Neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric perspectives on maternal cradling preferences

Abstract

Objective -To assess competing explanations for the universal preference of mothers to cradle infants on their left side and to propose a relation to hemispheric asymmetry for social attachment and communication behaviour. Methods -A review of observational, experimental, physiological, psychological, neuro-physiological, and neuro-psychological studies, including new findings on the cradling behaviour of mothers with auditory or visual impairments. Results -A significant leftcradling bias is observed in both right-and left-handed mothers which cannot adequately be explained by arguments based on handedness or closer contact to the soothing sound of the maternal heartbeat. Observations of primate behaviour have led to the suggestion that the left-cradling bias may be related to a left visual field (right hemisphere) advantage for monitoring an infant's facial expressions of distress. However, more than just monitoring, cradling subserves the mother's connection with the infant. For that reason, we have suggested that left cradling might be related to a right hemisphere specialisation for emotional communication, i.e. the speech melody, smiles, signals, and stroking which mothers use to interact with their infants. Studies of mother-infant interaction show that the sound of the mother's voice is more soothing when cradling on the left, more stimulating when cradling on the right. Cradling laterality may thus be related to emotional state and behavioural intent. There is also evidence to suggest that left cradling is linked to a special role of the right hemisphere in social attachment behaviour. This function may be disturbed in mothers with post-natal depression who show abnormal right hemisphere activity. Conclusion -Cradling embodies the symbiotic relationship between mother and infant; various lines of evidence support the suggestion that the universal preference of mothers to cradle infants on their left side is related to a right hemisphere dominance for social attachment and communication behaviour.

Why are infants held on the left? A test of the attention hypothesis with a doll, a book, and a bag

“…More left-than right-holders also have been found to show left-biased attention for emotional sounds, namely a left-ear (right hemisphere) advantage for perceiving emotional tone in dichotically presented words (Almerigi, Van Hooren, Bulman-Fleming, & Harris, 2002b) and sentences (Donnot, 2007). Sieratzki and Woll (1996) have proposed that vocal exchanges have primacy over visual exchanges in the motherÁinfant relationship (e.g., Fifer & Moon, 1994), consistent, as they also noted (Sieratzki & Woll, 2002), with the results of a study by Reissland (2000) that analysed mothers' vocalisations while they cradled their infants on either side. Their vocalisations changed in emotional tone depending on the side, being low-pitched and presumably soothing when they held on the left, and high-pitched and presumably exciting when they held on the right.…”

A Model for Caregiving of Adopted Children After Institutionalization

“…It appears that babies expect to be kept in close physical contact with their mother, being carried for most of the day. Carrying a baby provides proprioceptive‐vestibular stimulation, which encourages neonatal alertness, and an environment within which interaction between caregiver and child is easily facilitated (Gregg, Haffner, & Korner, 1976; Lozoff, Brittenham, Trause, Kennell, & Klaus, 1977; Sieratzki & Woll, 2002). Thus, encouraging mothers to carry their baby results in increased maternal responsiveness and security of attachment (Anisfeld, Casper, Nozyce, & Cunningham, 1990).…”

Infant Holding Preferences in Maternity Hospitals: Testing the Hypothesis of the Lateralized Perception of Emotions

“…Based on research demonstrating right hemisphere asymmetries in emotional monitoring (e.g., Campbell, 1982;Leventhal & Tomarken, 1986), Manning and Chamberlain (1991) suggested that the mother was better able to monitor her infant's well-being in her left visual field and with her left ear because they project more directly to the right hemisphere. If the control of emotions is implicated in the determination of left-holding side preferences, the most valid procedure would certainly be a real situation of interactions among mother-infant pairs (Sieratzki & Woll, 2002).…”