Everyone can notice the strong bond between grandparents and grandchildren, which sometimes even seems stronger than the love they have for the biological baby. A new study has an explanation for this.
The first thing that has resulted from this study is that children get better when they grow up next to their grandparents, said study lead author James Rilling, professor of anthropology and professor of behavioral sciences at Emory University.
The importance of grandmothers can be traced neurologically, this study suggests.
The researchers found that grandmothers who viewed the image of their biological grandchildren had a neurological response in areas of their brain that are important for emotional sensitivity and motivation.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, worked with 50 grandmothers who reported having positive relationships with grandchildren and high levels of involvement with them.
"Women underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures changes in blood flow that occur with brain activity, while showing images of their grandchildren as well as another child they did not know."
More emotional feedback for grandchildren
"The study was motivated in part by the 'grandmother hypothesis, which states that the longevity of postmenopausal women evolved because of the benefits that grandmothers were able to receive from grandchildren,'" Rilling said.
Interestingly, grandmothers showed brain activity associated with cognitive sensitivity more when watching their biological children than their grandchildren. When watching their grandchildren, they showed stronger emotional sensitivity than with their children.
"Emotional sensitivity is the feeling of emotions that another person feels. Cognitive empathy is understanding what someone thinks or feels and why," Rilling said.
