Parenting knowledge may aid cognitive growth in babies

When parents know more about how their newborn’s brain develops, they’re more likely to provide an environment that fosters social and intellectual growth in the baby’s first year, research suggests.

In a study of low-income families in Chicago, US, published early this year, researchers assessed how much parents knew about early brain development during pediatrician visits in the first week after birth and whether that might predict caregiving behaviours at nine months.