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Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love (Part Four)

Ed. note: Here’s Part Four of Lauren Lindsey Porter’s article, “The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love.” The article was first published in Mothering Magazine (Issue 119, July/August 2003) and appears on www.familyfieldguide.com with the author’s permission. References to footnotes will be provided with the final installment.

Attunement, in the simplest terms, means following baby’s cues. Babies have their own spontaneous expressions of themselves. When you pay attention to these expressions you communicate that you understand what they are doing, feeling, and even thinking.24 This assists brain development and creates a foundation for the negotiation of all social interactions. When the mother-baby dyad is in attunement, both will experience positive emotions. If out of sync, the baby will show signs of stress, such as crying, Continue reading

The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love (Part Three)

Ed. note: Today I present Part Three of Lauren Lindsey Porter’s article, “The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love.” The article was first published in Mothering Magazine (Issue 119, July/August 2003) and appears on www.familyfieldguide.com with the author’s permission. References to footnotes will be provided with the final installment.

From late pregnancy through the second year of life, the human brain experiences a critical period of accelerated growth. This process consumes higher amounts of energy than any other stage in the lifespan, and requires not only sufficient nutrients but optimal interpersonal experiences for maximal maturation.12 During this period, the focus is on right-brain development. The right brain is deeply connected to both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which control vital functions that support survival and cope with stress, as well as the limbic system Continue reading

The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love (Part Two)

Ed. note: Today I present Part Two of Lauren Lindsey Porter’s article, “The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love.” The article was first published in Mothering Magazine (Issue 119, July/August 2003) and appears on www.familyfieldguide.com with the author’s kind permission.  References to footnotes will be provided with the final installment. 

From an emotional perspective, attachment is the creation of a mutual bond in which the mother shapes infant development through her interactions and relationship with her child.4 Babies, who are not born with the ability to decode and decipher meanings and emotions, rely on the mother to help them navigate the world, both internal and Continue reading

The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love (Part One)

It is not often that I come across an article of such importance to parents, and one so well-written and documented, as this one by Lauren Lindsey Porter on the subject of maternal-infant attachment.

The article originally appeared in Mothering Magazine (Issue 119, July/August 2003) and is reprinted here with the author’s permission. References to footnotes will be provided with the final installment. Below are pages one and two. It is my hope that you will read it and share its contents with others.

The Science of Attachment: The Biological Roots of Love
By Lauren Lindsey Porter

Turn on your television. Walk the aisles of a toy store. Peruse the shelves in the baby department. What do you find? Toys to enchant and stimulate. Products to soothe and calm. Videos to enhance intelligence. Games to teach. There is a myriad of merchandise out there, all designed to connect with our babies, magnify their intelligence, and help them negotiate the world. There is also a vast library of Continue reading

Beyond Baby Slings and Breastfeeding – The Science of Attachment

Nobody had to tell me to pick up my babies when they cried. But if they’d ever told me to put them down, that I was spoiling them, they’d have had hell to pay.

As a new mother, I assumed the right to nurture my babies in a way that honored their helplessness as well as my own biological need to nurture them. And I don’t know what I would have done if I had had to leave them with another caregiver. We didn’t have Continue reading