Dayspa

MAY 2017

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N e w m o t h e r s d o n ' t n e e d s t e l l a r v o c a l s k i l l s t o b o n d w i t h t h e i r i n f a n t s t h r o u g h s o n g . N e w r e s e a r c h c o n d u c t e d a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i a m i s h o w s t h a t i n f a n t s ' i n t e r n a l r e s p o n s e s t o t h e i r m o t h e r s ' d i r e c t e d s i n g i n g i s u n i q u e l y d i ff e r e n t f r o m o t h e r t y p e s o f i n t e r a c t i o n s . T h i s m i g h t e x p l a i n w h y t h e b e h a v i o r i s u n i v e r s a l , t r a n s c e n d i n g g e n e r a t i o n s a n d c u l t u r a l b a r r i e r s . " O n e o f t h e m a i n g o a l s o f t h i s r e s e a r c h w a s t o c l a r i f y t h e m e a n i n g o f i n f a n t - d i r e c t e d s i n g i n g a s a h u m a n b e h a v i o r a n d a s a m e a n s t o e l i c i t u n i q u e b e h a v i o r a l r e s p o n s e s f r o m i n f a n t s , " e x p l a i n s S h a n n o n d e l ' E t o i l e , p r o f e s s o r o f m u s i c t h e r a p y a n d a s s o c i a t e d e a n o f g r a d u a t e s t u d i e s a t U M ' s F r o s t S c h o o l o f M u s i c . T o t h a t e n d , l ' E t o i l e fi l m e d 7 0 i n f a n t s r e s p o n d i n g t o s i x d i ff e r e n t i n t e r a c t i o n s : t h e i r m o t h e r s i n g i n g a n a s s i g n e d s o n g ; a s t r a n g e r s i n g i n g a n a s s i g n e d s o n g ; t h e i r m o t h e r s i n g i n g h e r s o n g o f c h o i c e ; t h e i r m o t h e r r e a d i n g a b o o k ; t h e i r m o t h e r p l a y i n g w i t h a t o y ; a n d t h e i n f a n t a n d t h e i r m o t h e r l i s t e n i n g t o r e c o r d e d m u s i c . I n i t i a l r e s u l t s s h o w e d t h a t l i v e s i n g i n g , b o o k r e a d i n g a n d t o y p l a y a l l y i e l d e d c o n s i s t e n t a t t e n t i o n f r o m i n f a n t s . B u t w h a t a b o u t t h e m a t e r n a l s i d e o f t h e q u e s t i o n ? W h e n l ' E t o i l e a n a l y z e d e a c h m o t h e r ' s v o i c e a n d t h e m a k e u p o f t h e s e l e c t e d s o n g , s h e o b s e r v e d t h a t " w h e n i n f a n t s w e r e e n g a g e d d u r i n g s o n g , t h e i r m o t h e r s ' i n s t i n c t s w e r e a l s o o n h i g h a l e r t , " a n d w h e n i n f a n t e n g a g e m e n t d e c l i n e d , " t h e m o t h e r a d j u s t e d h e r p i t c h , t e m p o o r k e y t o s t i m u l a t e a n d r e g u l a t e i n f a n t r e s p o n s e . " T h u s , t h e e x p e r i e n c e w a s o n m o r e m u t u a l f o o t i n g , a l l o w i n g f o r a r e c i p r o c a l a n d b o n d i n g e x c h a n g e . L ' E t o i l e w e n t o n t o s t u d y m o t h e r s w i t h p o s t - p a r t u m d e p r e s s i o n ( P P D ) , n o t i n g a l a c k o f e m o t i o n a l e x p r e s s i o n i n t h e s e m o t h e r s ' s i n g i n g . N e v e r t h e l e s s , i n f a n t s s t i l l b e c a m e e n g a g e d , w h i c h i n t u r n p r o v i d e d a s e n s e o f e m p o w e r m e n t f o r t h e m o t h e r s a ff e c t e d b y P P D . T h u s , m o t h e r a n d c h i l d w e r e b o t h s h o w n t o b e n e fi t . o t e s f r o m M o m dayspamagazine.com • may 2017 • [ 87 ] New mothers don't need stellar vocal skills to bond with their infants through song. New research conducted at the University of Miami shows that infants' internal responses to their mothers' directed singing is uniquely diff erent from other types of interactions. This might explain why the behavior is universal, transcending generations and cultural barriers. "One of the main goals of this research was to clarify the meaning of infant-directed singing as a human behavior and as a means to elicit unique behavioral responses from infants," explains Shannon de l'Etoile, professor of music therapy and associate dean of graduate studies at UM's Frost School of Music. To that end, l'Etoile fi lmed 70 infants responding to six diff erent interactions: their mother singing an assigned song; a stranger singing an assigned song; their mother singing her song of choice; their mother reading a book; their mother playing with a toy; and the infant and their mother listening to recorded music. Initial results showed that live singing, book reading and toy play all yielded consistent attention from infants. But what about the maternal side of the question? When l'Etoile analyzed each mother's voice and the makeup of the selected song, she observed that "when infants were engaged during song, their mothers' instincts were also on high alert," and when infant engagement declined, "the mother adjusted her pitch, tempo or key to stimulate and regulate infant response." Thus, the experience was on more mutual footing, allowing for a reciprocal and bonding exchange. L'Etoile went on to study mothers with post-partum depression (PPD), noting a lack of emotional expression in these mothers' singing. Nevertheless, infants still became engaged, which in turn provided a sense of empowerment for the mothers aff ected by PPD. Thus, mother and child were both shown to benefi t. N tes fr m M m H E A L I N G N E W S dayspamagazine.com/freeinfo © GETTY IMAGES

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