New Study Finds the Brains of Babies & Adults Sync Up During Play-Time

by Erica LoopJanuary 18, 2020

New research from Princeton University has found a connection between adults’ and infants’ brains during natural play.

The study, which was published in the December issue of the journal Psychological Science, looked at how an adult’s brain syncs up with a baby’s brain (and vice versa) during direct one-on-one play.

photo: Daria Shevtsova via Pexels

Instead of the typical functional MRI technology researchers use to study the brain’s behavior, this study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy or fNIRS. The fNIRS technology allowed the researchers to measure blood oxygenation as a proxy for neural activity.

So what did the study find? When an adult researcher talked, read or sung to a baby (who was seated on their parent’s lab), both the adult’s and the baby’s brains were synchronized. When the researcher turned away from the baby to talk, the synchronization stopped.

Elise Piazza, an associate research scholar in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, said in a press statement, “Previous research has shown that adults’ brains sync up when they watch movies and listen to stories, but little is known about how this ‘neural synchrony’ develops in the first years of life.”

Piazza added, “While communicating, the adult and child seem to form a feedback loop. That is, the adult’s brain seemed to predict when the infants would smile, the infants’ brains anticipated when the adult would use more ‘baby talk,’ and both brains tracked joint eye contact and joint attention to toys. So, when a baby and adult play together, their brains influence each other in dynamic ways.”

—Erica Loop

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A Majority of Kids Have a Smartphone By Middle School, According to Study

by Shahrzad WarkentinNovember 5, 2019

Parenting in the digital age is filled with all kinds of challenges and questions our parents never had to face, like what’s the best age to give kids their own smartphone? New research suggests most kids are getting their own phones by the time they reach middle school.

A new study conducted by Common Sense Media investigated media usage and habits by kids ages eight to 18 included over 1,600 participants across the nation. So what did they find?

photo: Pexels

The study found that 53 percent of kids have their own smartphone by the time they are 11 and by age 12, more than 69 percent of kids have one. The research also showed that 19 percent of eight-year-olds already have their own smartphone.

It’s been four years since Common Sense conducted a similar survey and since then, smartphone ownership and usage by kids in this age group has risen dramatically. In 2015 just 24 percent of eight- to 12-year-olds had smartphones. The average age at which kids received their first smartphone was between 13 to 14 years old, versus the average age now of 11.

photo: Blake Barlow via Unsplash

In addition to phone usage, the 2019 Common Sense Census also looked at overall screen use, as well as gaming and social media habits. The report found that on average, eight to 12 year olds spend nearly five hours a day on entertainment screen media, while teens spend an average of nearly seven and a half hours doing the same. This is fairly consistent with the findings from the previous study.

Online viewing among tweens and teens has increased significantly with more than twice as many viewing videos online than four years ago and the time spent viewing nearly doubled from 25 to 56 minutes a day among tweens. On the flip side, however, television watching among the same age groups has dropped dramatically, with both tweens and teens watching an average of half an hour less of TV per day.

The report did conclude, however, that overall when compared to the last 20 years, the rate of change in media use among kids appears to have slowed down. “For the first time, this wave of the survey indicates that the pace of change in young people’s media lives may have slowed. The survey has revealed some interesting and important changes over the past four years: increasing connectivity among tweens, rising screen media usage among teens, an explosion in online video viewing at the expense of television. But given the revolutionary pace at which young people’s media environments have been changing over the past 20 years, it is also noteworthy that for the first time in quite a while, the pace of change appears to have slowed.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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This Study Offers New Insight Into Toddler Language Development

by Erica LoopOctober 31, 2019

New research published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology sheds light on how toddlers learn new words—and it might surprise you!

Researchers from the University of East Anglia investigated how 18- to 24-month-olds learn language. More specifically, how they learn new words in the context of words they already know and words that are new to them.

photo: Daria Shevtsova via Pexels

According to Dr. Larissa Samuelson, from UEA’s School of Psychology, “Previous work suggests that when children hear a word they do not know and an object they have never seen in the context of some objects that they can already name, such as a toy or a ball, they guess the new word refers to the new thing.”

Samuelson went on to add, “We wanted to know if the strength of a child’s knowledge of familiar things, how well they know what ‘cars’ or ‘balls’ are, mattered for learning new words and remembering them.” So what did the researchers find?

photo: RawPixel

After teaching 82 children two new words (“zeb” for a honey-dipper and “yok” for a strainer), they introduced a third new object/word. The researchers then asked the children to get the newest item (a bird toy named “blick”) when it was presented with the “zeb” and “yok,” and again with objects they already knew.

Even though the toddlers were able to link the new word to the bird toy in the presence of the items they already knew, they were also able to do so when the researchers placed the “blick” with the “zeb” and the “yok.”

