"Baby talk" helps foster young infants' learning, but when a mother suffers from depression, this form of stimulation may be muted enough to affect her baby's development.
Researchers found that while the 4-month-old infants of women without depression associated the sound of their mother's voice with an image of a smiling female face, the infants of depressed mothers did not.
These babies did, however, respond to the speaking patterns of the unfamiliar, but non-depressed, women.
So while these infants showed normal learning ability, the lower level of stimulation they may receive from a caregiver who suffers from depression could nonetheless hinder their learning.
This could help explain evidence that young children with depressed mothers may lag behind in school readiness.
The vocal stimulation of baby talk is an important teaching tool. Parents normally use it, along with other types of stimulation, to focus infants' attention or to simply make them happy.
But in earlier work, the investigators had found that, compared with mothers without depression, those with the disorder spoke to their babies in flatter tones. The new findings, represent the first demonstration of how a specific infant-learning process can be affected by maternal depression.
However, the study results also suggest that exposure to a caregiver without depression may lessen such potential learning deficits.
An estimated 10% of mothers suffer clinical depression shortly after giving birth.
Psychological Science May 2002;13:268-271
Folks, this is a no-brainer. Nearly all children are deficient in omega-3 fats. There are very few people who have fully integrated these principles into their life at this point.
Most people realize fish is healthy for you and they will seek to include that in their diet. Unfortunately, the mercury present in nearly all fish decreases the benefits of eating fish.
Fish oil supplements are a far less expensive option than eating fish and they are much easier to take. The typical dose is one of the 180 mg EPA 120 mg DHA capsule for every ten pounds of body weight.
This is a dose nearly all pregnant women should be on as it will radically decrease their risk of postpartum depression and do wonders for the health of their baby, particularly the child's brain development.
There are a number of studies that show that fish oils are associated with decreased depression.
If you this subject interests you I would highly recommend Dr. Stoll's book The Omega-3 Connection. He is a Harvard psychiatrist who has done a great job of compiling the evidence supporting the use of fish oils for depression.