Hearing a crying baby can be especially difficult to ignore whether you’re dining in a restaurant, traveling on an airplane or simply out and about through the town. Upon hearing the cry of an infant, it actually stimulates an emotional response from others that can not be controlled. Perhaps humans are hard-wired to notice and respond to an infant’s cry, even if you have no idea who they are. While ignoring your own child can be near impossible, ignoring a stranger’s baby may be just as hard.
When you’re shopping in the mall or out in any public place and see adorable little babies in infant tutu dresses, you may automatically notice how cute they are, but not have any real attraction towards them. Upon hearing their blood-curling cry, your whole attitude and even posture can change immediately. Scientists have recently discovered that a response is automatically triggered in our brains when hearing an infant’s cry. The cry of a baby can completely change your whole attitude and capture your overall attention. While you may have been in deep conversation or interested in a particular matter, you may become distracted when hearing the cry. Although you may have thought that you simply couldn’t ignore a baby’s cry because of your maternal instincts, that is not entirely the case.
The Science Behind The Tears
A young woman named Katie Young from the University of Oxford led the study on seeing how the human brain processes the sound of a baby’s cry. 28 individuals were brought into the testing process and listened to different types of cries. In addition to audio clips of babies crying, they also listed to adults crying and animals whining. The aim of the study was to see if the brain reacted different to the baby’s cry than to the other cries that were presented. Magnetoencephalography was used to monitor the stimulation in the brain. When the cry of a baby was heard, the brains had a large burst of activity followed by an intense reaction. While a reaction was present upon hearing other cries, it was not as drastic as the cry of an infant.
Humans Response To a Crying Baby
Upon completion of the study, it showed that there is something different about the ways in which humans respond to the cries of a baby. It could be possible that the human brain knows that the cry is important or a call for help even when you do not know the baby or physically see them. This stimulation may also trigger the sub-cortical areas of the brain, which helps us to make important decisions and survive in dangerous situations. You may think of it has the cry switching on an alert button within the body. Although you may not try to comfort the baby, it lets us know that something could be wrong and gives you a sense of wanting to help. This could contribute the reason why many individuals dread being stuck on a moving plane or train with a crying infant. It is a noise that they can’t escape and simply can not ignore.
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Derek often likes to blog about parenthood and real estate. When he is not blogging or working, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family. The following article is for infant tutu dresses.