While this isn’t exactly surprising, the researchers did find that after a five-minute coloring break, the toddlers were better able to remember the “blick” in the presence of the new objects/words. Samuelson said, of the findings, “”We had expected that a stronger knowledge of familiar words would be better for learning new words, but we found the opposite was true.” She went on to add, “It seems counterintuitive, but it is perhaps because the less well-known items don’t compete with the new words as much. If they learn new words in the context of playing with well-known items such as a ball, book or car, they don’t process the new word as much.”

What does this mean for you? According to this study, you might have a new way to teach your tot!

—Erica Loop

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Can Your Baby Understand Counting? New Research Says Yes

by Erica LoopOctober 28, 2019

New research reveals children may understand the concept of counting much younger than previously thought.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University tested 14- and 18-month-olds’ abilities to differentiate and pay attention to hidden objects when counting—and what they found might surprise you.

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The research, which was published in the journal Developmental Science, found that the infants responded better to hidden object tasks when the researchers counted to hour. After hiding toys in a box, a researcher either counted four of the objects or used non-numerical words such as, “This, this, this and this.”

The infants who heard the counting had an easier time remembering how many items were in the box. While the research didn’t reveal that the babies knew the exact number of toys, they did expect more items to come out of the box after the researchers removed one.

Senior author Lisa Feigenson, a cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins who specializes in the development of numeric ability in children, said, “Although they are years away from understanding the exact meanings of number words, babies are already in the business of recognizing that counting is about number.”

Feigenson continued, “Research like ours shows that babies actually have a pretty sophisticated understanding of the world—they’re already trying to make sense of what adults around them are saying, and that includes this domain of counting and numbers.”

First author Jenny Wang, a former graduate student at Johns Hopkins who is slated to become an assistant professor at Rutgers University, added, “When we counted the toys for the babies before we hid them, the babies were much better at remembering how many toys there were.” Wang went on to explain, “As a researcher these results were really surprising. And our results are the first to show that very young infants have a sense that when other people are counting it is tied to the rough dimension of quantity in the world.”

—Erica Loop

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Expectant Dads Should Stop Drinking 6 Months Before Conception, According to Study

by Shahrzad WarkentinOctober 4, 2019

An expectant mom’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy has long been linked to developmental problems and congenital defects in babies, but new research suggests that dads-to-be should cut out alcohol as well before the baby is even conceived.

The new study published by the Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that dads who drank during the three months before conception were 44 percent more likely to have babies born with congenital heart disease than compared with non-drinkers. The amount of alcohol consumed was also significant to the findings that dads who were considered binge drinkers (five or more drinks per day) were 52 percent more likely to have a baby with a congenital heart defect.

photo: Natasha Kapur via Unsplash

Moms weren’t off the hook for their drinking prior to conception either. The study found that moms who drank or were binge drinkers prior to pregnancy were 16 percent more likely to give birth to a baby with congenital heart disease.

“Binge drinking by would-be parents is a high risk and dangerous behaviour that not only may increase the chance of their baby being born with a heart defect, but also greatly damages their own health,” study author Jiabi Qin, of Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China, said in a statement reported by CNN.

Since it’s impossible to exactly predict when conception might occur, Qin suggests that to be safe men should abstain from drinking at least six months prior to when they plan to conceive and women should hold off for a year.

The study was based on analysis of existing data so there was no evidence drawn to explain the causation. However, previous research has shown that alcohol changes the DNA in developing sperm and changes sperm activity.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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Are Women Better Than Men? New Study Sheds Light On Multitasking & Gender

by Erica LoopSeptember 4, 2019

New research may have just disproved the idea that women are better at multitasking than men. The study, published in PLOS One, looked at the potential influence of gender in the ability to multitask—and they didn’t find a significant difference.

The researchers tested a total of 96 participants (half men and half women) in sequential and concurrent multitasking activities. That means the males and the females engaged in tasks that switched (sequential) or were done at the same time (dual or concurrent tasks).

photo: Rawpixel via Pexels

So what did the researchers find? Dispelling the idea that women are better at juggling more than one activity at a time, the researchers found that gender didn’t influence multitasking abilities. This was also true when the researchers controlled for differences in processing speeds and spatial abilities.

While the study can’t completely predict how gender may influence other types of multitasking activities, the researchers do note, “Considering the good power of the present study to detect even medium-to-large gender differences, the present findings strongly suggest that there are no substantial gender differences in multitasking performance across task-switching and dual-task paradigms, which predominantly measure cognitive control mechanisms such as working memory updating, the engagement and disengagement of task sets, and inhibition.”

