Posts Tagged ‘epigenetics’

Should Anti-Violence Efforts Begin In The Womb?

It’s hard to think of a baby being violent or destructive, but the seeds of violence may be planted before a child is born, according to research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Research carried out there and reported last fall in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior suggests that attention to health factors during prenatal development could prevent violence in later life. Citing recent research demonstrating a biological basis of crime, article author and Penn nursing assistant professor Jianghong Liu explains, “‘Biological’ does not mean only genetic factors, but also health factors, such as nutritional deficiency and lead exposure, which influence biological processes.”

To read more, please see rest of post at mothering.com.

 

 

 

 

Source:
ScienceDaily

Turbo-Charge Baby’s Brain Development w/ the Mommy Mind Meld

The Power of Parental Example

[Even though I refer to the “mommy” mind meld, these principles apply to whomever are the two or three connected, nurturing adults in an infant’s life — father, grandmother, consistent (not rotating) caregiver.]

Imitation is the young child’s primary form of learning, which is why one of my first bits of guidance to parents coming to me for counseling is (more…)

*** Add Your Voice to the Mommy Mind-Meld Blog Tour! ***

I’m being hosted on five fabulous parenting sites for a discussion of “The Mommy Mind Meld: Turbo-Charge Your Baby’s Brain Development.” This new, very short YouTube video makes for a good prologue to the tour, which begins in just a few hours (whee!!):

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Womb Peace to World Peace: Protecting Children From Toxic Stress

“Building a strong foundation for healthy development in the early years of life is a prerequisite for individual well-being, economic productivity, and harmonious societies around the world.”

So reads the opening line of one of the most important articles published this year that you will most likely never read or even hear about. The article, entitled An Integrated Scientific Framework for Child Survival and Early Childhood Development,” was published in a recent issue of Pediatrics, the prestigious journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Not exactly bedside table reading. Or what’s tops on your Kindle. (more…)

Epigenetics, DNA, and True Intelligence

In the seven years since I started writing Parenting for Peace the term epigenetics has graduated from being a practically unheard-of, esoteric branch of biology to an increasingly mainstream concept. (That worked out nicely, since my book’s entire premise turns on the epigenetic notion of just how much influence we have in who we and our children shape up to be.) In a recent post on Eco Child’s Play, author Jennifer Lance does parents a solid by gathering wide-ranging information and insight into why they need to understand and care about epigenetics.

Unlike what we learned in basic biology class, we are not immutably defined nor are our children unalterably determined by DNA. (more…)