Grandmothers more connected to grandchildren than to own offspring

And other stories from the stranger side of life

Grandmothers may be more emotionally connected to their grandchildren than to their own sons and daughters. Anthropologists at Emory University in Georgia recruited 50 women with at least one biological grandchild aged between three and 12, and used functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor their brains as they looked at photos of that child, the child’s parents, and images of an unrelated child and adult. “Grandmothers are geared toward feeling what their grandchildren are feeling when they interact with them,” said a researcher.

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