Psychologist Emphasizes That Mom’s Voice Can Make Everything Better!
A psychologist underlines that scientists have confirmed what many people already instinctively know: Hearing Mom’s voice makes everything feel better!
As the Independent reports, a psychologist of the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Susan Albers, is emphasizing the enduring boost to wellbeing of hearing our mother’s voice, in person or virtually.
She also shows how this calming effect, triggered by the warmth and comfort of a mom’s voice, outlives childhood. Drawing on earlier scientific research from University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists, she proposes a toolkit of stress-relieving recordings, to recreate the salutary power of our mother’s speech on us.
The Long Arm of a Mother’s Love…
Albers, a Cleveland Clinic psychologist, explains that the sound of a mother’s voice can spark the production of the oxytocin hormone in their child. Moreover, this positive impact extends beyond childhood.
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This mood-boosting hormone, often called the “love hormone” and strongly linked to emotional bonding, is created in the part of the brain responsible for regulating mood. Released into the bloodstream, it lowers levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, and can make people feel loved and connected.
Since being in the womb, we are used to hearing our mother’s voice and enjoying an oxytocin hit when we hear it: “The brain is wired early on to make a connection between safety and security and her voice, which can last into adulthood,” Albers explains to the Independent.
Lessons Learned from Pioneering Research
Research into the positive influence of a mother’s voice on a child’s ability to thrive is ongoing.
A recent study, shows how hearing a mother’s voice daily boosts the brain development of preemies, particularly those regions of the brain linked to language advancement.
Albers draws on previously-reported research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, examining the effect of a mom’s voice on her offspring’s brain chemistry, outlined in this media release.
In this research, biological anthropologist Leslie Seltzer, tested a small group of seven-12-year-old girls. She asked them to tackle several math challenges, sending their hearts racing, and upping their levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
Following this trial, one-third of these stressed girls were comforted in person by their mothers, with hugs and other reassuring gestures. One-third were left to watch a 75-minute video considered emotion-neutral. The remaining third were handed a telephone so they could chat to their moms.
Dramatic results revealed that the girls who got to interact with their mothers over the phone showed almost the same positive oxytocin boost and reduction in cortisol levels as those who were comforted in person by their moms.
Interpreting her findings, Seltzer stresses that while oxytocin was previously thought to require physical contact, her research clarifies that a mother’s voice shares the power of an actual hug, and that this is more than short term in its impact. By the time the young participants leave for home, psychology professor Seth Pollak, heading the university’s Child Emotion Lab shares, their bodies are still feeling the benefits of their mom-powered relief, with sustained low cortisol levels.
Albers draws on these insights to advise others to reproduce the calming effect of mom’s voice when needed:
“Save a voicemail from your mother. This is something that you can pull out in moments when you’re feeling stressed and she is not available. You can also imagine your mother’s voice if she is not around. Your brain stores the memory of her voice and turns it into an internal dialogue that can be comforting in moments that you’re feeling stressed,” she advises.
