Look how mommy’s voice lights up baby’s brain!
When can you start teaching your child about natural family planning? Right at the moment of conception you begin your sacred duty to “raise the child in the way that it should go.” First by celebrating the great act of cooperating with God to bring an eternal soul into the world. Then resolving to love this child, care for him or her and raise him or her to become a mature, independent, virtuous adult. And did you know the child even in your womb can begin to grow and know its parents love? It’s true. Scientists at Stanford University recently studied how important mom’s voice in particular is to the developing baby. The areas of baby’s brain that lit up for mom’s voice also calmed baby and developed areas of the brain important for social skills. Wow. So let’s make sure to have some quiet time with baby and make our words comforting, confident, instructive, nurturing.
This articles featured image shows how multiple areas of a child’s brain light up with mothers voice.
Here’s an excerpt from the study…
“Mother’s voice is a constant and familiar presence in a child’s environment, beginning at a time when these vocal sounds and vibrations are conducted through the intrauterine environment to the fetus’ developing auditory pathways. Early exposure to mother’s voice facilitates recognition of this sound source and establishes it as a preferred stimulus: From the first days of life, children can identify their mother’s voice and will actively work to hear this sound source in preference to unfamiliar female voices. Throughout development, communicative cues in mother’s voice convey critical information to guide behavior and learning. For example, hearing a recording of one’s own mother’s voice is a source of emotional comfort for preschoolers during stressful situations, even when the content of the speech is meaningless. Furthermore, when school-age females experience a stressful situation, hearing their mother’s voice reduces children’s cortisol levels, a biomarker of stress, and increases oxytocin levels, a hormone associated with social bonding. These studies have highlighted the profound influence that mother’s voice has on children’s cognitive, emotional, and social function.”
source: Abrams et al. www.pnas.org/cgi/content/short/1602948113