By Cara Sulieman
ANY parent will tell you that their baby has a personality of their own, and now a study has shown that it’s true.
Dr Emese Nagy from the University of Dundee carried out a study on 90 newborn babies and found that they are a lot more sensitive to change than was previously thought.
The study proved that children are born with a strong desire to communicate with the people around them.
Dr Nagy said: “We all spend most of our social life communicating and relating to each other, it is crucial in our physical and mental well-being, and health.
“To feel that we belong to the other is a basic need.
“This study showed that even newborn infants come to this world with a powerful sensitivity to the other person.”
Dr Nagy travelled to Hugary to carry out the research involving playing and interacting with the children as young as three-hours-old.
The research involved gently talking to and touching the infants for three minutes – in the way a mother would with a baby.
The physician-psychologist then suddenly froze and stopped all communication. The response from the babies was very strong, even with the youngest ones as they looked away and started crying
Once Dr Nagy started to interact with them again, it took time to rebuild their trust and calm them down.
The results have implications for the mental health of young children, as psychologists start to realise how much of the surrounding world youngsters understand.
Dr Nagy said: “Such results may have implications for infant mental health, that not only older infants but even newborns, from their first hours of life, are sensitive to disturbed communication.”
