Scientific evidence suggests that a mother's feelings toward her fetus can imprint a core sense of self before birth. This is demonstrated by a case where a newborn rejected its mother's milk because the mother secretly had not wanted the child.
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There isn't a direct gene for ADHD or depression, but there is a 'sensitivity gene' that makes individuals more susceptible to stress. According to epigenetics, present and nurturing parenting in the first year of life can effectively neutralize the expression of this gene, preventing future mental illness.
Studies of children adopted before age two, who have no conscious memory of the event, reveal they have less diverse and more inflammatory gut bacteria years later. This proves the body "keeps the score" of traumatic events, embedding the stress response into our physiology and impacting long-term health.
To counteract historical male parental uncertainty, human babies have evolved to physically resemble their fathers for roughly the first year of life. This visual confirmation—a biological signal saying "I'm yours"—encourages the father's protection and resource investment during a child's most vulnerable period.
From a young age, we suppress our authentic selves (intuition) to maintain connection with caregivers. This creates a lifelong pattern of seeking external validation over internal knowing, leading us to distrust our gut feelings.
Countering the idea that parenting has little effect on outcomes, a twin study found that the twin receiving slightly more maternal affection between ages 5-10 grew up to be more open, conscientious, and agreeable. This suggests that small, differential parenting choices have measurable long-term consequences for personality.
Early negative experiences, such as parental abuse, cause children to internalize blame. This creates a deeply ingrained subconscious program that they are inherently flawed, which dictates their reactions and self-perception for decades until it is consciously unraveled.
It's a myth that all cells are a 50/50 blend of parental DNA. Neuroscientist Catherine Dulac's work shows that entire brain areas can be genetically identical to either the mother or the father. This explains why certain behaviors and traits are so strongly inherited from one parent.
Your outcomes are influenced not just by your own DNA but by the genes of those in your social environment, a concept called 'genetic nurture.' A spouse’s genes can affect your likelihood of depression, and a child's genes can evoke specific parenting behaviors, showing that the effect of genes doesn't stop at our own skin.
Artist David Choe's mother brainwashed him into believing he was the world's greatest artist, despite his own low self-opinion. This unwavering, almost blind faith, acted as a powerful psychological foundation that he later consciously adopted, fueling his ambition and resilience against constant rejection.
Deeply ingrained subconscious beliefs can create tangible physical blocks. Unable to have children for years, investor Arnold Van Den Berg used hypnosis to uncover and remove a belief instilled by his mother's Holocaust trauma. His wife became pregnant shortly after the sessions.
