Supportive mothers could boost children's brain power

Supportive mothers could boost their children's memory and brain power at a young age, according to a new study.

Children whose mothers are more attentive during infancy go on to develop more nerve cells in their hippocampus, a region of the brain which plays a key role in memory and emotion, researchers found. Although the findings do not prove that the mothers' behaviour caused the improved brain size, measured during later childhood, they suggest supportive parenting could play a role in brain development.

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, observed the level of support provided by 92 parents as their preschool age children were given a present and told to wait eight minutes before unwrapping it. Brain scans carried out on the same children between the ages of seven and 13 showed that those whose parents had provided the most support to reduce their stress during the earlier task had larger hippocampi.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, the scientists said the effect was much lower in children who showed early signs of depression, suggesting this could counteract the benefit of maternal support.

Professor Joan Luby, who led the study, said: "The importance of this effect is underscored by the fact the hippocampus is a brain region central to memory, emotion regulation and stress modulation, all areas key to healthy social adaptation.

"We believe these findings have potentially profound public health implications and suggest greater public health emphasis on early parenting could be a very fruitful social investment." Dr Andrea Danese, clinical lecturer in child & adolescent psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, added: "In the same way as a balanced diet provides children with ingredients for healthy physical growth, supportive parental care may provide them with key building blocks for positive psychological development.

"Future research will need to clarify whether children of more supportive parents inherit better brains, or whether parenting practices can indeed modify the way the brain changes and develops over time."

Telegraph UK