mothers later in childhood but were less supportive during the preschool years experienced lesser growth.

"This study suggests there's a sensitive period when the brain responds more to maternal support," said Joan L. Luby, MD, one of the study's authors and a Washington University child psychiatrist at St. Louis Children's Hospital. The study was published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

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The Hippocampus

The researchers monitored and scored videotaped mother-children interactions in order to determine support and nurturing by mothers. Besides this, they also looked into the brain scans of children from preschool up to early adolescence, Science Daily said.

They found "a sharper rise in the volume of the hippocampus in the kids whose mothers supported and nurtured them during the preschool years." The hippocampus, according to PsychEducation.org, is the main location for the transfer of information into memory.

It is located in the brain's temporal lobe. The researchers found out that the hippocampal growth trajectory was associated with better emotion regulation in early adolescence.

Brain Development And Nurturing

Parents are "programmed to love and respond" to babies' cues according to Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. Since the development of the brain depends much on early experience, this parental instinct allows most babies to receive nurturing from their earliest days, it added. If mothers exhibit this nurturing instinct during the preschool years, their children have a better shot at learning.

What are ways mothers can be supportive of their kids during the preschool years? Do you have any tips? Write your comments below.