The mother's voice as comforting presence.

Tags: Study, Voice of Mother, ROYAL SOCIETY.

A call from mom in release of oxytocin and girls stressed enough to reassure them.

The contact and the presence of the mother are not the only remedy for stress for children. His reassurances are also miracles, causing them to release oxytocin, a hormone which is stress relief is just beginning to measure the importance and vital role in humans and mammals. This is demonstrated by a U.S. study with sixty girls, aged 7 and 12 (Proceedings of the Royal Society B). This is the first time the impact and benefits of maternal speech are directly measured in children by hormone assays.
The team led by Leslie Seltzer of the University of Wiconsin-Madison, girls submitted to a test designed to induce stress. Patented and licensed by the university authorities, he is asking them to speak and do maths exercises in front of an audience of grownups. A distressing situation type whose effects have resulted in an all girls high secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone measured in saliva and urine. Why girls? "Because they are under stress are more likely to seek protection than boys, 'explains Leslie Seltzer.
Once fully destabilized, the girls were divided into three groups. Some have been in contact with their mother so she can comfort them by talking with them and take them by the neck, the others were allowed to talk on the phone with their mom and tell their troubles while the last group watched The March of the Penguins, Luc Jacquet's film.
"The girls who were able to interact with their mother, either by direct physical contact or by telephone only, had the same hormonal response," says the researcher. However, no trace of oxytocin was found in the urine of girls who watched the film and therefore having had no contact with their mother. The team was struck by the fact that exchanges have all been in the same way: first, a comfort unqualified ("You're the best"), followed by a mention of upcoming activities of the family and finally, affectionate expressions and a "kiss".

A test with SMS:
At the end of pregnancy, the fetus knows the voice of his mother. One might ask what are the elements in this experience comforting to trade mother-daughter. The language itself? Intonation? The voice? "We can not know, acknowledges Leslie Seltzer. Arguably, humans use verbal signals as a substitute to the touch when they can not directly provide reassurance to a person. That is all we can say. "To determine if the language plays a role, his team will do the same test by restricting trade with non-verbal communication, SMS in this case. They will also do tests with mammals also using voice messages.
Synthesized in the brain by the hypothalamus, oxytocin is not a stress-relieving hormone. It plays a key role in the mother during childbirth and lactation. Present in both sexes, it promotes bonding, love and fidelity. Administered to autism, it improves their relationship to the outside, as demonstrated recently Angela Sirigu, Institute of Cognitive Science in Bron (Rhône). "Please do not misinterpret the U.S. study, the researcher warns, autistics are all very affectionate mothers. They are autistic because they are sick and not because they are not in touch with their mother ".