The minute your baby is born, you begin to wonder what they will be like when they grow up? What kind of personality will they have? Will you be able to influence how they turn out?

Psychiatrists have defined 4 main categories of personality types using a clinically recognized system of character evaluation.

These 4 types are:

• A novelty seeking personality is characterized by impulsive actions.
• A harm avoidance personality is characterized by pessimism and shyness.
• A reward dependence personality is prone to addiction.
• A persistence type personality tends to be hard-working and a perfectionist.

There’s a question on personality that’s been keeping scientists busy for years now. Is personality due to nature or nurture? Well, these researchers from the US, UK and Italy seem to think they have found proof that it’s the former rather than the latter. They report that different personality types have different brain structures. For example, novelty-seeking types had a structurally bigger area of the brain known as the inferior part of the frontal lobe, whereas harm-avoidance types had significantly smaller volumes of tissue in the orbitofrontal area and the posterior occipital region.

It seems that personality depends on the anatomical structure of the brain, structure that you were born with. In other words, your personality was already determined at birth. This report can either give us comfort or despair about our own personality.

• Comfort – because it’s not something that we do but something that we are.
• Despair – because it’s something that we are and therefore cannot be changed.

But what about the personality of our children? Can we still do something about it? What about our baby having a brain scan to determine his or her future personality? The researchers think this isn’t actually such a bad idea because once you know what to expect, you can alter the environment to minimize the risk.

I personally find it a bit scary. What if I find out that  my baby is predisposed to become a pessimistic introvert, a compulsive workaholic or worse a drug addict? How would affect the mother-child relationship?

On the other hand, I still believe strongly in the power of nurture, e.g. the family environment. I also believe that these so-called personality types are rather artificial categorizations. Most people I know, including myself, exhibit some characteristics from each of the 4 types. No, I’d rather see my children’s personalities unfold as they grow. I’d rather that they grow without expectations, preconceptions and predispositions. Surprise me, my darlings.

So what do you think? Want to look into your baby’s brain?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that it plans to study the effects of BPA in depth in the future.  Currently, the FDA says that BPA’s are safe.  According to experts, the FDA bases this on the results of two studies done by other groups.  These studies, which were funded by chemical industries, claim that BPA’s are safe.

The National Toxicology Program has determined from it’s research that BPA’s, even in small amounts, can cause changes in brain development and behavior in infants and small children.  BPA’s are most easily ingested when chemicals from plastic containers seep into food and drink.

I became concerned about this when I saw an article that the bottles that I’d used for my son had a high concentration of BPA’s.  I began to try to find products without the chemical and was shocked at the lack of choices I found.  Many companies that made infant bottles weren’t even forthcoming with information it seemed.

Several months have passed and while strolling down the baby aisle last week, I noticed several products that actually announced that their product was BPA free.  I bought several BPA free products that day for my son.

Call me cynical, but I don’t buy the FDA’s position that this chemical is safe.  I’m grateful that I now have choices for safer products to purchase for my son.

Do you seek out products that advertise that they are BPA free? Do you agree with the FDA that this chemical is safe?

I read an interesting article today about multi-tasking when driving. The bottom line: it’s a bad idea. I’m sure you know that already though!

The study centered on how the brain is able to perform when a person is doing tasks such as driving and talking on the cell phone. Driving, it turns out, requires an incredible amount of brain power. I remember when I was first learning to drive and I couldn’t stand to have the radio on because it distracted me so. Now I drive past very young looking, possibly new drivers, texting and talking on their cell phones. I find it amazing, if not scary.

According to data, in over 80% of crashes, driver inattention was the root cause of the event. That’s pretty amazing. I rarely talk on my cell phone when driving. If it’s a difficult or intense conversation, I do pull over to the side of the road or I stop in a parking lot. However, I am not so good about reducing my other distractions.

Ask any parent and it is common to be multi-tasking dealing with kid issues. Things like stopping an argument between siblings or dealing with a crying infant are stressful and can affect the quality of your driving. The reality of the situation is that as a parent, you will need to multi-task at times. Just remember to be safe.

If the older children are arguing about the radio station, turn it off. If your infant is crying inconsolably and the tension is affecting your driving, pull over to a safe place and do what needs to be done to soothe him. This may mean changing that diaper or nursing him so you can make the rest of the journey safely. Never try to drive and say, pick up the dropped security blanket or pacifier!

