According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, babies who hear their mother's heartbeat and voice show stronger signs of development in their auditory cortex, which, among other functions, is a part of the brain primarily known for helping people hear.
Larger auditory cortices usually result in better hearing and language development later on in an infants life, so the scientists plan on tracking these babies progress, according to PBS.
Researchers believe the study, which had 40 parents of premature babies read to their children, will help others understand how speech and language skills develop in kids over time.
But reading to children isnt the only practice parents can adopt to improve their babies' brain development. They can also show more emotional support to their loved ones.
According to a study from researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, children with mothers who show them high levels of affection see a larger growth in the hippocampus, a section of the brain that often deals with ones long-term memory, than those whose mothers showed them less attention.
To determine a mothers level of affection, the studys researchers put a child and mother in a room that contained a wrapped gift. While the mothers filled out a survey, the children were told not to open a gift. Mothers were then evaluated on how they nurtured and spoke to their child who wanted to open the wrapped gift, according to LiveScience.
A mother who was very supportive, for example, would console her child, explaining that the child had only a few more minutes to wait and that she understands the situation was frustrating, according to LiveScience.
Four years later, the researchers took MRI scans of the children who were nurtured well and those who werent, and found the latter had less of a developed hippocampus, LiveScience reported.
"We can now say with confidence that the psychosocial environment has a material impact on the way the human brain develops," said Dr. Joan Luby, the study's lead researcher, according to LiveScience. "It puts a very strong wind behind the sail of the idea that early nurturing of children positively affects their development."
Larger auditory cortices usually result in better hearing and language development later on in an infants life, so the scientists plan on tracking these babies progress, according to PBS.
Researchers believe the study, which had 40 parents of premature babies read to their children, will help others understand how speech and language skills develop in kids over time.
But reading to children isnt the only practice parents can adopt to improve their babies' brain development. They can also show more emotional support to their loved ones.
According to a study from researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, children with mothers who show them high levels of affection see a larger growth in the hippocampus, a section of the brain that often deals with ones long-term memory, than those whose mothers showed them less attention.
To determine a mothers level of affection, the studys researchers put a child and mother in a room that contained a wrapped gift. While the mothers filled out a survey, the children were told not to open a gift. Mothers were then evaluated on how they nurtured and spoke to their child who wanted to open the wrapped gift, according to LiveScience.
A mother who was very supportive, for example, would console her child, explaining that the child had only a few more minutes to wait and that she understands the situation was frustrating, according to LiveScience.
Four years later, the researchers took MRI scans of the children who were nurtured well and those who werent, and found the latter had less of a developed hippocampus, LiveScience reported.
"We can now say with confidence that the psychosocial environment has a material impact on the way the human brain develops," said Dr. Joan Luby, the study's lead researcher, according to LiveScience. "It puts a very strong wind behind the sail of the idea that early nurturing of children positively affects their development."
