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A mother's voice the link to understanding brain activity in teenagers and children with autism
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A study shows children who respond to their mothers voices have higher social skills. - photo by Megan McNulty
A mother's soothing voice while singing a lullaby to her child may do more than help a child feel calm and sleepy. Research shows it may be a link toward understanding brain activity in teenagers and children with autism.

According to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, children who are more responsive to their mothers' voices have stronger connections between regions of the brain and better communication skills.

"Voice is one of the most important social communication cues," said Dr. Vinod Menon, a senior author of the research. "It's exciting to see that the echo of one's mother's voice lives on in so many brain systems."

According to U.S. News, the study involved children from ages 7 to 12 who were raised by their biological mother. The mothers of the children participants and two strangers whose children were not involved in the study were recorded saying three nonsense words. While the children listened to the recordings of both their mothers and the strangers, their brains were scanned using MRIs.

The researchers found the children could identify which voice was their mother's with 97 percent accuracy. The children's brain activity was more stimulated by their mothers than the strangers.

The Tech Times' report on the study explained that the amygdala the part of the brain responsible for regulating emotions becomes engaged in reaction to the mother's voice. The region of the brain pertinent to reward processing, social functions, detection of personal relevance and facial recognition also becomes stimulated.

"Many of our social, language and emotional processes are learned by listening to our mom's voice," said Daniel Abrams, a study author and psychiatry and behavioral sciences instructor at Stanford. "But surprisingly little is known about how the brain organizes itself around this very important sound source. We didn't realize that a mother's voice would have such quick access to so many different brain systems."

A separate study by European and Japanese researchers published last year also found sound to be an important aspect in influencing our emotions. The researchers created a digital audio platform for participants to listen to while reading a short story aloud. The audio invoked happiness, sadness or fear. The results showed the audio transformations were able to manipulate the participants to the intended emotions through a detectable change in the pitch of their voices. The participants were unaware they were being manipulated.

The Stanford researchers are planning to carry out similar studies with autistic children and teenagers, to see if the effect of the mother's voice changes as people mature into adulthood, as reported by the Daily Mail.

According to the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, "A new study now suggests that there is a link between language development in children with ASD and the activity of certain brain regions."

"This is an important new template for investigating social communication deficits in children with disorders such as autism," Menon said.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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