Researchers Reveal Kids Who Get More Hugs Have More Developed Brains

Parents who cannot keep their children away from the poor are on the right track, and they will one day be thanked for it. Researchers have found that touch is extremely important, not only showing affection, but can also make them more intelligent.

Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio studied 125 premature adult babies and analyzed how light physical contact affected their brain development. The study found that early gentle affection from parents and caregivers had a significant impact on how babies’ brains responded to gentle touches. So early hugs could help babies feel affection at birth as pleasant rather than overwhelming, and stimulate positive brain responses.

Touch is one of the first senses to develop, and as soon as babies are born, light physical contact with their parents and caregivers increases dramatically. Holding a baby in those first hours normalizes the baby’s exposure to light and touch and contact from the mother. They discovered that gentle touches, such as loving hugs from parents or caregivers, trigger strong brain responses that help the brain develop quickly and healthily.

That babies who received more affection from parents or hospital staff showed stronger brain responses, results showed. Therefore, the gentle handling of babies will contribute to the development of their brains. Physical contact with a child, such as swings in the arm, makes a huge difference to brain development. On the other hand, the brain’s response to the same touch stimuli inhibited the growth of the brains of children with low light and touch exposure.

Parents feel that researchers are having trouble figuring out how the brain absorbs touch into development. Whatever the stage of life, love and affection are the keys to development, and parents should also have confidence in their children’s brain development.