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Date: | Sat, 28 Jul 2001 10:51:15 -0700 |
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http://www.mercola.com/1997/sep/14/baby_cuddling.htm
CUDDLED AS A BABY MEANS A LESS-STRESSED ADULT LIFE
Experts say that simply being touched and
held during the first few
years of childhood may set up positive
stress-response patterns
that last a lifetime. Studies in rats have
found that newborns who
receive repeated touching, licking and
grooming from their
mothers have "all sorts of protective
benefits against the negative
effects of stress in adulthood."
The investigators discovered that pups
whose mothers had been
especially attentive during childhood had
more of a certain kind of
receptor on the surface of the structure
in the brain called the
hippocampus than relatively 'neglected'
pups. These receptors
responded specifically to the cortisol
like hormone, which is
secreted by the adrenal glands during
stressful situations.
Production of this hormone is shut down
when the hormone binds
to receptors on the hippocampus, and a
signal is sent from the
brain back to the adrenal gland,
effectively telling it to 'switch off'
production. More corticosterone-receptors
on the hippocampus of
the 'well-fondled' rats means the brain is
more sensitive to the
hormone, and more efficient in sending
back this signal to stop the
stress response.
Humans also secrete cortisol, and while we
don't lick and groom
our newborns, most human parents do seem
fond of holding and
caressing them. The developmental effect
seems to be
time-specific. The stress-reactions of
rats in adulthood seem to be
'programmed' by maternal touch during the
first two weeks of life.
This time period may be likened to the
first 3 years of human
development.
Harvard researchers are studying the
hormonal levels of Romanian
orphans who were simply "left alone in
cribs or playpens, with no
stimulation, no interaction" for the first
few years of life. The
Harvard researchers"are finding similar
measures. They're finding
that their cortisol measures are really
high, compared with
similarly-aged children brought up in
family homes. The plight of
these orphans in later development has
been well documented --
distant, highly-stressed, insular children
who have difficulty coping
with 'normal' human interaction and touch.
Science (1997;277:1859-1861
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