I keep an activity bag in the back of the car for my older children to keep them busy during drives. I find that if they are busy, they are less likely to argue amongst themselves. I also keep some toys for our son in the car so that if he gets fussy, the older children can pacify him until either I can get to a safe spot to figure out what is wrong or we make it to our destination.

To my knowledge, no studies have ever been done on the amount of accidents caused when dad or mom takes their eyes off the road to give their toddler a cookie because he is hungry and screaming. It would be interesting though!

Do you have any tips for dealing with family distractions when you are driving? Do you feel that it’s important to limit your distractions or do you think you do a pretty good job of handling things as they happen?

Finally, a research study that will make us smile.

A baby’s smiles can lighten up a mommy’s mood. This study “What’s in a Smile? Maternal Brain Responses to Infant Facial Cues” found that when looking at photos of happy, smiling babies, the reward centers of the mommies’ brains get triggered and the neurotransmitter dopamine is released, making mommies feel good. However, neutral or sad-looking pictures of babies did not trigger a similar positive response.

This result is based on the brain responses of 28 first-time mommies. The brain responses were tracked using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Now, this positive response to smiling baby faces does not only happen when mommy looks at the photo of her own baby. Any happy, smiling face can make any mommy happy. C’mon. Who wouldn’t be?

Source:

What’s in a Smile? Maternal Brain Responses to Infant Facial Cues. Lane Strathearn, Jian Li, Peter Fonagy, and P. Read Montague. Pediatrics Vol. 122 No. 1 July 2008, pp. 40-51 DOI:10.1542/peds.2007-1566

I have friends whose eldest child, a boy, couldn?t seem to sleep through even at age three. And when he napped, well, he?d only be out for 15 minutes max. It was hard for his parents, both of whom were working. I really felt sorry for the mom because even though I had twins, I tended to be less sleep-deprived than her.

Luckily, the boy outgrew his sleeping problems though they never found out what the problem was. Back then, they jokingly complained ?he must have been born without a sleeping gene.? Now 6, he is the typical first grader who doesn?t like to get out of bed in the morning.

But it seems their problems are nothing compared to the parents of 3-year old Rhett Lamb who almost doesn?t sleep at all, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No wonderful that the boy is constantly crabby and has no appetite.

It took years for medical experts to find out what?s keeping the boy from sleeping. It?s a very rare condition called Chiari Malformation wherein ?the brain literally is squeezed into the spinal column? leading to compression and squeezing of the brain stem. This is the part of the brain where all the vital bodily functions including sleep.

Recently, Rhett underwent an operation to ease the pressure on his ?strangled? brain. This was done by removing the bone surrounding the brain stem and the spinal cord, thus creating more space inside the skull. The effect of the surgery may not be immediately evident but the doctors and parents are hopeful that the boy will soon make a full recovery.

Chiari Malformation is related to Spina Bifida and other neurological disorders. It can manifest in different symptoms or be asymptomatic (without any symptoms). For more information about chiari malformation, check out this Fact Sheet from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Source:

ABC News, 10 May 2008

Having problems with a moody teen? Mom, Dad, it`s not your fault. It`s all in the teen brain.

An Australian study of 137 adolescents aged 11 to 13 years old showed that their grumbling behavior may be related to the structure of their brains. In this research, the teenagers and their parents were asked to discuss subjects that often lead to disagreements while the behavior of each teen was carefully studied.

Later on, the teens? brains were scanned and the structures were analyzed. The results showed that adolescents with larger amygdalas – the region of the brain that is the center of emotional activities – were moodier and grumpier towards their mothers. The two other regions ? the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices ? are the ones that control behavior. The connections between the amydgala and these two other regions are not complete until one reaches early twenties. It seems that the amygdala of some teenagers grow rapidly while the other two regions that regulate their behavior are not fully connected resulting in moodiness. Enlarged amygdala was also linked to drug or alcohol abuse and depression in young people.

The researchers also pointed out that environmental factors may also influence the behavioral difficulties of young people. However, they are not sure whether social upbringing also influences brain development of adolescents and whether this will have permanent effect in their behavior later in life.

Reference:
Whittle, S. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 105, 3652-3657 (2008).