Research indicates this: in the elderly there is a hyper-activation of the empathic brain areas, those that allow us to identify with others
Caregiver the English term for caring for a sick person or a person who is no longer autonomous, such as an elderly person. But grandparents are the best caregivers of children, and in many societies their involvement has always been synonymous with well-being for the little ones, an advantage that with the thinning out of the patriarchal family in modern society has been lost. The Covid pandemic, which separated the two generations, brought the coup de grace to this bond depriving the elderly of an important life stimulus from a cognitive and affective point of view and the little ones of an authoritative psychological reference that goes beyond the parents. The little ones have thus lost the opportunity to better structure their personality with the help of their grandparents and to this was added the downgrading of the school to Dad with the lack of contact, as well as with classmates, even with another important figure for their growth such as the teacher.
Piccoli is more attentive to anti-Covid rules
With the obsessiveness typical of childhood however, children are more attentive to anti-Covid rules than grandparents who tend to let themselves be carried away by affection in order to stay close to their grandchildren in the uncertainty of not being able to attend them as before. An uncertainty accentuated by age and loneliness that lockdown and social distancing have exacerbated canceling domestic meeting occasions such as parties and established rituals, such as telling grandchildren fairy tales before going to sleep, teach them how to make cakes and, if mom and dad are at work, play with them or help them with their homework.
Synapses
American researchers of the Emory University diretti da James Rilling have verified what neuropsychological ties develop in caring relationships between grandparents and grandchildren. In a functional MRI study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences highlight in grandmothers a hyper-activation of the empathic brain areas, those that allow you to identify with others and understand their moods. Such activation surpasses that of the fathers, valued separately, e it has nothing to envy to that already observed in the relations between mother and children where the areas that are activated in the mother and her children are even the same.
The sample
The 50 grandmothers who participated in the study they were found via facebook or flyers hanging at the university with the promise of a fee of $ 50 to participate in the study and an additional $ 50 if they qualify for a 5-10 minute resonance exam. They must have had a male or female nephew between the ages of 3 and 12. The first selection of the candidates was made with a 26-68 minute interview via Zoom, in which the doctor, inquiring about the relationships with the grandchildren, subjected them to eight neuropsychological tests with precise scores to evaluate their involvement and affective attachment. The grandmothers then had to Provide the contact details of the children’s parents so that they can bring a photo of the baby and his dad or mother. The photos were used to evaluate the reaction of the grandmothers to their sight during the MRI compared to that for the photo of an unknown child.
Better than fathers
If for unknown children in all grandmothers the reaction was mild, they were the grandmothers whom the tests indicated as most eager to be involved in the care of their grandchildren those that at the sight of their photos activated the empathic areas the most: the temporoparietal junction and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. They did it even more than fathers, surpassing them in the areas of emotional and motivational empathy: insula, antero-dorsal cingulate cortex and secondary somatosensory. Emotional empathy, the authors conclude, is the key to understanding the grandmother’s affection which can even exceed that of the father, but not that of the mother.
How many years they give to their grandchildren
According to an old study published on Proceedings of the Royal Society by Utah University anthropologists headed by Kristen Hawkes there is a grandmother effect according to which grandmothers, by looking after their grandchildren, give them 15-16 years of life. The calculation was obtained with a computer simulation which indicated how 60,000 years ago they increased human life expectancy by 24 years compared to other primates who did not benefit from their care, which allowed sapiens women to prolong fertility because the grandmothers provided for the little ones. If you are a little chimpanzee – Hawkes commented – your mother has nothing to think about but you, but if you are a child she must also think of other siblings, of the house, of shopping or of work. This is where the grandmother becomes fundamental, today even more than 60 thousand years ago.
December 26, 2021 (change December 26, 2021 | 13:54)
© Time.News