The Science behind the seeds

During the 1980’s and the 1990’s a groundbreaking study on the importance of nurturing and responsiveness provided “Show Stopping” information on how a mother’s self-regulation had a direct impact on their children’s ability to handle stress as they grew older. The study was conducted with laboratory rats and their babies known as pups. The study is best known as the Lick Your Pups study. 

During the study researchers noticed how some rat mothers spent a lot of time licking, grooming, and nursing their pups when they were returned after being separated from their mothers for an extended period of time. All the licking and grooming calmed the pups quickly. Scientists also noted the mothers who licked their pups a lot, also calmed quicker.

These highly-licked pups tended to grow up to be calm adults, repeating the same type of licking, grooming, and nursing to their own pups. However, scientists noticed some rat mothers did not lick or licked very little, ignored, or pushed the pup away when they were returned to their mothers. These stressed out pups’ mothers were considered low-licking mothers. These mothers did not calm easily, instead they dwelled in stress and their pups did not calm easily. The difference between the high licking mothers and the low licking mothers was the mother’s ability to self-regulate. The pups from low-licking mothers grew up to be anxious, depressed and low-licking mothers and the pups from the high-licking mothers… you guessed it, grew up to be calm, regulated, and nurturing mothers. 

My favorite part of sharing this study is this part…. The Show Stopper moment… The scientists in this study wanted to know if the pups coming from low-licking mothers when placed with high-licking mothers have a reversal effect on the anxious and depressed pups. 

In just 10 days in the care of a high-licking mother’s nurturing and responsiveness, these low-licking pups were able to regulate and calm quicker than before! And if that was not enough, the study followed these pups into adulthood and they found that…these pups become high-licking mothers!