We all know how special the bond is between grandmother and grandchild.
Now a study by James Rilling, professor of anthropology, psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, suggests grandmothers actually feel closer to their grandkids than their own offspring.
Professor Rilling’s interest was piqued by previous studies which showed a grandmother’s presence can positively impact a grandchild’s life. He then studied the brain functions of about 50 women with at least one biological grandchild, aged between three and 12, as they looked at photos of their grandchild, the child’s parents and images of an unrelated child and adult.
Grandmothers feel ‘emotional empathy’ with their grandchild
“What really jumps out is the activation in areas of the brain associated with emotional empathy,” Professor Rilling said. Emotional empathy is the ability to feel an emotion someone else is also feeling.
“That suggests that grandmothers are geared toward feeling what their grandchildren are feeling when they interact with them. If their grandchild is smiling, they’re feeling the child’s joy. And if their grandchild is crying, they’re feeling the child’s pain and distress.”
Previously, he performed a similar study where fathers looked at pictures of their children. However, Professor Rilling said overall he saw a stronger emotional empathy and motivation with grandmothers than fathers on average.
In contrast, when the grandmothers looked at images of their adult child, slightly different brain areas tended to be activated: those associated with cognitive empathy. This could indicate that they were trying to cognitively understand their adult child, rather than experiencing this more direct emotional connection.
Food for thought?
