When an adult looks into the eyes of a baby, a synchronization of brain waves occurs that could indicate an intention to communicate, concludes a Cambridge University study of 36 infants. This coordinating supports the baby’s early learning and communication skills, according to the researchers. The effect, which researchers measured via electroencephalogram (EEG)-wired skullcaps, was strongest with eye-to-eye contact and weaker when the adult’s head was turned away. The more vocalizations—little sounds—the baby made, the greater their brainwaves synchronized with the adult.

This article appears in the May 2018 issue of Natural Awakenings.