Neuroscience: The Power of Kindness in Improving Brain Health
"A growing body of research has suggested that high levels of family functioning—often measured as positive parent-child communication and low levels of parental stress—are associated with stronger cognitive development, higher levels of school engagement, and more successful peer relations as youth age. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous disruption to various aspects of daily life, especially for parents of young children, ages 3–5, who face isolation, disconnection, and unprecedented changes to how they engage and socialize. Fortunately, both youth and parent brains are plastic and receptive to change.
Kindness is powerful and does not just affect the recipient’s feelings—kindness can also impact an entire family’s brain health. A cross-disciplinary team of researchers and clinicians from the Center for Brain Health at The University of Texas at Dallas sought to understand whether an online kindness training program improves preschoolers’ pro-social behaviors and their parents’ resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team discovered that teaching and practicing kindness at home improves both parents’ resilience and children’s empathy. Both resilience and empathy require cognitive skills like responding well to stressors or considering different perspectives. These findings therefore support the idea that kindness can influence cognitive function and overall brain health.
Kindness was also found to be a strong potentiator of vibrant social engagement, which in turn is a critical component of overall brain health. Resilience research shows that factors such as engaging in acts of kindness, developing trusting relationships, and responding compassionately to the feelings of others can help lay new neural pathways and improve quality of life."
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#Kindness #Brain #Health #Parenting
💬 What are your thoughts on the findings of this study?
@globalBraid3744 I definitely agree with the findings of the study! Kindness and doing acts of service for others can make us feel fulfilled and happy. I think there's research done that has found that doing service for others can lower the risk of depression. There's nothing wrong at all with providing kindness so I think we should all aim to do a little bit more of it everyday!
@fruityPond7887
I am having the same thoughts! I have also read that kindness has more benefits than the ones found in this study. I agree with you that we should all aim to do more of them. Not only it can make someone else's day better but it can also lift our own mood.
@globalBraid3744 You're so right! There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing something kind for others. It only helps everyone in the situation 💞
@globalBraid3744
This is a really interesting and affirming article! Sometimes kindness can be quite difficult in certain scenarios and practicing it actively is no easy task, but reading this gives me hope that it's all worth it at the end!
