Environmental stimulation, parental nurturance and cognitive development in humans

Authors: Farah, Martha J.¹; Betancourt, Laura¹; Shera, David M.²; Savage, Jessica H.¹; Giannetta, Joan M.³; Brodsky, Nancy L.³; Malmud, Elsa K.³; Hurt, Hallam³

Source: Developmental Science, Volume 11, Number 5, September 2008 , pp. 793-801(9)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

The effects of environmental stimulation and parental nurturance on brain development have been studied extensively in animals. Much less is known about the relations between childhood experience and cognitive development in humans. Using a longitudinally collected data set with ecologically valid in-home measures of childhood experience and later in-laboratory behavioral measures of cognitive ability, we were able to test hypotheses concerning the effects of environmental stimulation and parental nurturance. A double dissociation was found: On the one hand, there was a selective relation between parental nurturance and memory development, consistent with the animal literature on maternal buffering of stress hormone effects on hippocampal development. On the other hand, there was a selective relation between environmental stimulation and language development. The relevance of these findings to socioeconomic gradients in cognitive ability is discussed.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00688.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, USA 2: Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, USA 3: Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA

Publication date: 2008-09-01