It’s probably not surprising that mothers excel at recognizing and interpreting the moods and emotions of their infants. Although we all know infants can’t speak, we’re also surprised when mothers seem to know exactly what their babies are thinking. Moms smile when their baby smiles. They frown when their baby is upset. It’s uncanny.
It turns out the language of love between mother and child goes well beyond what we could have imagined. Scientists recently studied the reaction of mothers brains to their babies facial expressions. They examined several studies done using MRIs to establish the connection to the rewards center of a mothers brain and the correlation of when she sees her child smile. Other studies have connected this bonding to everything from successful relationships to success in business to overall happiness.
The science of facial recognition and microbehaviors aside, there is no doubt that our mothers play an enormous role in our lives from the very beginning and—for most—throughout our lives. And it doesn’t take a world of research to show that they do know us, perhaps often better than we know ourselves.
Being a pediatric practice, we are incredibly grateful for all mothers everywhere: yours, ours, the ones we know, and the ones we don’t. Here are special thanks from the bottoms of our hearts to mom’s everywhere for all you do! We quite literally couldn’t have done any of it without you.
From the whole team at Westerville Pediatric Dental, a very sincere happy Mother’s Day!
