Research findings supporting the transmission of mood regulation from mother to sibling is growing increasingly robust. Researchers from the University of Montreal studied a population of children raised by depressed mothers and found that a statistically significant number of children had an enlarged amygdala, an almond-shaped structure within the basal ganglia often identified with emotional reactivity and corollary memory processing. Study author Sonia J. Lupiena states, “This strongly suggests that the brain may be highly responsive to the environment during early development and confirms the importance of early intervention to help children facing adversity. Initiatives such as prenatal and infancy nurse home visits and enriched day care environments could mitigate the effects of parental care on the developing brain.”
The article can be found in full text here: http://www.pnas.org/content/108/34/14324.full
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