—Erica Loop

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Your Baby’s Babbling May Shape Your Own Speech, Science Says

by Erica LoopAugust 24, 2019

Your baby’s babbling may shape the way you speak. New research from Cornell University’s Behavioral Analysis of Beginning Years Laboratory may have found a connection between infant speech, adult speech and learning.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Child Language, looked at the function of infant babbling in the language learning process. After analyzing data from 30 mama-baby pairs, the researchers found that the infants of mothers who used simplified speech (shortened or one-word sentences and lower numbers of unique words in response to baby’s babbling) were faster language learners.

photo: Kate Emslie via Unsplash

According to Steven Elmlinger, lead author of the study, “Infants are actually shaping their own learning environments in ways that make learning easier to do.”

Elmlinger added, “We know that parents’ speech influences how infants learn––that makes sense––and that infants’ own motivations also change how they learn. But what hasn’t been studied is the link between how infants can change the parents, or just change the learning environment as a whole. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

—Erica Loop

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New Study Finds Link Between Exercise During Pregnancy & Infant Motor Development

by Erica LoopAugust 14, 2019

Can exercise during pregnancy improve your kiddo’s motor skills after birth? New research published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that physical activity during pregnancy may influence the baby’s motor development—that is, for the better!

The researchers sectioned 71 pregnant women (ages 18 through 35) into two groups. One group engaged in 50 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity three times per week, while the other group didn’t exercise.

photo: Freestocks via Pexels

So what did the researchers find? The researchers evaluated each infant at one-month, using a motor scoring scale to analyze their development. The babies born to exercising mamas scored higher than those who were born to the mothers in the non-exercising group.

If you’re wondering what this means, it’s possible that infants who have better motor abilities will grow into children who also have better motor abilities. And this may make them more likely to engage in physical activity. In other words, no couch potatoes here.

Even though this study did find a connection between maternal exercise and infant motor development, the researchers didn’t find a cause for the results. It’s possible maternal blood flow increased during exercise, increasing blood and oxygen flow to the babies in utero. It’s also possible the changes in the infants’ motor development happened after birth. Whatever the reason, it looks like one thing is clear—physical activity during pregnancy (under medical supervision) has benefits for both mom and baby!

—Erica Loop

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What’s the Right Age to Have a Kid? New Study May Have Answers

by Erica LoopAugust 2, 2019

New research, published in the journal Child Development, may have found a connection between parental age and child behavior.

The study, which included nearly 33,000 Dutch children between 10 and 12-years-old, explored the impact the parents’ ages had on how children externalize (outward behavior) and internalize problems (anxiety, depression and other mental health issues). So what did the researchers find?

photo: Singkham via Pexels

While the results aren’t overwhelming, older parents in the group tended to report less externalized behavioral problems. But it’s important to note, according to the study, “In teacher‐reports, this relation was largely explained by parental socio‐economic status.” This could indicate older parents have children who are in some way better equipped to handle problems/better behaved. But it could also mean older parents feel their children are better behaved than younger ones.

When it comes to internalized behavior, the researchers found no association with parental age. Study author and post-doctoral researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Marielle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, told WebMD, “Older parents-to-be may be reassured that their age is not necessarily a negative factor with respect to behavioral problems in their child.”

Zondervan-Zwijnenburg added, “We believe that older parents are more often able to create favorable environments for their children. Older parents may be more sensitive to the child’s needs and provide more structure.”

Does this mean older is where it’s at when it comes to parenting? Not necessarily. While the study does show some association between older parents and externalized behavior, it certainly doesn’t count out the positive impact parents of any age can have on their kiddos!

—Erica Loop

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Here’s What Early Physical Activity Can Do for Your Child, According to Science

by Erica LoopJune 11, 2019

New research points to the benefits of early physical activity. As it turns out, and not surprisingly so, getting active equaled better health outcomes.

The study, published in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ journal Pediatrics, looked at the effects of moderate to vigorous activity on 418 children age three through five as they aged. Researchers assessed the children’s activity level annually for three years.

photo: Agung Pandit Wiguna via Pexels

Along with evaluating total physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, the researchers assessed specific cardiovascular health indicators. In this case, they looked at cardiovascular fitness, resting arterial stiffness and seated systolic blood pressure. And don’t worry—there’s no need to have an MD after your name to understand the study results. Overall, the researchers found that moderate to vigorous exercise had important heart health benefits.

So what does this mean for your child? To start with, don’t wait to get them active. Based on this study’s data early physical activity is an important part of cardiovascular health. While the study doesn’t say whether the heart health benefits remain into adulthood, upping your kiddo’s physical activity quotient from on-the-couch to running around the yard certainly couldn’t hurt.

—Erica Loop

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